a PC for a Mac guy

[alex matson]

Hola.
I'm going to be upgrading my wheezing G4 for a newer Mac in a few months. In the meantime, I'm currently thinking about purchasing a cheap PC for the net, cd burning (which I don't have at the moment), and I'm thinking about getting an old copy of Cool Edit Pro or something, to juat have a second stable recording platform. So....I don't want or need the latest gaming capabilities (all I've ever played is age of empires!), so can I get away with buying a $500 dell and I'll be fine?
If this is too big a subject to talk about here, perhaps someone could suggest another message board? Danke.

[eh91311]

Can you get by with a inexpensive Dell? Maybe, as long as it doesn't have onboard video and does not have a Celeron processor. Stick to IDE hard drives, get a 2nd IDE hard drive for audio, at least 512MB memory and a inexpensive soundcard.

For recording software, try Reaper 1.0; $40 shareware that works great.

[Mark Alan Miller]

eMachines! eMachines! Serious bang for the buck. Bought one. Then all of my (3) brothers did. Then my folks are looking at one. And several friends bought them too, based on my experiences... And we're getting one for my neice.


And, please bear in mind, I'm a MAC guy (currently here we have 2 Powerbooks, a G4 tower, and 2 G3s, although one of the G3s is being phased out...) But I'm really cross-platform. And thusly, the next machine I buy will be an Intel Mac. But if I was to buy another dedicated PC right now, it would be a... you guessed it...


(oh, I've had rather lousy experiences with new Dells, Gateways, and Compaqs... but the one new IBM I bought was a monster. A P2 (!) and it's still running to this day. And the Gateway (early P4) and Compaq (early P3) both run nicely now that they've been completely re-installed OS-wise...)

[markmeat]

I do almost everything on my $349 Wal-Mart special Compaq... hasn't falied me once (okay I did have to replace the power supply after I left it on in a lightning storm... I'm an idiot)... my last PC I actually built myself for around the same price, and it's still running, but it's not near as fast as the Compaq... of course it's about 6 years older.

If it's JUST to get on the internet and burn CD's... any el-cheapo will do, honestly... pick a brand, pick a price, and make Windows Update your first stop on the internet to update al the outdated drivers and shit that come stock on any cheap machine... then head over to lavasoft.com and get a free copy of AdAware to kill all the preloaded malware/spyware annoyances that made that computer SO CHEAP in the first place...

MEAT

[housepig]

if you're not doing multitrack recording beyond, say, 8 tracks at a time, then anything over a Pentium 3, 500mhz machine with 256MB will do the job.

go to your local independent computer store and either pick up the cheapest new machine they'll build you (probably $200-300) or grab a used / refurb job sitting on the shelf (my local is throwing down p4/1.7Ghz machines for $175, including keyboard, mouse, monitor & speakers).

[kayagum]

If you buy a used PC (or even a new one, if just to get rid of the add-on crap that manufacturers throw on the machines), reinstalling the OS from scratch does wonders. Every time I've done it, the PC runs great.

If this gives you any idea, I run Adobe Audition 1.5 on a 1.1GHz Celeron (from the PIII days), and although it wasn't the fastest DAW in the west, it ran just fine for my editing projects.

If you're doing more hard core stuff (like major PT), chipsets may come into play. But if this is a stopgap / backup / 2nd machine, no problemo.

BTW I will reiterate my assertion that Mac owners have just as many difficulties as PC owners when it comes to OS hell. Just search this board on any Mac OS codename on this board, and you'll see what I mean.

[alex matson]

Well, as a mac guy I'll say you're right. It's so confusing right now. Do I buy an Intel machine and then hope for Cubase SX4 to be a good version, and all the other software I'd like to be available for Intel? Do I buy 2nd gen G5 and save money, but risk being shut out again and investing all this money on stuff that may leave me in the position I'm currently in with my g4/os9, where I can't listen to any cool online radio stations, any flash sites, stuck w/ netscape browser, media players no longer working, ifilm.com crashes my computer, and who knows what surprises next week? I remember reading that SX2 was slow on all but the fastest macs, and I thought, wtf? Computers are 4x faster and an updated recording program doesn't work as well?
The thing is, for me, being able to make a record at home like Oh Inverted World or maybe Exile in Guyville is of course much more about doing the work in my head and on my instruments than on a computer. I wish someone would make a Radar four track. Something that is simple and easy to use and sounds amazing. What makes Radar's sound as good as they apparently do? Given the way technology keeps getting more powerful, why does it still take thousands of dollars to buy into a system of that quality?
Anyway....those eMachines look pretty cool. I think they're made by Gateway, according to a google search. It's kind of liberating to even think about buying a computer for $500 instead of 1500-2500+ .
Thanks guys.

[Mr. Dipity]

Hola.
I'm going to be upgrading my wheezing G4 for a newer Mac in a few months. In the meantime, I'm currently thinking about purchasing a cheap PC for the net, cd burning (which I don't have at the moment), and I'm thinking about getting an old copy of Cool Edit Pro or something, to juat have a second stable recording platform. So....I don't want or need the latest gaming capabilities (all I've ever played is age of empires!), so can I get away with buying a $500 dell and I'll be fine?

$500 would be overkill unless you use it as a workstation.

I recomend that you purchase either fxteleport or, if you have a mostly analog studio, you rewire your signal chain to let you bus stuff to the pc on the fly, and get a live effects host. There are so many useful pc plugs for cheap/free, that you will never see on the mac. There are even some simple convolution processor, which would work great in such a pseudo outboard configuration.

[alex matson]

$500 would be overkill unless you use it as a workstation.

I recomend that you purchase either fxteleport or, if you have a mostly analog studio, you rewire your signal chain to let you bus stuff to the pc on the fly, and get a live effects host. There are so many useful pc plugs for cheap/free, that you will never see on the mac. There are even some simple convolution processor, which would work great in such a pseudo outboard configuration.

Well, a few things. Yeah, I do want it primarily as a workstation. I'd just like to be able to check out music and other stuff on the net. So I'm thinking about this eMachine (for a couple hundred bucks more than the el cheapo, why not?)
http://emachines.com/products/products.html?prod=T6534

I have no other recording platform other than Cubase VST 5/32, which is six year old software for the Mac OS 9.

How did you know I was interested in the convolution processor?!! That's exactly the reason I was thinking about getting Adobe Audition. Maybe it's a VST plugin that works with any program, but the Shins/Cool Edit Pro article made it sound really interesting - not just an effect but a way to create your own unique stuff.

I've been following the Apple developments, and here's what it looks like at the moment:
Mini, about to be upgraded to Intel. 5400 rpm drive. Around $500. Wait and see.
iMac: about to be upgraded. hard to install upgrades yourself. $1200 range
G5: dead end technology, useful for how much longer? Probably getting much cheaper used soon.
MacPro: More money than I paid for my last several cars combined. I paid $1900 for my G4, which would now be a dubious gift to a third world child.
"No cd burner? Caramba!" At least with a $500 PC, I can't be burned too hard. Am I missing something?

[kayagum]

Mini, about to be upgraded to Intel. 5400 rpm drive. Around $500. Wait and see.

Minis are available today with Intel (solo and duo).

It's one option I'm eyeballing.

[alex matson]

Minis are available today with Intel (solo and duo).

It's one option I'm eyeballing.

True...but they're due for another upgrade. Know this site?
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

[Mr. Dipity]

$500 would be overkill unless you use it as a workstation.

I recomend that you purchase either fxteleport or, if you have a mostly analog studio, you rewire your signal chain to let you bus stuff to the pc on the fly, and get a live effects host. There are so many useful pc plugs for cheap/free, that you will never see on the mac. There are even some simple convolution processor, which would work great in such a pseudo outboard configuration.

Well, a few things. Yeah, I do want it primarily as a workstation. I'd just like to be able to check out music and other stuff on the net. So I'm thinking about this eMachine (for a couple hundred bucks more than the el cheapo, why not?)
http://emachines.com/products/products.html?prod=T6534

I have no other recording platform other than Cubase VST 5/32, which is six year old software for the Mac OS 9.

How did you know I was interested in the convolution processor?!! That's exactly the reason I was thinking about getting Adobe Audition. Maybe it's a VST plugin that works with any program, but the Shins/Cool Edit Pro article made it sound really interesting - not just an effect but a way to create your own unique stuff.

I've been following the Apple developments, and here's what it looks like at the moment:
Mini, about to be upgraded to Intel. 5400 rpm drive. Around $500. Wait and see.
iMac: about to be upgraded. hard to install upgrades yourself. $1200 range
G5: dead end technology, useful for how much longer? Probably getting much cheaper used soon.
MacPro: More money than I paid for my last several cars combined. I paid $1900 for my G4, which would now be a dubious gift to a third world child.
"No cd burner? Caramba!" At least with a $500 PC, I can't be burned too hard. Am I missing something?

Moreover, you will have access to hundreds of free and cheap programs that don't make it to the mac.

Free convolver VST:

http://www.kvraudio.com/get/2097.html

$20 Convolver VST:

http://www.kvraudio.com/get/1469.html

Donationware VST host for using a pc as an outboard unit:

http://www.tobybear.de/p_minihost.html

$60 more feature-laden VST host:

http://www.spinaudio.com/products.php?id=38

Invaluable (but more pricey) network based routing tool (run your pc VSTs on your mac, save all you settings etc, with each song, do automation etc, etc):

http://fxteleport.com

[alex matson]

Howdy...
1. Was just talking with a bandmate and told him about my decision to buy a PC, and he said, "remember the other day when we were listening to our demo on the engineer's pc, and we were getting those bursts of digital noise? Every PC I've ever tried to work on does something like that. Macs just work, and for me, the bottom line is that I get more actual recording done on Macs."

2. Would someone who knows mind looking at the specs on this model and tell me what they think? Again, I'm not looking to be a commercial studio, just want to demo out my tunes up to, say 24 tracks, probably half that number typically.
http://emachines.com/products/products.html?prod=T6536

[Mr. Dipity]

Howdy...
1. Was just talking with a bandmate and told him about my decision to buy a PC, and he said, "remember the other day when we were listening to our demo on the engineer's pc, and we were getting those bursts of digital noise? Every PC I've ever tried to work on does something like that. Macs just work, and for me, the bottom line is that I get more actual recording done on Macs."

You have a point - not the one your bandmate is trying to make, but a valid one nonetheless. It is obvious that your engineer doesn't know the first thing about his computer, or he wouldn't be having those problems. From what you have posted, the likely reason is simply that he is trying to get a cheap underpowered computer to do the task he has at hand.

Or, perhaps his configuration is wrong - my room mate was having clicks and pops on his G5 last weekend, until I should him how to increase the latency, and set the audio system so he wasn't using conflicting audio outputs. And that's the main point: Unless you have a competent person to get you up and running on your pc, you could spend a lot more time dealing with 'stuff' that would be very simple to resolve, if you knew what was going on.

So, if you aren't comfortable around computers, and have only limited knowledge of them, you are probably better off sticking to one or the other side of the fence...

[housepig]

1. Was just talking with a bandmate and told him about my decision to buy a PC, and he said, "remember the other day when we were listening to our demo on the engineer's pc, and we were getting those bursts of digital noise? Every PC I've ever tried to work on does something like that.

then he's been around some fucked up pc's. mine have never had that problem, and I've been working on audio on pc's for 10 years.

Macs just work,

... until they don't. I remember seeing all the "switch" ads saying "Macs never freeze or crash", and thinking bitterly about the hour I spent trying to open up a document on our new G5, which froze and needed a hard reboot every time. I finally gave up, took it to a pc, copied the file and put the proper pc extension on it, opened it and spooled it to the print server, in about two minutes, including the walk to the other desk. gee, maybe I should conclude from this that "all G5's freeze when you try to open a document"...

and for me, the bottom line is that I get more actual recording done on Macs."

which I'm sure is true - I get more recording done on PCs because I don't have any Macs to record on.