for all you mac people

ken · Post by **ken** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:03 pm

this is dope yo!

http://news.harmony-central.com/Newp/20 ... cPlug.html

cheap and easy to use.

Ken

roymond · Post by **roymond** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:23 pm

Doesn't say this is limited to Macs, in fact it should work with any PC.

fluffy · Post by **fluffy** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 8:30 pm

Of course, it's rather hard to rock out while tethered by a 3' USB cable.

On the topic of music-related Mac faggery, though, the newly-announced Mac Mini is basically a turnkey recording system for only $500. Just add an audio input box of some sort (like a Tascam US-224/428 or your favorite piece of overpriced M-Audio gear or whatever, or even one of the USB guitar amp things Ken originally posted about) and you'll have a complete recording system, software included - GarageBand 2.0 looks like it's bridged the gap between fun toy and serious recording software.

Obviously there's still a lot of things it doesn't do which Logic or Cubase do, but it finally adds things I've been holding my breath for like multitrack recording, freezing/rendering tracks, and staff-based notation, and it also includes some fun pitch correction tools as well.

deshead · Post by **deshead** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 9:02 pm

fluffy wrote:On the topic of music-related Mac faggery

Heh.

I'm a PC guy through-and-through, but the Mac Mini makes me drool.

fluffy · Post by **fluffy** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 11:20 pm

Well, yeah, I think that's the idea - finally give people a reason to buy a Mac who normally wouldn't have bought one. Barebones minimal Mac, cheap-ass $500 computer which will show people how much better Mac stuff is than similarly-priced PC equivalents.

The only thing which annoys me is that it's only a year ago that I paid that much for an old used G4/450 tower. :D

ken · Post by **ken** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 10:37 am

How does the Mac Mini compare to the $500 Linspire laptop from http://www.walmart.com?

fluffy · Post by **fluffy** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 12:16 pm

Let's see... Mac Mini: runs OSX, comes with great entry-level DAW software out of the box, has high-quality components, is practically silent, and has a 1.25GHz G4 which is enough for mid-level audio work.

Linspire laptop: runs Linspire, arguably the crappiest Linux distribution *ever*, and doesn't have any decent DAW available period, made out of the cheapest crappiest parts which no other OEMs want to use which is why they're so inexpensive. Has a low-end processor. Oh, but it comes with the crappiest (non-upgradeable) built-in LCD and keyboard and touchpad...

If you already have a monitor and keyboard and mouse and don't need a laptop, go with the Mac Mini. If you don't have that stuff and/or really want a laptop, the iBook G4 is also a great deal (and is actually a bit faster than the Mac Mini since it has a faster memory bus).