New computer

[Bluenotes]

Hello. So I am currently looking into getting a pro tools rig, but am a little confused as where to start. I am looking at getting a mac. I will need it to run large multi track sessions I previously recorded in a studio, but only will be tracking 1 to 2 mics at a time with a duet interface. I may like to upgrade to more simultaneous tracks at a time. It is the original duet and uses FireWire.

I initially planned on getting a new iMac, but with all this talk of fusion drives and installing ssd, and other compatibility issues, I am concerned I could easily buy the wrong thing or be over my head in technical issues.

I'm just looking for guidance on what exactly to get for my needs with a budget of about $2000 more or less. Should I bother with any of the new macs, or should I look at something used at the OWC site? Are there any links to cookie cutter builds that are pretty much plug-in and go?

Thanks for your time

[VRW]

Originally Posted by Bluenotes

Hello. So I am currently looking into getting a pro tools rig, but am a little confused as where to start. I am looking at getting a mac. I will need it to run large multi track sessions I previously recorded in a studio, but only will be tracking 1 to 2 mics at a time with a duet interface. I may like to upgrade to more simultaneous tracks at a time. It is the original duet and uses FireWire.

I initially planned on getting a new iMac, but with all this talk of fusion drives and installing ssd, and other compatibility issues, I am concerned I could easily buy the wrong thing or be over my head in technical issues.

I'm just looking for guidance on what exactly to get for my needs with a budget of about $2000 more or less. Should I bother with any of the new macs, or should I look at something used at the OWC site? Are there any links to cookie cutter builds that are pretty much plug-in and go?

Thanks for your time

If you can afford it, a newer iMac would be great for sure. Particularly if you are talking about opening and recording on large multitrack sessions.
Anyway you may mind one important thing-if you really want to use your Apogee Duet Firewire further on, you will have to use OSX Yosemite
(or the even older Mavericks). There is no driver for the Duet Firewire for OSX El Capitan available anymore.
http://www.apogeedigital.com/support/duet-firewire

Means, you cannot buy a brand new 2015/16 Mac because with these you only can use OSX 10.11 El Capitan and no older version of OSX.

Therefor the most current Macs which will make sense for you will be models of 2014 finally. For your requirements you will want an i7 Quad Core
processor, 16GB Ram at the minimum (24-32GB preferred) and a 7200rpm HDD or (even better) one of those super fast Apple Flash drives for
the OS drive. NO Fusion drives!

This one would be a really nice machine for example.
http://www.apple.com/shop/product/G0...retina-display

It´s an offically qualified for PT12 model by Avid,
http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/e...m-Requirements
from 2014 which means you still can install OSX 10.10 Yosemite on it (to be able to run your Duet Firewire),
http://www.everymac.com/systems/appl...014-specs.html
it´s got a 512GB Flash drive (perfectly fast and suiting for the use with PT) and 16GB Ram.

For additional $99.75 (two more 8GB Ram bars) you can upgrade it´s memory to 32GB Ram (!!) which is fantastic because it will enable Pro Tools
to use 100% disk cache which will be great for pretty large sessions.
http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgr...40&type=Memory

A 512GB Flash drive will be enough storage space to start out I think and it will be fast enough to run Pro Tools from the OS drive only if necessary.

You may add a large SSD drive in an external USB 3 enclosure later if there will be too much data. This will be a very fast yet relatively affordable solution.
For example put such a one
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-2-5-In...amsung+850+Evo
into such a one
http://www.amazon.com/Optimized-Inat...SB+3+enclosure
and you are good to go.


If this 2014 iMac will be too much money, you may check out this used 2011 i7 Quad Core iMac from OWC which will be a really powerful, useful machine for
Pro Tools for only $1299.-.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/4JL7EXXD16D/

http://www.everymac.com/systems/appl...olt-specs.html

It has got a 3,4GHz i7 Quad Core processor, a 2TB 7200rpm HDD (this will work for a Pro Tools OS drive unlike any Fusion drives), as it reads it has got an
empty 2.5 SSD slot where you could put in a large SSD for your Pro Tools session+audio drive and it comes with 16GB Ram memory.
As mentioned before 16GB Ram might be enough to start out however you could replace it with 32GB Ram for $197.75.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memor...1/DDR3_21.5_27

If you also will put a large 1TB SSD in the empty 2.5 SSD slot for $381.78 you will end up at $1878.53 all together. This is a good price for a maxed out i7 Quad
Core iMac which will be great for the use with Pro Tools.

To connect your Duet Firewire to the 2014 iMac you will have to use a Firewire 400 to Firewire 800 adapter cable
http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Fir...ire+400+to+800
and a Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter.
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Thunderb...o+Firewire+800

To connect your Duet to the 2011 iMac a Firewire 400 to Firewire 800 adapter cable will suffice as the 2011 iMac still has got a FW800 port.

What you may consider-to put in the SSD in the 2011 iMac certain DIY skills may be required however there will be a good tutorial video to follow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03Lg4IgJd04

If money is an issue the 2011 i7 Quadcore iMac will be a good deal, if you can afford it, the 2014 iMac will be great stuff and future proof for sure.
Again, don´t forget that you cannot use OSX El Capitan with your Duet Firewire. Any prior version of OSX should work though.

I hope this will help you further in a way.


The best of success to you, VRW

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by VRW

If this 2014 iMac will be too much money, you may check out this used 2011 i7 Quad Core iMac from OWC which will be a really powerful, useful machine for Pro Tools for only $1299.-.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/4JL7EXXD16D/

http://www.everymac.com/systems/appl...olt-specs.html

It has got a 3,4GHz i7 Quad Core processor, a 2TB 7200rpm HDD (this will work for a Pro Tools OS drive unlike any Fusion drives), as it reads it has got an empty 2.5 SSD slot where you could put in a large SSD for your Pro Tools session+audio drive and it comes with 16GB Ram memory.
As mentioned before 16GB Ram might be enough to start out however you could replace it with 32GB Ram for $197.75.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memor...1/DDR3_21.5_27

If you also will put a large 1TB SSD in the empty 2.5 SSD slot for $381.78 you will end up at $1878.53 all together. This is a good price for a maxed out i7 Quad Core iMac which will be great for the use with Pro Tools.

I have this machine but I got mine from the Apple Refurb store back in 2011. I haven't done the ssd changes yet but I may well do so if I feel confident enough because I'd really like to swap out the 2 TB spinner for an ssd. I love this machine but it's a bit slow to boot up and I think an ssd would really help that. With 32 gig of OWC ram it's quite fast once booted running either PT10.3.10, PT11.3.1 or Digital Performer 9.02. Quiet as well but that's the thing that scares me with the aftermarket system ssd and temp sensor deal. Don't want to deal with fan noise any more than I have to.

Upshot - don't be afraid of something from the Apple Refurb store. The only issue is anything you get from them will come with ElCapitan.

I don't know if they're still available but OWC a little while back had some used Mac Mini's for sale; a number of people are running those but you need to supply your own monitor and keyboard.

[Bluenotes]

Thanks for the in depth reply. This is really useful information. So it sounds like the new iMacs are fine, just avoid the fusion drive. I'm not particularly attached to the FireWire duet, but figured it important to mention it to save money. I may consider just upgrading to a new interface and new mac in this case and spending more. Either way, I appreciate the advice on both options, and will consider both.

And just to cover my bases, would a new i7 macbook pro be capable of handling large sessions as well?

Thanks so much

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Bluenotes

Thanks for the in depth reply. This is really useful information. So it sounds like the new iMacs are fine, just avoid the fusion drive. I'm not particularly attached to the FireWire duet, but figured it important to mention it to save money. I may consider just upgrading to a new interface and new mac in this case and spending more. Either way, I appreciate the advice on both options, and will consider both.

And just to cover my bases, would a new i7 macbook pro be capable of handling large sessions as well?

Thanks so much

With enough ram a new MBP should be able to handle large sessions no problem. If you go with the MBP make sure you get the ram you think you're going to need at the start as ram in these machines is not user installable. I'd max out the ram to be on the safe side. You definitely want an i7 cpu no matter what Mac you go for.

[Bluenotes]

I'm still having a difficult time in deciding which route to go. I appreciate any guidance anyone has in helping choose a computer. imac, mac pro, mac mini, macbook pro. Initially I had it in mind to go for a new imac, but from reading multiple threads and talking to various people, it's just opened more possibilities. But also a factor is an audio interface. I do have an original duet, not compatible with El Capitan and is also Firewire which forces me to choose an older computer, or spend a lot more money for a new compatible interface.

A friend of mine recently just bought a used 2010 12 core mac pro with 1tb ssd and 64gb ram, and from his research found it to be the best bang for the buck right now if you're not going to spend upward to 10k on a brand new mac pro. Anyone have opinions on this? Is this old machine still more powerful than the newer i7 quad cores? This thing sounds like a beast, but is it worth it investing in something like this at this point? I think he spent something like $2400 which is pretty great next to newer options with all the upgrades.

For what I want to accomplish others are suggesting a mac mini, which I believe to be the 2012 i7 quad cores? Again I need to run large multi track sessions and I'd prefer it to smoke through it without any lag.

I appreciate any advice. Thanks so much

[musicman691]

That 2010 cheesegrater Mac Pro should definitely do the job for you. Expansion drives and such can be internal (less cables to futz with and go south). Just make sure you know for sure what version of OSX is on that machine. One caveat is you won't have Thunderbolt ports on that machine.

[VRW]

For around $3000.- you could get a really powerful, modern system though.

One of these.
http://www.apple.com/shop/product/FG...Retina-Display

http://www.apple.com/shop/product/G0...Retina-Display

Both will be powerful enough to handle even large sessions and those Mid 2014 builds are working better with OSX El Capitan
and Pro Tools 12.5 than all the latest 2015/16 models.

A super fast, low latency, modern Thunderbolt interface.
http://www.amazon.com/Focusrite-Clar...e+clarett+2pre

One large, fast SSD in an external USB 3 enclosure which will provide you 380-400mb/s Write/Read speed while being completely noiseless.
Put this one
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-2-5-In...amsung+850+evo
into such a one
http://www.amazon.com/Inateck-Tool-F...+enclosure+2.5

Additionally you could use a 27" external monitor display via an HDMI cable for example.
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-VE278H-19...sus+monitor+27

Without the external monitor display it still will be under $3000.- yet a state of the art system, even future proof.
Of course the 2010 Mac Pro and your FW Duet will do the job however I still would rather recommend the more current system.

Anyway the best of success to you!

[Bluenotes]

Originally Posted by musicman691

That 2010 cheesegrater Mac Pro should definitely do the job for you. Expansion drives and such can be internal (less cables to futz with and go south). Just make sure you know for sure what version of OSX is on that machine. One caveat is you won't have Thunderbolt ports on that machine.

Thanks musicman. Yeah this one I would add a couple internal storage drives for sure and can have it loaded with Yosemite.

Any thoughts on this vs a newer machine?

[VRW]

PS: this would be another option for a modern, current system for around 3000 bucks (just because you said 2400 was more than ok).
http://www.apple.com/shop/product/G0...retina-display

Because this is a late 2014 model, you even could use it with OSX 10.10.x Yosemite if you would not want to use El Capitan.
With this one you would need no external monitor display, all the other stuff (Thunderbolt audio interface and external SSD in a USB 3 enclosure) you could use with it too. Nevertheless this set up will cost pretty much the same like the other one incl. the external monitor display.

Just as a final suggestion.

The best of success to you!