Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Well, I love my macbook pro with 8gb. I did spring for the 500gb ssd drive though, 8gb of ram and the fastest i7 available. I would seriously check out the possibility of replacing the dvd drive with a second hd, I didn't know you could do that. Is their dvd drive sata? If this worked, I could possibly use the second drive to boot to windows, I really don't want to split up the mac os drive and frankly even if I do put windows on it, I wouldn't use it for my gigging machine because I leave it at my steady house gig, something I would neever do with a mac book pro which would be coveted by who knows. But since I do like to run pt on windows to create plug-in presets using jaws, this would make life a lot easier. Gord -Original Message- From: Brian Casey Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 6:33 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Yeah definitely, 8 gigs would be great. I unfortunately purchased a new pc just a few months ago and went with 4 gig and am regretting it. It was advertised as having quiet opporation and it is anything but...I hadn't known about the mac mini server at the time and didn't think I'd need something that portable either, but circumstances change. There are almost always regrets w ith computer purchases eventually though I suppose! -- From: Jim Noseworthy jim.nosewor...@compuconference.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 10:16 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Brian: I actually sold my MacBook Pro in order to purchase the Mac Mini Server. You would probably want to upgrade the 4 GB to 8 GB though. Cheers. - Original Message - From: Brian Casey brian_w_ca...@hotmail.com To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 6:04 PM Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Hi Jim, Thanks for that input. The screenless mini could be a great option for me in that case. Have you been happy with it compared to going down the macbook /imac route? Brian. -- From: Jim Noseworthy jim.nosewor...@compuconference.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 9:48 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Hello: That is no longer true. I am using my mini without a screen. Cheers. - Original Message - From: Kevin Reeves reeves...@gmail.com To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 2:13 PM Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing The catch with the minis is that you need a screen for it to run at optimum levels. Oddly enough, at least with my mini, which is mid 2009, without a monitor, the system is very sluggish. Many other folks have noticed this as well. However, I'm not sure if this is also true for the newest minis or the mini server. __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Oh one more thing, is it really possible for a someone tech savvy user to get at the dvd drive to replace it on the macbook? it really doesn't look like there is any way to get inside. I would probably want to take it to a local shop or something. Gord -Original Message- From: Brian Casey Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 6:33 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Yeah definitely, 8 gigs would be great. I unfortunately purchased a new pc just a few months ago and went with 4 gig and am regretting it. It was advertised as having quiet opporation and it is anything but...I hadn't known about the mac mini server at the time and didn't think I'd need something that portable either, but circumstances change. There are almost always regrets w ith computer purchases eventually though I suppose! -- From: Jim Noseworthy jim.nosewor...@compuconference.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 10:16 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Brian: I actually sold my MacBook Pro in order to purchase the Mac Mini Server. You would probably want to upgrade the 4 GB to 8 GB though. Cheers. - Original Message - From: Brian Casey brian_w_ca...@hotmail.com To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 6:04 PM Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Hi Jim, Thanks for that input. The screenless mini could be a great option for me in that case. Have you been happy with it compared to going down the macbook /imac route? Brian. -- From: Jim Noseworthy jim.nosewor...@compuconference.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 9:48 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Hello: That is no longer true. I am using my mini without a screen. Cheers. - Original Message - From: Kevin Reeves reeves...@gmail.com To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 2:13 PM Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing The catch with the minis is that you need a screen for it to run at optimum levels. Oddly enough, at least with my mini, which is mid 2009, without a monitor, the system is very sluggish. Many other folks have noticed this as well. However, I'm not sure if this is also true for the newest minis or the mini server. __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
I don't quite understand the question. As far as any ap like pt is concerned, an ssd is just another drive. I've run pt with sesions of 24 or more tracks on my ssd which is the os drive with no problem at all. As far as the 7200rpm issue is concerned, I doubt it would be a problem with this hardware and cooling. I had an older laptop, one of the first dual core machines running windows, and burned out a couple of hitachi 7200 rpm drives, but that was still ide then. I downgraded it to a 5400 rpm drive and haven't had a problem since, but I doubt it would handle high track counts for recording. I use it live primarily to play soft synths with Sonar acting as a vst host so it works OK for that, but it's falling aparat and I have several options here for replacing it. Gord -Original Message- From: Chuck Reichel Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 7:21 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Hi Brian, Does Avid now support SSD? Talk soon On Oct 22, 2011, at 4:34 PM, Brian Casey wrote: Could you put an SSD as one of the drives...I assume they don't have heating issues as they don't have moving parts...although, again, I don't know much abou these things so I could be completely wrong there! Brian. -- From: Nickus de Vos bigboy...@gmail.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 8:23 PM To: Pro Tools Accessibility ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Wow sounds cool but does the MBP motherboard do fine with the 2 hard drives? Kevin Reeves wrote: You can still have 2 hard drives with the macbook. OWC sells this device called the Data doubler. It's a mounting bracket that fits in the Macbook Pro in place of the optical drive. This lets you add a second hd in the machine. As far as the optical drive you just pulled out, you can then mount it into an external drive enclosure designed for laptop dvd drives. Then, you've got your 2 hd's and your dvd drive as an external when you need it. Chuck Reichel 954-742-0019 www.SoundPictureRecording.com
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
There are 9 screws on the bottom. Just pull the plate off and you're at all the components. On Oct 23, 2011, at 3:20 PM, Gordon Kent wrote: Oh one more thing, is it really possible for a someone tech savvy user to get at the dvd drive to replace it on the macbook? it really doesn't look like there is any way to get inside. I would probably want to take it to a local shop or something. Gord -Original Message- From: Brian Casey Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 6:33 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Yeah definitely, 8 gigs would be great. I unfortunately purchased a new pc just a few months ago and went with 4 gig and am regretting it. It was advertised as having quiet opporation and it is anything but...I hadn't known about the mac mini server at the time and didn't think I'd need something that portable either, but circumstances change. There are almost always regrets w ith computer purchases eventually though I suppose! -- From: Jim Noseworthy jim.nosewor...@compuconference.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 10:16 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Brian: I actually sold my MacBook Pro in order to purchase the Mac Mini Server. You would probably want to upgrade the 4 GB to 8 GB though. Cheers. - Original Message - From: Brian Casey brian_w_ca...@hotmail.com To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 6:04 PM Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Hi Jim, Thanks for that input. The screenless mini could be a great option for me in that case. Have you been happy with it compared to going down the macbook /imac route? Brian. -- From: Jim Noseworthy jim.nosewor...@compuconference.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 9:48 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Hello: That is no longer true. I am using my mini without a screen. Cheers. - Original Message - From: Kevin Reeves reeves...@gmail.com To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 2:13 PM Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing The catch with the minis is that you need a screen for it to run at optimum levels. Oddly enough, at least with my mini, which is mid 2009, without a monitor, the system is very sluggish. Many other folks have noticed this as well. However, I'm not sure if this is also true for the newest minis or the mini server. __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Thanks Kevin yes the mini is also very easy to get in to, you don't even have to fiddle with screws the bottom pannel has a twisting lock thing you just twist and pull. Thanks for all the info it really helps a lot. Kevin Reeves wrote: I think either the Mini server or the mbp are great choices. On both counts though, I wouldn't order any features from the apple site. Build the machine to order and put the fastest proc in that you can, but strip away everything else. Then, get some kingston or crucial ram, and either a 7200 rpm hybrid drive, or an SSD. You can get these items third party, which will make it much cheaper. The bottom of the macbook pro comes off easily and you can get to the drives and ram. Not sure about the Mini, but I've been told it's easy to crack into, especially the new one. This is just my 2 cents, so definitely compare what you're reading here. Good luck, and I hope you can use this advice here to come up with a machine that fits your needs and your budget. Kevin
RE: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
I have a iMac loaded to the max with memory and a quad core processor with external firewire drives. I updated my Mac Book Pro to the max memory and a larger 7200 RPM disk. The only thing I've heard about that one is that Apple doesn't always recommend it because they say it can generate too much heat. Personally, I haven't found it to be an issue. HTH, J. R. -Original Message- From: ptaccess@googlegroups.com [mailto:ptaccess@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kevin Reeves Sent: Friday, October 21, 2011 9:16 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing I think either the Mini server or the mbp are great choices. On both counts though, I wouldn't order any features from the apple site. Build the machine to order and put the fastest proc in that you can, but strip away everything else. Then, get some kingston or crucial ram, and either a 7200 rpm hybrid drive, or an SSD. You can get these items third party, which will make it much cheaper. The bottom of the macbook pro comes off easily and you can get to the drives and ram. Not sure about the Mini, but I've been told it's easy to crack into, especially the new one. This is just my 2 cents, so definitely compare what you're reading here. Good luck, and I hope you can use this advice here to come up with a machine that fits your needs and your budget. Kevin
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
The catch with the minis is that you need a screen for it to run at optimum levels. Oddly enough, at least with my mini, which is mid 2009, without a monitor, the system is very sluggish. Many other folks have noticed this as well. However, I'm not sure if this is also true for the newest minis or the mini server.
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
You can still have 2 hard drives with the macbook. OWC sells this device called the Data doubler. It's a mounting bracket that fits in the Macbook Pro in place of the optical drive. This lets you add a second hd in the machine. As far as the optical drive you just pulled out, you can then mount it into an external drive enclosure designed for laptop dvd drives. Then, you've got your 2 hd's and your dvd drive as an external when you need it.
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Just did a bit of reading on Kevin's 3rd party DIY upgrade idea. I always thought there's something special to apple memory but turns out they use normal memory mostly samsung and hynix not even kingston and I'm a huge fan of kingston ram. As for the hard drives looks like they mostly use seagate which is fine with me I only use seagate drives they are the most relyable in my experience. I don't know how apple can say a MBP with max ram and 7200 RPM hard drive can cause heat problems because you can order it from them that way so obviously they did some testing and why give people that option if it causes problems. Oh and on the MBP I've seen posts in a few places that new MBP's will be released in the next week or two, only upgrades is the processors they will have sandybridge I5 processors can't remember if there's I7's as well. Think you'll get a 2.2 GHz a 2.6 GHz and a 2.8 but I could be wrong can't exactly remember, also know they said it will stay the same price as the current ones. Brian Casey wrote: That seems a bit crazy! I'm no computing genious but I would have thought that wouldn't make a difference. Especially if it's a server. I wonder what the smallist/cheepist screen on the market is, something the size of an iPhone or something could e magical solution. Maybe the Macbook is just the best option though, but having two hard drives would be great. Any comments on portability? Thanks, Brian. -- From: Kevin Reeves reeves...@gmail.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 6:13 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing The catch with the minis is that you need a screen for it to run at optimum levels. Oddly enough, at least with my mini, which is mid 2009, without a monitor, the system is very sluggish. Many other folks have noticed this as well. However, I'm not sure if this is also true for the newest minis or the mini server.
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Yep. Absolutely. Kevin
RE: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
I am just saying what I read that the 7200 drives, at least in my Mac Book, weren't recommended. That seemed strange to me as well so I tried it and it works fine. I can't speak to the two drive issue. That one, it seems to me, could definitely cause a heating issue. The HD runs much warmer than an optical drive and for a longer amount of time. Remember there are no fans for cooling in the Mac Book Pro. Now, if I could find a mixing surface for 8 channels that was as light as my Mac Book Pro then I'd really have something. LOL Best, J. R. -Original Message- From: ptaccess@googlegroups.com [mailto:ptaccess@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Nickus de Vos Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 1:17 PM To: Pro Tools Accessibility Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Just did a bit of reading on Kevin's 3rd party DIY upgrade idea. I always thought there's something special to apple memory but turns out they use normal memory mostly samsung and hynix not even kingston and I'm a huge fan of kingston ram. As for the hard drives looks like they mostly use seagate which is fine with me I only use seagate drives they are the most relyable in my experience. I don't know how apple can say a MBP with max ram and 7200 RPM hard drive can cause heat problems because you can order it from them that way so obviously they did some testing and why give people that option if it causes problems. Oh and on the MBP I've seen posts in a few places that new MBP's will be released in the next week or two, only upgrades is the processors they will have sandybridge I5 processors can't remember if there's I7's as well. Think you'll get a 2.2 GHz a 2.6 GHz and a 2.8 but I could be wrong can't exactly remember, also know they said it will stay the same price as the current ones. Brian Casey wrote: That seems a bit crazy! I'm no computing genious but I would have thought that wouldn't make a difference. Especially if it's a server. I wonder what the smallist/cheepist screen on the market is, something the size of an iPhone or something could e magical solution. Maybe the Macbook is just the best option though, but having two hard drives would be great. Any comments on portability? Thanks, Brian. -- From: Kevin Reeves reeves...@gmail.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 6:13 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing The catch with the minis is that you need a screen for it to run at optimum levels. Oddly enough, at least with my mini, which is mid 2009, without a monitor, the system is very sluggish. Many other folks have noticed this as well. However, I'm not sure if this is also true for the newest minis or the mini server.
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Could you put an SSD as one of the drives...I assume they don't have heating issues as they don't have moving parts...although, again, I don't know much abou these things so I could be completely wrong there! Brian. -- From: Nickus de Vos bigboy...@gmail.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 8:23 PM To: Pro Tools Accessibility ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Wow sounds cool but does the MBP motherboard do fine with the 2 hard drives? Kevin Reeves wrote: You can still have 2 hard drives with the macbook. OWC sells this device called the Data doubler. It's a mounting bracket that fits in the Macbook Pro in place of the optical drive. This lets you add a second hd in the machine. As far as the optical drive you just pulled out, you can then mount it into an external drive enclosure designed for laptop dvd drives. Then, you've got your 2 hd's and your dvd drive as an external when you need it.
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Hello: The MAC MINI Server has two 500 GB 7200 rpm drives. Cheers. - Original Message - From: Brian Casey brian_w_ca...@hotmail.com To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 2:09 PM Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Kevin, I like your ideas on the third party options etc, seems practical and something I'd look into. The Mini server particularly sounds interesting. Other than saving on the screen, what differences would there be between the MBP and the mini? I heard the mini and the imacs have just laptop components in them anyway, but would they have better cooling, would they be less well equiped for portable use etc? Basically, I'm thinking about buying a laptop for using live for various stuff, but if it was as portable, why not grab a mini server too, if nothing else, it would be easier to disguise on stage without a screen etc. Any thoughts? I'd just like to get the best bang for buck for something portable and it makes sense just to buy apple even if I dual boot with windows for the moment. Brian. -- From: Kevin Reeves reeves...@gmail.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 4:15 AM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing I think either the Mini server or the mbp are great choices. On both counts though, I wouldn't order any features from the apple site. Build the machine to order and put the fastest proc in that you can, but strip away everything else. Then, get some kingston or crucial ram, and either a 7200 rpm hybrid drive, or an SSD. You can get these items third party, which will make it much cheaper. The bottom of the macbook pro comes off easily and you can get to the drives and ram. Not sure about the Mini, but I've been told it's easy to crack into, especially the new one. This is just my 2 cents, so definitely compare what you're reading here. Good luck, and I hope you can use this advice here to come up with a machine that fits your needs and your budget. Kevin __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Hello: That is no longer true. I am using my mini without a screen. Cheers. - Original Message - From: Kevin Reeves reeves...@gmail.com To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 2:13 PM Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing The catch with the minis is that you need a screen for it to run at optimum levels. Oddly enough, at least with my mini, which is mid 2009, without a monitor, the system is very sluggish. Many other folks have noticed this as well. However, I'm not sure if this is also true for the newest minis or the mini server. __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Also depending on your needs and how much processing power you need, the macbook air would be great for live environments, lightweight, sad drives so no hard drive to skip from vibrations on stage, and long battery life, especially when you turn down the screen brightness all the way, and turn off wi-fi and bluetooth among other things. On Oct 22, 2011, at 4:44 PM, Brian Casey wrote: Thanks or all that...excelent food for thought. Haha, of course I forgot the most obvious advantage of a laptop in the live environment, the baterry of course! -- From: Stephen Martin monkeypushe...@gmail.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 9:38 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing I owned the current Gen server model of the mini for a couple weeks like i said before, and the sluggish without a monitor issue didn't seem to exist with that one. I also remember hearing from a number of sources before purchasing mine that that issue was no longer with current gen mini's. The Mini is definitely portable enough to take to a gig and etc. The downside to a mini is no battery power option. Also remember if you guys plan to extend your apple care protection plan past the 1 year that comes with your mac then be care flu about upgrading after market. If apple didn't upgrade the internals or you didn't get the ram from apple and install it yourself, they won't even look at your machine when you try to get it serviced. So if you put after market parts in there, put the originals back in before taking it back in for servicing or before the tech shows up at your house.The only negative i have heard about swapping out your optical drive for another internal Hard drive on the laptops is it adds more weight to the machine. No complains about it overheating or anything like that. On Oct 22, 2011, at 4:19 PM, J. R. Westmoreland wrote: I am just saying what I read that the 7200 drives, at least in my Mac Book, weren't recommended. That seemed strange to me as well so I tried it and it works fine. I can't speak to the two drive issue. That one, it seems to me, could definitely cause a heating issue. The HD runs much warmer than an optical drive and for a longer amount of time. Remember there are no fans for cooling in the Mac Book Pro. Now, if I could find a mixing surface for 8 channels that was as light as my Mac Book Pro then I'd really have something. LOL Best, J. R. -Original Message- From: ptaccess@googlegroups.com [mailto:ptaccess@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Nickus de Vos Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 1:17 PM To: Pro Tools Accessibility Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Just did a bit of reading on Kevin's 3rd party DIY upgrade idea. I always thought there's something special to apple memory but turns out they use normal memory mostly samsung and hynix not even kingston and I'm a huge fan of kingston ram. As for the hard drives looks like they mostly use seagate which is fine with me I only use seagate drives they are the most relyable in my experience. I don't know how apple can say a MBP with max ram and 7200 RPM hard drive can cause heat problems because you can order it from them that way so obviously they did some testing and why give people that option if it causes problems. Oh and on the MBP I've seen posts in a few places that new MBP's will be released in the next week or two, only upgrades is the processors they will have sandybridge I5 processors can't remember if there's I7's as well. Think you'll get a 2.2 GHz a 2.6 GHz and a 2.8 but I could be wrong can't exactly remember, also know they said it will stay the same price as the current ones. Brian Casey wrote: That seems a bit crazy! I'm no computing genious but I would have thought that wouldn't make a difference. Especially if it's a server. I wonder what the smallist/cheepist screen on the market is, something the size of an iPhone or something could e magical solution. Maybe the Macbook is just the best option though, but having two hard drives would be great. Any comments on portability? Thanks, Brian. -- From: Kevin Reeves reeves...@gmail.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 6:13 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing The catch with the minis is that you need a screen for it to run at optimum levels. Oddly enough, at least with my mini, which is mid 2009, without a monitor, the system is very sluggish. Many other folks have noticed this as well. However, I'm not sure if this is also true for the newest minis or the mini server.
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Though if one can afford it i would recommend going with the 256GB SSD Boot drive and the second 750 spinning drive option. One of the few things i miss about owning that machine On Oct 22, 2011, at 4:48 PM, Jim Noseworthy wrote: Hello: The MAC MINI Server has two 500 GB 7200 rpm drives. Cheers. - Original Message - From: Brian Casey brian_w_ca...@hotmail.com To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 2:09 PM Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Kevin, I like your ideas on the third party options etc, seems practical and something I'd look into. The Mini server particularly sounds interesting. Other than saving on the screen, what differences would there be between the MBP and the mini? I heard the mini and the imacs have just laptop components in them anyway, but would they have better cooling, would they be less well equiped for portable use etc? Basically, I'm thinking about buying a laptop for using live for various stuff, but if it was as portable, why not grab a mini server too, if nothing else, it would be easier to disguise on stage without a screen etc. Any thoughts? I'd just like to get the best bang for buck for something portable and it makes sense just to buy apple even if I dual boot with windows for the moment. Brian. -- From: Kevin Reeves reeves...@gmail.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 4:15 AM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing I think either the Mini server or the mbp are great choices. On both counts though, I wouldn't order any features from the apple site. Build the machine to order and put the fastest proc in that you can, but strip away everything else. Then, get some kingston or crucial ram, and either a 7200 rpm hybrid drive, or an SSD. You can get these items third party, which will make it much cheaper. The bottom of the macbook pro comes off easily and you can get to the drives and ram. Not sure about the Mini, but I've been told it's easy to crack into, especially the new one. This is just my 2 cents, so definitely compare what you're reading here. Good luck, and I hope you can use this advice here to come up with a machine that fits your needs and your budget. Kevin __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Hi Jim, Thanks for that input. The screenless mini could be a great option for me in that case. Have you been happy with it compared to going down the macbook /imac route? Brian. -- From: Jim Noseworthy jim.nosewor...@compuconference.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 9:48 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Hello: That is no longer true. I am using my mini without a screen. Cheers. - Original Message - From: Kevin Reeves reeves...@gmail.com To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 2:13 PM Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing The catch with the minis is that you need a screen for it to run at optimum levels. Oddly enough, at least with my mini, which is mid 2009, without a monitor, the system is very sluggish. Many other folks have noticed this as well. However, I'm not sure if this is also true for the newest minis or the mini server. __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Brian: I actually sold my MacBook Pro in order to purchase the Mac Mini Server. You would probably want to upgrade the 4 GB to 8 GB though. Cheers. - Original Message - From: Brian Casey brian_w_ca...@hotmail.com To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 6:04 PM Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Hi Jim, Thanks for that input. The screenless mini could be a great option for me in that case. Have you been happy with it compared to going down the macbook /imac route? Brian. -- From: Jim Noseworthy jim.nosewor...@compuconference.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 9:48 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Hello: That is no longer true. I am using my mini without a screen. Cheers. - Original Message - From: Kevin Reeves reeves...@gmail.com To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 2:13 PM Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing The catch with the minis is that you need a screen for it to run at optimum levels. Oddly enough, at least with my mini, which is mid 2009, without a monitor, the system is very sluggish. Many other folks have noticed this as well. However, I'm not sure if this is also true for the newest minis or the mini server. __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Yeah definitely, 8 gigs would be great. I unfortunately purchased a new pc just a few months ago and went with 4 gig and am regretting it. It was advertised as having quiet opporation and it is anything but...I hadn't known about the mac mini server at the time and didn't think I'd need something that portable either, but circumstances change. There are almost always regrets w ith computer purchases eventually though I suppose! -- From: Jim Noseworthy jim.nosewor...@compuconference.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 10:16 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Brian: I actually sold my MacBook Pro in order to purchase the Mac Mini Server. You would probably want to upgrade the 4 GB to 8 GB though. Cheers. - Original Message - From: Brian Casey brian_w_ca...@hotmail.com To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 6:04 PM Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Hi Jim, Thanks for that input. The screenless mini could be a great option for me in that case. Have you been happy with it compared to going down the macbook /imac route? Brian. -- From: Jim Noseworthy jim.nosewor...@compuconference.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 9:48 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Hello: That is no longer true. I am using my mini without a screen. Cheers. - Original Message - From: Kevin Reeves reeves...@gmail.com To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 2:13 PM Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing The catch with the minis is that you need a screen for it to run at optimum levels. Oddly enough, at least with my mini, which is mid 2009, without a monitor, the system is very sluggish. Many other folks have noticed this as well. However, I'm not sure if this is also true for the newest minis or the mini server. __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6566 (20111022) __ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Hey J. R. The MBP 2010 and newer do have fans. Run PT for a while and then feel around the back under the display hinge. HTH --FC On Oct 22, 2011, at 4:19 PM, J. R. Westmoreland wrote: I am just saying what I read that the 7200 drives, at least in my Mac Book, weren't recommended. That seemed strange to me as well so I tried it and it works fine. I can't speak to the two drive issue. That one, it seems to me, could definitely cause a heating issue. The HD runs much warmer than an optical drive and for a longer amount of time. Remember there are no fans for cooling in the Mac Book Pro. Now, if I could find a mixing surface for 8 channels that was as light as my Mac Book Pro then I'd really have something. LOL Best, J. R. -Original Message- From: ptaccess@googlegroups.com [mailto:ptaccess@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Nickus de Vos Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 1:17 PM To: Pro Tools Accessibility Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Just did a bit of reading on Kevin's 3rd party DIY upgrade idea. I always thought there's something special to apple memory but turns out they use normal memory mostly samsung and hynix not even kingston and I'm a huge fan of kingston ram. As for the hard drives looks like they mostly use seagate which is fine with me I only use seagate drives they are the most relyable in my experience. I don't know how apple can say a MBP with max ram and 7200 RPM hard drive can cause heat problems because you can order it from them that way so obviously they did some testing and why give people that option if it causes problems. Oh and on the MBP I've seen posts in a few places that new MBP's will be released in the next week or two, only upgrades is the processors they will have sandybridge I5 processors can't remember if there's I7's as well. Think you'll get a 2.2 GHz a 2.6 GHz and a 2.8 but I could be wrong can't exactly remember, also know they said it will stay the same price as the current ones. Brian Casey wrote: That seems a bit crazy! I'm no computing genious but I would have thought that wouldn't make a difference. Especially if it's a server. I wonder what the smallist/cheepist screen on the market is, something the size of an iPhone or something could e magical solution. Maybe the Macbook is just the best option though, but having two hard drives would be great. Any comments on portability? Thanks, Brian. -- From: Kevin Reeves reeves...@gmail.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 6:13 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing The catch with the minis is that you need a screen for it to run at optimum levels. Oddly enough, at least with my mini, which is mid 2009, without a monitor, the system is very sluggish. Many other folks have noticed this as well. However, I'm not sure if this is also true for the newest minis or the mini server.
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Hi On Oct 22, 2011, at 4:38 PM, Stephen Martin wrote: I owned the current Gen server model of the mini for a couple weeks like i said before, and the sluggish without a monitor issue didn't seem to exist with that one. You did run safari? That's where you really notice the issue. I have a 2009 mini and I can confirm that this is an issue on snow leopard. I haven't tried it on lion. Maybe it's a lion fix? I also remember hearing from a number of sources before purchasing mine that that issue was no longer with current gen mini's. The Mini is definitely portable enough to take to a gig and etc. The downside to a mini is no battery power option. Also remember if you guys plan to extend your apple care protection plan past the 1 year that comes with your mac then be care flu about upgrading after market. If apple didn't upgrade the internals or you didn't get the ram from apple and install it yourself, they won't even look at your machine when you try to get it serviced. So if you put after market parts in there, put the originals back in before taking it back in for servicing or before the tech shows up at your house.The only negative i have heard about swapping out your optical drive for another internal Hard drive on the laptops is it adds more weight to the machine. No complains about it overheating or anything like that. This is not what I was told by a Apple repair person. In fact I had the optical drive die in my 2010 mbp two months after I bought it. I had changed out the 2 gb sticks for 4 gb ones and had put an SSD in where there once was a 5400 rpm drive. They opened the machine put a new drive in and had me out of the store in 20 minutes with only having to sign once that the service had been performed. THese same people assured me when I purchased the mbp that I would be able to put the components in the unit that I wanted and unless one of those components was at fault they would fix the problem. HTH --FC On Oct 22, 2011, at 4:19 PM, J. R. Westmoreland wrote: I am just saying what I read that the 7200 drives, at least in my Mac Book, weren't recommended. That seemed strange to me as well so I tried it and it works fine. I can't speak to the two drive issue. That one, it seems to me, could definitely cause a heating issue. The HD runs much warmer than an optical drive and for a longer amount of time. Remember there are no fans for cooling in the Mac Book Pro. Now, if I could find a mixing surface for 8 channels that was as light as my Mac Book Pro then I'd really have something. LOL Best, J. R. -Original Message- From: ptaccess@googlegroups.com [mailto:ptaccess@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Nickus de Vos Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 1:17 PM To: Pro Tools Accessibility Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Just did a bit of reading on Kevin's 3rd party DIY upgrade idea. I always thought there's something special to apple memory but turns out they use normal memory mostly samsung and hynix not even kingston and I'm a huge fan of kingston ram. As for the hard drives looks like they mostly use seagate which is fine with me I only use seagate drives they are the most relyable in my experience. I don't know how apple can say a MBP with max ram and 7200 RPM hard drive can cause heat problems because you can order it from them that way so obviously they did some testing and why give people that option if it causes problems. Oh and on the MBP I've seen posts in a few places that new MBP's will be released in the next week or two, only upgrades is the processors they will have sandybridge I5 processors can't remember if there's I7's as well. Think you'll get a 2.2 GHz a 2.6 GHz and a 2.8 but I could be wrong can't exactly remember, also know they said it will stay the same price as the current ones. Brian Casey wrote: That seems a bit crazy! I'm no computing genious but I would have thought that wouldn't make a difference. Especially if it's a server. I wonder what the smallist/cheepist screen on the market is, something the size of an iPhone or something could e magical solution. Maybe the Macbook is just the best option though, but having two hard drives would be great. Any comments on portability? Thanks, Brian. -- From: Kevin Reeves reeves...@gmail.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 6:13 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing The catch with the minis is that you need a screen for it to run at optimum levels. Oddly enough, at least with my mini, which is mid 2009, without a monitor, the system is very sluggish. Many other folks have noticed this as well. However, I'm not sure if this is also true for the newest minis or the mini server.
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Hi Brian, Does Avid now support SSD? Talk soon On Oct 22, 2011, at 4:34 PM, Brian Casey wrote: Could you put an SSD as one of the drives...I assume they don't have heating issues as they don't have moving parts...although, again, I don't know much abou these things so I could be completely wrong there! Brian. -- From: Nickus de Vos bigboy...@gmail.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 8:23 PM To: Pro Tools Accessibility ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Wow sounds cool but does the MBP motherboard do fine with the 2 hard drives? Kevin Reeves wrote: You can still have 2 hard drives with the macbook. OWC sells this device called the Data doubler. It's a mounting bracket that fits in the Macbook Pro in place of the optical drive. This lets you add a second hd in the machine. As far as the optical drive you just pulled out, you can then mount it into an external drive enclosure designed for laptop dvd drives. Then, you've got your 2 hd's and your dvd drive as an external when you need it. Chuck Reichel 954-742-0019 www.SoundPictureRecording.com
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Yes did try it with safari, and no issues there. Also, i have always heard from others and apple themselves that non apple apple after market parts voids apple care, but maybe now they re starting to get lapse on it. From what i hear though, the new 2011 iMacs will not take a non apple HD and run optimally. They are doing some voodoo to keep you from putting in after market HD's. That being said, the thunderbolt ports do pretty much solve that problem. On Oct 22, 2011, at 7:01 PM, Frank Carmickle wrote: Hi On Oct 22, 2011, at 4:38 PM, Stephen Martin wrote: I owned the current Gen server model of the mini for a couple weeks like i said before, and the sluggish without a monitor issue didn't seem to exist with that one. You did run safari? That's where you really notice the issue. I have a 2009 mini and I can confirm that this is an issue on snow leopard. I haven't tried it on lion. Maybe it's a lion fix? I also remember hearing from a number of sources before purchasing mine that that issue was no longer with current gen mini's. The Mini is definitely portable enough to take to a gig and etc. The downside to a mini is no battery power option. Also remember if you guys plan to extend your apple care protection plan past the 1 year that comes with your mac then be care flu about upgrading after market. If apple didn't upgrade the internals or you didn't get the ram from apple and install it yourself, they won't even look at your machine when you try to get it serviced. So if you put after market parts in there, put the originals back in before taking it back in for servicing or before the tech shows up at your house.The only negative i have heard about swapping out your optical drive for another internal Hard drive on the laptops is it adds more weight to the machine. No complains about it overheating or anything like that. This is not what I was told by a Apple repair person. In fact I had the optical drive die in my 2010 mbp two months after I bought it. I had changed out the 2 gb sticks for 4 gb ones and had put an SSD in where there once was a 5400 rpm drive. They opened the machine put a new drive in and had me out of the store in 20 minutes with only having to sign once that the service had been performed. THese same people assured me when I purchased the mbp that I would be able to put the components in the unit that I wanted and unless one of those components was at fault they would fix the problem. HTH --FC On Oct 22, 2011, at 4:19 PM, J. R. Westmoreland wrote: I am just saying what I read that the 7200 drives, at least in my Mac Book, weren't recommended. That seemed strange to me as well so I tried it and it works fine. I can't speak to the two drive issue. That one, it seems to me, could definitely cause a heating issue. The HD runs much warmer than an optical drive and for a longer amount of time. Remember there are no fans for cooling in the Mac Book Pro. Now, if I could find a mixing surface for 8 channels that was as light as my Mac Book Pro then I'd really have something. LOL Best, J. R. -Original Message- From: ptaccess@googlegroups.com [mailto:ptaccess@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Nickus de Vos Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 1:17 PM To: Pro Tools Accessibility Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Just did a bit of reading on Kevin's 3rd party DIY upgrade idea. I always thought there's something special to apple memory but turns out they use normal memory mostly samsung and hynix not even kingston and I'm a huge fan of kingston ram. As for the hard drives looks like they mostly use seagate which is fine with me I only use seagate drives they are the most relyable in my experience. I don't know how apple can say a MBP with max ram and 7200 RPM hard drive can cause heat problems because you can order it from them that way so obviously they did some testing and why give people that option if it causes problems. Oh and on the MBP I've seen posts in a few places that new MBP's will be released in the next week or two, only upgrades is the processors they will have sandybridge I5 processors can't remember if there's I7's as well. Think you'll get a 2.2 GHz a 2.6 GHz and a 2.8 but I could be wrong can't exactly remember, also know they said it will stay the same price as the current ones. Brian Casey wrote: That seems a bit crazy! I'm no computing genious but I would have thought that wouldn't make a difference. Especially if it's a server. I wonder what the smallist/cheepist screen on the market is, something the size of an iPhone or something could e magical solution. Maybe the Macbook is just the best option though, but having two hard drives would be great. Any comments on portability? Thanks, Brian. -- From: Kevin Reeves reeves...@gmail.com Sent: Saturday
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Thanks for that Frank...yeah, I guess really, I don't completely need it at the moment, and can probably afford to wait another six months or a year for a new mac, and who knows what ground manufacturers will have made up with SSD's and thunderbolt by then. As it stands, I'm still ultimately happy if not regretting a little my recent purchase of a pc with two internal 7200 speed drives, its 2.8 quad i5 and 4 gigs of ram. Its just rather God dam big and noisie. I did push it to its limit with a mix on sonar during the week, but that was hitting 70 tracks, with 3 or 4 soft-synths, at least 3 plugins on each tracks, 12 buses with plenty processing and lots of long delays and reverbs running in realtime. The cpu meter still only said 60 percent but the pops and clicks in the play back said otherwise, proved by the fact that freezing some of the tracks settled it right back down. Sorry, a complete digression, basically, I think for those of us who don't need to waste any money on a screen and like portability, the mac mini server is a fantastic option. It even has a built in speaker from what I saw? Great for voice over. Brian. -- From: Frank Carmickle fr...@carmickle.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 11:55 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Hi Brian Yeah SSD's are where it's at. I would say these mbp's can handle an SSD and a 7200 rpm drive with out trouble. I haven't put the second disk in mine yet. I am running a SSD and you can edit and mix small projects just on the SSD with out a second drive. Bigger track counts you would probably want a second drive. I would consider two SSD's instead of a 7200 rpm drive. Now that the 2011 macs all have thunderbolt you can get some really fast drives. FW800 is actually quite slow in todays standards. There are only a few thunderbolt drive enclosures thus far but there will be more. This is what really makes the mac mini an option now. The quad core and a thunderbolt port allow you to run pro tools hd with a thunderbolt expansion chasis. HTH --FC On Oct 22, 2011, at 4:34 PM, Brian Casey wrote: Could you put an SSD as one of the drives...I assume they don't have heating issues as they don't have moving parts...although, again, I don't know much abou these things so I could be completely wrong there! Brian. -- From: Nickus de Vos bigboy...@gmail.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 8:23 PM To: Pro Tools Accessibility ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Wow sounds cool but does the MBP motherboard do fine with the 2 hard drives? Kevin Reeves wrote: You can still have 2 hard drives with the macbook. OWC sells this device called the Data doubler. It's a mounting bracket that fits in the Macbook Pro in place of the optical drive. This lets you add a second hd in the machine. As far as the optical drive you just pulled out, you can then mount it into an external drive enclosure designed for laptop dvd drives. Then, you've got your 2 hd's and your dvd drive as an external when you need it.
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
I haven't a clew Chuck to be honest...I'm as noobish about PT and avid as they come on this list...I've cold feet about getting proTools into my workflow still! I'd imagine avid need to speed up their accepance of new technology etc to stop from losing ground to other native DAWs though. SSD's seem to be very much the way forward. Brian. -- From: Chuck Reichel soundpicturerecord...@gmail.com Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2011 12:21 AM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Hi Brian, Does Avid now support SSD? Talk soon On Oct 22, 2011, at 4:34 PM, Brian Casey wrote: Could you put an SSD as one of the drives...I assume they don't have heating issues as they don't have moving parts...although, again, I don't know much abou these things so I could be completely wrong there! Brian. -- From: Nickus de Vos bigboy...@gmail.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 8:23 PM To: Pro Tools Accessibility ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Wow sounds cool but does the MBP motherboard do fine with the 2 hard drives? Kevin Reeves wrote: You can still have 2 hard drives with the macbook. OWC sells this device called the Data doubler. It's a mounting bracket that fits in the Macbook Pro in place of the optical drive. This lets you add a second hd in the machine. As far as the optical drive you just pulled out, you can then mount it into an external drive enclosure designed for laptop dvd drives. Then, you've got your 2 hd's and your dvd drive as an external when you need it. Chuck Reichel 954-742-0019 www.SoundPictureRecording.com
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
When mixing you may want to raise your sample buffer size for playback. It doesn't need to be as low as it does for recording due to the lack of need for input monitoring and etc. This would probably keep you from having to freeze some tracks. The speaker on the mac mini is there more as a failsafe than it is intended to be used as a main speaker, as they don't get very loud. It would be hard to hear VO on that speaker while playing back a session, especially if the mini isn't on the desk next u. On Oct 22, 2011, at 7:53 PM, Brian Casey wrote: Thanks for that Frank...yeah, I guess really, I don't completely need it at the moment, and can probably afford to wait another six months or a year for a new mac, and who knows what ground manufacturers will have made up with SSD's and thunderbolt by then. As it stands, I'm still ultimately happy if not regretting a little my recent purchase of a pc with two internal 7200 speed drives, its 2.8 quad i5 and 4 gigs of ram. Its just rather God dam big and noisie. I did push it to its limit with a mix on sonar during the week, but that was hitting 70 tracks, with 3 or 4 soft-synths, at least 3 plugins on each tracks, 12 buses with plenty processing and lots of long delays and reverbs running in realtime. The cpu meter still only said 60 percent but the pops and clicks in the play back said otherwise, proved by the fact that freezing some of the tracks settled it right back down. Sorry, a complete digression, basically, I think for those of us who don't need to waste any money on a screen and like portability, the mac mini server is a fantastic option. It even has a built in speaker from what I saw? Great for voice over. Brian. -- From: Frank Carmickle fr...@carmickle.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 11:55 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Hi Brian Yeah SSD's are where it's at. I would say these mbp's can handle an SSD and a 7200 rpm drive with out trouble. I haven't put the second disk in mine yet. I am running a SSD and you can edit and mix small projects just on the SSD with out a second drive. Bigger track counts you would probably want a second drive. I would consider two SSD's instead of a 7200 rpm drive. Now that the 2011 macs all have thunderbolt you can get some really fast drives. FW800 is actually quite slow in todays standards. There are only a few thunderbolt drive enclosures thus far but there will be more. This is what really makes the mac mini an option now. The quad core and a thunderbolt port allow you to run pro tools hd with a thunderbolt expansion chasis. HTH --FC On Oct 22, 2011, at 4:34 PM, Brian Casey wrote: Could you put an SSD as one of the drives...I assume they don't have heating issues as they don't have moving parts...although, again, I don't know much abou these things so I could be completely wrong there! Brian. -- From: Nickus de Vos bigboy...@gmail.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 8:23 PM To: Pro Tools Accessibility ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Wow sounds cool but does the MBP motherboard do fine with the 2 hard drives? Kevin Reeves wrote: You can still have 2 hard drives with the macbook. OWC sells this device called the Data doubler. It's a mounting bracket that fits in the Macbook Pro in place of the optical drive. This lets you add a second hd in the machine. As far as the optical drive you just pulled out, you can then mount it into an external drive enclosure designed for laptop dvd drives. Then, you've got your 2 hd's and your dvd drive as an external when you need it.
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Ah right, I was obviously too hopeful about that built In speaker, but I do moniter at extraordinarily low levels so who knows!haha Of course, I could change the buffer, but I tend to run my RME fireface at HD type latencies, simply because it can! Thanks for all the input about the mini server anyway guys, I think I have a new reason to work that little bit harder over the next few months, that and I have my eye on an akai mpk88 or something of some discription, between the two I would have a nice portable setup outside the studio for production work and gigs. Brian. -- From: Stephen Martin monkeypushe...@gmail.com Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2011 1:01 AM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing When mixing you may want to raise your sample buffer size for playback. It doesn't need to be as low as it does for recording due to the lack of need for input monitoring and etc. This would probably keep you from having to freeze some tracks. The speaker on the mac mini is there more as a failsafe than it is intended to be used as a main speaker, as they don't get very loud. It would be hard to hear VO on that speaker while playing back a session, especially if the mini isn't on the desk next u. On Oct 22, 2011, at 7:53 PM, Brian Casey wrote: Thanks for that Frank...yeah, I guess really, I don't completely need it at the moment, and can probably afford to wait another six months or a year for a new mac, and who knows what ground manufacturers will have made up with SSD's and thunderbolt by then. As it stands, I'm still ultimately happy if not regretting a little my recent purchase of a pc with two internal 7200 speed drives, its 2.8 quad i5 and 4 gigs of ram. Its just rather God dam big and noisie. I did push it to its limit with a mix on sonar during the week, but that was hitting 70 tracks, with 3 or 4 soft-synths, at least 3 plugins on each tracks, 12 buses with plenty processing and lots of long delays and reverbs running in realtime. The cpu meter still only said 60 percent but the pops and clicks in the play back said otherwise, proved by the fact that freezing some of the tracks settled it right back down. Sorry, a complete digression, basically, I think for those of us who don't need to waste any money on a screen and like portability, the mac mini server is a fantastic option. It even has a built in speaker from what I saw? Great for voice over. Brian. -- From: Frank Carmickle fr...@carmickle.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 11:55 PM To: ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Hi Brian Yeah SSD's are where it's at. I would say these mbp's can handle an SSD and a 7200 rpm drive with out trouble. I haven't put the second disk in mine yet. I am running a SSD and you can edit and mix small projects just on the SSD with out a second drive. Bigger track counts you would probably want a second drive. I would consider two SSD's instead of a 7200 rpm drive. Now that the 2011 macs all have thunderbolt you can get some really fast drives. FW800 is actually quite slow in todays standards. There are only a few thunderbolt drive enclosures thus far but there will be more. This is what really makes the mac mini an option now. The quad core and a thunderbolt port allow you to run pro tools hd with a thunderbolt expansion chasis. HTH --FC On Oct 22, 2011, at 4:34 PM, Brian Casey wrote: Could you put an SSD as one of the drives...I assume they don't have heating issues as they don't have moving parts...although, again, I don't know much abou these things so I could be completely wrong there! Brian. -- From: Nickus de Vos bigboy...@gmail.com Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 8:23 PM To: Pro Tools Accessibility ptaccess@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Wow sounds cool but does the MBP motherboard do fine with the 2 hard drives? Kevin Reeves wrote: You can still have 2 hard drives with the macbook. OWC sells this device called the Data doubler. It's a mounting bracket that fits in the Macbook Pro in place of the optical drive. This lets you add a second hd in the machine. As far as the optical drive you just pulled out, you can then mount it into an external drive enclosure designed for laptop dvd drives. Then, you've got your 2 hd's and your dvd drive as an external when you need it.
Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Hi all I'm looking to get my own machine and I'm looking for some opinions on what the best would be for what I will use it for. Where I work we use mac pros but that's pretty much out of the question for budget reasons I'm looking at a imac or macbook pro preferably a MBP because it would make beeing mobile possible. Ok I do a lot of voiceovers, radio adds and record seminars, all these usually involve recording not more than 2 or 3 tracks at a time and won't easally be more than 10 tracks of editing/mixing. As I say I mostly do that type of work but ocasionally also record bands which could be 10 tracks at a time and 24 track mixing or I record live concerts which could be up to 24 or 30 tracks of recording. I don't know what the future holds but I basically don't want to be limitted having to buy a bigger/ faster machine in 6 or 8 months. I've looked at the 15 inch MBP with the 2 GHz or 2.2 GHz quad core i7 processor so my first question, how big of a difference would be between the 2 and the 2.2? Obviously the 2.2 would be better but will it really make a huge difference? Second thing is, the MBP can go up to 8 GB ram but comes out with 4 GB, so how far would 4 GB get me, will it be ok for a start or do I go for 8 GB from the start? Thirdly I've seen in the past on this list you people recommending 7200 RPM external firewire hard drives for recording but will I be fine recording smaller projects without it? Well that's basically everything for now, I'll be using firewire interface and obviously pro tools. I also looked at the 13 inch MBP because screen size doesn't matter but just thaught the dual cor I5 and i7 would be a little light for the job. Thanks for any advice and recommendations Nickus
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Hi: I think I would recommend their MINI server models (especially their highest model since it has a quad processor with two 500 GB drives. Cheers. - Original Message - From: Nickus de Vos bigboy...@gmail.com To: Pro Tools Accessibility ptaccess@googlegroups.com Sent: Friday, October 21, 2011 11:50 AM Subject: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Hi all I'm looking to get my own machine and I'm looking for some opinions on what the best would be for what I will use it for. Where I work we use mac pros but that's pretty much out of the question for budget reasons I'm looking at a imac or macbook pro preferably a MBP because it would make beeing mobile possible. Ok I do a lot of voiceovers, radio adds and record seminars, all these usually involve recording not more than 2 or 3 tracks at a time and won't easally be more than 10 tracks of editing/mixing. As I say I mostly do that type of work but ocasionally also record bands which could be 10 tracks at a time and 24 track mixing or I record live concerts which could be up to 24 or 30 tracks of recording. I don't know what the future holds but I basically don't want to be limitted having to buy a bigger/ faster machine in 6 or 8 months. I've looked at the 15 inch MBP with the 2 GHz or 2.2 GHz quad core i7 processor so my first question, how big of a difference would be between the 2 and the 2.2? Obviously the 2.2 would be better but will it really make a huge difference? Second thing is, the MBP can go up to 8 GB ram but comes out with 4 GB, so how far would 4 GB get me, will it be ok for a start or do I go for 8 GB from the start? Thirdly I've seen in the past on this list you people recommending 7200 RPM external firewire hard drives for recording but will I be fine recording smaller projects without it? Well that's basically everything for now, I'll be using firewire interface and obviously pro tools. I also looked at the 13 inch MBP because screen size doesn't matter but just thaught the dual cor I5 and i7 would be a little light for the job. Thanks for any advice and recommendations Nickus
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Hi I looked at the mini server but the only problem I have with the new one is it has no obtical drive. Sure you get a extra hard drive but I would still prefer 1 hard drive and a obtical drive. If you run out of space you can always get a external hard drive but as it is now, you basically have to get a external obtical drive, yes I know there's that thing of slaving another mac or pc's drive but that's just a shlep.
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
So long as you don't get the apple branded optical drive and optical drive would be less than and external Hard drive. Also the mini's are quite portable as i briefly owned one of the server models mentioned here. Only downside is no option for battery power, that being said there is a 3rd party battery prick you can purchase for portable juice. To answer your initial questions. In all honesty i think even the 13 MBP would be sufficient for the work you do. Yeah you may hit a wall at some point with number of plug ins or something like that. but you should be find on the track count side and so long as you don't plan on maxing out the number of plug ins and sends on every channel. I would probably go for the 8GB of ram in either the Mini or the MBP since those machines aren't as easy to open up and add ram to later on.I started out using pro tools on a MBP with a core II Duo and it handled around 10 tracks and some plug ins with no issues here. On 10/21/11, Nickus de Vos bigboy...@gmail.com wrote: Hi I looked at the mini server but the only problem I have with the new one is it has no obtical drive. Sure you get a extra hard drive but I would still prefer 1 hard drive and a obtical drive. If you run out of space you can always get a external hard drive but as it is now, you basically have to get a external obtical drive, yes I know there's that thing of slaving another mac or pc's drive but that's just a shlep.
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Actually, a variation on this question? While avid still provides a recommended gear list for the pre 9 ish edition of pro tools, it is a bit dated. In fact I can get an update from my source over there, if I get no answer here. Still some of the macbooks they recommended have been discontinued anyway. So if you are 1, using a digi unit for mixing a 002 for example, and 2, want to use one of the vo friendly editions of pt, what is the best macbook to buy? I would really rather have a portable one than another desktop so I can use it for more than just pro tools. i always get an external hard drive for my work, and understand I may need some sort of firewire adapter, but sweetwater sells those, so I am not worried. Ideas? Karen On Fri, 21 Oct 2011, Monkey Pusher wrote: So long as you don't get the apple branded optical drive and optical drive would be less than and external Hard drive. Also the mini's are quite portable as i briefly owned one of the server models mentioned here. Only downside is no option for battery power, that being said there is a 3rd party battery prick you can purchase for portable juice. To answer your initial questions. In all honesty i think even the 13 MBP would be sufficient for the work you do. Yeah you may hit a wall at some point with number of plug ins or something like that. but you should be find on the track count side and so long as you don't plan on maxing out the number of plug ins and sends on every channel. I would probably go for the 8GB of ram in either the Mini or the MBP since those machines aren't as easy to open up and add ram to later on.I started out using pro tools on a MBP with a core II Duo and it handled around 10 tracks and some plug ins with no issues here. On 10/21/11, Nickus de Vos bigboy...@gmail.com wrote: Hi I looked at the mini server but the only problem I have with the new one is it has no obtical drive. Sure you get a extra hard drive but I would still prefer 1 hard drive and a obtical drive. If you run out of space you can always get a external hard drive but as it is now, you basically have to get a external obtical drive, yes I know there's that thing of slaving another mac or pc's drive but that's just a shlep.
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Hi: Optical drives are pretty cheep these days. It's worth the trade off. Cheers. - Original Message - From: Nickus de Vos bigboy...@gmail.com To: Pro Tools Accessibility ptaccess@googlegroups.com Sent: Friday, October 21, 2011 1:40 PM Subject: Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing Hi I looked at the mini server but the only problem I have with the new one is it has no obtical drive. Sure you get a extra hard drive but I would still prefer 1 hard drive and a obtical drive. If you run out of space you can always get a external hard drive but as it is now, you basically have to get a external obtical drive, yes I know there's that thing of slaving another mac or pc's drive but that's just a shlep.
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Karen, why does your name sound so fimiliar, like we crossed path's before. Anyways, i think any of the current macbook pros will be fine for your needs. But if you have a sales guy over at sweetwater i'd check with them as well. Though a new MBP probably means upgrading to PT 10 for lion support. On 10/21/11, Karen Lewellen klewel...@shellworld.net wrote: Actually, a variation on this question? While avid still provides a recommended gear list for the pre 9 ish edition of pro tools, it is a bit dated. In fact I can get an update from my source over there, if I get no answer here. Still some of the macbooks they recommended have been discontinued anyway. So if you are 1, using a digi unit for mixing a 002 for example, and 2, want to use one of the vo friendly editions of pt, what is the best macbook to buy? I would really rather have a portable one than another desktop so I can use it for more than just pro tools. i always get an external hard drive for my work, and understand I may need some sort of firewire adapter, but sweetwater sells those, so I am not worried. Ideas? Karen On Fri, 21 Oct 2011, Monkey Pusher wrote: So long as you don't get the apple branded optical drive and optical drive would be less than and external Hard drive. Also the mini's are quite portable as i briefly owned one of the server models mentioned here. Only downside is no option for battery power, that being said there is a 3rd party battery prick you can purchase for portable juice. To answer your initial questions. In all honesty i think even the 13 MBP would be sufficient for the work you do. Yeah you may hit a wall at some point with number of plug ins or something like that. but you should be find on the track count side and so long as you don't plan on maxing out the number of plug ins and sends on every channel. I would probably go for the 8GB of ram in either the Mini or the MBP since those machines aren't as easy to open up and add ram to later on.I started out using pro tools on a MBP with a core II Duo and it handled around 10 tracks and some plug ins with no issues here. On 10/21/11, Nickus de Vos bigboy...@gmail.com wrote: Hi I looked at the mini server but the only problem I have with the new one is it has no obtical drive. Sure you get a extra hard drive but I would still prefer 1 hard drive and a obtical drive. If you run out of space you can always get a external hard drive but as it is now, you basically have to get a external obtical drive, yes I know there's that thing of slaving another mac or pc's drive but that's just a shlep.
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
because we have crossed paths in an totally different context then this one grin. I was given to understand one might not be able to use a digi 002 without an adapter on the newer machines, with some question about Lion? I am not particularly wanting to go with it unless I absolutely have too, complaints from other vo users regarding different programs. Karen On Fri, 21 Oct 2011, Monkey Pusher wrote: Karen, why does your name sound so fimiliar, like we crossed path's before. Anyways, i think any of the current macbook pros will be fine for your needs. But if you have a sales guy over at sweetwater i'd check with them as well. Though a new MBP probably means upgrading to PT 10 for lion support. On 10/21/11, Karen Lewellen klewel...@shellworld.net wrote: Actually, a variation on this question? While avid still provides a recommended gear list for the pre 9 ish edition of pro tools, it is a bit dated. In fact I can get an update from my source over there, if I get no answer here. Still some of the macbooks they recommended have been discontinued anyway. So if you are 1, using a digi unit for mixing a 002 for example, and 2, want to use one of the vo friendly editions of pt, what is the best macbook to buy? I would really rather have a portable one than another desktop so I can use it for more than just pro tools. i always get an external hard drive for my work, and understand I may need some sort of firewire adapter, but sweetwater sells those, so I am not worried. Ideas? Karen On Fri, 21 Oct 2011, Monkey Pusher wrote: So long as you don't get the apple branded optical drive and optical drive would be less than and external Hard drive. Also the mini's are quite portable as i briefly owned one of the server models mentioned here. Only downside is no option for battery power, that being said there is a 3rd party battery prick you can purchase for portable juice. To answer your initial questions. In all honesty i think even the 13 MBP would be sufficient for the work you do. Yeah you may hit a wall at some point with number of plug ins or something like that. but you should be find on the track count side and so long as you don't plan on maxing out the number of plug ins and sends on every channel. I would probably go for the 8GB of ram in either the Mini or the MBP since those machines aren't as easy to open up and add ram to later on.I started out using pro tools on a MBP with a core II Duo and it handled around 10 tracks and some plug ins with no issues here. On 10/21/11, Nickus de Vos bigboy...@gmail.com wrote: Hi I looked at the mini server but the only problem I have with the new one is it has no obtical drive. Sure you get a extra hard drive but I would still prefer 1 hard drive and a obtical drive. If you run out of space you can always get a external hard drive but as it is now, you basically have to get a external obtical drive, yes I know there's that thing of slaving another mac or pc's drive but that's just a shlep.
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
I think you just confirmed my suspicions lol. If memory serves correct, the 002 is a firewire 400 device and the newer macs all have firewire 800 ports only. Yes a simple adapter or 800 to 400 cable is all thats needed to resolve this as my MBox Pro is the same way. Personally i am loving all the VO improovements in lion that you would have to drag me kicking and screaming back to snow leopard. That being said, if there is a particular application that you need and you know it doesn't work with lion yet, then avoid it. The only issue i really have with PT 9.05 in lion now is space not always triggering playback, but i do wonder if their is some optimization i still need to make that i havent figured out yet. On 10/21/11, Karen Lewellen klewel...@shellworld.net wrote: because we have crossed paths in an totally different context then this one grin. I was given to understand one might not be able to use a digi 002 without an adapter on the newer machines, with some question about Lion? I am not particularly wanting to go with it unless I absolutely have too, complaints from other vo users regarding different programs. Karen On Fri, 21 Oct 2011, Monkey Pusher wrote: Karen, why does your name sound so fimiliar, like we crossed path's before. Anyways, i think any of the current macbook pros will be fine for your needs. But if you have a sales guy over at sweetwater i'd check with them as well. Though a new MBP probably means upgrading to PT 10 for lion support. On 10/21/11, Karen Lewellen klewel...@shellworld.net wrote: Actually, a variation on this question? While avid still provides a recommended gear list for the pre 9 ish edition of pro tools, it is a bit dated. In fact I can get an update from my source over there, if I get no answer here. Still some of the macbooks they recommended have been discontinued anyway. So if you are 1, using a digi unit for mixing a 002 for example, and 2, want to use one of the vo friendly editions of pt, what is the best macbook to buy? I would really rather have a portable one than another desktop so I can use it for more than just pro tools. i always get an external hard drive for my work, and understand I may need some sort of firewire adapter, but sweetwater sells those, so I am not worried. Ideas? Karen On Fri, 21 Oct 2011, Monkey Pusher wrote: So long as you don't get the apple branded optical drive and optical drive would be less than and external Hard drive. Also the mini's are quite portable as i briefly owned one of the server models mentioned here. Only downside is no option for battery power, that being said there is a 3rd party battery prick you can purchase for portable juice. To answer your initial questions. In all honesty i think even the 13 MBP would be sufficient for the work you do. Yeah you may hit a wall at some point with number of plug ins or something like that. but you should be find on the track count side and so long as you don't plan on maxing out the number of plug ins and sends on every channel. I would probably go for the 8GB of ram in either the Mini or the MBP since those machines aren't as easy to open up and add ram to later on.I started out using pro tools on a MBP with a core II Duo and it handled around 10 tracks and some plug ins with no issues here. On 10/21/11, Nickus de Vos bigboy...@gmail.com wrote: Hi I looked at the mini server but the only problem I have with the new one is it has no obtical drive. Sure you get a extra hard drive but I would still prefer 1 hard drive and a obtical drive. If you run out of space you can always get a external hard drive but as it is now, you basically have to get a external obtical drive, yes I know there's that thing of slaving another mac or pc's drive but that's just a shlep.
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Hey, I should be flattered I am remembered lol. It seems there is more to the digi working with lion than just the firewire factor. I called Tekserve down there, about it and they tell me I would have to downgrade, not sure why yet, I have asked and will share. Karen On Fri, 21 Oct 2011, Monkey Pusher wrote: I think you just confirmed my suspicions lol. If memory serves correct, the 002 is a firewire 400 device and the newer macs all have firewire 800 ports only. Yes a simple adapter or 800 to 400 cable is all thats needed to resolve this as my MBox Pro is the same way. Personally i am loving all the VO improovements in lion that you would have to drag me kicking and screaming back to snow leopard. That being said, if there is a particular application that you need and you know it doesn't work with lion yet, then avoid it. The only issue i really have with PT 9.05 in lion now is space not always triggering playback, but i do wonder if their is some optimization i still need to make that i havent figured out yet. On 10/21/11, Karen Lewellen klewel...@shellworld.net wrote: because we have crossed paths in an totally different context then this one grin. I was given to understand one might not be able to use a digi 002 without an adapter on the newer machines, with some question about Lion? I am not particularly wanting to go with it unless I absolutely have too, complaints from other vo users regarding different programs. Karen On Fri, 21 Oct 2011, Monkey Pusher wrote: Karen, why does your name sound so fimiliar, like we crossed path's before. Anyways, i think any of the current macbook pros will be fine for your needs. But if you have a sales guy over at sweetwater i'd check with them as well. Though a new MBP probably means upgrading to PT 10 for lion support. On 10/21/11, Karen Lewellen klewel...@shellworld.net wrote: Actually, a variation on this question? While avid still provides a recommended gear list for the pre 9 ish edition of pro tools, it is a bit dated. In fact I can get an update from my source over there, if I get no answer here. Still some of the macbooks they recommended have been discontinued anyway. So if you are 1, using a digi unit for mixing a 002 for example, and 2, want to use one of the vo friendly editions of pt, what is the best macbook to buy? I would really rather have a portable one than another desktop so I can use it for more than just pro tools. i always get an external hard drive for my work, and understand I may need some sort of firewire adapter, but sweetwater sells those, so I am not worried. Ideas? Karen On Fri, 21 Oct 2011, Monkey Pusher wrote: So long as you don't get the apple branded optical drive and optical drive would be less than and external Hard drive. Also the mini's are quite portable as i briefly owned one of the server models mentioned here. Only downside is no option for battery power, that being said there is a 3rd party battery prick you can purchase for portable juice. To answer your initial questions. In all honesty i think even the 13 MBP would be sufficient for the work you do. Yeah you may hit a wall at some point with number of plug ins or something like that. but you should be find on the track count side and so long as you don't plan on maxing out the number of plug ins and sends on every channel. I would probably go for the 8GB of ram in either the Mini or the MBP since those machines aren't as easy to open up and add ram to later on.I started out using pro tools on a MBP with a core II Duo and it handled around 10 tracks and some plug ins with no issues here. On 10/21/11, Nickus de Vos bigboy...@gmail.com wrote: Hi I looked at the mini server but the only problem I have with the new one is it has no obtical drive. Sure you get a extra hard drive but I would still prefer 1 hard drive and a obtical drive. If you run out of space you can always get a external hard drive but as it is now, you basically have to get a external obtical drive, yes I know there's that thing of slaving another mac or pc's drive but that's just a shlep.
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
Yes you are, we should catch up sometime off list. It's probably the Digi 002 drivers never got upgraded for lion. I am guessing they only upgraded the 003 and all the latest gen MBox and HD Hardware drivers to lion. On Oct 21, 2011, at 5:57 PM, Karen Lewellen wrote: Hey, I should be flattered I am remembered lol. It seems there is more to the digi working with lion than just the firewire factor. I called Tekserve down there, about it and they tell me I would have to downgrade, not sure why yet, I have asked and will share. Karen On Fri, 21 Oct 2011, Monkey Pusher wrote: I think you just confirmed my suspicions lol. If memory serves correct, the 002 is a firewire 400 device and the newer macs all have firewire 800 ports only. Yes a simple adapter or 800 to 400 cable is all thats needed to resolve this as my MBox Pro is the same way. Personally i am loving all the VO improovements in lion that you would have to drag me kicking and screaming back to snow leopard. That being said, if there is a particular application that you need and you know it doesn't work with lion yet, then avoid it. The only issue i really have with PT 9.05 in lion now is space not always triggering playback, but i do wonder if their is some optimization i still need to make that i havent figured out yet. On 10/21/11, Karen Lewellen klewel...@shellworld.net wrote: because we have crossed paths in an totally different context then this one grin. I was given to understand one might not be able to use a digi 002 without an adapter on the newer machines, with some question about Lion? I am not particularly wanting to go with it unless I absolutely have too, complaints from other vo users regarding different programs. Karen On Fri, 21 Oct 2011, Monkey Pusher wrote: Karen, why does your name sound so fimiliar, like we crossed path's before. Anyways, i think any of the current macbook pros will be fine for your needs. But if you have a sales guy over at sweetwater i'd check with them as well. Though a new MBP probably means upgrading to PT 10 for lion support. On 10/21/11, Karen Lewellen klewel...@shellworld.net wrote: Actually, a variation on this question? While avid still provides a recommended gear list for the pre 9 ish edition of pro tools, it is a bit dated. In fact I can get an update from my source over there, if I get no answer here. Still some of the macbooks they recommended have been discontinued anyway. So if you are 1, using a digi unit for mixing a 002 for example, and 2, want to use one of the vo friendly editions of pt, what is the best macbook to buy? I would really rather have a portable one than another desktop so I can use it for more than just pro tools. i always get an external hard drive for my work, and understand I may need some sort of firewire adapter, but sweetwater sells those, so I am not worried. Ideas? Karen On Fri, 21 Oct 2011, Monkey Pusher wrote: So long as you don't get the apple branded optical drive and optical drive would be less than and external Hard drive. Also the mini's are quite portable as i briefly owned one of the server models mentioned here. Only downside is no option for battery power, that being said there is a 3rd party battery prick you can purchase for portable juice. To answer your initial questions. In all honesty i think even the 13 MBP would be sufficient for the work you do. Yeah you may hit a wall at some point with number of plug ins or something like that. but you should be find on the track count side and so long as you don't plan on maxing out the number of plug ins and sends on every channel. I would probably go for the 8GB of ram in either the Mini or the MBP since those machines aren't as easy to open up and add ram to later on.I started out using pro tools on a MBP with a core II Duo and it handled around 10 tracks and some plug ins with no issues here. On 10/21/11, Nickus de Vos bigboy...@gmail.com wrote: Hi I looked at the mini server but the only problem I have with the new one is it has no obtical drive. Sure you get a extra hard drive but I would still prefer 1 hard drive and a obtical drive. If you run out of space you can always get a external hard drive but as it is now, you basically have to get a external obtical drive, yes I know there's that thing of slaving another mac or pc's drive but that's just a shlep.
Re: Ideal mac for recording/editing/mixing
I think either the Mini server or the mbp are great choices. On both counts though, I wouldn't order any features from the apple site. Build the machine to order and put the fastest proc in that you can, but strip away everything else. Then, get some kingston or crucial ram, and either a 7200 rpm hybrid drive, or an SSD. You can get these items third party, which will make it much cheaper. The bottom of the macbook pro comes off easily and you can get to the drives and ram. Not sure about the Mini, but I've been told it's easy to crack into, especially the new one. This is just my 2 cents, so definitely compare what you're reading here. Good luck, and I hope you can use this advice here to come up with a machine that fits your needs and your budget. Kevin
