mosriteforum.com

In the next few weeks, I will be in the market for a new computer to do audio recording. Now my current set is woefully inadequate for the task and it is way past its prime. Currently I am running XP using Cubase LE (because it came with my Zoom H4 recorder), Line 6 UX2 Tone Port, M Audio M-Tron with a Key Rig MIDI controller.

I have been looking at
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/CSToweri564/ and a 24 inch monitor. and http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/iMac27i7-29/

My main goal here is to have a system powerful enough that I can:

Record/edit/master music I record at home as well as mastering live recordings of my band.

Set up pod-casts and radio plays. My wife is currently in grad school going for an MFA in Play-writing and I would also like to have something that will function for her without me constantly fixing a problem. We usually do a radio version of her plays to see how the dialog sounds when read.

Have something that I don't have constantly upgrade almost immediately after I get the system.


PC or Mac? Of the two systems I am looking at, what would be the pros and cons of each? I have always used a PC so what kind of learning curve am I looking at if I decide to get the Mac?

I know there are folks here that swear by Apple and some PC only, but if some of the experts could chime in with informed opinions of both it would be greatly appreciated.

Hey, Vincent--

Once you go Mac, you never go back.

--Jim

JimPage wrote:Hey, Vincent--

Once you go Mac, you never go back.

--Jim

Yep!

I used to use Macs at work, I hated them. I'm too attached to the right mouse button.

I have an iMac which came with GarageBand. Although I haven't learned the program it seems very powerful for recording music. I also hear good things about Pro Tools. Recently we added new Sony Viao laptops and they seem to be working very well. The last one I had served me well for five years.

Hey--

One of my designers has a two-button mouse on her Mac, so she can right click. Don't know who makes it, but I used it the other day just to see how it worked. You can configure the second button to do whatever you want it to.

Back before I went to using Mac laptops instead of their desktop units, I loved the old Kensington trackball. It had four buttons that you could program so that you could actually hit chords, as it were, to use the buttons in combinations that you could configure to your taste. You could also throw away the trackball that came with the unit and use a pool ball, which looked nifty and worked great because it was a bit heavier than the stock trackball.

Don't know if they are still being made.

The first thing I do when I get a new computer is disable the Cap Lock key. I hate that thing. Some of my PC friends have had me do that on their computers, too.

--Jim