Which would be the best music computer?

rlwilliams · Post by **rlwilliams** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 4:17 pm

Hi,

I'm a little behind the curve in keeping up with the latest and greatest computer. I have three potential computers to be my main DAW. I was wondering if anyone who knows DAW computers would give me your opinion about which of these three computers would be the best.

1) G5 iMac with 1.8 Ghz processor/20 in screen - 1 GB RAM

2) G5 Tower with 1.6 Ghz processor - 1 GB RAM

3) G4 Tower with Dual 1 Ghz - 2 MB L3 cache per processor - 1.5 GB RAM

If I added more memory to any of these, would that make a difference in the deciding factor. I know some can be upgraded.

Thanks for your time and input.

Sincerely,

Ronnie

Lo-Fi Massahkah · Post by **Lo-Fi Massahkah** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 10:05 pm

You should probably skip all that PC and/or Mac stuff and go with an MSX:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSX

I think it might be the future.

-M

Michael-SW · Post by **Michael-SW** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 10:17 pm

Whatever you do, don't go with the G4, It is an awfully old, awfully slow machine.

The fastest G5 is probably ok, but we are still talking about a computer that is a few generations behind. If you buy it, buy it cheap.

New Macs (and PCs) use Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs. That is state of the art.

Adding some RAM might be good, but if you have 1 GB you will be fine for most applications. It is very unlikely that you will see dramatic changes in performance unless you have mega sets and/or run samplers with huge multi sampled libraries.

rlwilliams · Post by **rlwilliams** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 1:28 am

Michael-SW,

Thanks for the reply. I know the computers are behind, but I'm just a hobby musician and won't be running mega sets and/or samplers with huge samples. So you think the G5 iMac 1.8 Ghz would be the best for me? I plan to run Live 6, Reaktor 4, Battery 2, Reason 3, and Amplitube Live as my main applications. Of course, this doesn't mean all at one time. You can see my software is the former models too, except for Live 6. I will be using a Digi002 Rack for my audio interface.

The G4 has been my main computer for a few years, but I'm ready for a bigger monitor and a little upgrade in computer, but not the latest and greatest. I'm just wondering if this is the way to go, because I really dread starting a computer from scratch with all the loading applications, etc.

I checked out the MSX and decided to pass.

-Ronnie

cosmosuave · Post by **cosmosuave** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 1:35 am

noisetonepause · Post by **noisetonepause** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 1:44 am

Michael-SW wrote:Whatever you do, don't go with the G4, It is an awfully old, awfully slow machine.

The fastest G5 is probably ok, but we are still talking about a computer that is a few generations behind. If you buy it, buy it cheap.

I think a dual 1GHz G4 will compare favourably to a single 1.6GHz G5 for Live.

rlwilliams · Post by **rlwilliams** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 2:14 am

What about the 1.8 G5 iMac? Would it be a littler better than the G4 since it is a G5 processor? It also has a larger monitor than I have now, which is 15 inches.

RichStudio · Post by **RichStudio** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 2:19 am

I would go with the 1.6 G5 tower. More ram can be added. I think the graphics aren't shared, like the Imac. Plus you can add expansion cards.
If money is tight, the Imac is hard to beat since the monitor is included. A little noisey, not too bad. But you can't expand. If you are a hobbyist this may be the better way. All your expansion would be via USB and Firewire.

A single G5 processor kicks a dual G4's buttocks. The buss throughput and ram capability are the biggest factors.

I would also check the Digidesign site and make sure the 002 is compatible with the G5's you listed. I had a friend using an Imac (1.8 I believe) that could not get her M-box to work properly. Digidesign hardware can be finicky.

Regards,
Rich

noisetonepause · Post by **noisetonepause** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 2:23 am

It's quite difficult for me to say: parts of the iMac are slower than the G5 tower, it's not just the processor, but I really have no idea how it translates into raw Live6 performance - my guess is that it's marginal, though. I'd probably go for the tower, though, if only cos it has expansion slots etc. etc.

edit - no iMac has shared graphics memory. Don't know where Rich got that idea.

brightonalex · Post by **brightonalex** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 10:50 am

Macs are great for image manipulation but not really suitable for audio production because of their processors.

Ideally you need a PC, or you'll find as you learn more about music production, ultimately your efforts will suffer as a result.

Angstrom · Post by **Angstrom** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 11:48 am

*cough*

*cough*

gets popcorn and waits

Angstrom · Post by **Angstrom** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 11:49 am

----------damn, a double post -------------