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  #1  
Old 02-09-2016, 09:21 PM
hermantf hermantf is offline
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Default iMac Late 2012 and Pro Tools 11 questions

Hello everyone. New member here with my first post.

I'm considering upgrading my computer and I have a few questions that I'm hoping you all might be able to help me out with before I do it. Basically, I want to be as certain as possible before I upgrade so that I minimize the possibility of running into any potential problems.

I have done some searching here and I believe that the computer that I'm considering will run what I need it to run, but it isn't listed on the Avid Pro Tools Compatibility Chart, hence my reason for posting this question here.

So here it is:

iMac 27" 3.4GHZ i7 (Late 2012) - Apple A1419-2546
OS 10.10 (Yosemite)
I want to run Pro Tools 11 (and in the near future, Pro Tools 12)

Here are my 2 questions:

Will it run Pro Tools 11 and 12?

and

I have the option of choosing a 7200 RPM drive, or a 512GB SSD. Do Pro Tools 11 and 12 run significantly faster with a SSD?

Thank you all in advance!
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  #2  
Old 02-10-2016, 05:47 AM
musicman691 musicman691 is online now
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Location: The Sopranos State (NJ)
Posts: 19,136
Default Re: iMac Late 2012 and Pro Tools 11 questions

Quote:
Originally Posted by hermantf View Post
Hello everyone. New member here with my first post.

I'm considering upgrading my computer and I have a few questions that I'm hoping you all might be able to help me out with before I do it. Basically, I want to be as certain as possible before I upgrade so that I minimize the possibility of running into any potential problems.

I have done some searching here and I believe that the computer that I'm considering will run what I need it to run, but it isn't listed on the Avid Pro Tools Compatibility Chart, hence my reason for posting this question here.

So here it is:

iMac 27" 3.4GHZ i7 (Late 2012) - Apple A1419-2546
OS 10.10 (Yosemite)
I want to run Pro Tools 11 (and in the near future, Pro Tools 12)

Here are my 2 questions:

Will it run Pro Tools 11 and 12?

and

I have the option of choosing a 7200 RPM drive, or a 512GB SSD. Do Pro Tools 11 and 12 run significantly faster with a SSD?

Thank you all in advance!
The iMac you cite is basically an updated version of the one I run; it should run PT11/12 no problem. As to speed of PT being faster on an ssd or spinner on the ssd once properly setup things will respond faster and PT will start faster.

But:
There are several things to consider. You will need a separate non-green drive for PT to record to. You could theoretically record to the ssd but I wouldn't do so for long term. Another is do not buy Apple ram; with the 27 inch model you can install your own ram and it won't violate AppleCare. Very important do NOT get a Fusion drive for the system drive as they are death to PT.

One area you might have a problem with is if that iMac has USB3 ports. iLok's have been known to have issues on USB3 ports and the usual remedy is to get a USB 2 hub, connect the iLok to that and the hub to the computer.

I'm curious - do you have access to a couple of different machines (refurbs maybe)? I ask because you're talking about an older machine no longer available new from Apple.
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  #3  
Old 02-10-2016, 07:49 AM
hermantf hermantf is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Posts: 5
Default Re: iMac Late 2012 and Pro Tools 11 questions

Quote:
Originally Posted by musicman691 View Post
The iMac you cite is basically an updated version of the one I run; it should run PT11/12 no problem. As to speed of PT being faster on an ssd or spinner on the ssd once properly setup things will respond faster and PT will start faster.

But:
There are several things to consider. You will need a separate non-green drive for PT to record to. You could theoretically record to the ssd but I wouldn't do so for long term. Another is do not buy Apple ram; with the 27 inch model you can install your own ram and it won't violate AppleCare. Very important do NOT get a Fusion drive for the system drive as they are death to PT.

One area you might have a problem with is if that iMac has USB3 ports. iLok's have been known to have issues on USB3 ports and the usual remedy is to get a USB 2 hub, connect the iLok to that and the hub to the computer.

I'm curious - do you have access to a couple of different machines (refurbs maybe)? I ask because you're talking about an older machine no longer available new from Apple.
Thank you very much for the info!

The iMac I'm looking at is a refurbished machine, and I can choose a few options on it such as the drive, OS, RAM. I was basically debating whether to get a 4TB 7200 RPM drive or the SSD. Definitely no fusion drive, as I've read here about all the problems. Definitely going to max out the (RAM 32GB) with 3rd party.

It does have USB3 ports. Thank you for letting me know there are issues there, as I did not know that.

Another question:

I'm going to avoid OS 10.11 (El Capitan) for now for obvious reasons. Would you, or anyone else know what OS is the best for PT 11? OS 10.9 or 10.10?

Thanks again for the help!
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  #4  
Old 02-10-2016, 04:59 PM
musicman691 musicman691 is online now
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Default Re: iMac Late 2012 and Pro Tools 11 questions

Quote:
Originally Posted by hermantf View Post
Thank you very much for the info!

The iMac I'm looking at is a refurbished machine, and I can choose a few options on it such as the drive, OS, RAM. I was basically debating whether to get a 4TB 7200 RPM drive or the SSD. Definitely no fusion drive, as I've read here about all the problems. Definitely going to max out the (RAM 32GB) with 3rd party.

It does have USB3 ports. Thank you for letting me know there are issues there, as I did not know that.

Another question:

I'm going to avoid OS 10.11 (El Capitan) for now for obvious reasons. Would you, or anyone else know what OS is the best for PT 11? OS 10.9 or 10.10?

Thanks again for the help!
Didn't know Apple put a 4TB spinner in their machines. I have a 2 TB drive and it's plenty big. I actually have my system drive split into two boot partitions. One is OSX 10.8.5 which came with the machine and the other is OSX 10.9.5. At one time I actually had three partitions with OSX 10.10.2 but deleted that as it was very unstable. Haven't tried the later revisions of Yosemite and wiped out that partition. I do all my work now in the Mavericks partition and it's been plenty stable with PT11.3.1. I keep the ML partition as I have a couple of programs that need it.

You could do as I did and split the system drive and have two (or more) boot partitions and try them out to see which works for you. That;s the nice thing with iLok authorization - you can use your PT anywhere and on as many boot partitions as you want but only one at a time. The only hassle is keeping up with 3rd party plugins and keeping them all updated.

Oh yeah - Apple refurbs are really good - that's what my machine is. UI think it was a build to order machine as it has options above the base build.
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iMac dead & retired as of 11/4/17

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  #5  
Old 02-10-2016, 05:26 PM
hermantf hermantf is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Posts: 5
Default Re: iMac Late 2012 and Pro Tools 11 questions

Quote:
Originally Posted by musicman691 View Post
Didn't know Apple put a 4TB spinner in their machines. I have a 2 TB drive and it's plenty big. I actually have my system drive split into two boot partitions. One is OSX 10.8.5 which came with the machine and the other is OSX 10.9.5. At one time I actually had three partitions with OSX 10.10.2 but deleted that as it was very unstable. Haven't tried the later revisions of Yosemite and wiped out that partition. I do all my work now in the Mavericks partition and it's been plenty stable with PT11.3.1. I keep the ML partition as I have a couple of programs that need it.

You could do as I did and split the system drive and have two (or more) boot partitions and try them out to see which works for you. That;s the nice thing with iLok authorization - you can use your PT anywhere and on as many boot partitions as you want but only one at a time. The only hassle is keeping up with 3rd party plugins and keeping them all updated.

Oh yeah - Apple refurbs are really good - that's what my machine is. UI think it was a build to order machine as it has options above the base build.
Very helpful information. I hadn't considered doing multiple partitions. The main hassle as you say, are the 3rd party authorizations and updates.

Going to decide here soon what to do.... Thanks!
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  #6  
Old 02-11-2016, 05:26 AM
musicman691 musicman691 is online now
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Default Re: iMac Late 2012 and Pro Tools 11 questions

Quote:
Originally Posted by hermantf View Post
Very helpful information. I hadn't considered doing multiple partitions. The main hassle as you say, are the 3rd party authorizations and updates.

Going to decide here soon what to do.... Thanks!
Anytime. Good to get as much info as you can before making a big purchase like this.

Something I forgot to mention is you prospective machine does not come with an internal optical (dvd/cd) drive. Apple does sell one separate that connects to the USB ports. The lack of this may or may not be important to you as a lot of software is download nowadays. There's still a few developers that do their stuff on disc (Native Instruments for their Komplete regular bundle; the Komplete Ultimate bundle comes on it's own drive that you install from).
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iMac dead & retired as of 11/4/17

QAPLA!
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  #7  
Old 02-11-2016, 06:13 AM
hermantf hermantf is offline
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Default Re: iMac Late 2012 and Pro Tools 11 questions

Quote:
Originally Posted by musicman691 View Post
Anytime. Good to get as much info as you can before making a big purchase like this.

Something I forgot to mention is you prospective machine does not come with an internal optical (dvd/cd) drive. Apple does sell one separate that connects to the USB ports. The lack of this may or may not be important to you as a lot of software is download nowadays. There's still a few developers that do their stuff on disc (Native Instruments for their Komplete regular bundle; the Komplete Ultimate bundle comes on it's own drive that you install from).
I still need to burn CDs for clients every now and then, so I'll probably get an external optical, as you suggest.

The last thing I'm concerned about is, I'd really like to go with the 512GB SSD, but I'm concerned about the limited size. I'd obviously keep all my media on external devices.

Yet I wonder if 512GB really enough to install and the system OS, Pro Tools and a ton of plugins, as well as many other programs such as Final Cut Pro, the Adobe CS suite, and all the other apps that I use.

Is there a way to check how much space my system OS and software are taking up right now on my current computer? Any other insight?

Thanks again!
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  #8  
Old 02-11-2016, 06:14 PM
musicman691 musicman691 is online now
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Default Re: iMac Late 2012 and Pro Tools 11 questions

Quote:
Originally Posted by hermantf View Post
I still need to burn CDs for clients every now and then, so I'll probably get an external optical, as you suggest.

The last thing I'm concerned about is, I'd really like to go with the 512GB SSD, but I'm concerned about the limited size. I'd obviously keep all my media on external devices.

Yet I wonder if 512GB really enough to install and the system OS, Pro Tools and a ton of plugins, as well as many other programs such as Final Cut Pro, the Adobe CS suite, and all the other apps that I use.

Is there a way to check how much space my system OS and software are taking up right now on my current computer? Any other insight?

Thanks again!
To check how much space is being taken up on your current system right click on the system drive icon and do a 'get info'. It should come up with the info needed. As to drive space you always want to have plenty of excess space; aim to have at least 20% empty on an ssd if not 25%. Pretty much the same for a spinner. If you're going to have multiple boot partitions it'd be better to have a drive bigger than that 512 gig. Generally most daw programs aren't that large nor are most utilities and plugins. Now if you're going to be using sample libraries you'd be well served to have a separate drive for the samples.

So ideally you'd be looking at 3 drives - system drive, one for PT to record to and one for samples. I have a 2 TB system drive, 2 TB external Thunderbolt spinner for recording to and another 2 TB Thunderbolt spinner
for samples (those last two are actually resident in one box but are separate drives). And for backup I have two 2 TB FW800 drives (one for samples and one for recording to). I believe in insurance.

One more thing - you might want to think about some kind of power conditioning beyond a garden variety power strip you get from Home Depot. Especially if your incoming AC power is shaky. I have an APC UPS that's online all the tme; it regenerates the incoming AC power and that feeds my computer, all the drives and a small light fixture so I can have light around for when I have to shut things down when the power goes out. That way I don't have to immediately scout around for a flashlight (torch for our British friends) and stumble around in complete darkness. My power here is so flaky that, as one person said, every time a mouse farts the power goes out.
__________________
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See profile for system details
iMac dead & retired as of 11/4/17

QAPLA!
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  #9  
Old 02-11-2016, 07:06 PM
hermantf hermantf is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Posts: 5
Default Re: iMac Late 2012 and Pro Tools 11 questions

Quote:
Originally Posted by musicman691 View Post
To check how much space is being taken up on your current system right click on the system drive icon and do a 'get info'. It should come up with the info needed. As to drive space you always want to have plenty of excess space; aim to have at least 20% empty on an ssd if not 25%. Pretty much the same for a spinner. If you're going to have multiple boot partitions it'd be better to have a drive bigger than that 512 gig. Generally most daw programs aren't that large nor are most utilities and plugins. Now if you're going to be using sample libraries you'd be well served to have a separate drive for the samples.

So ideally you'd be looking at 3 drives - system drive, one for PT to record to and one for samples. I have a 2 TB system drive, 2 TB external Thunderbolt spinner for recording to and another 2 TB Thunderbolt spinner
for samples (those last two are actually resident in one box but are separate drives). And for backup I have two 2 TB FW800 drives (one for samples and one for recording to). I believe in insurance.

One more thing - you might want to think about some kind of power conditioning beyond a garden variety power strip you get from Home Depot. Especially if your incoming AC power is shaky. I have an APC UPS that's online all the tme; it regenerates the incoming AC power and that feeds my computer, all the drives and a small light fixture so I can have light around for when I have to shut things down when the power goes out. That way I don't have to immediately scout around for a flashlight (torch for our British friends) and stumble around in complete darkness. My power here is so flaky that, as one person said, every time a mouse farts the power goes out.
Thanks for taking the time to answer me here. It's really helped

I've decided to go with the 512GB SSD, only do the one boot partition, and run everything else on external drives. I think it'll be enough to run the programs I need, and if it's not, well then I'll deal with that at that time

I'm pretty maxed out on cash, but I might add another internal 2 to 4 TB spinner just for convenience sake.

And yea, I'm totally with you on the back up insurance. I've got that one down pretty good after more than my share of lost data

Thanks again for the time and help!
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