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Apple’s G5 and G4 processor
Power Macs are some of the fastest running audio workstations available on the
market. The Power Mac has long been the studio machine of choice for producers,
composers, engineers and sound designers for film, music, video games and other
media.
There are many younger artists and deejays who grew up during
Apple’s down cycle, who use PCs for audio, and there are several powerful,
great PC machines for doing audio work as well. However, the Power Mac G5 and G4
processors, and the user-friendly Mac interface are optimized for multimedia
work, and you will probably not find many top recording studios or producers who
use anything other than the Power Mac and Pro Tools hardware for serious audio
work.
 
 
If you’re new to computing, and looking for a studio machine that will be
easy to set up and reliable for processor-intensive audio work, then the Power
Mac is a great choice. Since technology moves forward so quick these days, and
product cycles are much shorter than they were just two years ago, it is possible
to pick up either the most cutting edge technology, or to pick up a slightly
older (say, three-to-six-month old) Power Mac at a decent price.
The Power Mac has long been the studio machine of choice for producers,
composers, engineers and sound designers for film, music, video games and other
media.
OS 9 or OS X
One consideration to be made, as mentioned on Audiohead’s main Apple page, is whether you are ready
to boot solely into Mac OS X, or whether you still need a machine that boots into Mac
OS 9. Pretty much every audio app is available now in a Mac OS X version, and if
it isn’t, it should be coming out fairly soon. Because of the careful
development of Core Audio in the new OS (X), audio developers had to wait a little longer than
most other developers did to be able to develop apps for the new operating system.
OS X is great for audio, and the dual-processor Power Macs are amazingly fast
while running OS X. The only concern you should have about purchasing a newer
machine which boots only into OS X (and does not have the option of booting into
OS 9) is if you are running older applications, or don’t want to have to
replace all of your old OS 9-running plug-ins.
Getting a Power Mac for Use with Pro Tools
If you’re running a Pro Tools system, you might find you don’t need as
fast of a machine, since Pro Tools is designed to handle most of the DSP (digital
signal processing). Of course, faster is always better, but all machines on the
market are pretty fast already as far as audio is concerned. However, you might
want to check on the minimum system requirements for whatever audio apps
you’re planning to use, before you go and buy too minimalist of a model.
For example, apps like FXPansion’s kickass new drum app, BFD, requires a
minimum processor speed of 733mhz. So, if you want to tap into some of the newer
apps, you’ll be best off getting yourself a newer machine. Or, if you’re on a budget or want to recycle, you can upgrade the processor in your legacy Power Mac for less than $400 and get your audio apps up and running in Mac OS X with ease. Read our upgrade article by clicking here.
So, if you’re ready to get a Power Mac, go ahead and select from the options
to the right. When you purchase through Audiohead links, it helps support the
site costs and maintenance, and you get the best available price on products
through our affiliate program with Amazon.
Mac Audiophiles
Read up on these Mac-using audioheads (featured
in the Interviews section) for insights on what they use and why.
Underworld
Chris Vrenna
Trent
Reznor
Liam
Lynch
Hans
Zimmer
Butch
Vig
Keith
Hillebrandt
Richard
Devine
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Upgrade the processor on your legacy Power Mac
To read Audiohead.net’s article on swapping out the old processor for a new one on the cheap, click here.
Get a Power Mac
Apple Dual 2.5-GHz G5 Power
Mac
(click the image below to purchase)
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Displays
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For more Mac stuff, click here.
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Interviews
