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Old 2007-04-26, 06:19 AM
mysterymadman
 
Re: MacBook Pro for sampling and/or audio editing?

Hi,

Tnx a lot for the advice so far, it is very useful!

Firstly: I'll check out the mentioned programs, tnx!
Also: on Tapers section, people also mentioned Wave Editor as being good. I'll do my best to give them all a go, and see what works best.

Regarding Windows under Bootcamp: I did that to at least make Windows as natively as possible on this machine. But I hear you: IMO the mac is far superior to Windows, so indeed I too want to use it as much as possible without having to resort to Windows.

Then, regarding the sampling (after all: that's what I'm most worried about, and what is one of the major keys to getting a good end result), there are a few thingies of importance:
1-At present my personal budget for hardware upgrades is very limited (we just bought a new house, and we have a baby underway, so.... ), so I'm trying to make do as most as possible with what I have at present, unless I can make very significant improvements for relatively little money (say max. 50 Euros or so).
2-The above pretty much rules out the options of buying high end recording and/or sampling gear, and at present I use a Sony MZ-R50 MD for taping, and unfortunately it doesn't have a digital line out, so (again: at present) for sampling the stuff into the computer, I have to make use of the D/A -> A/D circuitry (hence my desire for using as good an ADAC design as possible, within the bounds of the computers I currently have (being either the Macbook Pro, or a desktop PC with PCI and USB interfaces)). This, then, is also what I mean with "sampling", being basically the transfer stage between the MD to the computer (presently) via the D/A -> A/D circuitry (i.e. I'm not referring to any DJ tricks ).
3-When combining the two points above, what it winds down to, is that what I am looking for, is finding a way to be able to either digitally read out the MD data directly, and use that rather than using the ADAC circuitry, or to acquire a low-cost yet very good sound board for sampling the music. Are any of the boards you mentioned within my budgetary limitations? Also, are there any (preferrably) low-cost options for this (like specific MD decks, that feature a digital out and/or USB 2.0 and/or Firewire 400/800 port)?

I hope anyone has an insight into this, and/or the initial question(s) asked about just how well the ADAC circuitry has been designed (esp. since a laptop design is typically optimised towards small size, and we are speaking about a system with lots of parts using VERY high frequencies, so lots of digital chatter on the lines)...

Tnx again, and with any luck, some further answers/questions to the above points will quickly help me on my way.

Cheers!
MM

Last edited by mysterymadman; 2007-04-26 at 06:25 AM.
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