Who are you, and what do you do?
I'm Jim Guthrie and I'm a musician living and working in Toronto, ON. I've made all kinds of music for all kinds of things.
What hardware do you use?
I'm using a Mac Pro (2.66 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon with 12GB of RAM) and a MacBook Pro (2.4 GHz with 4GB RAM), with two Apple Cinema Displays. I have a pair of Yamaha HS80M monitors that go into an RME Fireface 800. I only have one mic pre at the moment (a Great River MP-2NV) but it's great for mostly everything I throw at it. For mics I have a Neumann TLM 103 and a KM 184. I also have an SM7B, a crazy JZ V47 mic, a RØDE NT1, and a bunch of others that I can't think of right now. For synths and MIDI controllers I use an Arturia 'Laboratory' and a Roland V-drum kit with mesh heads. I also use my iPad 3, a PSone with MTV Music Generator, and a Casio SK1.
I also have a buffet of acoustic and electric guitars, basses, banjos and ukuleles. Lots of other stuff, but those are highlights.
And what software?
Logic 9 and Garageband for day to day tracking of ideas. I've bought a ton of software in the last 2 years including Aurtria synth plugins, Native Instruments Komplete, Addictive Drums, Superior Drummer, Waves plugins, UAD-2 card with lots of their stuff, SoundToys, Sugar Bytes, Chipsounds, Motu Symphonic Instruments, and a bunch of others!
The list goes on as well.
What would be your dream setup?
I pretty much have it. It'd be great to have more high end outboard mic preamps and compressors, but I do just fine with the mix of hardware and software I currently have. I'm at the point where I haven't even used some stuff I've bought because I have more than I need but I'm sort of addicted to plug-ins. Life is tough!