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anonymous 8 February 2003

Hi, i am planing to buy G4. currently Im using 8600/300 old mac. But I heard some said that G4 has very noisy fan. which model of G4 would be the best in audio rec?

Comments

anonymous Sat, 02/08/2003 - 12:48

The first rev of the current G4's have gotten nicknames like "Windtunnel" & "LeafBlower". There's a whole website dedicated to this problem and Apple's disappointing poor response to complaints.

Apparently they have addressed this issue with the newer machines, but there are still a lot of unhappy people who bought when they first came out. Stuff like this is why I will never buy the first revision of anything Apple.

anonymous Sat, 02/08/2003 - 16:52

So you want to buy a mac?..good choice in my opinion.

I have heard the noise of the new macs are dissapoiting to some . But I think there are bigger questions at hand. Noise can be worked around depending on how you configure your system and space.

1. What software do you plan on using?
2. What hardware do you plan on using?
(These are the really important questions due to compatability issues)
In case ya did not know....any 2003 macintosh will not boot in OS 9 to my understanding. So I would not recommend one of these if you are wanting the flexibility to run both OS 9 and OS X.
3. Do you already own software and hardware you want to use on your new macintosh?
You may have problems if you own alot of plug ins already due to the fact there will be upgrade fee's for new OSX compatible plug ins or software.
For instance....
If you own a Digi 001 and you buy a new macintosh you must special order a macintosh with a different logic board that supplies enough voltage on the PCi bus. For Pro Tools HD/MIX these comps are fine right out of box with no upgrade. BUUUUT..the new 2003 macs are not abled to boot in OS 9 so you would order the Pro Tools 6.0 upgrade to work on OS X and then have to upgrade all of your existing plug ins. Unfortunately this plug in upgrade issue is going to happen across the board whether you have VST/RTAS/MOTU plug ins.

anyway this is a tad of information...there are other issues depending on what software and hardware you are using.

So feel free to post what you are looking to achieve. There should be plenty of help here to get you the info you need to make the right decision.

Robert

anonymous Tue, 04/01/2003 - 22:13

sorry about late reply.. I have been super busy...
anyway.....

>So you want to buy a mac?..good choice in my opinion.

Yes i have been a good mac user for years I don't think I can use windows....tried a couple tyme.. never had good experience..u can say I am a genuin APPLE BOY.

>1. What software do you plan on using?

I have been using logic for a while. I think I will stick with it.

>2. What hardware do you plan on using?

I did not know new G4s (2003) cannot boot in classic mode.
I am uing Pulsar II DSP system from creamware which has not come to release OS X driver n' OS till end of this comming summer ( at least thats wat they said) So I have to have the machin which would boot from OS9.x.. not OSX

>3. Do you already own software and hardware you want to use on your new macintosh?

Even though I am planing to buy new G4, I am not that rich to buy whole new system and softwear... so I would stick with pulsar and Logic..

anyway.. so i should be looking for an older G4 from 2002 ... I guess? i am not really sure about spec of my pulsar II pcsi card.. i haven seen many using pulsar on mac in around here since its company's poor support for mac platform. I guess I shouldn't hold on to DSP sound cards even though pulsar is such a great sounding card.
Oh n' I have heard some unconfirmed info that... apple is offering free exchange of da fun in new macs ( that noisy one!!).. all u have to pay is shipping (about 20 buks)... I am not sure..do u guys know anything about it?

yasu

anonymous Wed, 04/02/2003 - 10:05

If you are hoping to set up the G4 and a microphone within 1/2 mile of each other without a wall in between, it won't matter if it's a Leafblower 1.25 or a Whiskbroom 1.46, it will still make too much noise to record in the same room with.

Toward the end of the "Silent But Deadly" thread in this forum there are links to guys wo have conquered the noise problem and are selling cabinets to quiet the beast...

Works for pc too.

:cool: RW :roll:

anonymous Thu, 04/03/2003 - 06:27

Yeah, right.

I sent in the order and got the runaround: demand higher than expected, fans in short supply, yada yada, don't call Apple, Apple will call you.

They said they would start shipping the new Power supply / fan assemblies March 1st. On March 15, they got up early, stabbed Caesar in the back and emailed everybody who ordered the update and said, " Keep your shirt on, we're working on it ".

You know what they are WORKING ON !!! They are working on funneling all the new power supply / fan assemblies into the Dual 1.46 Macs while they stall for time on the 1.25 retrofit orders until they build up a surplus.

But even still: let's say you actually GET the new assembly and get it installed OK. (That's not a simple deal either, by any means -- download the instructions and see for yourself. You basically have to gut the entire machine and build it again.) It WILL be less noisy, but it STILL WON'T BE QUIET ENOUGH to open a channel to a decent microphone in the same room with it.

Trust me. Dual Fanjet 1.25 or Dual Flyfart 1.46 -- you will still need to isolate this thing.

:cool: RW :roll:

anonymous Fri, 04/04/2003 - 22:59

:roll:

10-4, Fats.

Elias's box looks about the best of the ones that are out there -- of course, the one with the machine gun turret and the built-in Jacuzzi looks pretty snazzy, too...

Maybe my kvetching got me noticed in Cupertino. I dunno. Anyway, my new whizbang Captain Stevie Power Supply and Fan Kit showed up today. 19 pages of instructions, crummy quality b&w photos. But it's not brain surgery, just a lot of R&R.

I will put it in tomorrow and report back here as soon as the patient comes out of the anesthetic.

RW

anonymous Sat, 04/05/2003 - 13:37

OK, the operation has been completed and the patient is, um, alive, more or less.

Apparently there is some remaining grogginess as I have managed to lock up a few times and the system clock told me it was 1967. Also, when the main fan kicks in now, I get an irritating spinning technicolor beachball for 3-4 seconds -- as if my ears weren't already letting me know the fan showed up for work.

After a clock set, a reinstall of the Firmware Update and a restart or two I think we are beginning to shake the cobwebs out. Lo and behold:

It makes pretty much the same irritable noises as before, but not as loud. I can tell that it's softer, because now I can actually hear the hard drive futtering and grinching and sounding busy. Before, all I ever heard was the MDD 1.25's impression of a 737 doing an impression of a Cuisinart doing an impression of a 1300 watt blowdryer at full chat.

Tell you what: if I was going to push it under the desk and plug in my Bose Wavestation and listen to Mozart while I write my football column, then hey, no problemo, I'm a happy hamster.

? But to actually put up a LD condenser through a real micpre and do vocals in here?

Not yet. Not without a box of some kind. Hullo, Elias?

? Was it a hassle?

Not really. The downloaded .pdf installation instructions came with color photos and printed up nicely on my HP, so I was able to trash the crappy photocopies Apple put in the box. This computer is actually a joy to work on since half of it swings out of the way when you drop the door open, and the rest of it clicks in and out of place without much of a fight, give or take a sticky connector here and there.

The only issue of note was that the new fan's 3 carved channels intended to mate with the computer's snap-in mounting lugs were on the WRONG 3 CORNERS of the fan housing for it to actually snap in AND be oriented as instructed by Apple. This resulted in the fan's wiring sprouting out of the lower corner farthest from its connector on the logic board instead of the lower corner closest to the connector as shown in the photos and instructed by the text. But, since there was enough length on the wire to travel the extra mileage without any strain, and the alternative would have been forcing open the chassis lugs to cram the fan in "correctly", I tossed the instructions and stitched up the incision without further incident.

? Is it worth the $20 ?

Probably. The new fan is a Pabst unit and is definitely superior to the Chinese clanger that was in there before. The P/S is still Chinese, but is 350 max watts rather that the old one's 400. Presumably it runs a little cooler and saves a few cents. Might even pay for Elias's box in oh, say, 212 years.

I think the link to the Apple Fan/PS kit is up in here someplace, but here it is again:

Coaster

The program ends 06/30/03.

YMMV.

:cool: RW :roll:

KurtFoster Sat, 04/05/2003 - 14:21

Robert,
I am sure you would be happy with a "Silence Case". My computer is a Dual Anthlon, in a Huge tower case (24" tall) with a mess of fans.. It sounds like it is powered with a Chevy 350 doing an impression of your computer. Very noisy. The case has quieted it down enough that I can cut vocals with an U87i right at the workstation without any problem. The added bonus is the extra flat surface which as you can imagine was put to immediate use. Excellent for the drum machine, or even the monitor. Kurt

anonymous Tue, 04/08/2003 - 12:10

There's a tiny USA link over on the left of his main page, but it just takes you to the US distributor:

http://www.veraxfans.com/

where you can ask questions via email.

I can only say, don't pin your hopes on the Captain Stevie Apple Whizbang $20 Power Supply and Fan Kit.

The install went OK, but the new Pabst 120mm fan, though quieter at it's full speed, makes a clattering noise at the lower speeds. Kind of like what you would hear if you were chilling in a nice cozy Pullman berth on an HO gauge train as it clicks and buzzes its way around your cousin's basement layout. The rhythm of the rails, as it were.

As to the Verax kit, it looks promising and as long as its cheaper than Elias' box, I'd consider it. It looks to me like it will be at least a couple hundred. German, you know.

I emailed Craig, the US Verax guy and he says pricing will be set in a couple of weeks...

:cool: RW :roll:

anonymous Wed, 06/11/2003 - 09:06

I have a friend who had lots of noise problems with his dual processor 800. It was his first Mac. ;( He installed the silencer kit that Apple provided and still was not happy. Apple then took the computer twice and brought it back twice without doing anything saying that it was due to run OS9 on those machines and that it was within specs. My friend has since bought the Veraxing silencing kit and is much happier with the results.

It's really a shame that this happened - I know they fixed this in the new Macs - still they made a lot of people unhappy and I personally think they should have had a recall.

I'm still a Mac lover though and will be until and unless forced to do otherwise. I currently have 3 Macs and love them all. That said, I'm not sure I would say that Mac is better than PC or visa versa. I think it depends on what you get/build and how you have your system/hardware set up. After that, as with most everything, it's what you do with what you've got that counts for a lot in the end.

Another tidbit...my same friend before had a PC dedicated music system. He is a software engineer and said that he preferred Logic to any of the other sequencers. I couldn't say because I'm using Digital Performer which I am very happy with. As you know, new versions of Logic are Mac only.

LOL, if I had to start all over and choose my set up, I would choose the fastest Mac and DP.

Cheers,
Sioux

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