Maybe forgot the PC! Mac Pro (Quad Core) + Scope XITE !

[sonicstrav]

Now this will really hurt the pocket - but as OSX drivers are going to be released for Scope 5 - what about a Mac Pro (Quad Core) with Logic Studio and Scope Xcite! - I know It will cost nearly £5000 but this must be the ultimate set up ! ......................but this plan is too expensive and i'll have a redundant card that will have dropped a lot in value

Cost of memory and HDD on Apple's site is crazy!

[Neutron]

It is exactly the same PC components as PCs use. there is nothing different in a mac besides the case design, and a chip called "Trusted Platform Module" which allows OSX to run on the (asus) motherboard in there. (some PC motherboards have the TPM as well, for DRM or replacing software dongles, im not sure)

Anyway the mac hardware will crash and be exactly as unreliable or reliable as the PC equivelant, because it is the same thing.

so you can put a normal SATA hard drive, and whatever kind of memory it supports, to save a bit of the apple rip-off tax.

it would definitely be worth $2000 it to have the scope window open in that cool OSX way.

[moxi]

what is the need of an 8 core macpro when you get the xite?

an "old" g5 bi-proc can be find for 1000E, it's enough , unkess you plane to do video with your xite!

and the first gen of G5 hold 3 normal PCI port, nice to add some in/out to the box.

[kylie]

an "old" g5 bi-proc can be find for 1000E, it's enough , unkess you plane to do video with your xite!

we still don't know whether scope5 is made a universal binary or not.
I don't know if companies usually make their software run on the power macs as well these days, or if there's a trend towards intel mac only compatibility.
but as long as we don't know that, it's maybe wise to wait for the official statements

-greetings, markus-

[Fede]

It is exactly the same PC components as PCs use. there is nothing different in a mac besides the case design, and a chip called "Trusted Platform Module" which allows OSX to run on the (asus) motherboard in there. (some PC motherboards have the TPM as well, for DRM or replacing software dongles, im not sure)

Anyway the mac hardware will crash and be exactly as unreliable or reliable as the PC equivelant, because it is the same thing.

so you can put a normal SATA hard drive, and whatever kind of memory it supports, to save a bit of the apple rip-off tax.

it would definitely be worth $2000 it to have the scope window open in that cool OSX way.

definitely not true.
afaik TPMs aren't present anymore in new macs and in no way they were used for drm but to prevent os piracy.
mac hardware is of course similar to normal pcs, but it won't be unreliable and crash like pcs because of macosx being a stable and reliable operating system compared to M$ shit. That is a *big* advantage, plus you'll be able to run also mac only *seriuos* (not like cubase) software like Logic or Digital Performer or Peak or....
...or Windows if you cannot live without it.
Entering mac means truly entering pro-audio market, the facts are that it is still so.

cheers,
Fede

[next to nothing]

mac hardware is of course similar to normal pcs, but it won't be unreliable and crash like pcs because of macosx being a stable and reliable operating system compared to M$ shit. That is a *big* advantage, plus you'll be able to run also mac only *seriuos* (not like cubase) software like Logic or Digital Performer or Peak or....
...or Windows if you cannot live without it.
Entering mac means truly entering pro-audio market, the facts are that it is still so.

cheers,
Fede

definetly not true.

It IS true if you have absolutely no clue about computers, but if you have a basic knowledge stability is a non issue.

[Fede]

mac hardware is of course similar to normal pcs, but it won't be unreliable and crash like pcs because of macosx being a stable and reliable operating system compared to M$ shit. That is a *big* advantage, plus you'll be able to run also mac only *seriuos* (not like cubase) software like Logic or Digital Performer or Peak or....
...or Windows if you cannot live without it.
Entering mac means truly entering pro-audio market, the facts are that it is still so.

cheers,
Fede

definetly not true.

It IS true if you have absolutely no clue about computers, but if you have a basic knowledge stability is a non issue.

Sorry, I couldn't disagree more, there's not any computer or tweaking or programming knowledge that will keep Windows architecture from crashing and being unefficient and unreliable as it is.
NT kernel was not designed to be a real time system nor for music production and will always be worse in audio performance and reliability than other OSs because of its architecture (i.e. by contrast Win98 was far more efficient in real time tasks).
Furthermore recent developments by M$ seem to continue to go in the direction of bloatware, wrapping stuff (.net), never correcting bugs, adding functionalities over non consistent fundamentals, bad programming designs, not optimized code and so on... Should we talk about VIsta?

I think one should think of music when making music.
With or without low-level computer skills.

cheers
Fede

P.S.: I work as a programmer for industrial software products running under Windows platform and I face the stupidity of Windows everyday for at least eight hours.

[Neutron]

Oops i didn't mean to bring out the bloviating mac zealots!

[hubird]

wait, wait, what was going on?!

[next to nothing]

"there's not any computer or tweaking or programming knowledge that will keep Windows architecture from crashing and being unefficient and unreliable as it is. "

im not touching the effiency bit, but its been reliable enough for many live performance groups i know (not only Scope4Live's rig), both on tour and inhouse.

Im not saying i know the whole music industry, but those i know of have had windows running flawlessly on their gigs, and if they wanted macs, you bet they could afford it.

and regarding the "by contrast" comment, hell even my good old amiga multitasked better than windows AND mac at a certain time. shame about the horsepower though.

im not saying a mac is a bad choice, its probably far better out of the box than most PCs. You know its easier to program an OS when you just have to make certain standard components work with it. but atleast i can build my own computer according to what i want it to do, and using carefully selected components, i have a crash free system as long as the hardware vendors do their drivers properly.

edit: my point here was just to say that the "mac=pr0, windowz=sux" is just a result of good marketing.

[Fede]

im not saying a mac is a bad choice, its probably far better out of the box than most PCs. You know its easier to program an OS when you just have to make certain standard components work with it. but atleast i can build my own computer according to what i want it to do, and using carefully selected components, i have a crash free system as long as the hardware vendors do their drivers properly.

edit: my point here was just to say that the "mac=pr0, windowz=sux" is just a result of good marketing.

I'm not a mac fanboy, I don't even own a single mac myself, I use a pc with of course selected components and our beloved scope system, and, as all of us here on PlanetZ, I'm very distant from the mass of m-audio pro-fools or mac stuff and their marketing slogans.
In my experience I must say that working on a mac is definitely better than working on a super-stable-selected-components-flawless-working-well-configured pc for countless reasons.
I'm not saying mac is pro, but we all know majority of pros go mac, probably for laziness.
Note: majority in itself doesn't mean anything about being pro, the only thing that make sense is "to know what you need to do what you want", then try and decide by yourself.
The only things that matters about majority is that it means market and so diffusion, opportunities, compatibility... and all aspects related to large numbers and common habits.
Yes, I'm saying Win=sux, simply because Win=sux regardless of mac, regardless of music making, it's like saying the identity principle A=A.

Sorry for my anti-M$ crusade, but I grow tired of upgrading and not making music

edit: ...not only, I'm really tired of them, of their "operating system", of their methods, policies, of their APIs, of their updates, of their "innovations"..., maybe I'm becoming too lazy..

cheers
Fede

[next to nothing]

i hear you

Just also consider that it was apple themselves that (ofcourse) decided to buy Logic to make it a mac-only application to create this illusion.

Wahever works is ofcourse the best selection for everybody

[Fede]

i hear you

Just also consider that it was apple themselves that (ofcourse) decided to buy Logic to make it a mac-only application to create this illusion.

And that is a good argument, indeed.

just to deny M$= evil, Apple= good, last week I've seen Logic Pro 8 on a friend's of mine iMac and, sorry to say, I liked it more before becoming so "applish". The clear gui it had is gone and has been substituted with a cluttered all-possible-ever-come-to-mind-in-one window with grey-everything and small-unreadable fonts. That seems more the approach cubase had before starting imitating Logic... functionality is always there but I found it horrible and not so comfortable anymore.
...someone here recently called it "dumbed down apple version", maybe they're not doing good things with it but - again - marketing.
The most interesting thing in it seems to be the price, which is now very cheap.

We must hope one day SC will produce an os and a sequencer on its own.

Wahever works is ofcourse the best selection for everybody

Couldn't agree more