VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

[vox1]

Hi, longtime VO with occasional need to take the studio on the road and
looking for a quieter configuration.

Love to get some input based on what i have and use now vs. perhaps some better gear.
For starters, I am 100% Mac-dedicated and don't see that changing.
That said, the laptop i've used for years has been a Ti-book G4 with OS X
Panther-- running Bias Peak (v 3 or v.4.14...haven't seen a big reason to get v. 5...tho if i upgrade to 10.4, guess I'll need to).

For a few years i've used the m-audio mobilepre usb interface - going into that with a 416 or dynamic through either a dbx166 or sometimes an RNC
or ART tube M P. The Thing is...

There's been a noise issue that i've always had to contend with which
doesn't relate to acoustics (i've been using something similar to Harlan Hogan's mic in a box for a long time for hotel situations). For starters,
the G4 must be recorded-to on Battery power only as the adapter imparts
an inherent hum (learned that the hard way). I think my ibook has the same problem.

OK, other than that, there is still a good deal of S/N hiss apparent with the MobilePre.. and on top of that, Peak (these versions anyway) can be very tempermental and glitchy with random quits and requires restart on occasion to get level once the interface is connected. OSX maintenance
may or may not help that but it occurs almost invariably each 'trip.' at
some point.

Bottom line, I'm looking for a far simpler, clean and more compact arrangement for laptop stuff. I am open to any suggestions including
say, Firewire vs USB interface options that might be an improvement.
Newer laptop? different software? Peak has been a favorite
for quite a while. I've considered others but not done any hands-on comparison per se - and i've always preferred the simple interface.
(and Mac compatibility is handy too).

One finer point about Peak for me; I like "razor sharp" precision and responsiveness when it comes to cut/paste/scrub waveform editing,
That became noticeably much less precise on all versions after v 2.63... Hence i still prefer 2.63 and OS 9 in my studio... (tho it ain't crashproof
by any means and also tempermental with ASIO card recognition and i
have to bump up to OSX and get over it at last.

Currently pondering moving into the new millenium and finally going PTools
tho it remains so-much-overkill for the primarily single-channel work of VO - although hey, if nothing else, Source-Connect alone may justify it
and the M-powered deal is reasonable enough eh?

I've paid a whopping amount for ISDN for a decade or so in my semi-rural area. I am one of the first-generation of users, and Veriz- er my TelCo has gouged me from the start for the circuit so I'll always welcome alternatives: )

Thanks for any thoughts,

Mike
_________________
Mikey ... Vox-Versatiliti

Saying something since 1970-
something