The power of a Mac Mini For Computer Audio Recording by Joe Schlicht
I have a friend who got an Mbox 2 setup a while back. He's not very computer savvy so he asked me if I could come over and help him get it set up and install the software on his computer, an ancient Pentium something or other PC that he got for free through work.
I got to his house excited about getting his new recording rig set up and going, because when I'm really into something I like it when my friends can share the same enthusiasm as me. I want my friend to delve into home recording - live it, breath it, think it all the time.
Well that enthusiasm ended quick...
His damn PC was so out of date that it didn't have a DVD ROM reader on it, and the Pro Tools LE disc package was on DVD ROM. I thought - well this isn't good. I can only imaging that if we could get Pro Tools on there how well would it run?
So not to start a flame war here, but I told my friend he just needed to get a mac and be done with it. I assured him that once he moved from PC land to Mac land he would be in pure computing bliss compared to what he was used to...
...although I gotta say he has trouble doing Google searches so I am not entirely sure he would notice the difference. Computers just aren't his thing - guitars are, and as much as I know how and enjoy creating with my mac, I would trade it for the ability to play guitar like my friend can.
On second thought...
...No I wouldn't.
There are tons of talented guitar players out there who can't find gigs, so I think it might be better to be satisfied with my own mediocre guitar playing and maybe take some lessons down the road and still have the ability and knowledge to understand and use computers to record my music and others.
I also know that my friend doesn't have a lot of disposable income so the thought of buying a new computer seemed a little over the top. He was asking me how much it would cost to just get a DVD ROM drive, and then there was an issue with not having a firewire card, and I know that his computer had to be using the old slow USB 1.
I mentioned that for now he can try to get some of that stuff and we could see how it goes, but really it would just go a whole lot smoother if we installed this stuff on a shiny new mac.
So the next day I mention to Ron in passing what the issues I had trying to get my friend up and running with his Pro Tools set up, and he said "just tell him to get a Mac Mini."
BINGO!
Why didn't I think of that right from the start.
I am so used to working on the big dogs for video production, with 16 gigs of RAM, and the macbook pros that cost over $3000 that I forgot about the little old Mac Mini. That Mac mini would be Perfect... well... at least much better than his 20 year old Commadore 64... I mean antique PC:)
