Mac G3 for recording?

Rumzini · #1 02-06-2006, 03:02 PM

There was a thread started for this but not many chimed in. I believe my drummer has one of these. The model with everything, (speakers, guts, cd drive) inside themonitor...plug the keyboard into it, the mouse into the keyboard....way cool! I know nothing about Macs other than what he showed me he had been doing with his. Using ProTools and recording himself and several tracks of instruments. My question is if I was to get one of these computers along with one of the multi line input hardware items like the presonus firebox or something from E-MU (maybe?). Could I plug in myself, the guitarist, drummer, and singer all at one time as we practice to record our sessions? Would this machine be up to task to make a quality demo cd from home?

I have very low budget for all of it. However I'm finding these G3's on the net going for $100!!! Add a firewire interface and presto right? Any info anyone can give me would be great. Nobody around me has Macs so I can't physically go play with one. Where should I buy from? Anywhere on line? (other than E-Bay).

Groundloop · #2 02-06-2006, 05:14 PM

If you're talking about an iMac w/ a CRT screen I would recommend you give them a pass. Most (if not all) of them won't be supported by modern Firewire or USB audio interfaces. Here are the requirements for the Presonus Firebox:

• OS: MacOS X ver. 10.3.7 or later
• CPU/Clock: PowerPC G4/800Mhz or higher (G4/Dual 1 GHz recommended)
• Memory(RAM): 256 MB (512MB recommended)

To your question, you might be able to record your bands rehearsals in stereo (using a mixer -> small USB interface -> computer) at CD quality, but it would be just about impossible to master a decent demo on it.

You'd be far better off getting a used G4 tower (at least 733 mhz) and a cheapish 17" LCD monitor.

In computer recording, money buys you horsepower, horsepower buys you flexibility. This is especially important when you have a lot of tracks recorded and a lot of plug in effects.

Rumzini · #3 02-07-2006, 04:26 AM

Bummer...the price was sooo right. What would I be looking at for one of the used G4's you mentioned? Last night I tried installing my SBC Yahoo driver disc onto my HP. I had just recovered the hard drive. totally wiped it clean the other day. Well I had forgotten that I had upgreded the memory, so now it was saying unrecognized whatever....so...I put in the old memory...now it just shuts off after about 2 minutes! Furthering my quest to get away from a PC!

Groundloop · #4 02-07-2006, 08:09 AM

One of the local computer shops here in Toronto has a Quicksilver G4 733 for $624 CDN. At current exchange rates that's about $545 US. Of course, the price of anything used is based on local demand. Can't help you with pricing in Jackson, sorry. Looking through the Yellow Pages should give you a few places to call locally.

A good web resource for specs for every Apple computer ever made is http://www.apple-history.com/

Good luck.

Rumzini · #5 02-07-2006, 08:48 AM

So this would be a tower type computer. I really dug theportability of the li crt screen type G3....what would laptobs go for? Would they be strong enough?

SteveC · #6 02-07-2006, 09:03 AM

A G3 won't do it. I have a G4 and I'm barely able to do it. When my new G5 arrives next week, I'll be set!

Rumzini · #7 02-07-2006, 09:28 AM

Well I guess it's a bust then....man I thought I stumbled across the deal of the century! LOL!

chinjazz · #8 02-07-2006, 02:35 PM

Yeah, sometimes deals that seem too good to be true, are...

I've currently got a G3, G4, and G5. G3 I started with a Layla card, and the computer could not get to do much at all except record a few tracks and playback a few tracks. I then got a G4 Quicksilver 2002 (800Mhz), with a gig of ram, and it defnitely does the trick for recording tracks, but not mixing/mastering. I now have a dual 1.8 G5 (with a Motu 828MkII) and now I'm in the right ball park.

You could get a used G4 for about 4-500, and depending on the graphics card, you can hook up any VGA monitor. Then get a firewire card and you're in. There's pretty fierce competitiion on the firewire card side. A lot of manufacturers bundle software with their stuff as well.

Good Luck finding the right stuff!

Rumzini · #9 02-07-2006, 02:43 PM

Hmmm...I think at this point I'm throwing in the towel and just gonna get some new bass gear. Besides we can still use the computer he has been bringing in. But we don't have instrument seperation...but...it's just to capture ideas anyways for now.

Thanks to everyone that chimed in.