[magneticpoet]

I currently have an older Mac Mini (80 gig/512 RAM/G4/4200 RPM) that I'm using to record music in GarageBand. I'm recording 8 tracks simultaneously and then adding another 8-12 tracks and I'm running into problems such as:

-Disk spinning too slowly
-Unable to play all tracks in real time
-Wave form view not Sync'd with audio
-Tracks being recorded out of sync with other tracks

Also, I'm using a Presonus Firepod as audio interface.

Does anyone know what type of Mac I'll need to purchase in order to be able to complete this task on a regular basis? Would an external hard drive do the trick or do I need to upgrade the computer? Would a Mini with the Core Duo work? iMac? More RAM?

Please Help.

[analogika]

Actually, your Mac mini should be able to handle 20 tracks fairly easily (my old 867 MHz G4 Powerbook with a 4200RPM disk certainly could).

But no way in hell it can do so with 512MB RAM.

The problem is that audio, especially effects and virtual instruments, eat memory for lunch. If you don't have enough RAM, the system will write memory to virtual memory files on the disk. This KILLS disk performance, which is why you're getting the Disk Too Slow errors, and quite likely all other errors, as well.

I'd recommend at least 1 GB of RAM or more.

Any of the current Mac lineup will easily do what you ask, as long as you throw enough RAM at the task.

[magneticpoet]

That's the best news I've heard all day. I hope you're right. Thanks a lot. One more question. Can I add RAM myself or do I have to have it done at my local apple store?

[butterfly0fdoom]

All you need is a putty knife, a screwdriver, and some sandpaper (and the RAM sticks, of course).


If you google "mac mini dissection", you should be able to get diagrams and pictures.

[Philip J. Fry]

Originally Posted by butterfly0fdoom 

All you need is a putty knife, a screwdriver, and some sandpaper (and the RAM sticks, of course).


If you google "mac mini dissection", you should be able to get diagrams and pictures.

It's a shame his Mini can only handle 1GB though.

[magneticpoet]

Ya, tis a shame I can only upgrade to 1 gig. Hopefully that'll do until I can upgrade to an iMac or something. One other question. My local Apple store refererred me to the website to purchase, which doesn't ship for a week or two. Does it really take that long for them to ship? Do any major chain stores carry it?