Mac Mini for audio recording???

Hello,
My name is Gavin Brinck. I have been fishing in the pc market for about 6 months. I just bought a BEAST of a PC with all the parts. I assembled everything, and seemingly the motherboard is fried. That's another story.
I am looking into the mac mini, seeing as I have a nice HDTV + HDMI cable as well as a wireless Logitech keyboard and mouse bundle to use with it. I am intyerested in audio recroding, mostly guitar, vocals, and hopefully MIDI controlling in the future. I like the idea that the mac mini can be a very portable device.
I will be using it to write, record music, play Starcraft 2 HOTS as well as surf, research, and continue to learn. I am on a budget and am looking into my options.
Is audacity(free music recording software) decent? Do I really need 8 GB of RAM? In the future I will probably get an external harddrive for storing all of my information. I am also looking into getting a camera. WILL THE MAC MINI FIT MY NEEDS?? I do not need a mac pro, and the mac air does not have hdmi . I think I have found a decent solution. Please help! Thank you.
all the best.
-Gavin Brinck

In addition to BDAqua:
You will probably want to purchase and use an external "sound card" or DAC via USB or FireWire to get decent audio quality from external sources into the Mac.
Audacity is sort of an 'industry standard', but not for complex recording purposes as I read in (and in between) your lines. Free on bord with a new Mac will be Garageband. Once you've got your head around it, you'll love it.
Gaming - I have no clue, but don't expect the lower-end models of Macs ideal for heavy gaming... even the higher-end versions can lack, depending on the games. Check around here and elsewhere, there are gazillions of gamer forums.
Budget & portability: Keep in mind that for a Mini you'll need an external screen, and if that's supposed to be your TV, make sure it accepts data (PC or Mac) signals on HDMI. Or has DVI as well. Otherwise disappointment - not due to Apple!
Eventually take a look at MacBook Pros, they are portable, do come with a screen, and can do more than an Air - depending on model.

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I'd work off of another hard drive as much as possible. Install the applications to your boot drive, but keep your data on a separate external hard drive. If you try to run OS, apps and big audio data off of that 5400, I foresee performance issues even with 16GB of RAM. Also, don't forget a second external hard drive for your backups.

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sorry, I'd like to butt in here:
I would like to do the same thing, so I am curious about this forum and rather than starting a new one, can I get some advice on this possibility:
Mac Mini
1.83GHz Intel Core Duo
2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
80GB Serial ATA drive
Glyph External HD 250 Gig
Mackie Onyx 1620 w/Firewire
Logic Pro 7.2
thoughts?
The most number of tracks I could see at once would be 16.
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Firewire Hard drive
Firewire Interface/mixer
Firewire camera for FCP
to much firewire?
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Shuke
thanks guys, this forum is fantastic!

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hello!
i'm really into music and video, i currently do all my video work in premiere pro on the pc, and music is done in a combination of packages like reason, soundforge, etc.
i'm really tempted by the offer of a mac mini for a few hundred pounds complete with garageband, imovie, etc. plus i can always get final cut on there too.
I am serious about what i do and would want high quality results. what i'm asking is basically, consdiering the specs of the mac mini, (i'd have to go for the top of the range to get the dvd writer) will it be capable of performing well with video work and more importantly, will garageband let me do professional sounding sequencing and mixing?
or am i kidding myself that the mini is capable? because if the option is buying a G5, i'll use the cash to upgrade my windows pc instead. it's all about tools for the job for me, i've got no brand loyalty.
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-the swan

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Hello, I solved the problem. I moved the Mac mini in a ventilated place, then I turned it on and I put the headphones into the "audio out". I restarted the computer three times, then I put the optical cable and everything works as before!
The CPU temperature was 72 ° C. I used the software smcFanControl and the temperature dropped to 52 ° C. I think the Mac Mini overheats so much. Now is okay, I have seen many movies in Dolby Digital and DTS.
I hope that you solve the problem.
Goodbye!

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Good Afternoon iMac Community,
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Hi and welcome to Apple Discussions.
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http://www.coriolis-systems.com/iDefrag.php
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Karn.

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sorry

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Mac Mini for audio recording???

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