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October 2006
Posts: 4
Location: Milwaukee, WI | Greetings all,
In the next few weeks I will be buying an Ovation, primarily for myself, but also for my 13 year old daughter who would like to learn. I haven't really played in about 15 years, but I'm starting to get the itch again, and all the kids are finally out of diapers and I have a bit of time to spare.
Looking at the $300-$400 price range, so that puts the CC24 and CC44 (I've read great reviews on this one) high on my list.
Any opinions on these two models? I've only played electric guitars in the past, so I'm looking for an acoustic with electric type action (if such a thing exists), also thinking this would be easier for my daughter and her weaker hands. We'd primarily be using this unplugged, but I'd also like to know if these interface with GarageBand. Yes, we're a family of Mac snobs.
Thanks for your thoughts,
Chris |
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May 2006
Posts: 97
Location: Chicago | Concerning Garageband, if you just want to get some direct-input sound, buy a guitar cable and a large-->miniplug adapter for the line-in port on your computer. That's what I'm doing, and it works fairly well. There are more expensive options available. |
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | Samson USB consensor mic. |
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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Originally posted by cliff:
Samson USB consensor mic. Nice mic for the money. |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | The Samson works REALLY well. Clifford recommended it to me and I am very pleased with it. Works great through GarageBand.... |
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | I'm REALLY glad that it worked out for you since (when I recommended it to you), I knew absoultely DICK "about" it . . .
I remembered seeing it reviewed in a magazine, thinking "yeah, . . THAT could work . . ." |
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Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | had I known THAT!.... |
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December 2001
Posts: 7222
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | If "plugging in" to your computer. I HIGHLY recommend getting cable style adapter or getting a short extension cable and using an adapter. The idea being to NOT plug a heavy guitar cable with an adapter into the extremely light-duty mini jack on most computers/sound cards. Those jacks are designed expecting to have a cable plugged into it, without constant fussing, tugging and inserting and removal. If you put a short "extension" cable (available from Radio Shack or just about anywhere else that sells that sort of stuff), you can leave it plugged into the input and just unplug your guitar that extention saving wear and tear on the computer jack. |
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Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 3736
Location: Sunshine State, Australia | Regarding connecting to GarageBand, it depends on what Mac you have. For a while, they didn't give us an audio input. (They've fixed this 'oversight' in the current range)
If your mac doesn't have audio in, you'll need a USB input device, like the Griffin iMic. Not sure what it costs over there, but it gives you an input and another headphone output.
It's not professional quality - only 1/8" jack, but it will get you up and running with GarageBand.
If you want an acoustic with an electric action, you can't beat an Ovation. I think the models you refer to are 'Celebrities' (the 'cheap' cousins of Ovations) I can't comment on the Celebrity line as I'm a USA Ovation snob.
Oh, yeah. AND a Mac snob.
Goodonya! |
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Joined:
October 2006
Posts: 4
Location: Milwaukee, WI | Originally posted by Mr. Ovation:
If "plugging in" to your computer. I HIGHLY recommend getting cable style adapter or getting a short extension cable and using an adapter. The idea being to NOT plug a heavy guitar cable with an adapter into the extremely light-duty mini jack on most computers/sound cards. Those jacks are designed expecting to have a cable plugged into it, without constant fussing, tugging and inserting and removal. If you put a short "extension" cable (available from Radio Shack or just about anywhere else that sells that sort of stuff), you can leave it plugged into the input and just unplug your guitar that extention saving wear and tear on the computer jack. Good advice Mr. Ovation, especially considering a teenager will be doing the tugging. Thanks! |
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Joined:
October 2006
Posts: 4
Location: Milwaukee, WI | Originally posted by muzza:
Regarding connecting to GarageBand, it depends on what Mac you have. For a while, they didn't give us an audio input. (They've fixed this 'oversight' in the current range)
If your mac doesn't have audio in, you'll need a USB input device, like the Griffin iMic. Not sure what it costs over there, but it gives you an input and another headphone output.
It's not professional quality - only 1/8" jack, but it will get you up and running with GarageBand.
If you want an acoustic with an electric action, you can't beat an Ovation. I think the models you refer to are 'Celebrities' (the 'cheap' cousins of Ovations) I can't comment on the Celebrity line as I'm a USA Ovation snob.
Oh, yeah. AND a Mac snob.
Goodonya! Thanks for the pointers muzza, I'm running on a G5 so I'm good to go on the audio in. And yes, I am refering to the Celebrities, but I started tracking the "real" Ovations on eBay (and here) yesterday and I've seen some go in the $400 range, so I just may go that route.
Ditto the goodonya, from one snob to another! |
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December 2005
Posts: 149
Location: New York, NY | Hi, I'm a Mac :)
And I'm a PC :mad:
:mad: : "I buy fancy software and hardware so I can record from my guitar straight to my computer. Pretty cool, huh Mac?"
:) : "Well, I just buy a converter and plug my axe right into Garageband. That way I can jam all day long with no problems!"
[PC walks away]
:) : "Hey PC! Oh, come on, don't be like that! It's OK..."
... sorry, but those ads are all I could think of when reading this post!
Cheers,
JT |
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February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Hi, I'm a Mac :mad:
Hi, I'm a PC :)
:mad: I have to pay high prices for a very limited amount of audio software choices.
:) I have hundreds of choices. Many are even FREE and work great.
:mad: Well, I just buy a converter and plug my axe right into Garageband. That way I can jam all day long with no problems!
:) Oh. You need a converter? |
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December 2005
Posts: 149
Location: New York, NY | Hi, I'm a Mac :) .
And I'm a PC :mad: .
:) : "I was playing the other day, came up with a great tune and just plugged in to record it. It was so easy!"
:mad: : "I wanted to plug in but I had a virus, a spy wear problem, and advertisements were using up all the space on my computer!"
:) : "What's a virus?" |
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October 2006
Posts: 4
Location: Milwaukee, WI | Lol. Knew I shouldn't have mentioned the Mac. |
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February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Nice one. You got me there, PC's get targeted for viruses, because 98% of desktop computers are PC's. Oh, that's why there's so much software and hardware available for them!
Honestly, I have nothing against Macs, other than the software issue. I hate trying to integrate them into the network at work, but once it's done they're fine. |
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October 2005
Posts: 5329
Location: Cicero, NY | You're lucky, Wabbit. I get 'em into the network and then my problems begin. Absolutely gotta have 'em for the design but I find that macs lose settings, erase print drivers, drop font settings, need constant software re-installs and just generally need 10 times the maintenance pc's do. |
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Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | ". . Absolutely gotta have 'em for the design . ."
Really??
I've been doing it close to 20years without one . . . |
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March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | This is interesting. Jeff and I were talking this week as I'm kicking around the idea of buying a Mac Mini and getting rid of my pc. I'd be interested in further discussion regarding pros and cons. |
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 5329
Location: Cicero, NY | Originally posted by cliff:
". . Absolutely gotta have 'em for the design . ."
Really??
I've been doing it close to 20years without one . . . Well, you're the exception to the rule, Cliff (I know, "Again?"). I've been in the ad game for about 20 years and I've yet to meet a creative type who prefers a pc. I wish they did. |
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Posts: 5329
Location: Cicero, NY | Don't get me wrong, Paul. Macs are just as good in some areas and better in others. And pc's have their problems as well as you probably well know or you wouldn't be considering changing. Just in a dual platform network world - and maybe not everyone's but definitely mine - they're a bear to deal with. Pro's and cons on both sides, without a doubt. |
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December 2003
Posts: 1889
Location: Central Massachusetts | Originally posted by moody, p.i.:
This is interesting. Jeff and I were talking this week as I'm kicking around the idea of buying a Mac Mini and getting rid of my pc. I'd be interested in further discussion regarding pros and cons. Paul, do you like to spend your time jiggering with the OS and fighting off viruses? If not, think about a mac.
Do you use fairly typical apps, or do your needs go off the beaten path? Games and many specialized apps are not available on macs.
I made "the switch" to mac 18 months ago.. running Tiger on a PowerBook G4.. it has been rock-solid bulletproof ever since. never looked back.
My 75-year-old mother-in-law wanted to move from webtv to a real laptop.. she had absolutely zero computer skills. I convinced her to go with a mac and she's been having great fun with it ever since. She's never had to call me for help. Nothing has ever broken. New printer? just works. Wireless? just works. No worries about viruses, etc. She makes great use of it.
Sent my mom a Dell PC a couple years ago. Constantly had to help her with broken stuff over the phone -- mostly viruses and adware. Finally got so bad she just checks her yahoo mail from work and the PC gathers dust.
Just my experiences. The next guy will have others that are equally valid. We should probably take this to a new thread, eh? |
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February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Oh. I just get them working. If they break after that I remind the user, "I told you when you requisitioned it - We don't support Macs."
Macs are just as good in some areas and better in others. ...and PC's are just as good in some areas and better in others. These days, there's nothing you can do on one that you can't do on the other. The question is more, are you willing to put in the extra effort to protect a PC, the tradeoff being cheaper, more abundant hardware and software choices.
I'm careful with mine, keep it clean and running well (in fact I'm building myself a new one - try that with a Mac!) and I don't have virus or spyware problems and it runs stable. I have more problems with the AIX and Mac machines at work than I ever do with my home computer. |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Blah Blah Blah.
Ask yourself this question... when was the last time your computer crashed/ locked up/ contracted a virus....
My answer.... Never.
(Macs now run Windows (though why would you want to??)) |
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | ". . These days, there's nothing you can do on one that you can't do on the other . ."
Run AutoCAD. |
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Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Mac runs AutoCad in VPC |
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Posts: 2804
Location: ranson,wva | my wife has a mac. personaly im too damn dense to use it,im quite content with my dell..jason |
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December 2003
Posts: 13987
Location: Upper Left USA | This seems like the time and place to share everything I think I know about Computers.
The Doctor
Explains Why Computers Sometimes Crash
If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port,
And the bus is interrupted as a very last resort,
And the address of the memory makes your floppy disk abort,
Then the socket packet pocket has an error to report!
If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash,
And the double-clicking icon puts your window in the trash,
And your data is corrupted 'cause the index doesn't hash,
Then your situation's hopeless, and your system's gonna crash!
If the label on the cable on the table at your house,
Says the network is connected to the button on your mouse,
But your packets want to tunnel on another protocol,
That's repeatedly rejected by the printer down the hall,
And your screen is all distorted by the side effects of gouse.
So your icons in the window are as wavy as a souse,
Then you may as well reboot and go out with a bang,
'Cause as sure as I'm a poet, the sucker's gonna hang!
When the copy of your floppy's getting sloppy on the disk,
And the microcode instructions cause unnecessary RISC,
Then you have to flash your memory and you'll want to RAM your ROM.
Quickly turn off the computer and be sure to tell your mom! |
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Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Originally posted by cliff:
". . These days, there's nothing you can do on one that you can't do on the other . ."
Run AutoCAD. Good example. I meant if the software was available for a given platform. |
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December 2001
Posts: 7222
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | I've only been in the IT biz... well since long before it was called the IT biz and they weren't MAC's they were Apple's and they weren't PC's they were Desktop Workstations. Of course for music at that time, the Commodore64 or even Amiga was so far out in front it wasn't funny.
There used to be a fairly wide gap from an artists or musicians point of view between MAC and PC. MAC being on top for the most part depending of course on what you needed to do. That gap closed quite awhile ago, but as with anything there are the "brand loyalists."
In the music industry the "battle" still rages. For my purposes, I run a PC in the studio mainly because if there is some widget I want to run, some effect I want to try, etc... There is a good chance, if there is a MAC version, there is also a PC version, but not the other way around.
A few years back I was working on a huge CBT program. 100's of slides that had voice over. Recording, trimming, saving, naming etc.. just wasn't cutting it time wise. So I called up a programmer colleague and within two days had a program that I basically just had to press record and either save or redo. It took care of the naming and saving so each clip was just two clicks. Can't really do on-the-fly development for a MAC like that.
On the other hand, I was working on a PC recently where the person basically just checks email, surfs the web, plays iTunes and does some office tasks. I found an empty 30GB partition she didn't even know she had. Several pieces of software that were loading for devices she didn't have. If there ever was a person that needed a MAC it was her.
Bottom line when making the determination, and looking at a MAC, I try to figure out if the person is going to share their work with any other computer, and if they are only going to ever share stuff with other MAC users. If this is the case, or they rarely share anything with anyone in its raw form, than a MAC is the way to go, especially if they are artists.
If they plan on sharing the raw data they use (like raw .wav files for music) with non-MAC folks, I recommend a PC.
Like they say... get the right tool for the right job. Most web developers I know use both side by side. They do the graphics manipulation on the MAC and the coding on a PC. The value added is that the pages are being tested by default on both. |
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May 2004
Posts: 338
Location: Toronto | What a great topic eh - it can go on and on and on...and so here is my 2 cents worth.
MAC or PC is no longer the question imho. If you want stability - go Linux - you can build out a screaming PC for home recording on an old P4 with nothing but freeware. Never connect it to the internet so you never worry about virus' and if you share anything - exchange files with your home PC and voila.
Considering that Linux will run very well with limited processing speed/memory - you can probably use someone's throw away machine and build out a faster machine then the newest Pentium cores will provide - for next to nothing.
The question for me is AMD or Intel - 32bit or 64bit and what the upside will be. I look at it this way, over 80% of the computing world is on windows so that's where I want to be cause when I need help - I can't always find a MAC guy. So, if Window's it is - who's gonna give me the most for my money. At this point I think AMD's 64bit is the forerunner in stability, speed and multiprocessing, and for me - since I've resigned myself to Windows - it's all about the speed!! |
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December 2001
Posts: 7222
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Good Points MrDano. I didn't mention Linux and should have. I use the same checklist as for MAC vs PC as it seems you do also. If someone has a little computer knowledge, and can pick things up from reading web articles, you can setup a lean'n mean rock'n home studio with Linux. If all you're going is recording, editing, doing your demo, what a great money-saver and a stable platform.
Many devices like firewalls, routers, webcamsm cell phones, are written on modified Linux op systems. Tons of software available. One does need to be a little computer savvy, but not a real geekazoid to create a decent Linux system. |
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Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | I'd be running a Linux box if there was more audio and video software available, and there weren't so many hardware incompatibilities. It's fast, safe and stable. Someday. |
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Ovation newbie seeking purchase advice