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Re: [microsound] Computer advice



The best advice I can give here is the advice given to me several months
ago when I decided to upgrade my ancient Powerbook for something a bit
more powerful:  join user group mailing lists.  I, for example, have used
Emagic Logic since version 2.02, and I wanted to run the latest version
(now 4.1.5) on one of Sawtooth (AGP) G4 Macs, so I joined the Logic User
Group on Onelist.  Yes I was - and continue to be - flooded with mail, as
the list generates about 100 messages per day, but what I have discovered
has been quite illuminating and quite influential in my purchasing
decisions, which ended up being:

Computer - Mac G4 350MHz AGP
Sequencer/Recorder - Emagic Logic Audio Platinum 4.x.x
MIDI Interface - Midiman Midisport 2x2 USB
Audio Interface - M Audio (Midiman) Delta66
Digital Format Converter - M Audio (Midiman) C03

But I came to these decisions - and much of the gear is still in the post
- with a clear sense of what I wanted my computer to do.  In my case, I
wanted 24-bit 96KHz (DVD) sound quality in both analog and digital I/O,
recording and editing ability for many tracks of non-electronic sounds,
soft synth and effect plugin possibilities, MIDI sequencing ability, and
digital connection with MD.  With these desires already clarified, I
joined a list of about 2500 Logic users and discovered the wonderful world
of driver conflicts, USB SDKs, OMS extintion, and hardware and software
incompatibilities.  USB MIDI aside, it does appear that the Mac remains a
somewhat less troublesome platform for the making of music, although some
software is only available for Wintel boxes.

In short:  decide what you want the computer to do, find the right
components, research user experiences on line, check with developpers on
interactive incompatibilities between your chosen components, and THEN
buy.  For me the process took about two months.

Good luck and merrie melodies!

np - Led Zeppelin "Physical Graffiti"

NOTE NEW DOMAIN FOR E-MAIL & WEB:
joshua maremont / thermal - mailto:thermal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
boxman [hako otoko] label - http://www.boxmanstudies.com/