DP with 12" Powerbook Question

gearboy · Post by **gearboy** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 11:06 am

Is anyone on here using a 12" Powerbook for audio? I know that they lack the expansion card slot and that they have only 1 FW 400 port.

Would I be able to run my 828mkii off of the firewire 400 port and record to my glyph drive via USB2.0??? (I know that USB2.0 is supposedly quicker than firewire.)

Will 1.25GB of internal RAM on the 12" be sufficient enough to record 8-12 audio tracks in remote situations?

I would rather spend less money now on a powerbook and get more money for the gear that I'm selling to fund it before their combined worth totally depreciates. The $500 difference between the 12" and 15" doesn't seem worth it to me for an adjunct recording system. My G5 dual 1.8 will be my mixmaster at home.

Any input is appreciated from those of you in the know.

Thanks!

Jeff

sdfalk · Post by **sdfalk** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 11:16 am

In theory USB 2.0 is supposed to be a bit faster, but in reality that's not really the case.
They have 2 different kinds of transfer protocols..
Have a look at this page;

http://www.usb-ware.com/firewire-vs-usb.htm

Having said that I'm sure you could run a few tracks of audio on a USB2
drive (though I'm not sure how many, or how well it would work)

oldguitars · Post by **oldguitars** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 11:35 am

why not just use the internal drive? My tibook 1ghz 1gb has been great. getting a bunch of tracks on the internal. I tracked an 8 channel 96k 45 minute set no problem. my .02

sdfalk · Post by **sdfalk** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 11:43 am

oldguitars wrote:why not just use the internal drive? My tibook 1ghz 1gb has been great. getting a bunch of tracks on the internal. I tracked an 8 channel 96k 45 minute set no problem. my .02

Good point.

gearboy · Post by **gearboy** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 11:50 am

why not just use the internal drive? My tibook 1ghz 1gb has been great. getting a bunch of tracks on the internal. I tracked an 8 channel 96k 45 minute set no problem. my .02

I assumed that since the internal drive is slower than 7200RPM that this would not be an option. I've always heard that this is a big no no.

I could always ADD a 7200RPM drive if I have problems or bounce to stereo for remote recording purposes (obviously saving the multitrack recordings for the G5).

Are you partitioning your internal drive? (system on one side, recording space on the other?)

I suppose that my Glyph drive could be used to back up information via USB2.0 when I work remote.

BTW, thanks for the USB2.0 info sdfalk

Jeff

oldguitars · Post by **oldguitars** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 12:45 pm

I have used it both ways, partioned and not, with similar results. Although the partioned way is a little safer in case of a system crash. There are 7200rpm laptop drives and i have heard they are a nice way to increase track counts and performance, but they are battery zappers, but if you are plugged in, it could be an option. I think you would be fine for multi tracking with that computer right out of the box, assuming you turn off all the power saving stuff and set up the system right (turn off dash board etc)

KarlSutton · Post by **KarlSutton** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 1:06 pm

You could run your drive off of the firewire through port of the 828 (or the throgh port of the drive I can never remember which way is technically right). I have recorded small stuff (4tracks) on my iBook 1.2Ghz & it was pretty painful compared to using the external drive.

sdfalk · Post by **sdfalk** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 1:13 pm

Well for what it's worth,
I recorded a 16 track session awhile back at 24/44khz
with a Powerbook 667, Motu 828mk2/behringer 8channel
mic pre, DP 4.12 into a Lacie Firewire drive.
Recorded for 50 minutes straight, no problems.

logo80 · Post by **logo80** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 1:50 am

pb12 with 1.33 gHz, traveler and external 7200 USB2 lacie (read: maxtor), no problem at all, better than the 5400 internal drive.
regards, Lorenzo

Studio615 · Post by **Studio615** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 6:32 am

i use a 15" 1.67g4 pwrbk and an 828mkII. I have experienced TREMENDOUS problems running the 828mkII and a firewire drive in series. 8 tracks choked it this way. I found two options that worked for me. The first was to add a firewire PCMCIA card, and run the hard drive on that bus, while the 828mkII ran on the built-in bus. Worked great until my firewire drive caddy died. I am currently using a USB2.0 drive and it is working ok also, I am only tracking at the most 18 tracks. I think if it comes down to using either both a drive and firewire interface on the same bus, or just using the interface and the internal drive, I would go with usb2.0. It is really better than those two options, but 2 firewire busses is the BEST option, IMHO. I need to get a quality fw drive, that is my next purchase, once I save up my pennies. Until then, I'll limp along with USB2.0. Best of luck to you.

tatozs · Post by **tatozs** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 10:59 am

The hard drive inside the powerbook spins at 5400 rpm it is too slow for audio (it works but it is not fast enough to play several tracks specially if you want to use audio at 24 bits or so), i use an external USB 2.0 HD and it solve the problem it works really great with M-audio 410 audio interface.

gearboy · Post by **gearboy** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 3:56 pm

Good to hear that folks are using USB2.0 and getting away with it.

For the longest time I wanted to purchase a 15" PB because of the expansion slot. I never thought that the 12" PB would be an option due to one FW port and no expansion.

I guess if USB2.0 is working out, then an iBook would work fine as well. The 1.42Ghz models can be expanded to 1.5gigs of RAM, which is 250MB more than the 12" PB. Plus less money.

Jeff

cyberhippy · Post by **cyberhippy** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 10:53 am

I'm using a 12" PB 1.33 with an 828 MKI and Mackie Onyx, and I've found that running a Firewire drive bites with very few tracks (24/48) but I've been able to record 22 tracks on a USB drive with no problem, most recently I did a 3.5 hour show in three sets, only stopping between sets, with no problem.

gearboy · Post by **gearboy** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 1:47 pm

I'm using a 12" PB 1.33 with an 828 MKI and Mackie Onyx, and I've found that running a Firewire drive bites with very few tracks (24/4 but I've been able to record 22 tracks on a USB drive with no problem, most recently I did a 3.5 hour show in three sets, only stopping between sets, with no problem.

How much RAM do you have under the hood?

These days I record exclusively at 44.1/24bit. With the evidence that all of the repliers have sent me I'm sure that 16 tracks will be cake for a 12" PB with 1.25gb of RAM.

Jeff

alobonzo · Post by **alobonzo** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 10:31 am

Hi,
I record via Firewire, what I do sometimes is recording with Audiodesk 'cause it consumes less cpu than DP, this is ok when you're recording with a powerbook and a lot of tracks and monitoring at the same time with an 828MK1 or old 896 via CPU.
good luck