Phait Posted September 7, 2003 Share Posted September 7, 2003 Budget: $7500 == with 14" iBook == Fantom-S: $1685 from full compass M-Audio audio/midi interface used: $200 -/+ Apple iBook: $1500 AppleCare for iBook: $200 Total Range: $3600 == with 15" PowerBook == Fantom-S: $1685 from full compass M-Audio audio/midi interface used: $200 -/+ Apple PowerBook: $2000 AppleCare for PowerBook: $300 Total Range: $4200 And this doesn't include software. I did see on eBay a couple people were selling the Fantom-S 61 key for $500 to $600. I knew this seemed fishy so I asked both of them if anything was wrong with the board. They each replied stating nothing was wrong with them. One of them needed money quick. If I spent $500-600 on the Fantom-S that would bring the total ranges to $2415/$3015 which sounds better to me. Decisions, decisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phait Posted September 7, 2003 Author Share Posted September 7, 2003 I added everything else up and did some variations: * means "or" Fantom-S : $1685 Apple iBook 14" * : $1500 AppleCare iBook ** : $200 Apple Powerbook 15" * : $2000 AppleCare Powerbook ** : $300 M-Audio MIDI/Audio Interface * : $150 - $260 ^[ (Delta 410 or Quattro used)] Digidesign MBox w/ Pro Tools LE * : $250 - $300 Desktop studio monitor pair : $100 - $150 Firewire HD : $96 (80 gb) - $160 (160 gb) Emagic Logic 6 software (used) : $250 - $300 With iBook / Mbox = $4085 +/- With iBook / M-Audio = $3985 +/- With Powerbook / Mbox = $4685 +/- With Powerbook / M-Audio = $4585 +/- With iBook / Mbox / without Logic = $3835 +/- With Powerbook / Mbox / without Logic = $4435 +/- TOTAL RANGE: $3800 to $4700 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steadyb Posted September 7, 2003 Share Posted September 7, 2003 Is being mobile a must? (iBook, Powerbook) For that same computer budget, you could probably get a really fast dual processor G4 tower used. With the G5s coming out, I'll bet there are a lot of guys selling their dual 1.25GHz, 1Ghz, 867Mhz, or 800s very cheap. Of course if you must be able to pick up and go, then a tower may not be the right fit. Just an idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Klopmeyer Posted September 7, 2003 Share Posted September 7, 2003 Originally posted by steadyb: With the G5s coming out, I'll bet there are a lot of guys selling their dual 1.25GHz, 1Ghz, 867Mhz, or 800s very cheap.You said it. I saw a dual 1.25 with a gig of RAM for under $1000 the other day. Unbelievable! - Jeff Marketing Communications for MI/Pro Audio My solo music and stuff They Stole My Crayon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phait Posted September 7, 2003 Author Share Posted September 7, 2003 I've contemplated the need issue before, and I don't need portability but I would like to have it so I can work on things wherever I wish and share the latest work with others... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burningbusch Posted September 7, 2003 Share Posted September 7, 2003 I agree with the others. With laptop computers, heat, power consumption, weight and size are as important or more important than performance. Desktops aren't limited in this manner and are vastly more expandable and inherently more powerful. I had an iBook that I took on a get away. Between the ext hard drive, ext MIDI, ext audio, etc. all the USB cables and power supplies (they all have to have those power supplies) it was a rat's nest of cable. With a desktop, all of those things are inside the case, where they should be. Anyhow, I recommend thinking long and hard about this. Don't compromise what you do 360 days a year for a possible five day getaway. Busch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phait Posted September 7, 2003 Author Share Posted September 7, 2003 Thinking about some Edirol MA-10D's.. Question: can I plug these into the keyboard and the audio interface, or do I have to play through the audio interface with the computer on if I just want to hear the keyboard.. (just to play some and not do any recording) or should I also get a keyboard monitor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steadyb Posted September 7, 2003 Share Posted September 7, 2003 You could use headphones for just playing the keyboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steadyb Posted September 7, 2003 Share Posted September 7, 2003 Originally posted by Phait: I don't need portability but I would like to have it so I can work on things wherever I wish and share the latest work with others...As far as sharing goes, as long as you have a CD burner (or even better, DVD i.e.Superdrive), you can just drop whatever you're working on onto a disc and go. The performance to $$$ ratio will be way better with a desktop CPU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phait Posted September 8, 2003 Author Share Posted September 8, 2003 Thinking about some Edirol MA-10D's.. thoughts? Question: can I plug these into the keyboard and the audio interface, or do I have to play through the audio interface with the computer on if I just want to hear the keyboard.. (just to play some and not do any recording) or should I also get a keyboard monitor? Anyone? ^_^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steadyb Posted September 8, 2003 Share Posted September 8, 2003 Originally posted by Phait: Thinking about some Edirol MA-10D's.. thoughts? Question: can I plug these into the keyboard and the audio interface, or do I have to play through the audio interface with the computer on if I just want to hear the keyboard.. (just to play some and not do any recording) or should I also get a keyboard monitor? Anyone? ^_^posted 09-07-2003 12:43 AM You could use headphones for just playing the keyboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan South Posted September 8, 2003 Share Posted September 8, 2003 Dude, do yourself a favor and do NOT buy all of this stuff at the same time. The Black Knight always triumphs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phait Posted September 8, 2003 Author Share Posted September 8, 2003 Why not? BTW - I'm not using headphones 100% of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmoron13 Posted September 8, 2003 Share Posted September 8, 2003 because you're just asking for a headache!!!! get one thing at a time, get comfortable with it, then buy the next. Who knows, you might realize that what you thought you needed is just fluff. Also, you never know if someone has buggs, etc. It's like troubleshooting pc's: take everything off and try one thing at a time until you figure out the problem. You seem overwhelmed about what you need/want. Imagine the headaches when the stuff actually arrives. If you need this stuff to get paid NOW, then sure buy it, but for a home project, you're not gonna be losing contracts by buying it all upfront, though if you can swing a way to buy it all from the same place, they might throw you a deal. good luck and take your time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phait Posted September 8, 2003 Author Share Posted September 8, 2003 Well, take into account that: I can't really utilise the Fantom-S withouth the computer. I can't hear the Fantom-S enjoyably without a decent pair of studio monitors, I enjoy my ears and don't want to use headphones when I don't *need* to, I need an audio/midi interface to record the Fantom-S/guitar... It really isn't like I can buy one thing at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmoron13 Posted September 8, 2003 Share Posted September 8, 2003 Originally posted by Phait: Well, take into account that: I can't really utilise the Fantom-S withouth the computer. I can't hear the Fantom-S enjoyably without a decent pair of studio monitors, I enjoy my ears and don't want to use headphones when I don't *need* to, I need an audio/midi interface to record the Fantom-S/guitar... It really isn't like I can buy one thing at a time.for your budget, you can probably swindle ERR pry a pair of stupdiophile BX5's for $200 from GC. They list them at $300, but I got them to bring it down to $220 in june so you can probably get a better deal now. They have dual inputs (1/4" and XLR) so you can plug the Fantom in to it and not have to turn your laptop on. Even so, that's probably the bare minimum in terms of price for what you call an desktop studio monitors. Any cheaper and you start losing the price/functionality of them (like putting a 2litter 100hp engine in a mazeratti) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phait Posted September 8, 2003 Author Share Posted September 8, 2003 Is there a way I can route the speakers to the computer as well - so they act not only as monitors for keyboard but also speakers for the computer? I'm not familiar with 'XLR' sorry and as far as I know 1/4 is the fatter plug and 1/8 is the standard size i.e. on portable cd players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmoron13 Posted September 8, 2003 Share Posted September 8, 2003 XLR is what you usually see on microphone cables, but you can also get or make cables that are xlr on one end (to plug into the speakers) and 1/4" in the other end...also you can just get adapters to slide into xlr to make them 1/4"...in that case, yes you can hook up both Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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