Re: Sleep is almost upon me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ankietyjoe
Depends on your goal really. I had a ton of hardware (as you know) and it ended up being a weird creative paradox. My work is all software based (with the odd dip into hardware tutorial), but having the hardware blinking away in the background became some kind of weird procrastination problem that had to be solved. I kept thinking I had to use it, despite hampering MY productivity. If your goal is to jam and have fun on the other hand, it's probably the better way to go. You might find value in upgrading the Elektron to their bigger/better models. I think the Digitakt and A4 are a killer combo, and if you get along with the Model Cycles, you'll get along with them too. Plus you can pipe them into your DAW in the future because Elektron Overbridge is such a genius bit of software. No downside.
By the way, I just bought an M1 Macbook to see what all the fuss is about ;)
To be honest, I want to Jam. It's a toss up between that,an MPC 1000 from eBay or an octatrack MK2 (likely never get that one it's too expensive lol). I am more productive on an MPC but since using Renoise I've gotten used to the tracker workflow. Elektron products are the sh**. I had the octatrack and it was rock solid. I didn't like the plastic buttons, felt awful to tap, but solid box non the less. Need to get a pre amp first for mic.
And Macbooks are awful these days. Good for browsing, and my bro runs Fruity Loops from his and Nexus without problems. But they are overpriced pieces of metal that you can't upgrade. It all went to s**t when Jobs died. I was a fanboy, and as mentioned before had a business account with them when I was doing well. The not being able to upgrade is forcing people to buy a newer model and that business model stinks. It's a real shame apple went that way. Putting their mac pros in a tiny box was a silly move too making it non upgradable with stock parts.
I haven't seen the Mac pro 7,1 in action but that does look beastly. Have no idea on the tech specs though. I should read up.
Enjoy the Macbook though, it does feel so nice to sit back and relax on a brand spanking new macbook :) I bet you're already on the app store clicking "buy, I need this, I might use this so I'll get it, and this looks shiny lets have that too". That was me ha ha.
If you haven't already, download SonicPi. You use code to write music. It's genius mate. Kid friendly, so you can pick it up.
Re: Sleep is almost upon me.
Aha, but caveat.....
This will be my 4th Mac in about 8 years. I've run both OSX and Windows in parallel all this time.
There are some major advantages to OSX that mitigate the cost for some uses.
1) Windows is a disaster for audio natively. ASIO drivers are required (as you know) for anything close to decent performance, and this is problematic if you need to be mobile/use a laptop. You have to have an audio interface hanging out the side of the machine. This is completely negated with Core Audio on OSX. You get top end ASIO performance using the audio drivers built into OSX. I can take a laptop anywhere and run large projects no problem.
2) Historically recording multiple channels of audio into screen recording apps, specifically from any DAW is a headache on PC. Running ASIO drivers often means that you can't access that audio into screen recording software without 3rd party software solutions. Core Audio (again) will do this without fuss, although I have now found a stunning one click workaround using multi channel audio loopback with RME interfaces.
3) The initial financial outlay seems high, and it is comparative to similarly specced PC machines, but only some similarly specced PC machines. If you actually look into it (and LTT has done several comparisons with like for like components), the price difference can be negligible. My last Macbook Pro was around £2.2k, and a similary specced Dell PC laptop I own now is around the same. The biggest difference here is that I sold the Macbook Pro for £1450....FOUR years after I bought it. The resale on Macs cannot be ignored. It actually cost me £3.80 per week to own, and this matters as a business expense. By the time I've done the (allowable) tax write off, it's effectively free.
4) Time machine. The unified OSX platform means that I can upload my current Mac install to the cloud, buy a new Mac, download it again and have zero downtime. Seamless.
Other than that, I really don't give a sh1t what I use. However, the new M1 Mac silicon is showing unbelievable performance. The machine I just bought is a ......Macbook AIR..... and it's benchmarking the same as current mid level Mac Pro's and the iMac Pro. Their integrated Ram/GPU is showing stupendous speed. I know one dude who is running an 87 channel project in Logic with over 130 plugins running, and the CPU meter is showing around 60%. And this is the slowest of the new Apple silicon chips.
Re: Sleep is almost upon me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ankietyjoe
1) Windows is a disaster for audio natively. ASIO drivers are required (as you know) for anything close to decent performance, and this is problematic if you need to be mobile/use a laptop. You have to have an audio interface hanging out the side of the machine. This is completely negated with Core Audio on OSX. You get top end ASIO performance using the audio drivers built into OSX. I can take a laptop anywhere and run large projects no problem.
Agreed!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ankietyjoe
2) Historically recording multiple channels of audio into screen recording apps, specifically from any DAW is a headache on PC. Running ASIO drivers often means that you can't access that audio into screen recording software without 3rd party software solutions. Core Audio (again) will do this without fuss, although I have now found a stunning one click workaround using multi channel audio loopback with RME interfaces.
Agreed!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ankietyjoe
3) The initial financial outlay seems high, and it is comparative to similarly specced PC machines, but only some similarly specced PC machines. If you actually look into it (and LTT has done several comparisons with like for like components), the price difference can be negligible. My last Macbook Pro was around £2.2k, and a similary specced Dell PC laptop I own now is around the same. The biggest difference here is that I sold the Macbook Pro for £1450....FOUR years after I bought it. The resale on Macs cannot be ignored. It actually cost me £3.80 per week to own, and this matters as a business expense. By the time I've done the (allowable) tax write off, it's effectively free.
If I could get finance on a higher end one yes they're definitely worth it. The low end ones are crap. Out of interest, where did you get it? I may give finance a try. Like you say, it'd pay for itself. I got a phone on the business and it'll pay for itself once I launch this app on the android store. Still got a bit of work to do on it but it'll work. It's a sample pack browser. I pulled all the sample packs from top sites and stored them in database. Along with the free samples. I'll make them searchable and easily browsable and have affiliate link attatched.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ankietyjoe
4) Time machine. The unified OSX platform means that I can upload my current Mac install to the cloud, buy a new Mac, download it again and have zero downtime. Seamless.
Agreed again! I got a TM at my moms. It's been plugged for years and still works.
Re: Sleep is almost upon me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
WiredIncorrectly
If I could get finance on a higher end one yes they're definitely worth it. The low end ones are crap. Out of interest, where did you get it? I may give finance a try. Like you say, it'd pay for itself.
.
Read my last paragraph. The new low end ones are the opposite of crap.
I bought mine direct from Apple, £1249 for a 13 inch Macbook Air with 8GB RAM and an upgraded 512GB SSD. Seems like a lot....but some phones cost that now.....
The new base model Mac Mini is 'only' £699 with the M1 chip, and equally rapid. I would go for the one with the 8 core GPU and 512GB SSD though, for £899.
I also forgot to mention these things will run something like the newer Tomb Raider games at 50fps plus with no dedicated GPU, they're that powerful.
Re: Sleep is almost upon me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
WiredIncorrectly
I forgot about him! One of my fav. people of all time. His free flowing consciousness is cool but I'm more impressed with how he turned his life around from drug addiction. I'm not gay, but he is very handsome.
I love this James! Love a bit of 'Bromance' me. :yesyes:
Re: Sleep is almost upon me.
My daughter has a massive collection of photos taken with Russell Brand..I've got a few too...:blush:
Re: Sleep is almost upon me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
pulisa
My daughter has a massive collection of photos taken with Russell Brand..I've got a few too...:blush:
I haven't been this envious since an online friend posted a pic of her and Nick Rhodes!
Closest I've got to pics of famous people is a load of the Supervet (Noel Fitzpatrick) taken at Dogfest one year. I was in the front row at his talk and drooling worse than the dogs! :dribble:
I also got one of Doug the Pug. :shades: