Mac Mini

[trackone]

I am thinking about the Mini with HD Native. Can someone tell me about the connectivity when using Thunderbolt with dual monitors. Is this possible? What adapters and what about reliability?

I am aware of the need for the Magma. I already have PT 10HD with a single core card and the HD I/O. I have a mid 2010 Quad Core Mac Pro that will support PT 11, but I think the newer mini with PT 11 would be better than a Native card in the existing Mac Pro.

Also what about connectivity with hard drives. Are most coming off the Thunderbolt or using USB?

[fsrenduro]

There are rumors of new Mac Mini's on the horizon, but the current model has one thunderbolt port and one HDMI port. I have a thunderbolt HD native rig w/Omni so one thunderbolt port was going to prevent me from having two monitors. I bought a Caldigit thunderbolt hub that gives me an extra TB port and another HDMI port, along with a couple more USB 3.0 ports and other stuff.

Now I run two monitors off of the two HDMI ports instead of using the TB port for one of them. This still leaves me the TB port I need to hook up my Native TB thingy.

I haven't worked on any big sessions at home yet but for the stuff I am doing it works great.

[trackone]

After reviewing several options I thought I might try the thunderbolt passthrough on the Magma for one and the Mac Mini HDMI for the other.

[Drew Mazurek]

Originally Posted by trackone

After reviewing several options I thought I might try the thunderbolt passthrough on the Magma for one and the Mac Mini HDMI for the other.

Please keep us posted. I am contemplating a similar set up.

[Mike496]

I use an external monitor for my 2011 MBP via a mini display to DVI adaptor from the magma t3 pass through, works well.

[Bookerv12]

Originally Posted by trackone

After reviewing several options I thought I might try the thunderbolt passthrough on the Magma for one and the Mac Mini HDMI for the other.

I'm doing this with an HDX and mini setup.
Works great.

[trackone]

Thanks for the replies. Here are some other things I have thought about.

I have gotten rid of my TDM HD1 core card. I still have the HD I/O and have upgraded to ProTools HD11. I have decided to go with the latest Mac Mini 2.6 GHz i7 with a 256GB SSD drive and 16 gigs of RAM and HD native.

In looking at the specs of USB 3.0 versus FireWire I have considered using the USB 3.0 drive for session data. Does anyone have any experience between the USB 3.0 vs the FireWire drive in this type of system?

I have also considered the sonnet PCIe expansion chassis. I am leaning towards the Sonnet Echo Express III-R Rackmount as it seems to get better reviews and is said to be quieter. One thing that concerns me about the expansion chassis is the fan noise. I could opt to use the Avid thunderbolt interface for HD native and not go with the Sonnet chassis. However, I also have a UA DSP Quad card that is PCIe.

If I swap that card out for a UA satellite I could use the USB 3.0 drive for the session data, FireWire for the satellite and the thunderbolt for the HD system. Or, I could use FireWire for the drive and daisychain to the UA DSP card.

I'm just trying to figure out what would be the best configuration for the system. By going with the satellite and the thunderbolt I would be eliminating the need for the PCI E chassis therefore no fan noise. The PCIe seems a little more robust (and somewhat future proof if you can use that term), plus may give me more options down the road.

Can anyone shed any light on the drive issue as well as the PCIe issue with fan noise or give any more insight on this setup?

[trackone]

OK, so I talked to a tech at Sonnet. He basically told me there was louder volumes of fan noise with some of the earlier expansion boxes with like the small Echo Express. However, with the new Echo Express III, they have changed the fan size and changed the way the air is handled through the unit. Basically it is sucking the air out rather than pulling it through. He said they had tested an HDX3 and had no problems, even saying that it was hard to tell it was on. They are now designed to be geared more to the audio/video users. He said the Echo Express III was the quietest box they made.

With that being said (yeah, I know he works for Sonnet) I was encouraged and feel it would be OK for the HD Native card as there is less heat. I have decided to go with the Echo Express III rackmount for the UA card and HD Native for my setup with the Mac Mini. I will use Glyph FW drives for session data and the HDMI plus the Thunderbolt pass-through on the Sonnet for the monitors. It will be a couple of weeks before I can get it all set up but I will let you all know how it works.

[Logichead]

FWIW, the TB pass through on the earlier Sonnet box didn't work with the Native rig one of my clients has. (It was indeed NOISY like a hair dryer but our tech replaced the fan.)

Best…H

[trackone]

I thought I would post back on the new setup. Got the Mac Mini, 2.6 GHz, 16 gigs ram and a 256 SSD drive. I ordered the Sonnet Echo Express III-R rack mount and installed the Native HD card and the UA card. I also got a 3 TB Glyph fire wire 800 drive for session data and I am hooking up for now to a 42" wall mounted monitor via the HDMI port. I have not yet implemented the dual monitors.

So far so good. I have not put the system through a real heavy session yet, but should here soon and will report back on that. I will let you know that the system is pretty quiet. In fact the HD I/O has the loudest fan noise followed by the Glyph, followed by the Sonnet. I was really surprised the Sonnet was as quiet as it was. I hear expansion chassis run louder due to the demands of HDX, but with this Native card I like what I am seeing and hearing so far.

BTW, this system got a clean install with only the OS, PT11 HD and the UA driver and plugins. It is also optimized as Avid recommends and I only connect to the network if needed.