PTMP & Sonar

[abre]

I am running PTMP and Sonar 5.2 on a PC. I do all my live tracks in Sonar with an RME 9632 card. I use PTMP 7.3 for my mixing down and plenty midi with Xpand and Reason. I want to get a Mac to work PTMP on. I am looking at the new Mac Mini with the Core2 Duo 1.83 processor. Would the 5400 RPM Hard Drive be an issue? Since I would not be doing any audio tracks can I record to a USB drive? Would that Mac cut it?

[mindnoise]

Hi,

Sorry, you´re not very clear about what you actually want to achieve.
so

Would the 5400 RPM Hard Drive be an issue?
Since I would not be doing any audio tracks can I record to a USB drive?
Would that Mac cut it?

So the first sounds like you want to work on the internal HD, which is not recommended and the
5400RPM are also not recommended. But for playback you might get a stereo track or two.
More important is that you don´t fill your system HD more than 50-60%.
Hotfileswapping (autodefrag) needs a lot of space.

For the second one, avoid USB drives whenever it comes to ProTools, it gives you nothing but trouble. highly disrecommended, no matter if you record or playback

And the last one is also hard to tell if a Mini will cut it for your purposes.
It sure is a more than enough CPU power.

regs

[abre]

So what is the most cost effective way to use PTMP on a Mac? Maybe a dual G4 or a G5?

[sunburst79]

Base Intel iMac with 2 GB of RAM or a base Macbook with 2GB of RAM.

[abre]

Thanks.

[sykobilly65]

something i'm curious about is, if a base macbook 2.0 will work, why would a mac mini 2.0 not work? BTW, i got PTMP bout 3 yrs ago & i still have the mac disc ( been running pc) what do i have to do when i swap over to a mac. i will need to get all of my current sessions from my pc to the mac, so from there will i have to buy a new ilok or buy PTMP all over again? thanx for any info, always alot of help here.

[mindnoise]

HI,

if a base macbook 2.0 will work, why would a mac mini 2.0 not work?

They are testing the Mid 2007 Minis right now, so they are not ´officially´ qualified right now.
But they will in the near future, I guess.

what do i have to do when i swap over to a mac?

if you have a external FireWire Disk already, OSX can read FAT32 formatted disks
OR you can install the "HFS+ enabler" on your Windows side. this allows you read and record
HFS+ formatted disks with Windows. Check that PT manual at the bottom of the linked page.
http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?...4&itemid=23114

so from there will i have to buy a new ilok or buy PTMP all over again?

no you don´t have to buy everything all over again. Just log into your
digidesign account (digi homeapage NOT avidstore) and choose "my Digi Home" there you should
find the 7.3 installer for Mac.

regs

[sykobilly65]

ok, thanx for the info, very valuable!! i've never touched a mac so i guess i'm in for a real trip when i convert over. thank you again very much for the info & the link.