Apple Macbook Firewire Thread For Sat and Sun Oct 18th/19th

Crash · Post by **Crash** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 8:38 am

Oh, by the way, same feelings. Firewire will die or at least shrink to even less relevance. USB3 will take over and Apple will never include an eSATA port on their notebook line.

timothyallan · Post by **timothyallan** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 10:33 am

I applaud your future telling and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

Crash · Post by **Crash** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 10:38 am

Sorry, buddy, too late. You should have subscribed last decade. Today we only take subscriptions to our next decade service: Clean your laundry before it gets dirty.

Fledz · Post by **Fledz** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 11:25 am

Does USB3.0 not send in packets anymore? If it does then how is it better? Sure it's faster but packets for music production where you need a constant stream of data seems bad to me.

beats me · Post by **beats me** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 2:06 pm

I extended the post for another day. I think it's getting some good traction and it's therapeutic. Be part of the lineup that made it all possible.

Angstrom · Post by **Angstrom** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 1:31 am

My Girlfriend: Damn, I've got a Mac Pro discount and I can't get onto the site to use it

ME : you are buying a Mac Pro ?

Her : No, Bev is - but I said she could use my discount

Me : you have a discount, How much, where from ,etc, etc ?

Her : It's because if you are a pro you get a 15% discount

Me : wtf, er, OK, wtf again. so what's the problem

Her : I cant log in to the site, I think it's because I'm using Safari

Me : no. If there's one site that would get it right it's the Mac store

Her : well, look, it doesn't work - can I use your PC

ME : you want to use my PC to log on to the Apple store. Fail ?

Her : you fuckwit

http://www.macpro.com/

how the fuck was I to know?
lady products with a silly name

Pasha · Post by **Pasha** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 7:17 am

Therapeutic Session #2
from the Analyst transcripts...:

Doctor, no afterthoughts so far... but.... yes....but....

I think Audio folks population is dived in three:

Those who need only to record themselves (one track at a time)
Those who need to record bands (many tracks at a time)
Those who need Real Time Audio tweaking (effects, stretch, loop, VSTi...)

I belong to the first group. Over the years I have always used to record
using my SoundBlaster (AAAAARGH) using stereo in/outs. To avoid any latency
I was using it through a Behringer Mixer. So the PC was nothing more than a
multi-track recorder. Quality wasn't amazing but sustainable for what I needed at that time. When I bought SampleTank LE with Omnisynth in 2005 i suddenly understood that I needed a lower latency audio card. Instead of going the Sound Blaster route I told myself I wanted a Mac for my 40 years old birthday... so I bought a FW Interface. 2 In -2 Out. That year Mr Jobs announced switch to Intel, just one day before I decided to buy an iBook... so I had to wait one year, Nov 2006 for the 2nd gen Macbook. In the meantime I enjoyed low latency VSTi with Live but still recording through the same old mixer (my card accepts only line outputs and a Mixer was useful to get some pre-amp). When my Macbook came
I changed the PC but the audio setup remained the same. So Mixer + FW Audio.
Even less latency. When I wanted to switch on and play I didn't switch the mixer on and put my earphones on. Later the following year I learned from this forum that Macs had better implementation of Audio drivers and I recorded some thing using the internal card - through the mixer. Latency was as low as 10ms that way and was enough to use virtual instruments (simpler,operator,impulse) and at some point (128 samples) processing my guitar in real time with no significant delay, nothing that I couldn't manage, playing a little in advance. That was not comfortable enough, getting the pleasure off. The overall quality was only a little less than my FW card, a little less punchy I should say.
With experience come knowledge and I now know how to deal with that and be happy. So do I need an Audio Card?. Yes, for the best experience but not always.
After the readings on this forum about NI AK1 I'll probably get one so that 'mobile' gets a complete meaning (no mixer, cables around). I still think that removing Firewire from Macbooks was a deliberate act of felony and short business sight but in the end if the Audio Card and drivers still work as my Macbook today (my FW card is hooked to the iMac) I can say that for occasional on the road recording might do fine. By adding a NI AK1 I can even achieve more (Guitar Rig LE). People who belong to the second and third group rely on FW Audio. There's nothing more to say. Apple is pushing 66% of the Audio folks population to get a MBP or switch to PC for mobile activities. The alternative might be getting an USB2 Audio interface that works with low latency on several channels when they'll be available. In the meantime a PC for mobile music and a FW card is not that bad. Should Apple understand how much they were wrong this time and fix you can always jump back on Macbook. Live works in both worlds. It's worse for the Logic population.

So Doc, am I compensating?

*** End of Transcript ***

- Best
- Pasha

djmyke · Post by **djmyke** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 4:05 pm

am thinkin of getting a macbook then an m-audio fast track ultra usb. anyone with this setup? =)

ReverendZed · Post by **ReverendZed** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 6:31 pm

djmyke wrote:am thinkin of getting a macbook then an m-audio fast track ultra usb. anyone with this setup? =)

it sucks. die.

Er... what was the question?