mac mini as a portable recording studio

thejst · Feb 2nd, 2005, 09:21 PM

I am interested to know other peoples thoughts on using the mini as a portable audio workstation. For years I have used my ibook g3 500 (with tons of ram) to get the job done- from live recording to mixing and multi-tracking... I have devised a case in which all of my gear- including an lcd screen and a mini would fit safely...
I have always wanted a g4 (anything) and would jack up the ram in it, but what would other people say that might be cautionary about it?

thanks for anyone's time...

Macaholic · Feb 2nd, 2005, 09:39 PM

If the G3 setup has worked for you, then Mac Mini will work even better. There is concern about the 4200rpm internal drive for such work, but I know other people who have run a good amount of tracks (upwards of 30) in a 1Ghz 17" iMac, and it has the same drive as Mac Mini.

You can also go with an external Firewire drive to capture audio. There are, however, conflicting tests out there on the Mac Mini regarding the efficiency of the Firewire bus. Check these forums for posts made by myself and others regarding this (dig back through "Anything Mac" a few days)

thejst · Feb 2nd, 2005, 09:44 PM

it's funny that you mention it, (as i should have), but I do use an external f/w drive, which is a stock 7200 rpm 2mb cache for everything but the final (2 track) mixes... thanks for the tip, i'll do some digging here...

Betty Fooz · Feb 2nd, 2005, 09:51 PM

Macaholic, I am pretty sure the 17inch 1ghz iMac had a 7200 rpm hard drive.

Betty Fooz

1 ghz iMac specs

monokitty · Feb 2nd, 2005, 09:54 PM

I second and confirm Betty Fooz's statement - the iMac 17" has a 3.5-inch 7200-rpm hard drive.

Macaholic, where are your facts coming from?

Macaholic · Feb 2nd, 2005, 10:05 PM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by Lars
	I second and confirm Betty Fooz's statement - the iMac 17" has a 3.5-inch 7200-rpm hard drive. Macaholic, where are your facts coming from?

LOL! HOLY BRAIN FART, BATMAN! I should have meant the 17" Powerbook. A music supervisor client of mine uses one and has done as I described in my first post. My apologies.

From lowendmac.com:

The first (1Ghz) 17" Powerbook:
http://www.lowendmac.com/pb2/17in-g4.html

hard drive: 60 GB 4200 RPM Ultra ATA/100

Same with the 1.33Ghz 17":
http://www.lowendmac.com/pb2/17-133.html

It wasn't until the 1.67Ghz one released only two days ago that the 17" went to 5400rpm:
http://www.lowendmac.com/pb2/17-167.html

So, I meant to say the Powerbook -- and the point still stands :P