Anybody (except him) performing with an iMac G5?

SongCarver · Post by **SongCarver** » Mon May 30, 2005 7:19 am

hi all..

I'm looking into an iMac for performing with.. I do a fair bit of CPU intensive stuff in live, but i want to stay mac (due to musolomo AU and others)

looking at updating my poor powerbook 667 in the next month or so, and need your help.

the powerbooks are looking a little dejected these days...and even if they get an update I'm hestitant to buy the 1.0 of anything. The iMac g5s (now second gen) are looking really nice...

1) Nice monitor, reasonably portable setup (stand comes off if required)
2) G5, faster CPU + faster bus (667) than powerbooks(167) and mini
3) Faster, bigger hard disk
5) you can put 2gb ram in them
6) 2nd gen should have ironed out sqeaky fans
7) audio in (for emergencies)

Anybody care to comment??

heres some prepared answers to thoughts i may coming my way

1) No battery backup!.. well I'm running a MOTU 828 as well, and if power falters I'd need to restart Live anyway

2) weird case/ hard to carry ... well I might get one of those custom packs, or maybe just take the back off and lay the thing flat or something

3) heavy... yes they are

4) why not PC .... mac suits me for various reasons

Let me know what you think! Please share your experience
:D

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Mon May 30, 2005 7:32 am

yeah, get a custom pack, and you're pretty damned close to the portability of a 17" inch laptop system anyway. Go for it!

Benshik · Post by **Benshik** » Mon May 30, 2005 8:45 am

Im quite in the same situation:
I begin to seriously lack Power with my Book 667. Strangely enough, I downloaded 1 gigabite of video material few days ago (which left 9 gig free on my HD) Can't explain why, but everything started to go extremely slow...

Would an external HD increase peformance? Is my disk too fragmented?

As a result,
Im also considering Imacs, since PB G5 take so long to come...

Ben

meantown · Post by **meantown** » Tue May 31, 2005 3:24 am

So no ones said if they are using an Imac without any issues. I wish they had Firewire 800. I'm a little leary of regular firewire. Can anyone say whether firewire has any impact on useage versus a regular PCI card? I'm a Mac user and want to stay using Mac for peace of mind mostly. The Imacs do look like a reasonably good portable solution.

Geraldo · Post by **Geraldo** » Tue May 31, 2005 5:55 am

I have had my 20" 2ghz iMac for about a month and I love it. However it is really heavy and I woud not want to lug it around. I use a MOTU 828 and it is fast and runs Live beautifully. No issues here. Already posted my stats on the cpu thread. 29 - 30% with the test file. It has exceeded my expectations. I had an 800 mhz Powerbook and Live was getting a little too much for it. The new iMac is rock solid.

drush · Post by **drush** » Tue May 31, 2005 7:54 am

Benshik wrote:...(which left 9 gig free on my HD) Can't explain why, but everything started to go extremely slow

your mac will have a lot of problems if you fill up the hard drive. you should generally leave about 20% free.

robin · Post by **robin** » Tue May 31, 2005 2:54 pm

drush wrote:
Benshik wrote:...(which left 9 gig free on my HD) Can't explain why, but everything started to go extremely slow
your mac will have a lot of problems if you fill up the hard drive. you should generally leave about 20% free.

i find that anything up to the last 2GB left is ok.

you're pushing things if you have any less than that left in my experience.

popsicko · Post by **popsicko** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 9:34 am

I use an iMac G5, 2 powerbooks, 3 Korg Kontrol 49's and 2 828's live. Works great. I bought a large mixer bag that fits the 17inch perfectly!!
http://www.gigskinz.com/

I believe the model I have is GSMIXL. Gig Skinz Mixer Large?
Sturdy bag with lots of pockets. I found it at Guitar Center. They had the same computer as me. I just took it off their counter and put it in the bag. It fit.

Hope this helps.
_brad

ernene · Post by **ernene** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 11:29 am

quite in the same situation:
I begin to seriously lack Power with my Book 667. Strangely enough, I downloaded 1 gigabite of video material few days ago (which left 9 gig free on my HD) Can't explain why, but everything started to go extremely slow...

I have 6,79 g left and my 1g powerbook's running as always did... I do have 1 gb of RAM... and run a maintenance application almost everyday to keep things ok, tight, clear.

Anyway, I don't know you SongCarver, but what I can see here and everywhere I'll go, sorry i really will go for an iMac G5 since I need another computer for a more studio dedicated use. And I don't mind if Live is a bit cpu intensive on a mac... I can handle that, but my pbook's begining tu suffer...

So thanks for the info.

subterFUSE · Post by **subterFUSE** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 12:20 pm

I begin to seriously lack Power with my Book 667. Strangely enough, I downloaded 1 gigabite of video material few days ago (which left 9 gig free on my HD) Can't explain why, but everything started to go extremely slow...

Would an external HD increase peformance? Is my disk too fragmented?

No. You're just finding out that Macintosh is lagging behind the PC market in terms of hardware performance, that's all.

Go with the iMac G5 if you want to stick with Mac. The PowerBooks are obsolete.... and outrageously expensive.

plainclothes · Post by **plainclothes** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 2:31 pm

You might want to take the fan noise issue seriously, and check out how many threads this has generated on the iMac discussion boards.

I have not used my iMac to perform, but I was surprised and happy to read of Popsiko's success -- however, I suspect he/she might not be making particularly quiet music...

In my apartment, during a hot Brooklyn summer, the fans come on quite often, and my music I make is quiet enough that I have to monitor only through my AKG K171s. Maybe in the winter it won't be so bad. Of course, if you have AC it might be fine.

Having said that, the iMac is awesome with Live, especially if you max out the RAM. I can finally load Reaktor 4 plug-ins without danger of implosion. I sold my TiBook 867/1 GB to pay for the iMac and I don't miss the TiBook at all.

j.

dh187 · Post by **dh187** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 6:40 pm

My band uses a 1.6 Ghz Imac G5 with 1.25Gb RAM live on stage weekly. We bought an ILugger custom carrying case online somewhere. It's definitely the most bang for your buck in the Mac world. Our's runs flawlessly, we've never had a problem with it. We run very low latency. Also we use it for production, it's the shit.
DH

Livewire · Post by **Livewire** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 3:58 am

if you get the imac make sure you get an external hardrive as well.

Anybody (except him) performing with an iMac G5?

Anybody (except him) performing with an iMac G5?

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