TiBook fan noise, iBook G3?, 828/DP3, etc.

[jrsgodfrey]

I'm looking at getting a dual-boot mac portable. Anyone using an 800/867/1ghz Tibook w/ a Motu 828/DP3? I've read a lot about the fan noise on those. Is it really an issue?

Next, would getting a last gen G3 800/900 ibook just be stupid? I hear they are dead silent. Plus they are cheap.

I'm looking to be able to record 10-12 and play back 24 tracks at 24/48. I will be sending the tracks to a console and will not be doing do a lot of plug-in heavy mixing. Could the ibook cut it in DP3?

I've got a lot invested in 0S9.

Thanks.

Jay

[Rick Hunter]

No plug ins? I bet you would be cool. I bet you could find something on www.unicornation.com those guys know a rediculous amount of shit about motu stuff. Good luck


Justin

[Milkmansound]

My band has done some recording on a G3 600mhz with DP3 in OS9 (using an 828 mkII)- the lappy was not too thrilled with the simultaneous 8 in 24bit 48k- so we compromised and had to do 16 bit 48k. Mixing on this machine was not an option - there was barely enough power to get a reverb going on an aux send by the time we had all of the tracks on there. However - the recordings did end up sounding great - we mixed the tracks on a dual G4. I do endorse the G3 ibook because they are inexpensive, and you get a lot of bang for the buck if you can't swing the G4. Macmall has been blowing these out for a while now, and also smalldog electronics. Might as well get one with a warranty! - T

[jrsgodfrey]

Thanks fellas --

Milk, were you recording to the built-in drive on the ibook?

[Milkmansound]

I think we were tracking to the internal drive, then backing up to a fire wire drive ASAP. I don't exactly know why he was doing this - but I do know that he put the firewire drive together himself, from a case and a scapped HD - which might have made it more suspect than the internal one. He keeps his internal drive partitioned, and so do I. All the osx and 0s9 stuff are complely seperated that way, instead of os9 being osx's bitch. Hope this helps - Tim

[chikkenguy]

the quietness issues you mention are completely true.

as far as recording 8-10, i never did it, but i would think on the ibook youd be fine.

as far as playback on the ibook, i had one project with maybe 20 tks, some stereo, couple auxes and a bunch of plugins...

i dont know if the g4 ibooks are as quiet, but i think that just having a g4 is a huge advantage. there are a lot of g4 optimized programs, plugs, etc, out there right now.

[chikkenguy]

i should say a little about the tibook fan noise. its not dreadful. its background noise. if youre in a smaller room it will be more noticeable(unless its totally dead), but not anything that is too big of a problem. for me at least, when i get my future studio setup in a year or so, im gonna make my own desk and have a little iso booth for the computer and use an external monitor and keyboard... its noisy enough that i want the silence it doesnt give me.

[jrsgodfrey]

"its noisy enough that i want the silence it doesnt give me"

Chicken, that's exactly what I wanted to know. I want to be able to sit right in front of the singer -- eyeball to eyeball. I need quiet.

I'm going to do a test on a friend's g3 800 ibook this weekend.

Thanks.

[death by chandelier]

I have a TiBook 667 that works great with my 828 (now 828 mkII) and AudioDesk. I've recorded up to 8 tracks with no problems and have mixed a song with 64 tracks and a lot of plug-ins (no problems). This was all done using the laptop's internal hard drive. I think any G4 with enough RAM will do the trick for you. I've tracked using a G3 iBook as well - it did the job but it struggled a bit.

As far as fan noise, like already said, it's not that loud. I have two thin angled foam pads that I sit my TiBook on that allows air to circulate under the laptop. This seems to cut down on the number and length of time the fan cuts on - rarely cuts on and doesn't stay on for long. But even when it is on I can still track without it being a problem noise-wise.