NickWritesMusic Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Hi everyone, I'm brand new to the forum. I've been using Logic Express 7 on my old MacBook for a few years now (most of what I do is notation in Finale anyway, so it's been fine), but finally decided to go for a massive upgrade. Yesterday I bought an iMac, 3.06 DuoCore, 8 GB of RAM. I've got a MIDI controller I like. I'm getting Logic Studio tomorrow. And Yamaha HS50Ms are in the mail. Guess I'm looking for the "what else do I need advice" that this forum is really good at. I had been planning on getting an Apogee Duet for the bit of audio that I do, but just saw the Duet 2 and am wondering if it's worth the money for all the extra options and the 192 upgrade from the previous one. Also wondering about external hard drives. I should be fine with the 500 GB included in the comp for what I do, but it seems like every studio recommends one. Is that for samples, or keeping entire projects, or what now? Basically, with what I've got now (iMac, Logic Studio, nice monitors, nice MIDI controller), where would you go from here? Also, any orchestral sample library recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splicktik Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 It depends, if you will need to record vocals and instruments I would get a good interface depending on the inputs you need i would go from apogee one or duet to bigger interface; a good condenser mic and/or cardioid depending on what you plan to record; and if you have the budget a nice preamp for the mics. Also very important, treat your room in order to have the best sound in there. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triplets Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 You can get the Duet 2 or, Get a less expensive but also great interface like a Presonus Firestudio Mobile with more features and midi, and buy an external FW800 drive to save your projects to. Because you only have 1 FW port on your iMac, you can daisy-chain using one port: iMac-Fw800 drive-Presonus FW interface. That's why the FW drives and interfaces have 2 ports in the back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickWritesMusic Posted May 20, 2011 Author Share Posted May 20, 2011 Thanks guys. I can already see how awesome and helpful being in this forum is going to be. That's a good point about the room. I've got a lot of reflective surfaces, so I think most audio tracking is going to be done in my roommate's closet (it's a walk in, and the clothes will kill standing waves). I should probably put up something to keep them from messing with mixing too though. I'm okay on mics actually, a friend who is studying abroad left all of his with me. Good tip on the firewire drives. I really don't know much about hard drives, but was looking at the Western Digital My Book Studio series. Any recommendations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triplets Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Buy any hard drive that is not labeled "green", meaning it spins down to save energy. You want all the energy you can get for audio applications. You can check www.macsales.com for some external HD options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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