Powerbook / Ableton related questions....

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-- Powerbook / Ableton related questions....

Posted by Zack Roth on Jan-17-2006 22:35:

Powerbook / Ableton related questions....

I bought a powerbook a few weeks ago, and returned it last night because i was annoyed that a lot of my software wasn't compatible with Macs, but I just looked into Virtual PC and am now thinking about getting one again...

1. Does Virtual PC work seemlessly with Windows programs? I have Sony's Acid and Spund Forge, as well as FL Studio and I just want to make sure that they will run as smoothly on a powerbook with Virtual PC as they do on a normal PC.

2. On my current PC setup, i have my mixer connected through the audio in on the back of my PC. i wasn't sure I could use the same connection on my Powerbook to record off my mixer, or would I need a special sound card for it?

3. I want to pick up the Full version of Ableton Live, and open up FL Studio in one of the channels and be able to re arrange my own percussion loops on the fly and have them play in time with Ableton. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that FL Studio can be used as a vst in other programs, I wasn't sure if i could use it that way with Ableton.

Thanks for any help guys.

Posted by punjabi on Jan-17-2006 22:54:

When I plug my mixer into my line-in the signal is not so good. I don't mind having to spend the extra money for an interface, seeing as how Mac OS dominates Windows.

Posted by Vero on Jan-17-2006 22:56:

as a mac owner and lover, i can tell you that virtual pc runs like shit. on a g4 powerbook VPC runs about equivilant to a low end pentium 3. its the simple fact that you are running an operating system inside of an operating system. it is slow and not very stable. any system intensive apps like audio recording and soft synths will crash VPC very quickly. the problem with switching from mac to pc is the software. when i made the switch i had all the mac install discs for pro-tools, ableton, reason, and serato. so it wasnt a big deal, but virtual PC is not the answer you are looking for. you might just wanna stick with PC for now.

as for sound quality, if you want your recordings to sound good, you should ALWAYS use a recording interface instead of a soundcard.

Posted by punjabi on Jan-17-2006 22:58:

Yeah Mac is amazing...but mostly if you haven't bought several $100's worth of Windows software.

Posted by Zack Roth on Jan-17-2006 23:13:

are there any Apple Equivilant programs to Acid / Sound Forge and even a loop based sequencer like FL? I really need a program to record audio from my mixer, as well as a program to cut up and edit tracks.

Posted by Nic on Jan-18-2006 01:13:

quote:
Originally posted by zizack
are there any Apple Equivilant programs to Acid / Sound Forge and even a loop based sequencer like FL? I really need a program to record audio from my mixer, as well as a program to cut up and edit tracks.

Ableton should be able to do everything FL and acid do, what exactly are you trying to do?

Peak is a good audio editor for osx

Posted by Zack Roth on Jan-18-2006 02:09:

quote:
Originally posted by Nic
Ableton should be able to do everything FL and acid do, what exactly are you trying to do?

Peak is a good audio editor for osx

well, i usually edit my own tracks with Acid, cut and paste type of stuff, and I use Sound Forge only to record output of my mixer. The thing that i love about FL is the ability to manipulate percussion loops and stuff so easily. Does Live have similar capabilities?

Posted by Nic on Jan-18-2006 02:33:

quote:
Originally posted by zizack
well, i usually edit my own tracks with Acid, cut and paste type of stuff, and I use Sound Forge only to record output of my mixer. The thing that i love about FL is the ability to manipulate percussion loops and stuff so easily. Does Live have similar capabilities?

you can manipulate percussion loops with impulse. The cut and paste stuff you talk about can be done with ableton. its a LOT easier if you have comeposed your tracks in ableton though.

I usually record my mixing in audacity, then cut it into pieces (so i get track marks) and burn it to cd.

Posted by Zack Roth on Jan-18-2006 03:10:

quote:
Originally posted by Nic
you can manipulate percussion loops with impulse. The cut and paste stuff you talk about can be done with ableton. its a LOT easier if you have comeposed your tracks in ableton though.

I usually record my mixing in audacity, then cut it into pieces (so i get track marks) and burn it to cd.

thanks for the intput, how much do these programs cost?

Posted by Nic on Jan-18-2006 04:22:

quote:
Originally posted by zizack
thanks for the intput, how much do these programs cost?

impulse is part of ableton live, audacity is free

Posted by Zack Roth on Jan-18-2006 04:55:

quote:
Originally posted by Nic
impulse is part of ableton live, audacity is free

cool. Huge help man.

Posted by physe on Jan-18-2006 06:16:

quote:
Originally posted by zizack
cool. Huge help man.

I use my ibook G3 with an M-Audio USB audio interface and Audacity to record my mixes and haven't had any problems. I recommend checking Audacity out if you already have a mac.

Posted by DannyO on Jan-18-2006 11:34:

For Soundforge equivalent programs for the mac, check out BIAS Peak and Soundtrack Pro (very much like SF), Soundtrack is made by Apple and is part of the Final Cut series, but can be purchased seperately I think.

Posted by Ryan0751 on Jan-18-2006 14:29:

Also check out SoundStudio (www.felttip.com). I use that to record off my mixer (with an M-Audio Firewire Audiophile interface), and then cut them up.

Which powerbook did you get? The new MacBook pro is out and you might want to look into that. The only thing is that a lot of Mac software hasn't been ported for Intel yet, so things might be running emulated for a bit (although it's supposedly pretty good).

The new Intel Mac's MAY eventually be able to boot windows as well, once someone figures out how to do it, so if you really had some program you needed to run under windows you could run it at full speed. And if "virtual PC" is ported to Intel OS X, it'll likely run windows inside of Mac OS X at a much better speed than on Power PC.

quote:
Originally posted by DannyO
For Soundforge equivalent programs for the mac, check out BIAS Peak and Soundtrack Pro (very much like SF), Soundtrack is made by Apple and is part of the Final Cut series, but can be purchased seperately I think.