Putting Together My Studio

I'm building my studio from the ground up and thought I'd put it out there for the more proficient members of the board to discuss. Now that funds are becoming available, I'm really thinking about the best use of my money as a longterm investment in a studio I'll be able to use and build on.

Here are my thoughts so far on what I'll be buying over the year and why:

Protools w/ an 003 Rack: I don't want to miss out on any opportunities for work because I'm not running my studio w/ Protools. I have friends of mine that I'd love to record performing as well, so it makes sense to have this for a variety of reasons. But the main reason I'm running this is to learn everything I can about it, since according to most insiders I've talked to, it's the industry standard for almost all major labels/studios.

Digital Performer 6: I've heard great things about DP being very useful as an interface for both composition and mixing (more for the former than the latter). Maybe you have an opinion on the importance of this in your studio?

EWQL Full Orchestra Library: This appears to be an industry leading package for orchestral instruments. I'm also looking for a good sample library of percussion as well if you have one in mind. VST/Kontact is actually pretty good in its own right (I'm using it already), but if there's another package out there you prefer, what is it?

Low to Mid-grade MacIntosh: I'm PC literate, but I've got very limited knowledge of working with a Mac, so it seems like a nobrainer to me. If I'm going to have a decent work studio, it's a sensible investment. Add to it that DP and Protools both appear to work better in the Mac environment (I don't think DP even works with PC, unless it's with some kind of bridging software component I'm not aware of).

1 Terabyte Firewire Harddrive: EWQL full install is about 119 Gigs, a terabyte might seem like overkill, but I imagine having enough space to store all my audio files and add new sound libraries over time makes this a sensible purchase. I'm finding the best space:cost ratio is the terabyte according to Pricewatch.com.

Low to Mid-range Midi Keyboard: It's not like I'm looking to spend a fortune on a midi keyboard (after all, it's simply a note entry tool the way I understand it), but I'm interested to know what other, more knowledgeable individuals have to say about this end of the audio gear spectrum.

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Total price on this setup (according to my research into it) ranges between $3,500 to $4,500. Over the course of a year (with some financially sound saving and spending), I think this is possible for me. I'm interested in what the pros think about this, what they'd do differently, etc. I PM'd Nathan, but he's incognito at the moment (must be working on a project or something, haven't heard back). So, any comments and suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

Just the first thing that pops into my head - if you're a pianist or at least half decent at the piano with a desire to improve, I would consider investing in a full size keyboard (all 88) with weighted keys. You could plug it into you computer, hit record input, and record your piano playing with the most sharp, crisp quality imaginable. AND it wouldn't be awkward - I find unweighted keyboards very awkward to control dynamically.

Also, I think all new Macs come with Bootcamp, if you really want, you can double Windows on a Mac along with the Mac OS and run any windows programs you need as if it's on a completely different system.

Sounds great, good luck!

Thanks for the info Enigmus! The info on Bootcamp is really helpful. Have you seen any performance issues with running Bootcamp as your PC equivalent as opposed to running a live PC? Just curious about this, as I've heard mixed reviews about using this setup. I imagine it's no biggie, as I already have a pretty effective PC running now (1 gig ram, video gaming ready [love video games like Unreal Tournament, Warcraft 3, etc]). If I were running these on Bootcamp, I wonder if there would be any difference in performance. Do you know?

Oh, I don't have a Mac with Bootcamp... if I did I wouldn't be complaining about my RAM problems on YC every five minutes! I'm planning on getting a Macbook though, by the end of the summer I think (hope.), and I was worried about the same thing. It seems to me that the Windows partition pulls all the same hardware using all the resources available, so it's like having two separate computers that you get to choose from on boot up. They share harddrive though, you have to split it in half (or whatever fraction you want) between them and one isn't necessarily great at accessing the other. These are all things I've heard though, I have no experience with bootcamp.

A few out of order thoughts:

* I really don't see a reason to go Mac, if you're used to a PC. Only the OS is different (and the fact that you can't use Logic/DP/protools on a PC). But frankly you don't need to. Which brings me to the next point.

* I don't know where you live but, for example the bigest studios here in Greece are using Samplitude and NOT Pro tools/DP/Logic. Uk is filled with Logic users. etc, etc. They are all "equally" (not exactly but the user has a lot to say on that) useful, friendly and good.

* EWQL "Full" blah blah. You WILL need to learn to describe what you want/have. There's no "full" package of EWQL SO. There's Platinum (Pro/Plus don't remember which of the two is it), Platinum, Gold and silver. Platinum is what you're talking about probably.

* Depending on what music you plan on doing you buy accordingly. Buying an Symphonic Orchestra library does not mean you're done. What about drums, piano, guitars, ethnic, choirs, etc? EW is having a big BOGOF sale, so maybe take advantage of that?

* The computer you have plays a HUGE part to your studio. Don't go for firewire (only), go for 1-2 Caviar Black SATA II drives (1 TB each), go for velociraptors (ultra fast), go for the best motherboard you can get, lots of RAM, 64-bit OS and the such. An i7 920 is very cheap today and you can get a top computer with less than $2000. (an example).

* finally, an idea would be to get a mini midi keyboard (Oxygen 8, M-audio something, Edirol, whatever around 100-150$) and also get a digital piano, for the much much much better action of the keyboard and midi connectivity.

* Where will you be listening from? Platinum is at 24-bit, but unless you have a great soundcard (converters) and some good monitors you won't be listening the differences between Platinum and gold, so save your money and go for gold instead.

* Good soundcard and monitors also mean an acoustically treated room. You can't turn every bedroom into a studio and the sound will be so off that your mixing will suffer exactly for that reason alone, without anything else being at fault.

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with around $5000 tops (yes, I rounded the number a bit) you can get a brilliant PC, some great software, a sequencer and some awesome headphones (the likes that are better than any low-mid range monitors. A Sennheisser HD650, IMHO, costing around $400 is far far better than some monitors costing $1000 (active ones).

But it's crucial to know what music you will be composing, so that you can plan ahead on what to buy.

A few out of order thoughts:

* I really don't see a reason to go Mac, if you're used to a PC. Only the OS is different (and the fact that you can't use Logic/DP/protools on a PC). But frankly you don't need to. Which brings me to the next point.

Having a Mac makes more sense to me because of the limitations that exist in product offerings for PC. More on this in my next response.

* I don't know where you live but, for example the bigest studios here in Greece are using Samplitude and NOT Pro tools/DP/Logic. Uk is filled with Logic users. etc, etc. They are all "equally" (not exactly but the user has a lot to say on that) useful, friendly and good.

The general concession here is that yes, I 'could' do without Protools/DP and probably do just fine. But if I want to be accessible to the broader market in the US, my understanding is that Protools/DP access could make or break a deal. That's not something I'm prepared to set myself up for if, by some off-the-wall chance, I'm offered a gig that requires me to run (and know) Protools. I don't see myself landing very many gigs in Greece, either, but anything's possible.

* EWQL "Full" blah blah. You WILL need to learn to describe what you want/have. There's no "full" package of EWQL SO. There's Platinum (Pro/Plus don't remember which of the two is it), Platinum, Gold and silver. Platinum is what you're talking about probably.

I think a full complement of orchestral and percussive samples would be sufficient to start with... I consider most sound samples beyond that ancillary to what I'll begin with in my writing. Furthermore, this is a group effort (a friend of mine has Logic already and is becoming quite proficient with it). We'll be "teaming up" (so to speak) on our efforts.

* Depending on what music you plan on doing you buy accordingly. Buying an Symphonic Orchestra library does not mean you're done. What about drums, piano, guitars, ethnic, choirs, etc? EW is having a big BOGOF sale, so maybe take advantage of that?

Absolutely.

* The computer you have plays a HUGE part to your studio. Don't go for firewire (only), go for 1-2 Caviar Black SATA II drives (1 TB each), go for velociraptors (ultra fast), go for the best motherboard you can get, lots of RAM, 64-bit OS and the such. An i7 920 is very cheap today and you can get a top computer with less than $2000. (an example).

Good suggestion. I need to look into more of this... got a website where I could get more info and dig into this more?

* finally, an idea would be to get a mini midi keyboard (Oxygen 8, M-audio something, Edirol, whatever around 100-150$) and also get a digital piano, for the much much much better action of the keyboard and midi connectivity.

I have trouble understanding the need for multiple keyboards. I understand Enigmus's suggestion in getting a higher quality keyboard for the performance factor in recording... this mini-midi keyboard is leaving me a bit lost on why.

* Where will you be listening from? Platinum is at 24-bit, but unless you have a great soundcard (converters) and some good monitors you won't be listening the differences between Platinum and gold, so save your money and go for gold instead.

Eventually, I plan to have a setup that makes the Platinum purchase worth the buck. It's an investment, and I don't see the return on it being immediate. But if I've got two options on where to invest my money, one with lower bits and another with higher bits, I'll eventually find myself spending money on the higher bit technology at some point. So, the way I rationalize it, I'm getting the best value in the higher bit technology, even if I won't have all the components necessary to immediately benefit from it.

* Good soundcard and monitors also mean an acoustically treated room. You can't turn every bedroom into a studio and the sound will be so off that your mixing will suffer exactly for that reason alone, without anything else being at fault.

This is more of a phase-two sort of thing. I'm not "made-of-money", but I can swing for the fences a bit on my initial purchases to get the basics into play. These are, of course, good things to consider. Learning usage of the equipment is the top priority here. From what I can tell, the technology I'm considering now is the biggest hurdle to overcome in terms of cost and general knowledge.

with around $5000 tops (yes, I rounded the number a bit) you can get a brilliant PC, some great software, a sequencer and some awesome headphones (the likes that are better than any low-mid range monitors. A Sennheisser HD650, IMHO, costing around $400 is far far better than some monitors costing $1000 (active ones).

But it's crucial to know what music you will be composing, so that you can plan ahead on what to buy.

The way it appears to be unfolding, I'll generally be on the instrumental/orchestral side of things while my friend works in the electro-acoustic realm. I also have another friend who writes some great songs and lyrics. I'm considering a trio group of people with different aesthetic interests and similar ambition.

We get along and respect each other artistically, so it makes a really good combination of aesthetics for us to 'possibly' do well as a business. Our personalities all mesh very well, too, which is just a bonus.

I already have a business (LLC) set up in my name. It wouldn't take much for the three of us to put together a variety promo album of our works (probably 21 tracks, 7 tracks each of our best works), market it online and at networking events, and put ourselves in a position to succeed.

So, that's the 'plan' in a nutshell.

Having a Mac makes more sense to me because of the limitations that exist in product offerings for PC. More on this in my next response.

Heh...

One could say that it's the other way around. There's tons of FREE VSTs around on the net, some being very very good and useful, others being rubbish. The RTAS and AU protocoll are highly protected and thus lots of things simply do not exist for Macs (if you go the Logic/protools route).

The general concession here is that yes, I 'could' do without Protools/DP and probably do just fine. But if I want to be accessible to the broader market in the US, my understanding is that Protools/DP access could make or break a deal. That's not something I'm prepared to set myself up for if, by some off-the-wall chance, I'm offered a gig that requires me to run (and know) Protools. I don't see myself landing very many gigs in Greece, either, but anything's possible.

LOL! I can understand that. It really depends on how you plan on working, but for myself speaking I've never really exchanged project files with anyone yet. So what sequencer I'm using makes little difference. I've exchanged audio files, midi files, tempo maps but that's it.

Good suggestion. I need to look into more of this... got a website where I could get more info and dig into this more?

Hmmm... Not sure really. A forum which has lots of information is the EW home: Soundsonline-Forums - Your favorite place for premium support of EastWest distributed products . another place is Welcome to the VI Control Forum! Musicians helping Musicians! and www.northersounds.com where there lots of pros offering their suggestions.

I have trouble understanding the need for multiple keyboards. I understand Enigmus's suggestion in getting a higher quality keyboard for the performance factor in recording... this mini-midi keyboard is leaving me a bit lost on why.

My suggestion was for a digital piano, which is rather cheap (got mine less than $500 a few years ago), but do not offer any knobs, pitch bend, mod wheel, etc (which are essential for computer playing and midi mock-ups), so this is where the small keyboard comes into play.

I NEED the great action of a digital piano, but also need some knobs to turn while playing... a trumpet line for example.

Eventually, I plan to have a setup that makes the Platinum purchase worth the buck. It's an investment, and I don't see the return on it being immediate. But if I've got two options on where to invest my money, one with lower bits and another with higher bits, I'll eventually find myself spending money on the higher bit technology at some point. So, the way I rationalize it, I'm getting the best value in the higher bit technology, even if I won't have all the components necessary to immediately benefit from it.

The good thing about software is that there's upgrade options. You could (an idea only) get Gold, which is half the price and later on WHEN you get decent monitoring system, you get Platinum as well. Other wise your budget is (very) slightly missplaced.

This is more of a phase-two sort of thing. I'm not "made-of-money", but I can swing for the fences a bit on my initial purchases to get the basics into play. These are, of course, good things to consider. Learning usage of the equipment is the top priority here. From what I can tell, the technology I'm considering now is the biggest hurdle to overcome in terms of cost and general knowledge.

In terms of knowldegde probably but in terms of budget not really. I'm preparing to spend around $18-20,000 on making a decent (not pro) control room and a small live room for recordings. I know a friend just spend $70,000 for the same purpose and a couple of my friends opened a studio by spending close to $150,000 . Not saying that you should spend that much money, just putting another perspective one things.

Certainly samples, a good computer are the very basic and very very important part of any project studio. The rest go "out" a bit.

The way it appears to be unfolding, I'll generally be on the instrumental/orchestral side of things while my friend works in the electro-acoustic realm. I also have another friend who writes some great songs and lyrics. I'm considering a trio group of people with different aesthetic interests and similar ambition.

We get along and respect each other artistically, so it makes a really good combination of aesthetics for us to 'possibly' do well as a business. Our personalities all mesh very well, too, which is just a bonus.

I already have a business (LLC) set up in my name. It wouldn't take much for the three of us to put together a variety promo album of our works (probably 21 tracks, 7 tracks each of our best works), market it online and at networking events, and put ourselves in a position to succeed.

So, that's the 'plan' in a nutshell.

The plan sounds very very appealing and let me say that I'm kidna jealous as well.

I just met this awesome girl-soprano (and YEs, I'm married, so what? :D), and we plan on making some kind of record, etc. But we're talking things slow.

If you wish to also discuss your business plan, I'm sure lots of people will find it an interesting read and a very fruitful discussion will come out of it. But then again some ideas are very private and should be kept quiet. :) So depends on your ideas and thoughts on things.

I've had several home studios, each one more sophisticated, comfortable and capable, culminating in a 700 sf space designed by a pro designer and myself which I'm about to move into in two weeks (!) I've scored an indie film, done several video projects, have released 20 indie CDs of my own music or other artists. I've also been in a position of sending and receiving files from people who use ProTools, DP, Reason, and even stereo mixes from analog tape.

It can all be done pretty easily today, regardless of your personal platform, as long as you learn how to do it. ProTools being the industry standard in the states is a bit of a smoke and mirrors game--that is, it is currently true that most pro studios have PT, but their reasons are often like yours: "Everyone else has it, so I should too." We're often so afraid of looking inferior to other studios. I say, experiment with other setups and pick the one that feels right to you. PT has limitations in terms of your hardware interface that other DAWS like Logic (which is what I chose) don't have, for example. If you're just reading glossy ads, you won't consider this level of real-world user interface detail--there is no substitution for getting your hands on a friend's system and taking it for a test drive (with instruction, of course--none of this stuff is intuitive enough to run on your own at first).

If you have a close friend who is using Logic and likes it, I'd strongly consider gong with Logic just so you can have access to mouth-to-ear help.

Finally, I know a lot of pros in L.A. doing tv and film work on systems other than PT. Sure, they have it too--mostly for recording audio where it has the edge over some other programs because of it's audio editing capabilities. But the lion's share of their work and certainly most of the sequencing, is done on DP, Logic, Nuendo and others. PT is still behind everyone else in terms of midi composition/sequencing, although they are striving to get better.

Finally, I know a lot of pros in L.A. doing tv and film work on systems other than PT. Sure, they have it too--mostly for recording audio where it has the edge over some other programs because of it's audio editing capabilities.

Yeah - if you were so serious about recording audio though it's of course not just done with getting PT. Then you're opening a whole new can of worms with microphones, preamps, converters, room treatment, extra editing software, maybe even instruments and tons of expertise. And all of these are of course going to have a much greater influence on the product than the question of whether you're editing/mixing the sounds with PT or something like Logic. So you might consider concentrating on the MIDI/sample side and leave recordings to others, when it has to be done really professionally. Either that, or be ready to spend a lot more time and money.

(And quite a few people I know prefer using Pyramix on Windows for editing, and then using Logic for mixing, to ProTools.)

One could say that it's the other way around. There's tons of FREE VSTs around on the net, some being very very good and useful, others being rubbish. The RTAS and AU protocoll are highly protected and thus lots of things simply do not exist for Macs (if you go the Logic/protools route).

The rest I can't really talk about -- I've had a similar plan for a while that I just haven't gotten the capital for.

But this I can say isn't true. Because of how easy it is to program an AU (allegedly), there are a number of free AUs that are of semi-pro quality. Sonicbirth, digitalfishphones, and destroyfx come to mind... There's also Sonicbirth, which is sortof of PD for AUs and there are a number of ($20-ish) VST->AU converters.

But I'm a Logic guy... (Be aware that Logic is supposed to be better for midi stuff)

You've all given me a great deal to consider. My preliminary model has been to include ProTools in the initial investment. I'm inclined to consider, at least now, that it's a second-stage purchase. Instead, I'm leaning in the direction of DP/Logic. I need to look into Pyramix on Windows as well. As far as the Mac goes (Nik brought this up), I believe the best thing for me to do is get the MacPro Quad. I've found it as low as $2299 on some websites, and it looks like a system that can be upgraded to higher performance levels. There's also room for additional interior SATA HDD's according to the specs, as well as Firewire connections.

So, changing things around a bit, my updated preliminary figure looks to still be around the same $5k area:

MacPro Quad

$2500

EWQLSO Platinum

$895

Logic Pro 8

$500

Digital Performer 6

$500

SATA HD 1tb

$80 (wow????????)

Sennheisser HD650 Headphones (good call, Nik)

$400

Soundcard (still have to look into these for Mac, I have a SB64 in my PC, but that's probably going to need investigating as well to see if a better soundcard is necessary).

<$100?

So, I'm looking at about $5,075 roughly?

A couple more things to consider:

What's IN the Mac Pro you will be getting? What RAM mainly? You should be looking at 8 GB or something. DON'T buy from the Mac website, but from other sources (same goes for hard disks). What hard disks will you have? Get them to put some GOOD DVD writers, so that your disks are good enough. In the end, despite Internet and what not you will need to communicate through CDs, and thus need a good DVD writer.

I would STRONGLY suggest you buy a sure name (Western Digital and stay away from Seagate Baraccuda drives) and I would urge from Caviar Black (NOT Green). They are fast, not extremely expensive, etc.

With Platinum you have a choice of a second product for free (BOGOF). Use it!

Get a sewcond drive. Have one drive for your samples, one drive for all your audio stuff and one drive for your system works. Minimum work for each drive as needed, no stressing, backup is possible, etc.

Finally, again: Why Two sequencers? Why DP AND Logic? They both are "the same" : audio and midi sequencers. At least for starters you will have to make a choice. In the end, it's about communication with others, so if your friends have one or the other go for it, but ultimately you will also have to learn twice the amount of stuff, and believe me sequencing can be tricky. You can't really afford to spend time going from one program to the other just like that.

Soundcard is the one thing that will stay with you and is not ugpradable. You will get monitors at some point, you will ugprade your software, your computer, etc, but your soundcard can stay really. I'd be looking at > than $500 if I were you (and save of Logic or DP instead).

The other thing that I would strongly recomend you getting a firewire drive for backup purposes. I mentioned DVD writers above, but the truth is that home made DVDs/CDs don't stay alive NO MATTER WHAT for more than 5-6 years. No any backup you do, may simply dissappear over time on optical media. A hard drive has much better chances of survival and does not cost really that much (more than $ 80, for an external drive, but still).

Concerning soundcards for a mac: I can really recommend the Apogee Duet, if you just need to work with stereo (2 in/2 out). It's works very well on any Mac and is probably one of the best-sounding interfaces you can get at that price.

If you need more inputs/outputs (such as for recording several tracks, surround output, digital connections, etc.) you could either go with something relatively simple but versatile, such as a MOTU UltraLite, or spend quite a bit more money (almost twice as much, I think), for something really good like an RME Fireface 400 (or even 800).

I have an Apogee Duet myself and am very happy with it, but if I had some spare money, I'd definitely look into a Fireface for whenever I need some more channels etc.

You might want to wait until Apple next update the Mac Pro line. It's a good machine, for sure, but it isn't currently offered with the i7 processor, which all the cool kids have nowadays... The Xeons are very powerful (especially when you have two of them!), but i7 is very much "next gen". Depends if you're in a hurry, and of course it's difficult to impossible to tell when the line will be updated.

You say the Mac Pro looks like a system which can be upgraded - that is more the case for PCs, but you seem set on the Mac route so I don't suppose it's a particularly relevant objection. What is nice about the Mac Pro is how quiet it is, making it pretty ideal for music/audio production.

Not sure whether this still applies, but at one point Apple were outed as charging through-the-roof amounts for RAM upgrades for Mac Pros in the online store, i.e. you'd pay something like $500 to get an extra 4 GB. Do some research and if that principle is still in effect, buy a machine with the stock RAM and have it upgraded. Bear in mind Apple like to put fancy RAM in their machines, so you might want to get someone else to handle this for you (regardless, it may end up cheaper than the equivalent in-store upgrade).

I also second the suggestion to go for a better soundcard. A much better one, in fact.

So, Mike, any idea when the i7 is coming out? Also, what sound card do you recommend?

I have no idea when the Mac Pro line will next be updated. That's the thing with Apple, they like secrecy... To be honest, if you're ready to buy now, you may as well go for it, regardless of whether the next generation single-processor Mac Pro will be running an i7.

Your choice of sound card or audio interface may need to reflect your future aspiration to run Pro Tools, since it's picky in terms of what hardware it will run on. You might be best off buying an Mbox 2 now instead of later. Either that, or go down the M-Powered route. More info on all of this if you Google.

Since you will mainly be generating your material with EWQL and other software samplers/synths, there is probably no point in buying an interface/card with more than one or two inputs, or more than a single output for that matter. That much you can probably figure out right here and now. Being on Mac also means most interfaces should behave pretty well right out of the box - it's likely just as a case of inputs/outputs and PT compatibility. You do get what you pay for, so whatever you end up choosing, make sure it's from a reputable manufacturer and not on the cheap.

Thanks Mike!

Anti-

Try to go into your local computer store and see if they're selling one of their display model Macs. I did that when shopping around for my Mac and managed to score an octo-core for $2048. Granted it was the previous generation model, but it was top of the line until a few months ago.

"Top of the line" is a bad word for consumers. Products only remain there for a few weeks to a couple months, anyways. And... octo-core? :blink:

If you're going to get ProTools, remember that it doesn't support 64-bit systems, but it does support PC's, it's not only for Macs. Get either ProTools HD or Logic if you want a Mac.

I wouldn't recommend EWQLSO as your only orchestral library. If you want one library that has everything get VSL, something like the Symphonic Cube. If you still want EWQLSO get Platinum, not Gold. Platinum has 3 mic positions and that makes the sound a lot better: more detailed and fuller.

Like Max said, if you're looking to create realistic realizations, you're going to have to get multiple libraries.

If you're just starting to delve into the convoluted world that is realistic sampling I would probably recommend EWQL as your base library, supplemented with other libraries for Brass, Winds, and Strings. ProjectSAM and the Wallander WIVI libraries are generally good bets for brass and winds, and there are 23457543 string libraries out there to choose from. Look at the lists of articulations to see where things overlap/add on to each other.

I also highly recommend getting Kontakt 3 as you'll need it to run most of the libraries you might be buying in the future. It also comes with a wide range of instruments/synths as well, nothing too impressive, but it'll get the job done.

If you're looking into getting into film scoring you'll need a good percussion library and some sort of synth. Synths are all over the place and it shouldn't be too hard to find one you like, (I've heard quite good things about Omnisphere, but it is a bit pricey). As for percussion, there are millions out there you could get. A good bet is definitely Stormdrum from EWQL, as well as the Tonehammer libraries, and a new one I just picked up which I love called Heaviocity.

Something like ProjectSAM's Symphobia is also a helluva lot of fun and very useful, but the price tag will probably put you off at this point.

Keep in mind that almost every one of these samples come with student discounts. I don't know if you're still in school, but if you are, use the discounts to their fully advantage. Some of them take hundreds of dollars off the price of the libraries.

Just one comment--good lord, you don't have to wait for the next generation of Macs to come out! Any idea how much hugely CPU-intensive music work is being done on the last two generations, right now? Most of it. :)

You can always pine for better and faster, but I bought a 14 month old version 6 months ago, and I routinely record audio and 30-40 tracks of midi, and I'm not even scratching the surface of this beast.

If you want a synth I'd recommend Reason - best synth rack ever.

Just one comment--good lord, you don't have to wait for the next generation of Macs to come out! Any idea how much hugely CPU-intensive music work is being done on the last two generations, right now? Most of it. :)

You can always pine for better and faster, but I bought a 14 month old version 6 months ago, and I routinely record audio and 30-40 tracks of midi, and I'm not even scratching the surface of this beast.

It's certainly true that you don't necessarily need today's hardware to do today's work, but as far as value for money goes, what you don't want to happen is the line getting updated with something better priced the same as what was offered a couple of months ago. For example, Apple just cut a bunch of prices on the MacBook Pro line, so customers who bought from it before the change spent about 1/3 more on the same hardware.

Obviously you can't really predict this stuff, but I think it should be taken into consideration.

EDIT: Actually, the price cut was nothing like a 1/3. However, it was still a price cut. :)

"It's certainly true that you don't necessarily need today's hardware to do today's work, but as far as value for money goes, what you don't want to happen is the line getting updated with something better priced the same as what was offered a couple of months ago."

Then you absolutely should not get into recording on a computer, imo. What you're talking about is inevitable, but also almost completely irrelevant. Today's computer will do the job beautifully, as evidenced by all those doing beautiful work on them right now. Whether or not tomorrow's computer has more power isn't even a guess--of course it will. It's also a safe bet that it will a) cost more, and b) not improve what you are doing in any noticeable way. The one point you make is a good one--as the newer models come out, the older ones get cheaper so you can pick up deals on old inventory and used items. But in the case of the MBP, I believe there were some changes that factored into that price drop, such as leaving out Firewire 400 port and one of the previously offered USB ports. And the price, if actually lower, seems very close to what I paid for mine three years ago. Gotta read that fine print. ;)

Buy what you need today and make music--sometimes waiting for the perfect system is what we do so we don't have to move on.