Did my wife buy me the right computer to record with ?

[bluesyriffer]

Hi, Im new to the Mac world and have what i hope are a couple of easy questions My wife snuck and bought me a iMac to record music with and I need to know if this will work for me ? it's an iMac 27 inch, Intel Core i5 3.2 / 3.6 GHz processor, 6MB of L3 Cache, 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 expandable to 32GB, 1 TB 7200 rpm HHD, NVIDIA GeForce GT 755m1024 MB graphics processor with 1GB of GDDRS memory, also has USB 3 & Thunderbolt ports....I plan to write and record songs and record a band, which leads me to my 2nd question is there an audio/midi Interface that works well with iMac thats under 200$( to get me stated) and even tho i can see me using GarageBand to write tunes with is it enough to record a whole band ? Is there a better option for a guy on a budget ? I really appreciate any advice to get me straight on this, Tnx !

 

[harryb2448]

G'day and elcome to th forums.

Your iMac will do what you want just great with that adequate memory and graphics card. You are a lucky man!

As to software will leave that to some of the musos who come by.

 

[lclev]

We are using an iMac with identical specs in our church to record and edit music. We are using ProTools. It is performing flawlessly. She did well!! Enjoy!

Lisa

 

[Printerman]

Can second ProTools. Will also throw Logic Pro into the mix. I can personally vouch for Logic.

 

[rosario1990]

@bluesyriffer welcome into the forum. Your wife did a great job and make your task more easier.

 

[bluesyriffer]

Sweet ! Thanks to all for the input Yes I am a lucky man and my wife did a great job picking this out for me... Tho different the a PC I'm getting use to it quickly and liking it !...now on to the task of figuring out which Interface and which Software... is there a place that is better for asking questions like "is it more preferable to have Firewire/Thunderbolt verses USB/USB3 ? ect....any other opinions on other software ? What should I look FOR and what to look OUT for ? How about zero latency ? I am dying to get to it so any help is appreciated peace,

 

[iHate Vista]

If it were me i would have gotten the i7 but for what your doing with it you will love it

 

[chas_m]

As I am a big advocate of getting used the Mac first (for many reasons, including spending money unnecessarily and being better able to identify what you actually need), my suggestion would be to work a bit more with Garageband (current version) first. It is very accurately described as "Logic Lite," and will let you discovered if it is or isn't adequate for what you want to do, then move on if needed.

 

[pinto79]

Logic will be the logical (pun intended) step once you have familiarized yourself with the Mac. Garage Band will definitely get you started, and any projects created there can be opened in Logic later on.

As for an interface, Focusrite makes really nice ones at your price point. Make sure to check for Yosemite compatibility. I had and still have issues with my Steinberg UR22.

 

[chas_m]

I'm not quite sure what you need in terms of external interfaces to the computer, but have a look at Apogee's products. The Duet is popular for people who only need to connect more more than two instruments to a computer (thus the name).

 

[MischievousMonk]

G'day and elcome to th forums.

Your iMac will do what you want just great with that adequate memory and graphics card. You are a lucky man!

As to software will leave that to some of the musos who come by.

Indeed a very lucky man