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anonymous 13 March 2005

So I have read through hundreds of posts on this board as well as researched across the web for days on end (literally) and I have come to narrow down my new DAW system to the following systems.

DP 4.5 / UAD1 / RME / 1GB
Apple 20" Monitor $999
APPLE G5 DUAL 1.8 1GB $2,295
(2HD) Hitachi 7,200RPM 160GB $100.00
Digital Performer 4.5 $499
UAD1 Project $499
RME PCI HDSP 9632 $599
Radium 61 Key Controller $199
TOTAL $5,190

>>>OR

LOGIC PRO 7 / Mbox / PT LE / 1GB
Apple 20" Monitor $999
APPLE G5 DUAL 1.8 1GB $2,295
(2HD) Hitachi 7,200RPM 160GB $100.00
Logic Pro 7 $999
PT Mbox Bundle $549
Radium 61 Key Controller $199
TOTAL $5,141

I will be using this system to create pre-master ready commercial quality productions for house, dub, electro dance music songs. Some may very well be commissioned remixes where I will be given vocals or other arrangements to work with.

Since I am new to the MAC platform (new as in haven't used it for my personal projects) I am looking for some feedback on the pros/cons of both systems. Which would run more stable, etc...

I have heard the UAD card is not recognized by PT LE and I have also heard that UAD sounds better than the Bomb Factory with PT LE.

I have also seen people produce billboard selling tracks with DP as well as Logic.

So what is everyones opinion on DP 4.5 / UAD vs Logic Pro 7 / Mbox?

Any thoughts, suggestions or any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Shane

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Comments

maintiger Mon, 03/14/2005 - 14:31

yeah I agree, dump he mbox- get a motu box, 828mkii among others, etc- if you go with DP, you might want to get mach Five for VI's- logic already has VI's- I also have 2 Flat panel 17"" VGA monitors for my G4, paid like $600 for both and am happy with them (save an xtra $400 there)- or get duals 19" flat for the price of your apple display- a lot more real state that way=

anonymous Mon, 03/14/2005 - 17:36

Seesm you are getting some great advice here already. Why do you have mBox and PT in the Logic bundle? Any special reason.

Both DP and Logic are wonderful apps. The UAD-1 will probably be one of your best investments ever.

Get 2 gigs of RAM and buy some less expensive LCD. 2 displays are 3 times better than 1 display.

The Apple Display is REALLY good, but you simply don´t need anything like that at this stage. You simply need some serious LCD real estate.

..and do get at least the UAD-1 Studio pak. Hmm.. sorry.. get 2 UAD-1 cards.. Uh... forget what I just said, get 3 UAD-cards..

:D

anonymous Mon, 03/14/2005 - 18:29

Thanks guys. I have been going through these set ups for days. You have brought up some questions that I ran across myself and this is why I needed to present these set-ups.

- I actually looked into getting a dual 17". I make a living off designing so i know i may not need the quality of something so great, yet i wondered what kind of dual 17" or 19" is within the $1000 marker that isnt too crappy either.

Any suggestions?

- The RAM was of question as well. I was wondering if 1GB would be enough to get things running smoothly (yet I know more is always better). I also figured buying the UAD card may help out a bit on system resources so I thought this may help bring my immediate RAM requirements down temporarily.

IS 2GB definitely an immediate and noticable investment?

- I chose MBox with Logic because a) The way it looked is that Logic was quite happy working with MBox and the bonus of a PT platform to final mix within as well as stay "compatible" with others. Yet I myself am not the biggest fan of PT LE nor the MBox. This is why I prefer the RME's s/n over the MBox and the UAD card over having Bomb Factory within PT LE.

So would you suggest the UAD, and RME with Logic? Is Logic as workable for mix down and pre-master as Pro Tools or DP 4.5? If so, Logic may rank higher in my needs.

- One of Logic's interests to me is the suite of VIs and processors. DP 4.5 does not have such, but is Logic's plug-ins really it's worth? Or do you use them at first and slowly but surely use none or just one or two within your production?

Is Logic's plug-ins really worth buying Logic or is DP's midi and audio suite performance more intuitive and reliable without the need to bundle so many 3rd party produtcs?

- Mach Five. Sampler is cool, but I have noticed I don;t really need one. I program a lot instead of play. So I can actually just cut the midi and place the audio snippets within the pane and work with the audio effects to achieve the same and more than the midi effects. So is the Sample Tank 2 XL library so weak compared to Mach Five's?

Can I use my Sample Tank 2 XL happily within DP or Logic?

Thanks for your help everyone.

anonymous Mon, 03/14/2005 - 19:51

Ok... I looked around and here is what I can afford to invest IF I use my current MAudio FireWire Audiphile...

Logic System
(2) Planar PX191 19" LCD $1,078
APPLE G5 DUAL 1.8 1GB $2,295
(2nd HD) Hitachi 7200RPM 160GB $100.00
Logic Pro 7 $999
UAD1 Project $499
Apple ADC to DVI Converter $29
- - - - - - - - -
Sample Tank 2 XL (already own)
MAudio FireWire Audiophile (already own)
Studiophile Monitors (already own)

TOTAL $5,000

>>>OR

Digital Performer System
(2) Planar PX191 19" LCD $1,078
APPLE G5 DUAL 1.8 1GB $2,295
(2nd HD) Hitachi 7200RPM 160GB $100.00
Digital Performer 4.5 $499
UAD1 Project $499
Apple ADC to DVI Converter $29
Motu MachFive Sampler $369
- - - - - - - - -
Sample Tank 2 XL (already own)
MAudio FireWire Audiophile (already own)
Studiophile Monitors (already own)

TOTAL $4,869

Once again, this is if I use my current firewire audio card... MAudio FireWire Audiophile...

Is this card decent enough to start with on a Mac System?

I will also only have 1GB of RAM... could I possibly upgrade to 2GB shortly or will 1GB just not be enough to run smoothly?

Everyone has been great help... any more feedback on these new set-ups would be wonderful...

thanks,
shane

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