Apple

[shamustwin]

Just got an Apple iMac yesterday, haven't had much time to play with it. Has garage band, and I'm eager to start recording.
I know there are a lot of outboard items made for just this purpose. What do you all recommend? Thanks!

[captsandwich]

All of my recordings ( http://www.icompositions.com/artists/CaptSandwich ) were done on an iMac using an M-Audio Fast Track Pro and an AKG Condenser mic (for vocals or acoustic guitar only).
GarageBand is incredibly easy to use.
Have fun!

[charlyg]

Being a lifelong pc guy, it took me a while to find what would work for me. Here is my s/w' and hardware. I also have a Fasttrack Pro that I would sell at a nice discount from a new one.

ProTools with an Mbox mini
Logic Express( can be found on ebay for 110 instead of 199 and it is a legit copy.
Amadeus Pro 40 dollar shareware sound editor
Garage Band
Band in a Box.
Cubase SE don't use much at all but had licensed copy

[leesh]

Logic 8 is the new hotness and it's fantastic. Great price compared to old Logic releases. I use a M-Audio ProjectMix as an interface, with some outboard gear....not a whole lot I can't do with the setup.

[shamustwin]

Thanks y'all.

[rickosound]

We do all of our recording using GarageBand, a Saffire FireWire Interface, regular guitar cables, and Sterling Audio ST55 mics. If you use an interface, be aware that you may never get headphones to play out of it.. The Apple hardware doesn't recognize FireWire as an output, and even with the disc installed, our Saffire won't do headphones. Also, when you first install interface software, it will automatically change the playback to the interface and not the speakers, which you can change in the GarageBand preferences window. This confused us for a few days. I don't think any of this has changed between Feb. 2007, when we bought our Mac, and now. I'm not positive that other Mac compatible interfaces will do this, but Saffires are the only ones I know of.

As to GarageBand, we think it is very easy to use. On the lower right of your screen is the track info button, which is the picture of the letter i. Click on this and then click the word details on the bottom of that screen, which allows you to make your own effects. This is kind of hidden, but extremely helpful.

Matthew

[alanz]

I use an M-Audio Firewire 1814 with ProTools M-Audio 7.3.1 running Mac OS X 10.4.11 on a Mac Pro 2x2.66 GHz dual-core Intel Xeon and have no issues with hardware integration and control.