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  #1  
Old 11-27-2011, 08:42 AM
JKR JKR is offline
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Location: Newcastle UK
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Default Help with new iMac setup

My new iMac 3.4 i7 arrives tomorrow and I'd appreciate any tips on setting it up for the best performance with PT's 9 (10 soon).
Will be 16G Ram and using an Apogee Ensemble.

Should/Can I partition the drive and record internally or use external HD's only.
Should I set the PT's to use 6 or 7 cores?
Any other killer tips to help?

Thanks
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  #2  
Old 11-27-2011, 09:50 AM
serio serio is offline
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Default Re: Help with new iMac setup

Start with these optimizations:
http://avid.custkb.com/avid/app/self...p?DocId=367983
If you don't have a second internal hard drive, look into getting one installed and use an external drive for now with an approved Oxford chipset. Seven cores is a fine starting point, but you can always play with it to make sure it's the best setting for your computer.
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21.5" Mid-2011 iMac i5 QUAD 2.5GHZ 4G RAM ML 10.8.5--Pro Tools 10.3.9--Avid Mbox Pro / 003R--ICY DOCK MB664UEA-1S FW400 With: 500GB Samsung HD502HJ
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  #3  
Old 11-27-2011, 09:56 AM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is offline
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Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by JKR View Post
My new iMac 3.4 i7 arrives tomorrow and I'd appreciate any tips on setting it up for the best performance with PT's 9 (10 soon).
Will be 16G Ram and using an Apogee Ensemble.

Should/Can I partition the drive and record internally or use external HD's only.
Should I set the PT's to use 6 or 7 cores?
Any other killer tips to help?

Thanks
generally, do not partition the internal drive trying to create a session volume and a system volume. that is worse than just having one system volume and recording to that. You can order an iMac with both an internal SSD and rotating drive which is a nice way to go (SSD for system). Otherwise I would look for a recommended FW 800 external drive, 7200 rpm and Oxford chipset etc. G-Tech, OWC, Lacie or others. There are also Thunderbolt drives becoming available and these may be more interesting since you don't need to chain the Ensemble with the drive. there is not a lot of experience out there yet but LaCie have a drive that should work ( don't use the software RAID feature). That is how I would go, as long as that drive did not need to be portable to older non-Thunderbolt systems

The i7 iMac had 4 physical cores, 8 with hyper threading tricks, the optimal number of RTAS cores is likely to be in the range 3-7 depending on what plugins and what else is going on. do not be afraid to experiment.

16 GB usually won't help Pro Tools which is still a 32bit program and can directly address no more than 4GB -- unless you use other software to host VIs (like Vienna Ensemble) or have Pro Tools 10 HD or Pro Tools 10 with CPTK which have a RAM disk-- although more technical folks can hack their own RAM disk, see posts on DUC about that.


Darryl
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Old 11-28-2011, 01:11 PM
JKR JKR is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2011
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Default Re: Help with new iMac setup

Thanks guys.
iMac arrived and running. 16G Ram installed.
Just downloading the 9.05 driver.
So far had to run a less than ideal daisy chain to the ensemble as I don't have an 800-400 cable, so through a small lacie rugged and then to the ensemble. Nice array of clicks and pops when streaming from there and using the ensemble, unless I eject the drive and then it's much cleaner.
So new HD beckons - now I'd love to go Lacie Thunderbolt but they are soooo noisy and as I could do with another FW drive anyway, what do you 100% recommend?
I know something with an Oxford chipset but is there a PT's recommended drive - I don't think there's a support page recommending a 3rd party drive.
Thanks
ps I know this is in the PT10 section, but I'm testing 9 before pressing the button on 10 or 10HD...
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  #5  
Old 11-28-2011, 07:46 PM
serio serio is offline
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Default Re: Help with new iMac setup

Avid makes two third party recommendations here:

http://avid.custkb.com/avid/app/self...p?DocId=422335

Just wanted to mention that many people have mentioned having better performance with PT 10 on Lion than PT 9.0.5 on Lion.
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  #6  
Old 11-28-2011, 08:41 PM
TimothyJohn TimothyJohn is offline
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Posts: 257
Default Re: Help with new iMac setup

Quote:
Originally Posted by JKR View Post
My new iMac 3.4 i7 arrives tomorrow and I'd appreciate any tips on setting it up for the best performance with PT's 9 (10 soon).
Will be 16G Ram and using an Apogee Ensemble.

Should/Can I partition the drive and record internally or use external HD's only.
Should I set the PT's to use 6 or 7 cores?
Any other killer tips to help?

Thanks
Congrats on your iMac!!
I have a 17" 2.3 i7 Macbook Pro as a mobile setup. I use a Glyph Portagig on the firewire and an Mbox 3 on the usb. I also use an Axiom Pro. The iLok is on the third usb. A UAD Solo laptop is on the express card. I can't say enough about the M Audio, UAD, and Mbox 3. Pro Tools 9.05 runs nicely. I am trying to figure the best way to get to the disc cache function without spending two grand, or else I'd already be on Pro Tools 10.

So far as setting processors--leaving on 8, at 95% is fine. But go ahead and try 7 processors, at 99%. That works as well. The i7 is a great processor.

Now regarding the daisy-chaining on the firewire bus. I also have an iMac core 2 duo and M Audio Profire 610 at home. I use a Glyph GT050Q for my audio drive. You must use a separate audio drive!!! A spinning one at that. SSD's as a system drive, though not officially supported, seem to work, but you must use a separate, 7200 rpm drive for audio!! Daisy chaining over firewire works on the iMac with the Profire 610 like this:

1-Firewire 800 to 400 adapter or cable to your audio interface.

2-Firewire 400 cable from your audio interface to the hard drive.

***If you are only recording one to two channels simultaneously, you can take the hard drive off the firewire bus and use a usb port on the iMac instead.

I have tried many setups with the iMac, and after consulting numerous times with people from M Audio, Glyph, and Pro Tools, I have my iMac set up as #'s 1 and 2 above. This has been the most stable/error free setup for my iMac (and only two processors, not 8!).

For a while, I had my drive on the usb port, as suggested by the fellow from Pro Tools. It worked fine--error free-- but I felt better with it on the firewire bus (slightly more bandwidth).

Keep in mind that you have to get yourself a firewire 800-400 cable or adapter. Not too pricey and can be found anywhere. Also, OWC has some nice, relatively inexpensive external drives that are tested to run on Pro Tools. I highly recommend Glyph or OWC.

When I got my laptop, I could have opted for a firewire audio interface, (Duet perhaps?). But due to my experience with the iMac, I opted to keep everything on a separate bus; usb audio, firewire hard drive, and express card external dsp processing. Everything works well (no errors or clicks--nada), is bus powered, and can run off battery for at least an hour or so. Very cool!
I am looking forward to a quieter drive than the Lacie, cos then i can use Thunderbolt for the audio drive (Where are the Thunderbolt drives?!!?), a UAD satellite on the firewire, and open up the express card for ---Native HD perhaps?!? Sorry, just dreaming a little!!!

Anyway, good luck and have fun. You've got a nice setup!! The folks at Avid and M Audio have been doing a nice job imho, and the Macs just work.
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