Audio Interfaces Finder We've been making recording interfaces for a long time. Whether you use Mac®, Windows®, or iOS®, we have an interface that fits your application and budget. Whether you use Mac®, Windows®, or iOS®, we have an interface that fits your application and budget. Logic Pro X remains popular for recording work, as do the cross-platform Cubase, Ableton Live and Pro Tools. Best studio Mac for musicians: iMac 5K. When working in a studio, an iMac offers a.
The 5400 RPM drives in the latest minis are FAST. I bought one and compared read/write times versus my 2008 17' macbook pro with a 200 gig 7200 RPM drive in it. The times were faster, and in some cases much, much faster with the mini and 5400 drive. It really blew my mind. The reason i did the test is because after I loaded up the mini and started working on it, it seemed so darn fast. My 17' macbook pro is a 2.4ghz model, and the mini was 2.53 ghz, both with 4 gigs of ram. Yet the mini felt like a speed demon on some tasks.
Bottom line, unless you regularly record 24 tracks of 96K audio through a firewire port, I can't imagine one case where the speed of that internal drive will matter. Best part is, for under $100 bucks, you can upgrade the internal to a 320 or 500 gig 7200 anyway.
My plan is to use the existing drive for a year or so, and when the 7200 internals get even cheaper, take a look at that time to see if I even need to bother.
Bottom line, unless you regularly record 24 tracks of 96K audio through a firewire port, I can't imagine one case where the speed of that internal drive will matter. Best part is, for under $100 bucks, you can upgrade the internal to a 320 or 500 gig 7200 anyway.
My plan is to use the existing drive for a year or so, and when the 7200 internals get even cheaper, take a look at that time to see if I even need to bother.
Jan 30, 2010 9:49 AM
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Recording Studio App
Currently we have a sweet but basic set-up of Rode's NT1-A with a Focusrite Saffire straight into the MacBook Pro (2.4GHz with 250GB hard disk/2GB RAM) but will find that that is not enough for our purposes.
What is it about that setup that's not getting the job done for you? That MBP should be more than capable of recording the sort of instruments and performers you've mentioned.
Do I need a pre-amp, whatever that is?
No, that's what the Saffire does; boost the output of the mics and instruments up to professional level and interface them with the computer.
As to software, Cubase is really good, but it might well be overkill for what you are taking about. You might want to instead consider Logic Express. It's a natural step up from GarageBand and a lot less expensive than Cubase. If you end up needing more capabilities than Logic Express can provide, Apple sells an upgrade to Logic Pro.
What is it about that setup that's not getting the job done for you? That MBP should be more than capable of recording the sort of instruments and performers you've mentioned.
Do I need a pre-amp, whatever that is?
No, that's what the Saffire does; boost the output of the mics and instruments up to professional level and interface them with the computer.
As to software, Cubase is really good, but it might well be overkill for what you are taking about. You might want to instead consider Logic Express. It's a natural step up from GarageBand and a lot less expensive than Cubase. If you end up needing more capabilities than Logic Express can provide, Apple sells an upgrade to Logic Pro.