Seeking advice on my home studio set-up......

I currently run this set-up:

AKAI S-1000
Atari ST w/ Cubase v.2
AKAI DR-4
Tascam DA-30 mkII
4-track mixing desk w/ 8 ins.
2 Roland Effect Units.
Roland MIDI keyboard

I also have these:

Mac G3 Desktop (266 clock, 80 Gb harddrive) 270 Mb RAM
Powerbook G4 667 clock,780 Mb RAM
Cubase for OS9 (came with my keyboard)

I'm pretty happy with my current (ancient) set-up sound-wise, but it seems kinda stupid not to incorporate the Macs into this somehow, especially if it could save me time since I'm now a family man.
I plan on getting an MPC 1000 down the track but for the time being what would be my best option on a limited budget?

Should I:

1. Get a soundcard/box for the Powerbook to record into an app such as Pro Tools?

2. Buy a MIDI adaptor for the G3 and run Cubase on there instead of the Atari?

3. Cop an MPD-16 to work with my keyboard?

4. Sell the lot and just run my S-1000 into the G4?

Sorry to ask so many questions but I've received a lot of conflicting advice.

Get you a midiman 4x4 and run that with the G4 and cubase and get an Mbox and run Pro-tools or Logic or Nuendo this is all you need and keep your hardware too thats what the midiman interface is for.

Okay thanks.

Two more questions:

Is the timing on Cubase on a G4 as reliable as the Atari?

Is it worth grabbing an MPD-16 for tapping in drums?

personal taste dude.... if u like ur atari as a sequencer and its working keep it, if u like the cubase sequencer then Migrate to that... but dont just get rid of everything and start from scrach cos youll be lost..
Personallu I like using the mpc/mpd pads for putting in drums, but sometimes I still input with a keyboard... the most important thing is what works best with your music making. Theres no point stufing around for 2 hrs with cubase if u can bang something out on the atari in 10 mins, but if you like the added features new cubase offers, GO WITH IT!!!
Hope this helps
Pez.

boywithpez007 wrote:personal taste dude.... if u like ur atari as a sequencer and its working keep it, if u like the cubase sequencer then Migrate to that... but dont just get rid of everything and start from scrach cos youll be lost..
Personallu I like using the mpc/mpd pads for putting in drums, but sometimes I still input with a keyboard... the most important thing is what works best with your music making. Theres no point stufing around for 2 hrs with cubase if u can bang something out on the atari in 10 mins, but if you like the added features new cubase offers, GO WITH IT!!!
Hope this helps
Pez.

id get the mpc1000, use it with the s1000, then just cop a sound card to track into the G4. or just use the atari and s1000, and track.

check out a used protools digi oo1. or motu.

do not use cubase on mac when you have an atari with cubase sitting there!!!!!!!!!! Thing is rock solid.

what ever you do..... DO NOT BUY A M-BOX I'm not to fimiler with the
atari but if its a midi sequincer and you like it do all your sequencing with it then multi track your audio out into your Mac running a digi001 or motu.

Thanks for all the feedback. I'll steer clear of the M-Box.

One last thing - is Pro Tools better than Nuendo if I just want to multi track and mix? Or are they fairly similar? I'm only asking because I know a few people who use Nuendo so it would be handy to have the compatibility but if Pro Tools can export to it then it wouldn't matter.

What I've been told about nuendo is it can inport and convert any sound file and is great for suround sound mixing and is great for over all mixing. I've been told that Pro tools is great for tracking live bands and of course It is the industys standerd. My dealings with ProTs is at first it was a pain in the azz but as time went on it became easyer to use and I was just chopin, cropin and loopin samples. Their is a free demo on line you should down load it and have some fun. O before I was messin with ProTools I used Sonar and it took me about 4 weekend to become comfertable with it.
Now I'm using cubaseSX & Nuendo spairingly. I would like to get more time on a full blowin ProTs system


Let us know what your going to do

PEACE

I finally came to a decision...I'm going to grab a Tascam US-224 to use with Nuendo 1.52 which I just installed. I got Pro Tools Free as well but the rest of my crew have Nuendo so it makes more sense. So I'll just record my S-1000/Atari ST beats into Nuendo until I can be bothered learning new software.

Thanks for everyone's advice (especially about the M-Box....every salesmen in town tried to sell me that thing!).