PowerMac G3 B&W rev 1 @ 450 useful enought?

[Protools5LEGuy]

My first PowerMac. I bought from USA to Spain via Ebay part by part on 2002.
It is a rev 1 BW (originally @350) with ATI Rage 128. And 512 Mb. Ram.
That is able to convert 8 analog channels @ 128 samples of latency to  ADAT with a DIGI 001 on PT5. I am thinking about using my 001 on my 867 dual MDD (2 Gig Ram).

My first question is : Which synths/soft can work in it? G3 @ 450.
Maybe, using it as a drum machine/rebirth/reason

I want to use it with the minijack output only. No midi interface involved...Just audio sequencies 2 tracks

Any advice to use that kind of slow machines is welcome.

 

[Philgood]

Hi.

Kind of interested too as i have an iMac G3 400MHz.

I'm using Absynth 2 on this one and Cubase 5 VST and it's working ok.
Some patches of Absynth causes freezing but maybe this has to do rather with
the slow G3 processor as the version 2 of Absynth was born quite late in the Mac OS9 days
as with my OS9 install in general not being stable enough.

I want to do a new OS install and was reading the articles @ http://www.sunrisepage.com/computers/macclassic/macos9.htm
so i think i will do some research if i can make the system more stable.

I think we could help eachother a little bit as it's quite a similar setup.

[supernova777]

for me personally, i would simply use this type of machine to trigger sounds from other modules/vst hosts via midi
a 450mhz g3 or g4 can easily do midi + audio recording.. keep VST cpu hungry devices out of the picture

OR

use it as a vst host for 1-2 specific vst's triggered via midi from another pc.

thats the best use.. that will provide solid reliable performance.

for example i have alpha juno synths and imlacking the actual pg300 programmer unit for it
but theres an app called alpha juno control for X that lets u adjust the sound of this synth..
it also accepts midi in, so i can record midi automaton data TO the alpha juno control to do sweeps
and do sound design by adjusting the parameters of this app which then relays the midi data to my synth
great stuff;)

u can use vst's on a g3 too if u create your sounds and then freeze the tracks or export the sounds..
its all how u do it.. if you are intelligent u can find a way to make anything work

using this g3 with external hardware synths via midi is the best way to use it..
and thats what the production world was doing still in 1999 the emu romplers were everywhere..
like the emu proteus 2000 modules... midi in.. audio out.. play notes.. record.. adjust midi parameters
this is the best way to produce with a g3... using external gear via midi and its what the powermac g3 does best!
even at 350mhz this is more than enough for this..

g3 + audio i/o + midi i/o + hardware + midi cables = realtime music production without VST
i dont really understand the original posters goal to not use a midi interface with this mac..
my whole interest in mac's is mostly to do with their compantibility with cheap affordable midi interfaces from the past
(that stll work amazingly despite their age!)

dont try to use vst with these g3's unless its as a standalone vst host for 1 vst piping its audio to another pc/mac
unless its a basic drum sampler such a battery or lm4 or very weak cpu requirement vst
thats my suggestion

[supernova777]

u know this g3 system would be powerful enough to use just reason v1.0 + ableton v1.0 together
this might be the best setup possible if u want to do "in the box" electronic music production rather then using VST/cubase or RTAS/protools on these old g3/ 500mhz + under g4
as both reason1 + ableton1 dont really use vst..
well ableton  version 1 only has limited vst + midi support
vst EFFECTS only... and MIDI only for triggering clips.. not for recording notes..
and if u use these two apps together
u can do some great things!! ableton can record real audio.. whereas reason cannot
so if u sing or play a real instrument u can record into ableton..
and the two programs connect via rewire so u can be recording what u do in reason into ableton
and mix + arrange in ableton
and produce the sounds in reason

these two original versions of the apps have very low requirements for cpu!




u can have both tehse apps open at the same time.. linked

but the minimum requirements for v1.0 of both ofthese apps is significantly lower then v2.0.. by alot.. and
they were made during the time that the g3 powermacs + imacs were still new computer most people were using (2000-2002)

[supernova777]

http://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/optimizing-apple-computer-for-motu-dp3-audiodesk-digital-performer/

maybe some of these optimisations are useful

[supernova777]

protoolsle5guy;
have u ever tried this combo together?

it might be alot better to use ableton live 4 + reason 2.5
its a great combo these two work well together with rewire
plus u can run VST plugns right in ableton while having reason open at the same time

[supernova777]

furthermore u can do this with NO SOUND CARD AT ALL! 
using the built in sound manager output of the mac u can produce in this way

using ableton live 4 + reason,linked together
and the performance is fantastic!!!

see this thread for tutorial:
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=1515.0

[Protools5LEGuy]

protoolsle5guy;
have u ever tried this combo together?

I want to make a setup with the Apple keyboard http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=1301.msg5366#msg5366
with the Dr Bu app: http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=1328.0 and that feeding Rebirth or your combo.

u know this g3 system would be powerful enough to use just reason v1.0 + ableton v1.0 together
this might be the best setup possible if u want to do "in the box" electronic music production rather then using VST/cubase or RTAS/protools on these old g3/ 500mhz + under g4
as both reason1 + ableton1 dont really use vst..
well ableton  version 1 only has limited vst + midi support
vst EFFECTS only... and MIDI only for triggering clips.. not for recording notes..
and if u use these two apps together
u can do some great things!! ableton can record real audio.. whereas reason cannot
so if u sing or play a real instrument u can record into ableton..
and the two programs connect via rewire so u can be recording what u do in reason into ableton
and mix + arrange in ableton
and produce the sounds in reason

these two original versions of the apps have very low requirements for cpu!

u can have both tehse apps open at the same time.. linked

but the minimum requirements for v1.0 of both ofthese apps is significantly lower then v2.0.. by alot.. and
they were made during the time that the g3 powermacs + imacs were still new computer most people were using (2000-2002)

I feel like Reason 1 and Live 3 will be the best combo for a G3. I can tell you that even with logic 4.x the G3 is usable to multitrack with a DIGI interface as AM3 or 001.

I just want to play "basses" with the keyb (No midi involved but the http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=1328.msg5650#msg5650 app) and the apple 44.1kHz soundcard from G3s B&W (Burgundy chip?)

[supernova777]

i would suggest live 4.x because live 3.x doesnt have vst instrument capability
live 4 doesnt take much more resource to run then live 3

but using it in conjunction w reason is great because it fills in the gap of what reason doesnt have
ie:it wasnt untill reason 5.0 or so that u it was able to sample itself but using live 4 with reason 2.5 u can do just this.. using live as a big sampler to record whatever u are doing in tempo with the rest of your track