I forgot one thing, the above set up is at about £3,200 in total.

I'd say forget the Mac Mini and look at getting a Powerbook, 15" screen, good spec with extra RAM. Looks like you've got the budget for it.

Ditch the Firepods and get a desk, it will enable alot more tweakage for in situ recording. A 16 channel Mackie Onyx would suit.

gambit wrote: I'd say forget the Mac Mini and look at getting a Powerbook, 15" screen, good spec with extra RAM. Looks like you've got the budget for it.

Ditch the Firepods and get a desk, it will enable alot more tweakage for in situ recording. A 16 channel Mackie Onyx would suit.

Thanks for the suggestions :)
I'm not massively educated on computer specs so forgive me if I've interpretted them wrong in any way.
But it seems like there isn't that much of a difference in the specs between the mac mini and the 15" powerbook model?

The powerbook has 0.08GHz more processing power.
The same amount of ram (If I get the mac mini I'll be upgrading it from 512mb to 1GHZ)
The same harddrive.
The powerbook has a faster graphics card by a large amount.
It's got two firewire ports, wheras the Mini only has the 1.

Is there something more I'm missing or I've misunderstood? Thanks.

Is there something more I'm missing or I've misunderstood? Thanks

A built in screen!!!! Its all well and good having a mobile setup, but you'll have to lug around a monitor of some description with the Mac Mini! With a powerbook, you're good to go. 2 Firewire ports are better than one too! :D

An extenal HD is a good thing too. thats another reason to have 2 fw ports.

I have no idea why you'd want 2 firepods.

stickers wrote: An extenal HD is a good thing too. thats another reason to have 2 fw ports.

I have no idea why you'd want 2 firepods.

I'm greedy :wink:
I want to have at least 12 XLR inputs as a minimum incase any bands would prefer to record guitars, bass and drums at the same time.
My main market audience will be small local bands, looking for cheaper alternative for demos and e.p's. So I'd imagine quite a few would be turned away if I only had the one firepod*.
12 is still more than I'd probably normally need, but there might be a situation where it comes in handy.

*Although I suppose technicly, if I was to use 7 mics on the drumkit, mic up one guitar amp, and then use the two line inputs on the firepod for the other guitar and bass and then use Logics guitar modeller. I could get away with it. But I think I'd rather play it safe with two, plus they connect together so it'll only require one firewire port.

if you are doing mobile, you'll probably end up doing "stratch" tracks direct for guitars and bass becuase not everyone has seperate rooms for amps to keep them isolated from the drums.

So typically I have them go direct for the first session just to get the drums completely isolated. And then overdub the guitars/bass... later. The first session is always about getting the drums right and everything else is secondary because going back to recut drums would be very time consuming.

check out my set-up for ideas.

stickers wrote: if you are doing mobile, you'll probably end up doing "stratch" tracks direct for guitars and bass becuase not everyone has seperate rooms for amps to keep them isolated from the drums.

So typically I have them go direct for the first session just to get the drums completely isolated. And then overdub the guitars/bass... later. The first session is always about getting the drums right and everything else is secondary because going back to recut drums would be very time consuming.

check out my set-up for ideas.

Yeah I agree. There's alot of places you can record a guitar or bass. But alot less you can record a drumkit.
Some nice recordings on your site by the way :)
Have you got any experience with the guitar modeller in logic?
My drum teacher has an older version of it and practicly swears by it.

I'm greedy
I want to have at least 12 XLR inputs as a minimum incase any bands would prefer to record guitars, bass and drums at the same time.

Exactly why I suggested the Onyx - http://www.mackie.com/products/onyx1640/ - 16 channels, all XLR plus Firewire. A great mobile solution. With either a Powerbook or iMac you could be up and running in no time...