G5 ambient noise for recording
 

So im looking to upgrade my old warhorse dual 867 mdd g4 mac as the problem with it has always been the fan noise. ive compared it to other peoples exact same model, it seems a lot louder. thats by the by anyway as im looking to get a g5. i want the tower, but ive seen other musician friends who have gone for the laptop route, obviously minimal noise (if any at all) but i like the idea of having something solid to work with.

Can anyone put my fears to rest that the g5 is appropriate for home recording? ie can it be heard in the background if a sensitive mic is placed. my studio is fairly open so there is no housing for the mac to go into to be sound proofed.

ta

If you truly mean the G5, they can be very noisy because they have something like 9 fans in them. On the other hand, if you mean one of the new Intel MacPro models, they are considerably quieter and run much cooler (hence, fewer fans required). Just how much ambient noise is too much ambient noise is something I don't know, however; but you should see a significant with the Intel Macs than with the G5 models.

Joe VanZandt

I have a PowerMac G5 2.0 GHz dual-core, from the last series of PowerMac G5s before the Mac Pro was released. It's fan noise is approximately at the same level as my previous PowerMac G4/ 400 MHz Sawtooth. It is noticeably quieter than an eMac 800 MHz in the same room.

I don't think that the nine fans necessarily equals more noise--using more fans is a way to insure that the fans only need to move slowly. The eMacs' one or two fans have to move quickly, and they are definitely louder. For that matter, the house HVAC system can be louder, too.

I keep the PowerMac G5 under my desk, and I do occasional spot recording here. I definitely keep it mind when I place the microphone--nobody wants to listen to the drone of fan noise. But with close-mic techniques, and the mic set with it's rear to the computer, I can get clean recordings.

Trevor

thanks guys.

Trevor, do you think it is a wiser investment for close proximity recording to purchase a silent laptop? i have a small recording studio (well not that small) but i need to get rid of this drone i have on everything, im having to DI to clean record, which i wanted to avoid, mic and loud is the best way. Is the new macbook fully speced up be the best idea?

What are you using as a recording interface? In other words, do you have something like a Digi 003 and Pro Tools?

I personally tend to prefer the big iron Macs for recording because

1. they can accept multiple internal 3.5" hard drives
2. they can accept PCI or PCIe cards if necessary
3. they usually accept more memory
4. they last longer, because you can keep upgrading them as newer technology comes along
5. I personally don't need a mobile recording studio

If someone needs a mobile recording studio, then something like a MacBook and some external 3.5" FireWire 800 hard drives might make better sense.

As far as the fan noise, I think you're better off putting the computer into a closet and getting really long monitor, keyboard, and mouse cables. That will give you some of noise advantages of a separate control room, like real studios have, but in a compact space.

Trevor

thanks trevor that does seem the wisest thing to do and rather than fork out a lot of money for a new system that could be my solution. do you know how long apple or 3rd party companys make extensions? id only need monitor extension and keyboard extension, i think id need around 2 meter cabling, to fit into a side hatch i have in my studio. i have thoufght about doing it before but i like having the machine next to me, in case of any issues with cold starting etc...........

For the monitor, as long as you want. I've purchased a 100 foot (~33 meters) VGA cable before. USB seems to have some practical limit to length at which it will still work, but 2-3 meters is easy. I'd advise you get longer than you expect you'll need.

Trevor

thanks trevor. a bit of a riduculous question but i feel i should ask before purchasing, is usb 2.0 cable fine for a keyboard? idont see why it wouldt be but safer to ask!! ive seen this belkin lead for my monitor but i have fears again that it wont be compatible:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...1738&rd=1&rd=1

will ineed an active reopeater usb extension if im going for lengths around 6m? i think just a bog standard usb extension lead will not send the data correctly. is that correct?

also i have an external dvd burner which i would like to keep outside of the macs 'cupboard'. its a lacie d2 dvd drive like this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LaCie-d2-Dual-...QQcmdZViewItem

is there an extension i could use for this?

thanks again for our help!!!

Yes.

That cable is suitable only if you have a VGA monitor, or I suppose if you have a VGA video card and an adapter to some other format. Is your monitor VGA, DVI, or ADC?

Wikipedia says that the maximum length of a USB cable is 5 meters. They point to USB.org which agrees that 5 meters is the maximum, and says that repeaters are useless. Just use a powered USB hub after 5 meters.

That's a FireWire drive, so you need a long FireWire cable. Maximum length of a FireWire cable is 4.5 meters, although with FW you CAN use repeaters.

Trevor

monitor is a compaq p110 which is vga. ill experiment with some of this cabling and get back to you with the results. thanks ever so much for your help trevor!!!

so ive looked into getting the long leads to put the loud wind tunnel mac into the cupboard but another couple of issues came to mind. in summer and winter when the weather is at its hottest/coldest the cupboard i have to put the mac in gets VERY cold/hot. hot is the main concern as its ridiculous. so im worried that the constant temperature change would cause damage to the computer. any thoughts on that? ive also just had a bit of a windfall so have some expendable cash i want to invest in my studio. im thinking of one of the Refurbished MacBooks 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo - Black which is a very reasonable price but i aslo have concerns about the refurbed model. ive seen other posts on here that say that refurbed is totally safe but are there any other storys?

The real point is that "refurbished" can mean so many things. It does -not- necessarily mean that it was re-conditioned, though it could mean that. A machine that was used as a demo machine, for example, may be very lightly used, but it cannot be sold as "new" so it is "refurbished". The real key is what kind of warranty it carries. If it still has full warranty, you're in good shape. If it only has a 90-day warranty, then likely parts have been replaced and I'd be less confident about that.

Joe VanZandt

ok so ive investigated further and looking at getting all leads and converters so i can put the mac into the cupboard. ive also thought about getting wireless keyboard and mighty mouse but the cupboard door aspect worries me slightly. does anyone have anything bluetooth operated that is hidden away in a cupboard or something and it still works? its probably only around 2/3 metres away but the door element worries me...........

also the temerature element still worries me, the cupboard will get extremely hot come summer and im worried about it overheating. likewise in winter it will get bone chillingly cold. is their a max temp that the g4 867 mdd will overheat at?

thanks all for any further advice.

Heat is definitely a problem (cold not so much, unless you have condensation in it too). If it gets that hot, I'd look for another location, or a way to cool that cupboard.

Trevor

what does anyone make to the bluetooth question? is it viable to expect it work over distances of 2-3 metres through a cupboard door? 10m is max so distance shouldnt be a problem. slight concerns about the door/wall though............?

also with it being an older mac before they put bluetooth as standard, ive got a little bluetooth dongle that can sit in a port. will both the wireless keyboard and the mouse be able to work with this?

on another point, does a usb 1 hard drive function through a usb 2.0 card? it should as the pci card is usb 1 backdated but its not showing up. any ideas?

They haven't made USB 1.1 hard drive cases in awhile. Are you sure that this is a USB 1.1 case? That will be glacially slow, and not suitable for recording. USB 2.0 is barely suitable for recording. You're much better off buying FireWire.

Trevor

the drive is actually for back up purposes only, i have a 600gb firewire drive for all immediate music files. my only concern was that the card wont support old usb 1 drives, simply as when plugged into the pci card it doesnt show on the desktop............

trevor any idea with the bluetooth issues?

Nope, someone else will have to help with Bluetooth, sorry.

As for your USB drive, it should work. If it doesn't, try it in the motherboard USB ports as a test. If it doesn't work in either spot, then try a new USB cable. If that still doesn't work, you may want to look into getting a new case and just moving the drive from the old broken case to the new working case.

Trevor

it works on the motherboard usb ports, its not recognising it via the usb 2.0 pci cards busses though......

it seems that everything has stopped being recognised on my usb 2.0 pci card, i have my ipod lead in one port all the time and just connect when i need to but when i do connect the ipod it doesnt register on the desktop. putting any device in the pci cards dont get recognised. they are all recognised through the standard usb 1 ports. is there a problem with my card? anyway i can tell from logs or system?

oh and just to note, i got a little bluetooth dongle that inputs into the back of the usb 1 port and reads from all over my flat. even two floors down by the front door so it does read through walla and cupboards ! nice!

Check System Profiler to see if your USB 2.0 card is being recognized, and who makes the USB 2.0 chipset in it.

You may want to look into buying a USB 2.0 card from a company that supports Macs. Sonnet comes to mind: http://www.sonnettech.com/product/allegro_usb2.html

Trevor

it is defintely compatible because it has worked. and it does show up in system profiler as being recognised, just doesnt seem to work when something is plugged in.......

weird thing is, i bought it and used it only for transferring data to my ipod, my hard drives are firewire. when i restart my computer, the card recognises whatever is plugged into the pci card, other wise it will not......

According to System Profiler, who makes the USB 2.0 chipset?

Trevor

it is an NEC chipset looking at the vendor ID and googling.

Chip Number: uPD720100A
Chip Description: USB 2.0 Host Controller
Notes: Dont work with windows me on thinkpad L765

It worked for a good few months but now im not getting anything. It seems to work when i restart but then putting to sleep (i rarely completely shut down) seems to make it not work??!!

I've seen a lot of warnings about using NEC chipsets for USB 2.0 cards on Windows. It seems to be a very problematic chipset overall. I assume that if it is problematic on Windows, it will also be problematic on OS X.

My recommendation is to buy another USB 2.0 card that does not have an NEC chipset, preferably from a company that supports the Mac.

Trevor

well to tie this up (its been some time now!!) i invested in a new core 2 duo macbook, theyve just released nice new faster processers and bigger hard drives so it was the answer. thanks to all for help...........