Computer for Pro Tools

[YYR123]

PT uses graphics a lot more than you think...

All of the screen redraws for the timeline in the edit window, and the meters for the Mix

I would only go with the iMac Pro....b/c it’s a powerhouse (no need to upgrade anything)

Other than that the Mac Pro 12-Core is a fab machine

They might drop in price if/when Apple introduces the new Mac Pro

[TNM]

Originally Posted by musicman691

I'm not going to get into the holy wars of Mac versus Windoze.

As to the current iMacs you can take them apart and it's not all that much more difficult than the previous models. Sure you have the tape to cut through to get it apart but it's utterly doable. That being said I'd advise against any iMac for other reasons - only one fan for all that electronics inside. That kind of heat load scares the daylights out of me. Give me something with plenty of fans like my current cheesegrater - two fans in the case and the video card has it's own fan built-in.

ok mine has 2 fans, a hdd fan and cpu fan...

my hdd does get hot, so i use istat to raise the minimum fan temp of that fan, and it controls it. I will replace it with an OWC ssd with correct thermal sensor some day,as i doubt i'll sell the machine but just keep it as a second.
CPU never gets uncomfortably hot.. it's the same cpu as your retired imac, the 3.4 i7.

I honestly didn't mean my previous question as a mac vs windoze, so let me rephrase.. you use a cheese grater mac you are seemingly very happy with.. I like them, but can't cause i need Tbolt, and honestly i find the 2012 mac pros very noisy, even under a desk (unfortunately i have to have my stuff same room, no choice)

Do you think the 2013 mac pro is still a good machine? That's all i meant to ask, forget the VS stuff. Just curious cause you seem to know your macs.

cheers and TIA

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by TNM

ok mine has 2 fans, a hdd fan and cpu fan...

my hdd does get hot, so i use istat to raise the minimum fan temp of that fan, and it controls it. I will replace it with an OWC ssd with correct thermal sensor some day,as i doubt i'll sell the machine but just keep it as a second.
CPU never gets uncomfortably hot.. it's the same cpu as your retired imac, the 3.4 i7.

I honestly didn't mean my previous question as a mac vs windoze, so let me rephrase.. you use a cheese grater mac you are seemingly very happy with.. I like them, but can't cause i need Tbolt, and honestly i find the 2012 mac pros very noisy, even under a desk (unfortunately i have to have my stuff same room, no choice)

Do you think the 2013 mac pro is still a good machine? That's all i meant to ask, forget the VS stuff. Just curious cause you seem to know your macs.

cheers and TIA

Unless you really need a machine ASAP I really would stay away from the 2013 MacPro because Apple is supposed to be launching a new MacPro with possibly card slots.

My retired iMac has three fans - one for the hard drive, one for the cpu and one for the optical drive. And it was very quite - enough so I could work with an open mic 3 feet away. My cheesegrater has a very low hum that's not really a problem. A lot of noise from any cooling system comes from case resonance against the surface it's on. The actual acoustic noise once decoupled from a hard surface is minimal. Next time you get a noisy computer try putting it on monitor speaker isolators.

[Kerochan]

Originally Posted by musicman691

Unless you really need it now I'd hold off on getting the current iTrashcan as supposedly Apple is coming out with what they're calling a 'modular MacPro'. Also supposedly Apple said they learned from their mistakes with the current MacPro and zero internal expansion like the old MacPro's - take that for whatever it's worth.

Unless you need the latest/greatest take a look at the used/refurbished MacPro (cheesegrater and trashcan) line up at OWC.

Fair point, though the new Mac Pro won't come with Thunderbolt 2 ports, have to use lots of adapters, and it will also come with high Sierra, which isn't compatible with some of my software.

Whereas the trashcan has plenty TB 2 ports, I can get a used one with Sierra or El Capitan, I would get a high spec one that I don't need to upgrade in anyway.

[YYR123]

Originally Posted by Kerochan

Whereas the trashcan has plenty TB 2 ports, I can get a used one with Sierra or El Capitan, I would get a high spec one that I don't need to upgrade in anyway.

And buying it used most people will install the version you want on there prior to shipping

They should drop a few hundred quid after Apples Modular Mayhem happens.

[evil_cliff]

I was in the similar position two months ago, and after A LOT of thought and research, I opted for a 2013 6 core MacPro.

I got a refurbished one for about 2k and so far, it has been an amazing computer. It always runs smoothly with large ProTools sessions with always around 100 tracks, both Audio and MIDI.

I love the fact that you can still pimp it out. So far I've put 64 Gb of Ram in, and I am thinking about putting a 12 core CPU in.

My old Cheesegrater Mac used to be pushed to the limit and would almost always have to have another session to overdub in and then import into my main session. Now my computer handles anything I throw at it. I can even run my full session at 264 buffer!!

A colleague of mine has a newer 2016 Mac Pro and he can only use a few instances of a synth we bothy use called Serum. My Mac Pro takes as many as I need.

I'm a very happy customer and I will be satisfied to stay on my system for the next 5-7 years :)

Andy

[MusicMadness]

Originally Posted by evil_cliff

I was in the similar position two months ago, and after A LOT of thought and research, I opted for a 2013 6 core MacPro.

I got a refurbished one for about 2k and so far, it has been an amazing computer. It always runs smoothly with large ProTools sessions with always around 100 tracks, both Audio and MIDI.

I love the fact that you can still pimp it out. So far I've put 64 Gb of Ram in, and I am thinking about putting a 12 core CPU in.

My old Cheesegrater Mac used to be pushed to the limit and would almost always have to have another session to overdub in and then import into my main session. Now my computer handles anything I throw at it. I can even run my full session at 264 buffer!!

A colleague of mine has a newer 2016 Mac Pro and he can only use a few instances of a synth we bothy use called Serum. My Mac Pro takes as many as I need.

I'm a very happy customer and I will be satisfied to stay on my system for the next 5-7 years :)

Andy

Whoa! So, you say you can upgrade processor as well? I didn't know that! Great info

I also didn't know that there is a difference between 2013 and 2016 Mac Pro. I heard they updated CPUs they put inside but wasn't expecting disadvantages because of that.

[YYR123]

Originally Posted by MusicMadness

I also didn't know that there is a difference between 2013 and 2016 Mac Pro.

I don’t think they updated the Mac Pro just the Mac Book Pro.

Pretty sure that’s what he meant

[evil_cliff]

Sorry - I meant MacBook Pro!

If you take a look on OWC on YouTube, you can see step-by-step how to upgrade everything. you can upgrade the Ram, CPU and the Internal SSD.

Buy the lowest spec and then pimp it up yourself. You will save yourself a small fortune.

[MusicMadness]

Originally Posted by evil_cliff

Sorry - I meant MacBook Pro!

If you take a look on OWC on YouTube, you can see step-by-step how to upgrade everything. you can upgrade the Ram, CPU and the Internal SSD.

Buy the lowest spec and then pimp it up yourself. You will save yourself a small fortune.

I tried to calculate it today - the weakest Mac Pro is £1500, 12core CPU - 750, ram 64gb 420, ssd 1tb 600 and used Mac Pro 12 core, 64 gb, 512 gb ssd is less than £3300. Too much risk to do it by myself for this sort of savings