Over the last few months I've been posting and reading bags and bags of stuff on here and we've finally finished up with a really great home recording setup and my credit card is still, largely, intact.
The need came about as my girlfriend is studying an MA in music composition so we needed to be able to compose and record at home.
The idea was to use Logic Studio 9 in the main to replicate the set up she has at University. This meant a Mac was the only choice so a base model i3 iMac was the first thing on the list to acquire. Apple knock 12% off the price of the Mac and 70% off the software for students which was a bonus.
Next up we needed some storage and backup. We went with the Western Digital MyBook at 1TB to run through the Firewire as a backup device. Its totally silent and mirrors the hard disk then runs an incremental backup every hour. This means that if she changes her mind and likes what she did last Thursday but has since changed, she can go back. Ideal.
We figured that two screens were a good idea so I did some research and found that the Dell SX2210 uses the exact same LCD panel as the iMac. Ideal. By placing it on top of the Mybook backup drive its also exactly the same height as the iMac screen. Winner! Winning a reconditioned one on ebay for £90 was also a highlight.
Next up was to sort out an input device. Helen plays piano and also sings, therefor we wanted to be able to put a couple of devices into the Mac at a decent quality. Outputting at a good rate was also high on the list too. Apogees Duet seemed the best choice as it allowed two inputs and a couple of outputs. In reality the Piano weve since bought has a direct USB to Midi interface so we didnt entirely need the Apogee as much as we thought but its a good tool anyway.
Finally time for some speakers or audio monitors as theyre known. Some big sodding 8inch Yamaha efforts (HS-80m) seemed like a great idea in the shop, on getting them home and finding that at 12Kgs and actually sodding massive, we may have gone a little over the top. Still, they sound awesome and kick out an insane volume at full power. Theyll earn their keep next time someone down the street has a large party that needs to be drown out.
Anyhoo, rubbish picture attached. Quite chuffed to have got the whole thing up and running for under £2000 (excluding instruments.)
Thanks for the help an advice. I'm still reading a lot on here most days and we're really getting into the whole Mac thing a lot more
The need came about as my girlfriend is studying an MA in music composition so we needed to be able to compose and record at home.
The idea was to use Logic Studio 9 in the main to replicate the set up she has at University. This meant a Mac was the only choice so a base model i3 iMac was the first thing on the list to acquire. Apple knock 12% off the price of the Mac and 70% off the software for students which was a bonus.
Next up we needed some storage and backup. We went with the Western Digital MyBook at 1TB to run through the Firewire as a backup device. Its totally silent and mirrors the hard disk then runs an incremental backup every hour. This means that if she changes her mind and likes what she did last Thursday but has since changed, she can go back. Ideal.
We figured that two screens were a good idea so I did some research and found that the Dell SX2210 uses the exact same LCD panel as the iMac. Ideal. By placing it on top of the Mybook backup drive its also exactly the same height as the iMac screen. Winner! Winning a reconditioned one on ebay for £90 was also a highlight.
Next up was to sort out an input device. Helen plays piano and also sings, therefor we wanted to be able to put a couple of devices into the Mac at a decent quality. Outputting at a good rate was also high on the list too. Apogees Duet seemed the best choice as it allowed two inputs and a couple of outputs. In reality the Piano weve since bought has a direct USB to Midi interface so we didnt entirely need the Apogee as much as we thought but its a good tool anyway.
Finally time for some speakers or audio monitors as theyre known. Some big sodding 8inch Yamaha efforts (HS-80m) seemed like a great idea in the shop, on getting them home and finding that at 12Kgs and actually sodding massive, we may have gone a little over the top. Still, they sound awesome and kick out an insane volume at full power. Theyll earn their keep next time someone down the street has a large party that needs to be drown out.
Anyhoo, rubbish picture attached. Quite chuffed to have got the whole thing up and running for under £2000 (excluding instruments.)
Thanks for the help an advice. I'm still reading a lot on here most days and we're really getting into the whole Mac thing a lot more
