Tried searching but couldn't find a relevant topic, so apologies if there was one and I missed it.
I'm about to make the switch from PC to Mac. Specifically, I'm going to get a Mac Mini (Intel Duo Core 1.6) with 2Gb of RAM.
Q1: I have a boxed Live 5 purchased at the end of May 06 direct from Ableton. Is the UB version already on there or just an OSX version? If the latter, do I need to install from the CDs first or do I need to download a whole new install?
Q2: I've chosen to go with the Mac Mini simply because it's all I can afford. Is anybody running Live (or Reason) on one, and if so, what's the performance like? I'm used to running on a P4/2.4 so I'm curious as to whether to expect more or less performance.
Q3: With specific thought to recording audio into Live from my hardware synths - is the internal audio of a decent standard, or is an external audio interface an essential purchase?
Thanks,
Gwydi
MacIntel, a few questions
Re: MacIntel, a few questions
While I don't use a Mac Mini (PowerBook G4 and within the last week, new MacBook Pro), I've only ever used the built-in line in, and it's been just fine. I can foresee applications where I'll need more than two channels in, and when I have to do that I'll have to buy a new interface, but if you're doing two channels maximum at a time, the built-in audio should do the job well. (If you're getting weird results, check the Audio MIDI Setup in /Applications/Utilities--for example, my oscilloscope program always takes the left input channel down 15 or so dB, and I have to reset the audio input after using it.)gwydi wrote:Q3: With specific thought to recording audio into Live from my hardware synths - is the internal audio of a decent standard, or is an external audio interface an essential purchase?
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Michael-SW
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- Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 4:05 pm
- Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Re: MacIntel, a few questions
It will be a bit faster, but not massively so. Check out the Live 5 performance test thread to see how much.gwydi wrote:
Q2: I've chosen to go with the Mac Mini simply because it's all I can afford. Is anybody running Live (or Reason) on one, and if so, what's the performance like? I'm used to running on a P4/2.4 so I'm curious as to whether to expect more or less performance.
But unless your current PC has blown up or your really want "OSX now!", I can't really see the point of switching to a MacMini. Why not wait for Live 6 with dual core support and perhaps save some more money and buy a Macbook?
Re: MacIntel, a few questions
I kind of disagree... esp when upgrading to Live 6 you should be about twice as fast, or even faster...Michael-SW wrote:It will be a bit faster, but not massively so. Check out the Live 5 performance test thread to see how much.gwydi wrote:
Q2: I've chosen to go with the Mac Mini simply because it's all I can afford. Is anybody running Live (or Reason) on one, and if so, what's the performance like? I'm used to running on a P4/2.4 so I'm curious as to whether to expect more or less performance.
mbp 2.66, osx 10.6.8, 8GB ram.
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Michael-SW
- Posts: 2054
- Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 4:05 pm
- Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Of course it will be much faster when Live 6 is out! But Live 6 isn't even in beta yet. And once it is out, there might even be a few bugs left to iron out...
So, once Live 6 is ready to rock, who knows what Apple and/or Intel has been up to? Or if gwydi has saved enough money for a Macbook. Or...
But intil then there isn't really any compelling reason to switch from a 2.4 GHz Pentium to a low end MacMini, unless you want to run OSX right now this instant.
So, once Live 6 is ready to rock, who knows what Apple and/or Intel has been up to? Or if gwydi has saved enough money for a Macbook. Or...
But intil then there isn't really any compelling reason to switch from a 2.4 GHz Pentium to a low end MacMini, unless you want to run OSX right now this instant.
In and of itself, no. The reason for the timing is, I've got a number of computers here and one of them is on its last legs and really does need replacing straight away, so rather than buying another PC I'm switching to the Mac and my old PC will replace the dying one.Michael-SW wrote:But intil then there isn't really any compelling reason to switch from a 2.4 GHz Pentium to a low end MacMini
Thanks everyone. I ran some benchmarks of both Reason and Live last night and I'll run the same ones on the Mac Mini. It will be interesting to compare!
Which version? Apparently Reason 3.0.5 is UB...snowtires wrote:i wouldn't expect too much out of reason before the universal binary comes out. i just got a 2.16 ghz duo core macbook pro with 2 gigs ram and reason SUCKS on it. like, the demo song that reason first plays starts stuttering and skipping almost immediately.
mbp 2.66, osx 10.6.8, 8GB ram.
really? i went on the propellerhead website and there's a huge disclaimer on the faqs page saying that they haven't announced an intel mac version yet. it's apparently in the beta testing stages, but we all know how that goes.Machinate wrote:Which version? Apparently Reason 3.0.5 is UB...snowtires wrote:i wouldn't expect too much out of reason before the universal binary comes out. i just got a 2.16 ghz duo core macbook pro with 2 gigs ram and reason SUCKS on it. like, the demo song that reason first plays starts stuttering and skipping almost immediately.