iMac for DAW, yay or nay?

ogy

im planning on making the switch to Apple and Logic next time i have enough cash, may be closer to the end of the year but sure i reckon itll be worth it.

I want a decent setup on which i can record plenty of tracks with as few headaches as possible.

Am I kidding myself thinking an iMac would do the job? Mac Pros are just SO expensive. the cheapest one is the same price as a really high spec iMac and you don't even get a mouse with it never mind a monitor or keyboard.

I also want to buy a new audio interface (probably the rme fireface 800) so if i can keep the price of the computer between 1500-2000 max it would mean i could get going a lot sooner. If i go with the Mac Pro it would probably be the 2.66 quadcore cheapest one, and bearing in mind id still have to buy logic, itd mean id be stuck with the cheapest monitor/mouse/keyboard i can find plus it will be ages before i can upgrade from my presonus firepod. to be honest im comfortable configuring PCs and would probably stay PC based,maybe synergy, if it wasn't for the exclusivity of Logic to Mac.

i guess this question is ultimately a personal choice but would be interested to hear your thoughts!

Apart from jigsaw24 and macwarehouse any other cheap mac sites?

seannash

friend of mine built a hackintosh and is running logic and max osx perfectly fine.got the same specs as a mbp for half the price.
id normally not recommend it but i reckon ill be doing this whenever im getting a desktop

SeanHurley

seannash wrote: »

friend of mine built a hackintosh and is running logic and max osx perfectly fine.got the same specs as a mbp for half the price.
id normally not recommend it but i reckon ill be doing this whenever im getting a desktop

Is that the OSX-86 thing?

fitz

ogy wrote: »

im planning on making the switch to Apple and Logic next time i have enough cash, may be closer to the end of the year but sure i reckon itll be worth it.

I want a decent setup on which i can record plenty of tracks with as few headaches as possible.

Am I kidding myself thinking an iMac would do the job? Mac Pros are just SO expensive. the cheapest one is the same price as a really high spec iMac and you don't even get a mouse with it never mind a monitor or keyboard.

I also want to buy a new audio interface (probably the rme fireface 800) so if i can keep the price of the computer between 1500-2000 max it would mean i could get going a lot sooner. If i go with the Mac Pro it would probably be the 2.66 quadcore cheapest one, and bearing in mind id still have to buy logic, itd mean id be stuck with the cheapest monitor/mouse/keyboard i can find plus it will be ages before i can upgrade from my presonus firepod. to be honest im comfortable configuring PCs and would probably stay PC based,maybe synergy, if it wasn't for the exclusivity of Logic to Mac.

i guess this question is ultimately a personal choice but would be interested to hear your thoughts!

Apart from jigsaw24 and macwarehouse any other cheap mac sites?

I run Logic on an iMac, works a charm, just buy more RAM from crucial.com for it and you're set.
Obviously, you don't get PCIe support, so stuff like UAD cards are out...but otherwise it's a much more attainable option budget-wise than the Mac Pro.

ICN

I bought my Mac Pro from Musicstore in Germany.

Saved €100's - Well worth comparing. I haven't been on it in a while, so I'm not sure if its still a good possibility.

Got my 4gb Ram / HD / Monitor etc.. from them also & still was cheaper.


Buy Logic from Ebay. You can prick up Express 8 for about €90. I've seen Studio for around €250 - €300ish.


Apple site is really expensive.

seannash

SeanHurley wrote: »

Is that the OSX-86 thing?

no he basically just ordered the compatible parts and then ordered a chip,a copy of osx and that was it.works great.theres plenty of info on the web.ill get the link from him and post it for you

seannash

heres a blog by someone who built one.its a step by step with a price breakdown

http://aarghaknot.wordpress.com/2009/03/27/quad-core-hackintosh-goodness-efi-x/

basically he built a 3k macpro for 1k(us dollars)
ive read alot of similar success stories and im finding it hard to find one that didnt work out.

11811

seannash wrote: »

no he basically just ordered the compatible parts and then ordered a chip,a copy of osx and that was it.works great.theres plenty of info on the web.ill get the link from him and post it for you

Only one problem with these, you're warranty for any apple software will be null and void if used on a one of these machines, which can be troublesome if OSX or Logic act up on you...

ICN

seannash wrote: »

basically he built a 3k macpro for 1k(us dollars)
ive read alot of similar success stories and im finding it hard to find one that didnt work out.

Cannot argue with that!!!

seannash

11811 wrote: »

Only one problem with these, you're warranty for any apple software will be null and void if used on a one of these machines, which can be troublesome if OSX or Logic act up on you...

well if your running osx(legitimate bought copy) i dont think there going to quiz you on your machine once your software is registered.im not fully aware but im presuming you wont need to bring in your computer if you have faulty software.

seannash

ICN wrote: »

Cannot argue with that!!!

i normally wouldnt recommend it but my friend is having no problems.
lets face it the hardware is basically the same as any other laptop so all your really paying for is the mac osx.so if you can run that with no problems why not do it.
the desktop will be tucked away anyway so with the money you save buy yourself a nice mac screen and noone will be any the wiser

seannash

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FQlmYWczVI&feature=related

take a look

11811

seannash wrote: »

well if your running osx(legitimate bought copy) i dont think there going to quiz you on your machine once your software is registered.im not fully aware but im presuming you wont need to bring in your computer if you have faulty software.

Well typically if calling for support you would be asked which system you are using and usually a serial number for the machine, its not a huge issue to be honest - but something to watch out for.

Rockshamrover

I'm also running Logic Pro on an IMAC. I upgraded the ram to 4GB (that's as much as you can get on an IMAC) it runs with no problems.

Did you know that if you order your Apple products from their european headquarters, in Cork, you get a discount? I can't remember how much it is though.

Alternatively you could make friends with an Apple employee they get a 50% discount on all products (an employee of the Boston Apple Store told me that):D

Also I would recommend an Apogee Duet as your interface, it's built to run in Logic and it sounds great. Mr Brewer did me a great deal on my one.

PaulBrewer

seannash wrote: »

basically he built a 3k macpro for 1k(us dollars)

Even if it took two goes to get it right !

Anima

Theres no danger of damaging anything, if the first install doesn't work, just try again. I've done this with my laptop and I'm going to get it working on my desktop so I can use Logic.

There are drivers for non standard Apple components as well. For instance, you can use AMD processors with OSX with some patches. The performance might not be the same but at least its useable.