Monitors for home studio

Does anyone know if the speakers Apple sells are good for home studio monitors. They go for about $100 up. Thanks

Yeah,
I use those JBL Duet with my iPod in the Kitchen,
or on Holidays.
You have Studio Monitors at a very wide brands and price range.
Think first the amount you want to spend and your needs.
I not going to favour brands, that's for you to decide.
I'm using Genelecs and Adam 7 to work, and I'm fine.
But, if you're not making money from music you can
try something more modest in price.
Cheers,
Jorge

Similar Messages

I am considering purchasing the Mac mini for home studio audio production using Adobe Audition and a USB microphone. Will the base mini model run these programs?

I am considering purchasing the Mac mini for home studio audio production using Adobe Audition and a USB microphone. Will the base mini model run these programs?

The base mini has 4GB and a 5400 RPM hard drive. It is slow to start up and slow to launch large application such as Word (and I'd assume Adobe Audition) due to the slow drive. I've not used a new 4GB model, just the 8GB model, and the 8GB model (except for the slow drive) handles everything I've thrown at it, including running Photoshop, Word, Safari, and Mail at the same time but there is sometimes a delay switching between programs as the swapfile is updated. Overall I was not happy with the 5400 RPM drive (perhaps because I have MBA and iMac with Fusion drive) so I eventually upgraded it with an SSD. Now the mini is truly a warrior.

Icontrol for home studio set-up?

I'm getting a home studio set-up. Im a novice, need some advice on the best accessories to get. Im trying to keep costs down and buy the minimum hardware required.
I have the following:
1. Imac G5
2. Midi synth (not USB)
3. Microphone (not usb)
4. Guitar
Guitar and vocals wont be my focus. Will icontrol work for the keys and vocals? How would I record the guitar? Should I buy another USB interface from m-audio instead of icontrol?

I tried to connect my mic into the Tascam US-122 and it doesn't seem to be working.
1. installed the drivers, I have the input listed as Tascam in sound preferences and in garageband preferences. I have the output as speakers so I can hear, correct?
2. when I plug the mic directly into the line in jack on the imac and switch the preferences to line in it records on basic track.
3. I have the Tascam connected by USB only. Should I also have a cord connected from the line out jack into the line in jack on the back of the imac? I thought it would connect via USB only?
4. When I use my midi keyboard with the Tascam it records fine as a software instrument. So I guess the issue is recording real instruments using the Tascam and not direct line in.

EMac Advice For Home Studio

Hello there,
I currently use a Mac Book Pro for my home studio running Logic Pro 9 and programs similar to that.
The Mac Book is not mine at all but I use it when I create music, record artist etc.
I am looking at purchasing my own mac but do not have enough money at all to afford a brand new imac or similar.
I am potentially in a position to by a high spec (in its day) eMac for a cheap.
I want to know if it is worth getting and upgrading its parts, like its RAM and other parts that will make it perform better.
I only want to use to mac for running programs such as logic and other music creation programs.
Which parts are best to upgrade in order to turn this old machine into a fast high spec mac?
Any advice on eMac's would help and if anyone has or is doing what I am looking at doing I would love to hear your experience and how it all worked out!
I will not be replacing parts myself at all, I will use Apple if they are willing to do it.
Thanks,
Propeller

Well, I've never used Logic, (no music talent at all), but from what I understand, Logic requires more CPU & RAM for more of the features to work, I really think that even to top eMac/1.42 GHz with it maxed out at 2 MB of RAM, & you found an older version of Logic, that it'd barely run the minimal things at once... Minimum Requirements are a bit deceiving I think, you generally need twice what they say for any fluidity at all.
If the purpose of this is solely, or majorly for Logic use, I'd have to recommend you wait until you could get either a more upgradable G4/G5 tower, or a newer used Intel Mini, Intel iMac, etc., unfortunately those seem to hold their value too well.
If you just want a Mac for browsing, eMail, & such, the eMac would be fine.
PS. I've spent tons of money upgrading Macs & when it's all done & said, it cost more to end up with less, than a newer one costs.
To give you a rough idea of the processing power...
eMac G4/1.42 (2005)... Geekbench: 750
iMac G5/1.8 20-Inch... Geekbench:           985
Power Macintosh G5 1.8 (PCI-X)... Geekbench: 1047
Power Macintosh G4 1.42 DP (FW 800)... Geekbench: 1224
Power Macintosh G5 Dual Core (2.0)... Geekbench:          1814/1882
Power Macintosh G5 Dual Core (2.3)... Geekbench: 2082/2163
MacBook "Core 2 Duo" 1.83 13"... Geekbench: 2363/2552
Power Macintosh G5 "Quad Core" (2.5)... Geekbench: 3316/3594
Mac mini "Core 2 Duo" 2.4 (Mid-2010)... Geekbench: 3307/3635
iMac "Core i5" 2.5 21.5-Inch (Mid-2011)... Geekbench: 7241/7970
iMac "Core i5" 2.7 27-Inch (Mid-2011)... Geekbench:           7844/8565
MacBook Pro "Core i7" 2.5 17" Late 2011... Geekbench: 10706/11699
iMac "Core i7" 3.4 27-Inch (Mid-2011)... Geekbench: 11648/12651
Mac Pro "Twelve Core" 2.66 (2010/Westmere)... Geekbench: 20294/22605

Best interface for home studio

I need the best interface for my macbook pro.....garage band.....thunderbolt......two in is enough

i certainly would not buy a used audio interface. you are asking for trouble. not worth the hassle or the doubt. expecially with some interent dealers offering 3 and 4 year waranty's - why would you want a used option?!? you will only regret it i am sure.
the m-audio profire 2626 is a good choice in my opinion at that price.
if you cant stretch that far then the m-audio profire 610 ia also a good choice - obviously limited in the ins and out though. there is also the M-audio fasttrack pro. worth looking at.
also look at the Alesis i/o range. on paper the i/o 26 is absolutely mint. i have just heard that the quality is questionable.

What is the best choice for home studio recording?

I have a Korg M50, Acoustasonic 150 amp and Epiphone Les Paul electric ukelele and am thinking of using a Saffire Pro 24 interface. I'm thinking of a MacBook but not sure which one works best with this set up. Any help would be greatly appreciated. TIA
Chuck

Which model Macbook Pro do you have?
Which os version are you using?
Try posting in the Garage Band forum area.

Ipod hifi. can it be a home studio monitor?

your thoughts.
I know. There are already reputable monitor speakers out in the market.
But will an ipod hifi fulfill this task? It's advantage is that i can use it with my, yes, ipod. And it can be my multimedia speaker for my PB.
But for a home studio?

I wouldn't imagine it to be the most accurate set of speakers for monitoring with. For a start there is only one low frequency driver situated in the centre of the speakers so no stereo monitoring capabilities for low frequencies!
Plus all 3 speakers are mounted within the same enclosure, therefore the backwards throw of any cone would result in (probably small but...) a forward throw from one of maybe both other speakers. Kind of like a bass reflex speaker which features one cone and one passive radiator do kind of double up the output. So again not very good for the stereo imagining I wouldn't think.
For £250 you can get a pretty good set of studio monitors, I got a pair of yamaha MSP5's for £190. These are far more accurate than anything tagged "Hi-fi" in a similar price bracket. And they will improve the sound of your work, not only that but they pump it out, and I bet they go a darn site louder than the iPod Hi-fi.
At the end of the day it's hardly difficult to buy a cable to plug your iPod into a set of studio monitors and they will serve you far better AS studio monitors.

Ipad 2 or new computer for Garageband? new home studio - Help

Any advice would be great. I built a home studio loft in an old barn in my yard. Problem is my main computer (imac) that I do all my work on has to stay in the house (we all use it - family) SO .. I have to decide what to record on in the studio. I have an ipad 2 .. do I by the interface for it? Use it to recoed, and then trasfer the garageband files /recordings from the ipad to my imac in the house ... and do my editing there? Or do I look for a 3 year old macbook or some type of used Apple computer for the studio?
PS .. my set up curently is
imac 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Garageband 09 ver. 5.1
TASCAM US-144 usb audio interface
MXL V63M - MIC
Then obviosly all my live instuments including a Roland TD4 drum kit (that is not easy to mix once recorded - kick drum)
My studio monitors or SAMSON USB Studio dock ... and they are not great
Any advice/coments on the equipment would be great too .. thanks eveyone
John

jvmix wrote:
Could I record with that and as you say .. do the heavy lifting in the house on the imac
if you already have it, try it and see how the workflow is.
the caution is that this too is a one way street: the new version of GB on the iMac will open the older files, but once you save them you won't be able to open the newly saved files on the old machnie in the old version of GB

Creative Studio for Home or Business Gone & Poor Printers

Hello Hp,
Extremely disappointed that you've decided to no longer provide creative projects through the Creative Studio for Home or Business. These products were free and I could print at home.
Snapfish (owned by HP) is very limited in its selection of projects. It doesn't offer newsletters, brochures, calling cards, etc. that can be used for personal use.
This was one of the reasons I liked using an HP Printer.   However, recent experiences with a new HP Photosmart 7520 have completely changed my mind about using HP products in the future.
I purchased a brand new HP printer from HPCanada. It had to be sent back because it was defective.   In return I received a refurbished printer which also didn't work.  It took about three refurbished printers before one worked.
The quality of this printer compared to all of my previous HP Printers is extremely poor and substandard.   It can't even print properly in draft mode!    No it's not the drivers just a crappy printer!
Never again will I waste my money on an HP Printer,
k.
katydidit

Hi Nancy.
We regularly add new templates to HP Photo Creations and we welcome suggestions. If you describe what types of items you'd like (both shape and style — for example, pet grooming postcards or home-for-sale flyers), I'll forward them to our development team for consideration.
Here's a link to our current business templates. As I mentioned above, you can also use the Create My Own projects to get a completely custom look.
HP Photo Creations business templates
Hope this helps,
RocketLife
RocketLife, developer of HP Photo Creations
» Visit the HP Photo Creations Facebook page — news, tips, and inspiration
» See the HP Photo Creations video tours — cool tips in under 2 minutes
» Contact Customer Support — get answers from the experts

Home studio set-up for a newbie

I'm just getting started in the world of digital music, and I'm hoping someone can help me set up a home studio.
Here's what I've got:
- Powerbook G4 w/ GarageBand 2
- Yamaha P-200 Electric Piano
- Roland JV-1010 64-voice synthesizer module
I don't even know what the voice synth module does. A friend left it in my garage and doesn't want it anymore. I looked it up on Roland's website but I'm not too clear on it's function.
Questions:
1. How do I get the Yamaha hooked up to my computer?
2. What do I do wih the Roland module?
3. Is there any additional equipment I need?
Thanks for your help.
Chris

Setups vary with each person. If it would help, here is my very simple set up:
Yamaha PSR520 touch sensitive keyboard ($599.00)
Behringer unpowered mixer (cost me about $69.00)
iMic Usb adapter (appr.$35.00)
MIDIsport 1x1($49.00)
Shure and Rhodes mikes. ($200-300.00)
With my set up I can record real instrument tracks or software instruments from the same keyboard:
I record on real instrument tracks:
I use the mixer to control the gain from the sound out from the keyboard and from my mikes. The iMic connects the mixer to my usb port since I have no sound in. (There have been reports of problems with the iMic in Tiger. If you have a sound in port use it.)
I use the MIDI interface to connect my keyboard via MIDI cables into Garageband to record software instruments.
Kurt

Use iChat for home monitoring

Hello. I would like to use the video portion of iChat for home monitoring. Is it possible to access my home iMac camera, through iChat, from my workplace? To make things interesting, my Mac monitor at work does not have a built in camera and I have no external webcam. Is it possible for me to connect to my home camera through iChat even though I have no camera at work?
I look forward to hearing any ideas.
Thank you.

I was setting up my home computer for automatic video monitoring through iChat when I noticed something in the energy settings in system preferences. I wanted to have my screen saver in use or turn the monitor brightness all the way down to save my screen life. I also wanted to keep my computer awake so that I could have access to the home iChat account and computer/camera. However, if I set my Display Sleep and Computer Sleep settings to "Never" sleep, I receive the notice of "Never letting your display go to sleep may shorten its life".
So it seems no matter what, I may shorten the life of my monitor and I would most likely be increasing energy consumption by keeping my monitor and computer awake while I am away from home.
Is there anyway around this? If I used Screen Share (VNC), or any dedicated software like Vitamin D or EvoCam, would I still need to worry about my computer's energy consumption? I suppose if I really wanted a dedicated video monitoring setup I could use an external camera and external computer or server? I've read that some people use a Mac Mini for this, but thats seems like a waste of a Mac mini to me. I was really just planning on doing this occasionally to check in on my apartment.
Thoughts?
I will probably only video monitor a couple of times a week, so maybe the energy settings are nothing to worry about.

Home-made monitors for thread synchronization

I have an assignment that request to implement a multiple-readers/one-writer algorithm on a shared ressource. I know Java already provide such methods as wait() and notify() but I have to write my own.
So far, i have figured the startReading(), startWriting(), stopReading() and stopWriting() methods, but i don't understand how to write my own wait() and notify() methods. It was told that we could use a queue for the readers and another one for the writers. Also, i cannot use Threads anywhere.
I find it very hard to figure it out. Anybody has an idea or some links where i could find the information?

The purpose of the assignment is to understand how such mecanisms are working on a OS. We do this with a simulation. Maybe i didn't explain very well what i'm trying to do. Here is the code i've come with, it is working fine, but because i don't understand really well these mecanisms i am not sure it is good.
class Dispatcher {
Queue tpcb;                                 // All processes currently running
MultipleReadersSingleWriterMonitor monitor; // Monitor for read/write lock
Queue signaled;                             // Processes that were allowed to access the critical section
public Dispatcher() {
    this.tpcb = new Queue();
    this.monitor = new MultipleReadersSingleWriterMonitor() {
      public void signal(final Processus p) {
        signaled.enqueue(p);
    this.signaled = new Queue();
public void execute() { // When we arrive here, the tpcb has been filled
    for (Iterator i=tpcb.iterator(); i.hasNext(); ) { // Call the appropriate monitor for each processus
      Processus p = (Processus)i.next();
      if (p.mode == p.MODE_READ) {
        monitor.startReading(p);
      else {
        monitor.startWriting(p);
   // Pseudo-execute all the processus
   while (!tpcb.empty()) {
     if (!signaled.empty()) executeProcessus(signaled.dequeue());
public void executeProcessus(Processus p) {
    // Code that simulate a processus running in the critical section
    // We are done, call the appropriate unlocking monitor
    if (p.mode == p.MODE_READ) {
      monitor.stopReading();
    else {
      monitor.stopWriting();
}Anyway, unless i come with a suddent idea this is the final version. Thanx for answering.

New External Monitor for Logic on MacBook Pro - Suggestions

I'm in the painful process of updating my studio and now my large screen external monitor has started failing.
I know if this a pretty general question more suited to the MacBook Pro forum but I'd like some input from folks used to working with an application like Logic in a home studio environment.
I guess the issue for me is that I'm not getting any younger and my eyesight isn't what it used to be. One of the things specific to Logic and music software in general is that there are LOTS of very detailed dialog boxes with text that is not always height adjustable (yes I know about zooming and indeed I do lots of that but it gets quite distracting). The other factor is that I'm often recording and engineering myself which means I'll be sitting with a guitar in my lap or at a keyboard and can't always lean in too close to the monitor.
I solved this by buying a large 26" Acer which sits on my desk behind the Mackie MCU. To my left I've got the MacBook 15.4" Pro on a keyboard stand above my MIDI controller at a 45 degree angle to the desk.
It's worked quite well until the Acer seems to have become haunted. It will mysteriously reboot itself intermittently, going blank for a second, then showing the Acer logo and going back to picture. It will also turn itself on spontaneously when the computer is off (the status light is off and then turns itself on). It seems to detect when I'm in the middle of a really good session and starts resetting itself every 30 seconds or so. Then it will work fine sometimes for days or weeks at a time. I've checked it on 4 different computers, it malfunctions on all. I believe in may be a problem with one of the capacitors or the inverter, I'm not sure, but it's driving CRAZY at this point.
And of course now it's 3 months out of warranty and may be more expensive to fix than buying a new one.
So my issue is what monitor to replace it with. I've considered buying an Apple monitor, since the display is lovely to look at but there are a couple things that are deal breakers.
It's expensive. Very expensive.
Oddly you have to choose between a 24" and a 30", with nothing in between. Don't want to sound like Goldilocks here, but the 24 is tooooo small and the 30 is tooooo big.
Yeah I know bigger is usually better but since they bumped the native resolution of the 30" up to 2560x1600 it's really sharp but things like the menu text get really quite small. Yes you can reset to a lower non native resolution, but then you loose the sharpness. I tested Logic in the store on the 30" and it did look great but I found I actually had to move my whole body around to see things at the top and bottom of the screen.
Oh and did I mention that it's expensive? Jeez.
The 24" now seems to look a bit small to me after using the same resolution (1920x1200) on the Acer's 26" screen. (Ok, I think it's actually 25.5 but hey that half an inch can make a big difference and I will avoid making any bad jokes here).
And did I mention the Apple monitors are expensive? The 24" is almost 3 times as expensive as a cheaper alternative.
I also still have a PC here that I use (sorry) and the Apple monitors have very limited connectivity. So I think unfortunately the Apple monitors are out for me.
So I;m down to a couple other non Apple options. I will not buy an Acer again since I believe now that their quality control is not good and their support is absolutely atrocious. Shame I used to be a big fan of Acer PC's, but after owning a couple I'm steering clear.
My biggest issue right now is that most of the new budget monitors are geared toward 1080p HD uses so they are they are maxing out at 1920x1080 (16:9 aspect ratio instead of 1920x1200's 16:10). So the tradeoff here is that HD movies will look better in 16:9, but 16:10 gives you "squarer" pixels and more vertical resolution for screen hungry apps like Logic.
Any opinions on this? I'm a bit new to the Mac so I don't know if I'm really better off going with a 1920x1200 screen like the Apple monitors.
Also, I know this may just be a bug in the Acer's scaling, but if I switch to 1920x1080, I lose the menus off the top of the screen or if I adjust the vpos I lose the dock at the bottom. Downscaling to 1600x1050 or even 1024x768 works fine. If I get a 1080 screen and set the resolution appropriately will it work correctly and without too much distortion?
I'm also curious what is the best way to hook up the monitor? I'm currently using the DVI to VGA adapter that came with the MacBook. My Pro is the slighter older silver keyboard model so it has the standard DVI out. Will I see any real improvement by going over to using DVI directly?
Also I'm wondering how people feel about glossy vs matte for music. My current displays are the non-glossy and I do think I prefer them for detail work.
The candidates right now are
Hanns-G HH-281HPB 28" @300$. It's one of the only budget monitors that uses 1920x1200. All the right inputs (DVI, VGA). I'm just afraid this might be a bit too good to be true. It's really cheap and after having problems with a "cheap" Acer (although it wasn't so cheap 3 years ago!) I don't want similar problems. Stand has no swivel or tilt (a big problem for my use). Also that resolution on such a big screen might be good for me or it might look grainy I don't know I haven't seen it. Anybody have any experience with these?
Samsung P2770H 27" @339 Looks nice, good color. Sadly only 1080 native resolution. Stand doesn't swivel, but does tilt. No VGA input, so won't work with my old PC (although strangely it says it comes with a VGA cable). They get generally good reviews and I know Samsung makes very good flat panel TV's.
ViewSonic X Series VX2739WM 27" @350. Once again maxes out at 1080. It's fast (1ms), has VGA input. I've never been a big fan of ViewSonic but they do seem to have gotten better color-wise. Tilt no swivel and it's anti-glare (not sure this is a plus).
There are also similar options from HP, Asus, LG and Sceptre but they are all 1080. In fact outside of the Apples, the Hanns-G and a few expensive monitors from NEC they all seem to be 1080. So if I really want the 1200 the Hanns-G seems like the only way to go.
Any input here would be greatly appreciated.

No doubt, the Apple displays are gorgeous. The first time I saw the 30" display wow, I wanted one BAD and it's actually what prompted me to buy a "big" monitor. The colors are great with a rich wonderful saturation level and as usual for Apple the form factor design is stunning. You know for that picture quality I could even get over the sticker shock and save up for one.
Which is why I was so disappointed when I actually sat down in the store and started to use Logic on one. I imagine for doing video work, graphic design or darn near anything else, it would be great. But for Logic I just found myself bending and twisting trying to look at toolbar at the bottom and then up to look at the menus. And instrument or plugin displays that were hard coded to look OK at lower resolutions looked really, really tiny to me. For me and particularly using Logic having 2 slightly smaller displays at a 45 degree angle makes more sense.
And once again the 24 seems just a bit small. I don't understand why they have a 27" iMac but you can't buy a 27" display. So iMac 27" starting at 1699, subtract out the cost of the CPU and drive ie the Mini and I'd really buy one. Strangely you can buy a 21.5" or a 27" iMac. Or you can buy a 24" or 30" display. Hmmmm.
So don't get me wrong I'm not bashing Apple for being expensive. They put a lot of money into R&D and into really thinking about the form and the function of their products. As a recent convert from being a PC developer for 25+ years, hey I've more than sipped the Kool-Aid here, I've guzzled it. They make great products and yeah they're more expensive, because they ARE better! I've now got 2 MBP's, 2 iPods, I'm about to get an iPhone (silly "death grip" or not) and I really want an iPad. Heck I'd really love an 8 core MacPro if I could afford one (alas I can't).
I guess my only gripe here is that there always seems to be a little less choice in the Apple world. Yeah, I know they do a lot less volume than the PC clone world I just think that they always seem to have a big gap between the high end and low end with not enough in between. So you can choose between the lower end and one piece units with no expansion boards (the mini or the iMac) or go straight to monster tower MacPro (way over 3K with display). You can get a MacBook but then you have to put up with a small screen or go with MacBook Pro, which let's face it is a lot of computing power for someone who just wants to web surf and write some email without squinting.
So here I am stuck in the middle. I don't want to buy a HannspreeQG or another piece of junk that's going to last 3 years and 3 months because of a crappy $2 capacitor that no seems to able to fix or care about fixing. I'd like to buy a really nice Apple monitor, I just want a big monitor, not a huge one and not a "medium" one (I know I'm spoiled but 24" seems "medium" these days).
Sorry about the rant here but my monitor is shutting down every 30 seconds and I'm about to go completely insane and toss it out the window!!!
Really glad to hear about that 84' VGA cable. I never imagined such a thing existed or would work without some sort of signal boost on the way. Very cool for me. My electronic drum kit is in another room and I would love to have a small cheap monitor next to it for sequencing. I had my laptop on a stand next to it for a while but I began to get terrified that I'd let a drumstick slip and destroy my laptop screen. That would be a very bad thing. Thanks for the tip.

MBP as centerpiece of Logic Pro 7 home studio?

Hello All.
I am VERY close to placing an order for my first Mac and right now its neck and neck between the MacBook Pro and the 20-inch Intel iMac.
My main purpose for the Mac is to be a dedicated computer for serious hobbyist music creation with Logic Pro 7, Garageband & various plugins, web surfing, management of an iTunes Library over 12000 songs and occasional iLife usage. I currently use Cubase, Reason and various VST's on my PC. My songs consist mainly of sofwtare instruments, a few breakbeat loops or beats that I create myself. Eventually, I will add those programs and VST's to the Mac when the universal binary versions of them come out.
I've been debating this for weeks now and I'm seriously torn between the MBP and the IMac; both have their good and bad points. For the MBP, I love the idea of portability and not being stuck at a desk when I'm working on my tracks. This would be especially handy when my wife starts bugging me to use the Dell PC that currently sits on said desk or when my 20-month son gets too rowdy and chases me out of the room. I don't travel much nor do any professional recording or touring, but I must admit the ability to even just play around or surf the web from another room in the house is appealing which is why I'm considering it.
On the other hand, I'm definately not rich and I'd be paying a serious premium for that portability. Plus when you add laptop accessories, the price gets up there rather quick. Alternatively, I could get an Intel iMac with the same configuration, Logic Pro 7 and the 7.2 Crossgrade for about the same price of the MBP and accessories WITHOUT Logic Pro 7. Furthermore, I've gotten used to the 21" CRT we use for our Dell PC and I'm wondering if the 15.4" screen of the MBP would wear on me after awhile. I could get the iMac with all the same specs with that big beautiful display, but it would obviously take up more space and I'll lose the portability.
1) Anyway, have any of you ever used a laptop (like the PowerBook G4, for example) as the centerpiece of your home studio? How did that work out? Is that something that you'd recommend or would I be better off with an iMac desktop?
2) Also, should I be concerned with the heat that laptops like the MBP and PowerBowk put out? I was gonna have the 100GB 7200RPM drive installed in the MBP so I wonder if drive noise could be a factor here as well?
3) Lastly and on a side note, regardless of whether or not I get the MBP or the iMac, I'd be using my Edirol PCR-50 MIDI USB Keyboard Controller to control the software instruments and plug-ins. If I simply plugged this into the computer via USB, would I experience any latency issues with Core Audio/Core MIDI of OS X? Or is a MIDI absolutely necessary? Does OS X allow you change the latency settings?
Thanks in advance for your input.
Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Hello
i used to have a Soundcraft 24/8/2 mixboard, a MPC 2000XL, an EMU e6400, a MicroModular, a Nord Lead, three DBX266XL compressors, a TC M-One, a Lexicon MPX100, a Sherman Filterbank ...
i've sold everything except the nordlead and bought a powerbook G4 1.5 ghz with Logic Express 7.
i've never been as productive as now. I used to be forced to compose in front of the same stupid wall. now i can make music anywhere. i bought some good headphones, plug them directly to the powerbook soundcard and make music most of the time on the sofa next to my girlfriend while she watches tv.
i have a super small usb midi keyboard (m-audio o2) which i plug when i need to enter notes. sometimes i even enter notes using the CapsLock keyboard integrated in logic so i don't even need my usb keyboard.
when i've finished my track i go to my office and plug my firewire soundcard (Echo Audiofire 8, lots of inputs / outputs, useful to plug guitar / bass / mic and eventually a friend's computer) and check the mix on my monitors.
i'll never go back to a desktop computer again. i'm not a pro working for any kind of business, i'm just a musician making my demo. my mixes sounds as good as or better than when i had all this audio hardware.
i have two sessions in os X, one internet, one audio. i surf the web heavily, no virus, no ********. sometimes i even load safari while boucing a track in logic, professionals will tell you it's baaaaaaad, i don't care.
so :
1) i recommend having a laptop and good headphones (100$ minimum) if you're just making music for pleasure. pro need big G5, we don't.
2) i don't have problem with heat. when it's on my thigs it can get very hot which is not recommended. you must let the heat get out.but i didn't have any problem
3) no midi latency problem at all, wether it is pure midi or usb.
Lastly : i think the MacBook Pro is too expensive. a powerbook G4 is too old for big sessions. wait for the MacBook (the iBook successor), which is supposed to be intel 1.67 ghz solo core 13"3 inch screen, a little more than 1000$, and may be released on April 1st (apple aniversary)
i'm currently waiting for my copy of Logic Pro 7.2 to arrive, and i'll get a MacBook as soon its released
(be careful there are near to 0 plugins out on intel macs yet be sure you will only use logic plugins)
cheers
Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Imac as external monitor for windows Notebook

Hi,
I want to switch from my Windows Pc to a mac for private use.
I prefer the new iMac (2011) 21,5" but I could not get an definite answer (not even in my local apple store) if it is possible to connect an existing Notebook (with VGA Mini-d-sub or DVI connector) to the new iMac in order to use the iMac as an external monitor for the Notebook.
I definitely need this for my business work in my home-office so this information is vital.
If ist is not possible I have to take the macMini and stay with my standard monitor.
Can please someone tell me if it is possible at all and if so, how it can be done.
I searched the internet and only found out that it was possible with the older 27" model but no information for the 2011 21,5" so please help!
Thank you in advance for your Support.
Celindir

Hi,
Sorry to say, but ...
The 2011 iMacs (21.5" and 27") can only be used as a second display via a Thunderbolt-to-Thunderbolt cable.
The 2009 and 2010 27" iMacs can be used as a second display via a DisplayPort connection.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3775 andhttp://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Thunderbolt/10.6/en/30822.html
Stefan

Monitors for home studio

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