New tiny mac

[r33k]

Originally posted by SoundEngine.com:

The RAM concerns are definitely important to consider.

 

My fantasy though, is that with this box, a backpack (with Keyboard and Mouse), and an LCD display, I have access to a fairly portable 8 track recording solution (of course, with an 8-in Firewire interface and GarageBand).

What would be the advantage to this setup over an iBook?

 

Curious,

[burningbusch]

Originally posted by Michael Erwin:

Originally posted by SoundEngine.com:

The RAM concerns are definitely important to consider.

 

My fantasy though, is that with this box, a backpack (with Keyboard and Mouse), and an LCD display, I have access to a fairly portable 8 track recording solution (of course, with an 8-in Firewire interface and GarageBand).

What would be the advantage to this setup over an iBook?

 

Curious,

Very little. This is essentially just a Powerbook without keyboard, track ball and screen. So for portability, the laptop is still the better choice.

 

But I think it's closer to a Powerbook than iBook. The RAM is the same speed as the Powerbook and CPU speeds more closely match the Powerbooks. Note that the RAM is the smaller size chip found in notebooks and not the larger, desktop size chips.

 

On thing to consider, if you already have a computer and want to add this to your setup, is using a USB KVM switching device. I've used ones that allow switching between Macs and PCs and they work OK. They can be a bit slow to switch, so if you're doing a lot of switching it's a pain. But an occasional switch to check on your soft synth machine might make sense. Saves the expense and real estate of mouse/keyboard/display.

 

Regarding the RAM, I wouldn't be surprised if all Apple products carried a similar disclaimer. If that's how you choose to use to do it's your perogative. I prefer to do it myself.

 

Busch.

[bleen]

Originally posted by zeronyne:

Except no gigabit ethernet, which I believe is a requirement.

Not true.

[SoundEngine.com]

Originally posted by Michael Erwin:

Originally posted by SoundEngine.com:

The RAM concerns are definitely important to consider.

 

My fantasy though, is that with this box, a backpack (with Keyboard and Mouse), and an LCD display, I have access to a fairly portable 8 track recording solution (of course, with an 8-in Firewire interface and GarageBand).

What would be the advantage to this setup over an iBook?

 

Curious,

Good point.

 

Not much, actually, other than more control over the LCD display size.

 

--SCP

[JeffLearman]

GarageBand is a great DAW for folks who don't want to get too technical or are just getting started. You can record serious music using it.

 

However, the limitations wouldn't please someone expecting a replacement for Logic:

 

- 16/44k format only

- no MIDI output (!) -- works with builtin synth & AU plugins only

- no MIDI export

 

For those of us with keyboards whose sounds we want to record using MIDI, GB just isn't up to the job.

 

If I'm mistaken about any of these limitations, please let me know. These are limitations of GB v1, and weren't listed as enhancements for GB2, so I assume they're still limitations.

 

Another nuisance is the poor meter design. They're small, hard to read from a distance, and aren't labeled in dB. Worse yet, they go from yellow to orange to read all within -1 dBFS to nearly 0dBFS. It should be at least 3 dB per color.

 

But for a non-techie trying to learn PC recording, or focus more on music and less on tech, it's a great program and very well designed in many ways, despite a few flaws (including some I didn't mention).