Production Mac mini

[Gloomy]

Hi guys,

Since I'm using Cubase sx3 for some weeks now on my intel laptop, I've been looking for a better solution. A laptop is a pain in the ass for recording, and btw, it's my only computer I have (so I'm doing internet things as well with it).

So time for a second machine. As Mac is very popular in the music producing world, I've been looking around for a while but facing that MACs are quite expensive. Untill I discovered the 'Mac Mini'. That small box contains a powerbook G4 1,25 Ghz or 1,42 Ghz processor, so it seems like it is powerfull enough to handle music production (if you realize that guys as Pole Folder made tracks like 'dust' with a G4 733 Mhz).

Do some of you guys have experience with the Mac Mini? Are there major drawbacks I should know about? Is it worth buying, or is this box just a commercial stunt?

Greetz,

Gloomy

[Caley Martin]

Re: Mac mini

or you can get the intel versions, core solo 1.5 or core duo 1.67, optical audio I/O, serial ata hard disk, etc...

[jeffrey collins]

Re: Mac mini

get yourself an Imac g5 version, you can buy them for 7-900$ on ebay and they usually always come with more ram than you get in it's basic form. That computer should last you quite a while in your productions.

[khilla]

Re: Mac mini

i dunno man.. but i wouldn't go that way. If ur gonna buy a mac then go G5.

it looks nice and all but not my cup of tea. I like big solid cases with soundproofing and good airflow/silentfans. if something breaks i just open the case get the broken part out, etc ... same when i want to upgrade my ram or something else ...
i don't think thats possible with a mini mac.

[Caley Martin]

Re: Mac mini

The Mac mini core duo shits all over the iMac G5... and depending what generation iMac G5 you have, it's not that easy to get into to swap parts out. The only version that was easy was the first generation, once they released the iMac G5s with iSights built in, opening the case was a fucking nightmare... the only user accessible slot was the memory. The Mac mini may be smaller but it is a hell of a lot easier to open up and work with than the iMac G5s of yesteryear. Even the Intel iMacs are still a bitch to service.

If you are looking to get a mac at a good price, but performance value, the core duo Mac mini may be the option for you. You get up to 2GBs of RAM, 80 GB serial ATA hard disk, optical/analog audio I/O, dual layer DVD burning, and not to mention dual processing all for $799 and even less if you are educator/student...

The only drawbacks you may encounter are if you want to add PCI cards... you can't since it's a small closed system... there are four USB 2.0 ports and a FireWire port for expansion however, and nowadays most PCI cards have USB/FireWire equivalents in functionality.

Hate to sound like a damn commercial here, but I thought I'd throw in my two cents on the matter.

[groffhibbitz]

Re: Mac mini

hey Gloomy, check out this review:

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2006/02/28/intel-mac-mini-looks-fab-for-music-weaker-for-live-graphics-updated/#more-1189

also this site in general has good info.

It seems that the mac mini would be a good choice for music produciton/ ableton live use. I know they just came out with a version of Live for the Intel Mac.

Also, I heard Apple are soon releasing a new Macbook (cheaper version of macbook pro) you might want to keep your eyes out for that.

[Caley Martin]

Re: Mac mini

the MacBook is now out...

http://www.apple.com/macbook

[miketpoto]

Re: Mac mini

I'd go macbook if I were you. Plus it's Shiny!

[jeffrey collins]

Re: Mac mini

and aparently you can get it in black too.

I still wanna get a g5imac

[miketpoto]

Re: Mac mini

and aparently you can get it in black too.

I still wanna get a g5imac

Jeffrey.... go with a portable for the love of god... don't anchor yourself down... being able to work on music in almost any setting (let alone being able to bring it to gigs for added musical enjoyment etc.) is such a creatively empowering thing I really must encourage you to look at the specs for the macbooks and decide why you would want to go with a now outdated processor that is quite a champ but pales in comparison to the speed of this macbook pro that is on my lap.

I would actually prefer a man on my lap, or to be the lapdog of satan... one of those... yeah.

[Caley Martin]

Re: Mac mini

Not to mention all the new systems being released, except for one version, are dual core. That alone shits over the single core iMac G5.

[miketpoto]

Re: Mac mini

What he said

[jeffrey collins]

Re: Mac mini

yeah but with a laptop i can only get 4500 rpm HDD and with a imac i get 7200RMP HDD so that helps better with production. Maybe if they made a mac with a 7200HDD i'd get one. plus I've almost got the money to buy a brand new imac g5 that my friends dad has and we're gonna stick the 2 gig's of ram in it....well. i may go buy the new imac but i wanna make sure my programs will run with it.

[NewSc2]

Re: Mac mini

yeah but with a laptop i can only get 4500 rpm HDD and with a imac i get 7200RMP HDD so that helps better with production. Maybe if they made a mac with a 7200HDD i'd get one. plus I've almost got the money to buy a brand new imac g5 that my friends dad has and we're gonna stick the 2 gig's of ram in it....well. i may go buy the new imac but i wanna make sure my programs will run with it.

You can swap out the MacBook's hard drive for a 7200rpm one, and regardless, most pro producers use an external hard drive for recording anyways, and they're pretty cheap.

Honestly though, if you go to anywhere with benchmarks, like Ableton's forum or Logic's forum (ableton.com or support.apple.com/logic) you will see that the Duo Core is really gangster.

The MacBook Pro is basically comparable with the Dual G5 PowerMac for Logic, and for Ableton Live the Core Duo is *faster* than the Dual G5.

[Caley Martin]

Re: Mac mini

^^ what he said