new Mac Minis / iMacs + PROS are HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sparklepuff]

stock cards have 2 dvi ports.

[ekwipt]

one with that shitty mini dvi adapter you have to buy separately though

[rbro]

one with that shitty mini dvi adapter you have to buy separately though

Wait. Do you need to buy a separate mini DVI adapter to connect 2 LCD monitors via DVI or not?

[sparklepuff]

Oh I see what they did.



Stupid fucking Apple fuckers.

[rbro]

So Dual Link DVI requires an adapter for 2 DVI connections?

[Zygi]

Oh I see what they did.

[IMG]

Stupid fucking Apple fuckers.

Hilarious

That's why I'm installing macos on a pc.

[ekwipt]

yep it's not overly expensive but still, they should have made both of them with the new tech (don't think it's better juts proprietry for their new monitors) or leaved it the alone

[astromass]

just got the mini...realised a second later that the new mini has firewire 800...i have two firewire 400 drives.....found the adapter:
www.sonnettech.com

[sparklepuff]

just got the mini...realised a second later that the new mini has firewire 800...i have two firewire 400 drives.....found the adapter:
http://www.sonnettech.com

There are also seemingly infinite numbers of 6-pin to 9-pin cables out there. I own half a dozen. Readily available wherever cables are sold, like at, oh, the Apple store.

[astromass]

yep, but i found the adapter.......
-mr. helper

[mooncaine]

So... will the new Mini be a good Ableton Live machine? Or is that a crazy idea?

[mkelly]

So... will the new Mini be a good Ableton Live machine? Or is that a crazy idea?

It's as powerful as a low-end MacBook and they're fine for running Live. As ever, it depends what you want to do. If you're using extremely intensive plugins with a huge track count your requirements are different from a DJ who just wants to play a few tracks at a time with some effects running.

[mkelly]

Just ordered the mac mini .
Have thrown in the 4gb of ram too , good times

I jest I got a MAc pro 8 core instead

I hate you.



I'm slightly miffed at the latest round of updates to the Mac Pros though. I had wanted to go 8 core this year, but the 8-core price is significantly higher than I can afford. I know the 4-core Nehalem is probably as powerful as the old 8-core low-end, but it's limited to 8GB of RAM in total which hampers future upgrades.

Think I'll be waiting to see some performance benchmarks before I splash down any cash.

[mkelly]

LOL I was kidding the 8 core is too rich for me. 8gb sounds pretty good to me. I reckon u could get around 3-4 years use out of the machine assuming u stick to audio work only.

I dunno - 8 Gb seems like a lot now, but I'd like to get at least 5 years out of a machine like this. Would be interested to know what sort of RAM levels the average musician was using 5 years ago

[mooncaine]

So... will the new Mini be a good Ableton Live machine? Or is that a crazy idea?

It's as powerful as a low-end MacBook and they're fine for running Live. As ever, it depends what you want to do. If you're using extremely intensive plugins with a huge track count your requirements are different from a DJ who just wants to play a few tracks at a time with some effects running.

Thanks, m. I was hoping that might be the case. I notice that the new Mac mini has a FireWire port, which the MacBook now lacks.

I have an awesome Firebox audio/midi box that I want to keep using. I bought it for the separate cue channel, and really enjoyed all the inputs and outputs.

I should check with Propellerheads & their forum to learn if Reason 4 can also run well enough on a mini. I haven't seen my CPU bar go over 40% in a few years on my first-gen MBP. I almost never use plugins, but I do like to have 6 MIDI instruments at once (each controlled by a string on my guitar). I also run 2 or 3 audio tracks, to capture & loop, and 1 more pair MIDI/audio tracks to bring Reason drum kits into the fun. I am guessing that, relative to many other Live users, I don't demand much of the CPU, but do demand much of the audio/midi interface, with lots of data going back & forth (MIDI guitar data, MIDI foot pedal, Trigger Finger, and audio in/out).