Moving My Rig to a Mobile Setup...

[APK]

Hey Everyone!
Well here's my predicament...
I currently am using a G4/500 Mhz Tower with a Motu 24 I/O with Digital Performer. It's been great for transferring from tape, but most of the time no more than 8 inputs and 4 outputs are attached. So I figure the MOTU is overkill. So I've decided I'm going to sell off most of the rig and minimize it since I don't know how much longer a steady place to live and work is going to remain.

Now, I want to get a Metric Halo 2882 and be able to fit everything I will need into a 12U rack. For now, 10 channels is more than enough for me. So I figure use the Metric pre's, a Sytek, and the New Api A2D. Now, with all the computer options now, I don't know if it would be better to get a G5 tower and load it full of ram or get a macbook for the sheer portability. I'm just more concerned about sheer processing power, but I don't want to be limited by future upgrades. I can pick up a dual 1.8 G5 with a gig of ram for $1200, and then the Macbooks are in that range as well...

Any suggestions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[Remoteness]

This thread got no action in the forum it was posted in...

Let's see if we can assist this GS member.

[pkautzsch]

With my 2.8M/512M PC notebook and MOTU 896HD, I'm fine with as many as 18 channels, at 24/44.1. Haven't tried 96k with more than 4 channels so far...
But recording doesn't really need a lot of CPU or RAM. PCI and FW bus are the bottlenecks.
So, for portability, I'd definitely go for a laptop. You don't need to carry a keyboard and screen with you. If you get a rack with removable top, you could even put the laptop into the top rack unit.

[rmx16]

I'd go for the Macbook Pro. I've been using my MBP with Logic 7.2 and two 2882's for a month and it's been rock solid. Before that I used DP 4.6 with a Tibook 867 with descent results.

Rob

[jwh1192]

hi,

not to take you off track but have you thought about using some hardware on remote gigs ... maybe an Alesis HDR machine for recording with a fireport to get into your computer for edit/mix ....

less stress on the old heart muscle than using computers for remotes ... i always have 2 types of recorders going ... pro tools and DA88's as an example ...

i only say this if you are trying to make a living at remotes .. if it is for yourself or for fun than please please disregard ...

i have never used the metric halo gear but hear good things ...

best of luck

john

[rmx16]

John
I learned the hard way when recording to hard drive (CRASH).After that I picked up two Tascam DA 78's( $350 used) for backup. I just lightpipe out of my Metrichalo 2882's into the DA78's.

Peace
Rob