For PPC

fenderguy4life · 03-22-2013, 08:49 AM

I'm running an iBook with Tiger. 1.33 GHz PowerPC G4 with 768 MB RAM. The readme text says Reaper might not be terribly useful with this configuration. Anybody using a similar config to run Reaper successfully? I'm wondering what the limitations might be. I'm planning on recording @4 tracks. Vocal, guitars, maybe a drum loop. Probably limited FX plugins. Think I'll be alright or have I lost the battle before I even begin?

TimOBrien · 03-22-2013, 12:05 PM

Less than a gig of ram would be a problem in any computer.
I highly suggest you get more ram.

Other than that your only limitation will be having to use older PPC plugins.
Download the PPC version and have at it, you won't break anything.

serr · 03-22-2013, 12:15 PM

Find a way (maybe ebay) to up the ram to 2GB. These ram chips are going for $25 for 1GB ($50 for 2 X 1GB). Even just replacing your 256MB chip with a 1GB (total 1.5GB with the 512MB) would help.

If you don't need real time low latency monitoring or live mixing you should be able to record at least 24 tracks at 24 bit 44.1k or 48k.

But by all means just try it now.

fenderguy4life · 03-22-2013, 12:40 PM

Okay. Plugins aren't much of a concern for me. I'll get some more RAM. Thanks for the replies.

jcrisman · 03-23-2013, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fenderguy4life

I'm running an iBook with Tiger. 1.33 GHz PowerPC G4 with 768 MB RAM. The readme text says Reaper might not be terribly useful with this configuration. Anybody using a similar config to run Reaper successfully? I'm wondering what the limitations might be. I'm planning on recording @4 tracks. Vocal, guitars, maybe a drum loop. Probably limited FX plugins. Think I'll be alright or have I lost the battle before I even begin?

1. As most newer plugins tend to require/recommend at least 1-2GB RAM, you will be limited by this. If you're only running 4 tracks of audio, you might be able to squeak by if you are judicious with the effects. If you're a polished musician, you might be able to use hardware effects/stomp pedals so as to avoid putting much CPU/RAM--but this may limit the "non-destructiveness" of your audio track. Also, PPC-compatible AU is becoming a dying breed--they're still out there, but MAC-oriented developers are more focused on Intel-AU and MAC VST.

2. If it was me (and at one time it was me), I'd save your money and buy a Windows computer, unless you are a hardcore Logic user. I would suspect that for the price of what it would likely cost to install extra memory into an old PPC, you could likely find a used recent model laptop/desktop Windows computer that will have a faster processor, more memory, a larger hard drive, and the considerably more expansive software options than what a PPC MAC can deliver.

On the bright side, by staying with your PPC you shouldn't be so overwhelmed by the available software that you turn in one of the multitude who spend more time acquiring/tweaking plugins than creating music. And Macs still tend to be less vulnerable to viruses than Windows systems.

fenderguy4life · 03-23-2013, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcrisman

1. As most newer plugins tend to require/recommend at least 1-2GB RAM, you will be limited by this. If you're only running 4 tracks of audio, you might be able to squeak by if you are judicious with the effects. If you're a polished musician, you might be able to use hardware effects/stomp pedals so as to avoid putting much CPU/RAM--but this may limit the "non-destructiveness" of your audio track. Also, PPC-compatible AU is becoming a dying breed--they're still out there, but MAC-oriented developers are more focused on Intel-AU and MAC VST.

2. If it was me (and at one time it was me), I'd save your money and buy a Windows computer, unless you are a hardcore Logic user. I would suspect that for the price of what it would likely cost to install extra memory into an old PPC, you could likely find a used recent model laptop/desktop Windows computer that will have a faster processor, more memory, a larger hard drive, and the considerably more expansive software options than what a PPC MAC can deliver.

On the bright side, by staying with your PPC you shouldn't be so overwhelmed by the available software that you turn in one of the multitude who spend more time acquiring/tweaking plugins than creating music. And Macs still tend to be less vulnerable to viruses than Windows systems.

Thanks for the info/warning about the plugins. And yes, I do prefer my stompboxes. Also, I imagine I'll be doing some mic-ing of my amp and acoustic. So all is well in that dept. Also I have this desire to keep it simple these days. Time is of the essence and I'd rather spend my time playing and recording than tweaking plugins.

I do in fact have a faster Windows machine. I just keep going back to Mac. I'm running a 24 inch Dell Monitor and although the internet is a bit slower, it looks fantastic through my iBook and I haven't run into any roadblocks with recording so far.

Both Reaper 4.32 and Garageband 1.1.0 are running smooth for me.
Thanks for your reply.

serr · 03-24-2013, 11:36 AM

The thing with newer plugins is most are now Intel only.
So if you want to upgrade, I suggest a used Macbook Pro. You can get a very serious machine from a few years ago for a very serious discount. Then you'll have access to all software and still be ahead of the Windows camp.

fenderguy4life · 03-24-2013, 01:49 PM

Well I spoke too soon. I don't know what happened but I've run into issues with the PPC iBook.I recorded two tracks without issue, then on another project I recorded two tracks. Well, on the second track everything started getting all static and trippy and the red recording light was flashing. I couldn't even get through 4 measures on the second track without this happening. I suspect this Mac really is too old. Thing is, while monitoring the CPU and memory they weren't really maxing out. Buffering issue maybe? Latency? I don't know. This is where it gets a bit complicated for me.

serr · 03-24-2013, 06:13 PM

Are you saying there is no sample buffer setting that will clear this up?
What have you tried?
Both recording and playback or just recording?

What do you have for a hard drive in that? If it's the stock 5400rpm drive, that would be the limiting factor. Computer itself should be fine. And you should be able to compensate with higher buffer settings. So again, what have you tried?

Any computer made in the last 10 years is plenty fast enough to do serious audio work. You just need premium-ish hard drive I/O to shuttle your audio around. And this is just as true with the newest computers.

fenderguy4life · 03-24-2013, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by serr

Are you saying there is no sample buffer setting that will clear this up?
What have you tried?
Both recording and playback or just recording?

What do you have for a hard drive in that? If it's the stock 5400rpm drive, that would be the limiting factor. Computer itself should be fine. And you should be able to compensate with higher buffer settings. So again, what have you tried?

Any computer made in the last 10 years is plenty fast enough to do serious audio work. You just need premium-ish hard drive I/O to shuttle your audio around. And this is just as true with the newest computers.

Not sure what to try. I have the stock HD in there. So 5400 rpm I guess. Not sure where to set the buffer settings.

serr · 03-24-2013, 10:44 PM

I'm talking about the buffer settings in Reaper.
In Preferences/Audio/Device/ 'Request block size' is the sample buffer size to/from your hard drive.

Increasing this will make up for laggy I/O (at the expense of increasing latency).

Where are you set now? 256 maybe? Try 512. If that doesn't work try 1024.

As for the drive, do you have a decent chunk of free space? That would help.

fenderguy4life · 03-26-2013, 11:29 PM

Well, I picked up an HP 2000 Notebook today for cheap. Runs Windows 7 64bit. Installed Reaper. So far so good

jcrisman · 03-27-2013, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fenderguy4life

Well, I picked up an HP 2000 Notebook today for cheap. Runs Windows 7 64bit. Installed Reaper. So far so good

Congrats on that.

I'm not sure if iTunes still will render PPC to audio, but if not, there is still...
...Soundflower (http://cycling74.com/products/soundflower/)

... which can be used to route your Garageband into PPC-REAPER, which in turn will be able to create REAPER files, WAVs, AIFF, etc. so that you can move your audio over to your Windows system.

This is also helpful too if you are still fond of some of your GarageBand instruments, or have some of the Jampacks that you still wish to use. To clarify, you won't be able to directly use GarageBand/Jam Pack instruments as a virtual instrument in REAPER or in Windows, but you can create audio that can be used on the Windows REAPER.

Or perhaps one of the others who visit here might offer a less convoluted way of achieving this goal.