MACKIE Firewire OPtion Card fot Onyx Mixer - Manual (Page 5)

5
Owner’s Manual
Owner’
s Manual
System Requirements
These are the minimum requirements for your computer system to use the Onyx
FireWire interface.
For the PC:
• Windows XP (no earlier operating systems are supported)
• Pentium 4 or Athlon XP processor
• 256 MB RAM
For the Mac:
• OS X*
• G4 processor
• 256 MB RAM
* See www.mackie.com/OnyxFW_Update for information on compatible Mac OS X
operating systems.
A Note about Hard Drive Speed:
Most tower-style desktop computers have hard drives that spin at 5400
rpm or faster, which is generally fast enough to record 18 channels
without a problem. If you are experiencing difficulty recording all 18
channels at once, especially at 96 kHz, you may need to install a faster
hard drive (i.e., 7200 rpm).
Most laptops come with 4200 rpm drives. This will work fine if you are recording
fewer tracks at lower sample rates. However, if you are buying a laptop to use for
recording the maximum number of tracks, specify a faster drive. It may be possible
to replace a 4200 rpm drive with a faster one (preferably a 7200 rpm drive with an 8
MB cache), but you should check with the manufacturer to make sure.
Another option for either a desktop or laptop computer is to purchase an
external FireWire-equipped hard drive, again preferably a 7200 rpm drive with an
8 MB cache. This can be connected to one of the FireWire connections on the Onyx
FireWire card or directly to your computer and appears as an available drive to your
computer. Fast SCSI drives can be used as well.