Computer for Logic 8 on a Budget

[bassman101]

Hey guys,

 

I'm getting ready to cut a new album with my band in my home studio. I have a very outdated setup, having not recorded in several years: Digital Performer (eek) 2.7 with a G4 CPU and a Ramsa DA7 board. I had the pleasure of working in Logic 8 a few months ago in someone else's studio and I was hooked. I am therefore looking to upgrade to Logic Pro 8 (but keep my current board).

 

Obviously I need a new machine, but as it stands my budget is really no more than $1200. Factoring in the price of Logic, that gives me around $700 for a machine. I can pick up a G5 PowerMac 1.8ghz for around that amount on craigslist and upgrade the RAM. This was my plan but I recently read that Logic 8 really does not run well on non-Intel machines.

 

My options are:

-Buy a G5 and run Logic 8 (will this be sufficient processing power?)

-Buy a G5 and run Logic 7 (what will I lose?)

-Sell my kidney and somehow get an Intel machine

 

Is a G5 singlecore good enough?

[STILL]

I would run 7 and be happy in your shoes...it's very good, but the learning curve will be a little harder...

[DaniGordon]

Forget about G5s.

 

Any Mac Intel today is faster than any Power Mac G5 single.

 

I said ANY.

 

Well, Intel Macs are even faster than Power Macs G5 Dual, a Pro beast not too long ago.

 

For example: A humble Mac mini Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz with 2 GB of RAM is faster - CPU wise - than all Power Mac G5 Dual models.

Just the G5 Quad is faster.

 

So, better go with an Intel Mac.

A G5 is almost obsolete.

 

The Core 2 Duo processors are a completely different story that PPC G5s.

Much more powerful and has a much more modern architecture.

 

Plan a little more, save some more, and get an iMac Intel.

 

You won't regret the investment.

 

Also, you didn't tell us what you are intending to use as audio interface.

This is important to recommend any machine.

[Waterboy]

Mac Mini.

End of story.

 

8)

 

Now serving ticket #27 .... ticket #27

[bassman101]

Thanks for the advice so far. The board I will be using, the Ramsa WR-DA7, has A/D converters built in. Its digital outputs are in ADAT format and I'm currently using a MOTU 2408mk2 which converts this signal and sends it to a PCI card in my CPU.

 

Will this current setup work with a new computer? And am I correct in saying that I need a tower (vs. a Mini or iMac) to get the PCI slots?

[m-m-m]

refurbished macs are your friend ...

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=44BD9AA1&nclm=CertifiedMac

take note of the $999 imac (a bit outside your budget, but a really good machine ... and a good deal) .... also the mac mini for $649 would be in your budget and would also be a decent machine provided that you upgraded the ram (I think you could get 2x1g matched chips from OWC for $50 or so)

[maeghan]

Mac Mini.

End of story.

 

8)

 

Now serving ticket #27 .... ticket #27

 

i second that ... (notice my signature ... my mac mini is the center of my workstation and it works great)

[afh100]

Hi there

 

I made the mistake of thinking a mac mini with 1.83 Core Duo would be quick enough for Logic - it isn't.

 

Essentially the processor isn't the whole story - yes it's quicker on paper than a high spec G5 but:

 

hard drive is slower

lower spec bus / cache etc

 

you're essentially working on a low spec laptop without a screen and it isn't really built to deal with lots of audio. I managed to get 2 inputs going in at once but with loads of Core overload messages and stops. It's good enough for play back and midi but nothing involving lots of DSP.

 

that said I've seen a friend running 8 inputs into an iMac (the natty new steel 70s ones) Core 2 Duo without the fans even coming on...

 

best

alex

[DaniGordon]

Hi there

 

I made the mistake of thinking a mac mini with 1.83 Core Duo would be quick enough for Logic - it isn't.

 

Essentially the processor isn't the whole story - yes it's quicker on paper than a high spec G5 but:

 

hard drive is slower

lower spec bus / cache etc

 

you're essentially working on a low spec laptop without a screen and it isn't really built to deal with lots of audio. I managed to get 2 inputs going in at once but with loads of Core overload messages and stops. It's good enough for play back and midi but nothing involving lots of DSP.

 

that said I've seen a friend running 8 inputs into an iMac (the natty new steel 70s ones) Core 2 Duo without the fans even coming on...

 

best

alex

 

Are you talking about a Core Duo 1.83?

 

Because I have a mini Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz ( there's a 2 in the middle! ) / 2 GB of RAM that gives me better performance than all Power Macs G5 Dual (2.7 included) I know.

And a performance very close to iMacs Aluminum and some MB Pros.

 

Of course, I'm using a FW drive for my projects.

 

So, are you talking Core Duo or Core 2 DUo?

 

Core 2 Duos are faster.

 

Mine is 2.0 GHz with 667 MHz System Bus and 4 MB L2 Cache.

[DaniGordon]

Forgot to say that with this mini C2D 2.0 GHz I can:

 

- Easily record over 16 simultaneous audio tracks.

 

- Play 24 EVP88s along with 24 Space Designers and 24 Compressors at the same time + 1 Ultrabeat to give the groove (sending picture running this in Logic 7 Pro a few month ago)

 

- Play 23/24 Sculptures with 184 notes being played

 

- Run hundreds of plugins of all kinds.

 

- Play all Logic 8 demo sessions with 64 or 128 buffer size.

 

So, this mini Core 2 Duo is doing very well for what I need.

 

Of course, it's obviously not a MacPro, or for scoring movies with 100, 200 Instruments, but it has more power than a friend's Power Mac G5 Dual 2.5, that used to be a top dream pro machine just 3 years ago.

And for 700 bucks.

 

But as I said, the iMac will give you a slightly better performance.

Maybe 3 or 4 more Sculptures.

[DaniGordon]

And two little videos I did showing this very mini C2D 2.0 playing Logic Pro 7 (for G5) demo song and one of Logic 8 Studio demo songs.

 

http://tinyurl.com/yoynvd (Logic 8)

 

http://tinyurl.com/ywmd47

[bassman101]

The only problem again, that I can see with the Mac Mini is the lack of PCI slots (at least as far as I can tell). Like I said, the MOTU 2408 I use runs off of a PCI interface and I don't have the funds to configure a whole new setup. Is there some sort of workaround or interface that will provide the same results?

 

Also, my needs are fairly modest in terms of tracking. My four-piece pop-rock outfit won't track much more than 8 channels at a time--bass, guitar, vox, and 5-6 drum mics. The main reason I want to move to Logic is for the production type stuff--all the DSP and sequencing and textures that I have in my head. As long as I can run a decent amount of plugins and sequence and things like that, I'm not going to be tracking an orchestra.

 

Thanks,

Dylan

[DaniGordon]

The only problem again, that I can see with the Mac Mini is the lack of PCI slots (at least as far as I can tell). Like I said, the MOTU 2408 I use runs off of a PCI interface and I don't have the funds to configure a whole new setup. Is there some sort of workaround or interface that will provide the same results?

 

Also, my needs are fairly modest in terms of tracking. My four-piece pop-rock outfit won't track much more than 8 channels at a time--bass, guitar, vox, and 5-6 drum mics. The main reason I want to move to Logic is for the production type stuff--all the DSP and sequencing and textures that I have in my head. As long as I can run a decent amount of plugins and sequence and things like that, I'm not going to be tracking an orchestra.

 

Thanks,

Dylan

 

Ok, that's why we need to know LPH member's audio hardware setup to better help.

 

So, as you need a PCI slot, no mini or iMac would suit you.

 

I'd recommend going for a used Quad Power Mac G5 then.

Dual G5s are weak nowadays and obsolete.

 

Well, I wouldn't buy any PPC Mac these days.

But this is a personal choice of course.