blind illusion

I just bought mine . I look forward to using it! I already have good headphones, and I use impulses and a line 6 pod for a lot of my recordings(keep in mind, im a hobbyist), and I mainly bought it for recording my music and my band. I can get more mics later, once I get the hang of recording and mixing a little bit more. The thing that sold me on it was that it comes with quite a bit of software. This is from the 2011 model- Included hardware:
• Mac Mini - 2.3GHz Intel Core i5 with 500GB internal HD and 2GB RAM with MacAlly keyboard and mouse
• Asus VS208N - 20” ultra-slim high-contrast LED monitor 1600x900 resolution
• Avid Recording Studio, including M-Audio Fast Track II USB audio interface
• Tascam TM-78 condenser microphone with cable and tripod
• Tascam HD-VT1 studio headphones

Included software
• Tunecore
• Big Fish Audio
• Sonivox
• Garageband
• Pro Tools SE
• Cubase 6 Elements
• Presonus Studio One Artist version 2
• Bias Peak Express 7
• Waves AudioTrack
• Toontrack EZmix
• iZotope Ozone 4
• BBE D82 LE plug-in
• Ik Multimedia T-Racks 3
• Focusrite Scarlett Compressor
• Antares AutoTune EFX
• Antares Punch Evo
• Melodyne Essential
• Native Instruments
• Komplete Elements
• Arturia Analog Factory Hip Hop Edition
• Steven Slate Drums GC3
• Sugar Bytes WOW Filter Box
• Lexicon MPX-L Reverb
• Music Lab Real Strat LE
• Softube Spring Reverb

Special added values
• Sonivox - $100 online voucher
• Tunecore – One free year ($50 album voucher)
• Big Fish Audio - $50 online voucher
• Macprovideo.com - $50 online library voucher
Features

Mac Mini - 2.3GHz Intel Core i5 with 500GB internal HD and 2GB RAM with MacAlly keyboard and mouse
Asus VS208N - 20” ultra-slim high-contrast LED monitor 1600x900 resolution
Avid Recording Studio, including M-Audio Fast Track II USB audio interface
Tascam recording microphone, cable, tripod and studio headphones.

Quite a lot of software if you ask me. In my opinion its not a bad deal for someone wanting to learn recording and mixing/mastering.

lockwolf

This is where my main hangup with this bundle comes from. Its an old Mac Mini and you can buy the bundle with the newer Mac for around the same price.

$600 for the new Mac Mini with a faster Processor & 4gb ram
$150 for the Mobile Pre
You can't buy the mic by itself but considering it comes bundled with a ton of other interfaces, it can't be more than $100 (and thats pushing it IMO)
$60 for the NanoKontrol
$30 for the Headphones
$100 for the monitor

So, for $1040, you've got the same bundle with a better Mac which I would prefer, especially with Pro Tools. I know Macs use less resources but with only 2gb of RAM, you aren't going to have very large sessions.

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ChemicalFire

They're charging HOW much for only 500gb and 2gb of ram?


This is why I don't like Macs.

Hackintosh's are fine, but Macs... ugh.

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lockwolf

The model with the bundle is an older model but it retailed at $600 new. The Mac Minis are great systems if you want a surprisingly powerful Mac in a small footprint. The new ones can come equipped with a Core i7 & 1tb of Hard Drive. Swap out the stock 4gb of RAM for 16gb on your own (Because Apple charges $300 for $50 worth of parts and 5 minutes worth of extra labor) and you're set.

Though I think the Mac Mini's run on the laptop Processors instead of a traditional desktop processor since there is no 2.6ghz Core i7 and theres one for Mobile.

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