Need Help with a Macbook Air for Recording

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 13 Aug 2014 8:58 am

I'm about to get a Macbook Air, and want to use it mainly for recording...I could use some advice on what all I need in addition to the Macbook Air to make good recording's using Garageband...Amount of Ram, Audio Interface, external storage, etc...

Thanks in advance for any help given

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 14 Aug 2014 6:05 am

Help!!

Bill Liscomb · Post by **Bill Liscomb** » 14 Aug 2014 8:03 am

Dale - I would personally suggest thinking about upgrading to a MacBook Pro. Having a built-in CD reader/burner is worth the upgrade. I have a 13" MacBook Pro with a 2.8 Ghz processor and 4GB of RAM. I use Cubase and have no problems. I got my MacBook Pro from Apple online. Go to the store and look up Refurbished products. Saved about $200. and no problems for the last 2.5 years, couple of hours a day use over that time period. My $.02.

Rick Campbell · Post by **Rick Campbell** » 14 Aug 2014 9:11 am

I agree with Bill. Get the computer and I'd recommend the Presonus Audiobox interface. It comes with Studio One recording software (my favorite) that will do everything from start all the way through mastering your cd. You can get a 2 input version for around $200. Musicians Friend often has package deals with mic and headphones that are not expensive. You're going to have a lot of fun, and it is addictive but rewarding. There's plenty of free videos on Presonus website to show you how to get started, also you tube. Good luck!

Bill Liscomb · Post by **Bill Liscomb** » 14 Aug 2014 9:28 am

I agree with Rick - I use a Presonus interface with my Mac Pro setup and have had good luck with their products in the past.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 14 Aug 2014 9:50 am

I just got a MacBook Pro retina. My son has the MacBook Air. I've used both extensively. As far as I know the DVD or Blu-Ray drive has to be bought as an accessory. The latest MacBook retinas have no hard drive or CD/DVD drive built in. The standard DVD add on drive is only $79 though. I still run my recording studio on Reaper on my PC compatible though using a 25" monitor. I can't imagine doing a lot of edits on the smaller 13" screen but it's certainly not a show stopper. The entry MacBook Pro without retina display does come with an optical drive but does not have the solid state hard drive. The retina version starts up in 10 seconds flat and even faster if it's just in sleep mode.

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 14 Aug 2014 10:18 am

Gentlemen, thank you all for some very good advice from guys I read and respect...I do think I'll probably be going with the Air though, as $$ is a bit of a factor, but I think I'll have it pretty well loaded...I gotta start selling some gear I can live without...I currently have a Scarlet 2i4, but think I'd like to mic three amps at a time for the steel, left/right/center, on separate tracks...I see where GC has a Presonus with 8 I think XLR's in for 299...I'm not a 100% on anything just yet, so I'm still trying to figure it all out.

Thanks again,

Dale

Rick Campbell · Post by **Rick Campbell** » 14 Aug 2014 5:27 pm

Dale,

That sounds like the Presonus Project. It's a great interface, but it uses FireWire. Make sure your computer has FireWire port. Mac usually do. The other Presonus options are the 1818VSL (which I have) that will do 8 xlr inputs, or the Audiobox 44VSL which will do 4 xlrs. These both use USB. VSL stand for Virtual Studio Live which allows you to do zero latency monitoring of the source while you record. Latency can be an issue, but this solves that problem and allows you to monitor with effects and not record them, or you can record them if you want to. I realize this might sound complicated, but it's actually not. Once you get into it, it all fits together and is pretty simple to do.

RC

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 14 Aug 2014 10:08 pm

Thank-you Rick....I'll be looking those up....I'll have to check GC and see if that was the one they had.

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 14 Aug 2014 10:08 pm

Thank-you Rick....I'll be looking those up....I'll have to check GC and see if that was the one they had.

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 15 Aug 2014 7:27 am

Is there a trade-off using Thunderbolt to Firewire cable, which Apple says they have?

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 15 Aug 2014 1:08 pm

Rick Campbell wrote:Dale,

That sounds like the Presonus Project. It's a great interface, but it uses FireWire. Make sure your computer has FireWire port. Mac usually do. The other Presonus options are the 1818VSL (which I have) that will do 8 xlr inputs, or the Audiobox 44VSL which will do 4 xlrs. These both use USB. VSL stand for Virtual Studio Live which allows you to do zero latency monitoring of the source while you record. Latency can be an issue, but this solves that problem and allows you to monitor with effects and not record them, or you can record them if you want to. I realize this might sound complicated, but it's actually not. Once you get into it, it all fits together and is pretty simple to do.

RC

Rick, that was a Presonus Project I was looking at, for 299...It does use Firewire and this new Macbook Air, that I haven't even taken out of the box yet, has Thunderbolt...will they hook up with Firewire to Thunderbolt cable and not lose quality...they said that Firewire is becoming old technology...I'm becoming old technology...lol