PT 9 on a MacBook Pro

[KenOnBass]

Hi,

I just crossgraded from PT 8 LE on my MacBook Pro (3 GHz, 8 GB RAM, 500GB 7200 RPM drive). It's a pretty maxxed out notebook and has worked great so far. Since I've always recorded to an external drive wondering now if I can just record to my internal drive and mix on the internal drive as well or does the workflow need to be:
1. Record to external HDD
2. Copy project to internal drive to take on the road
3. Mix on internal HDD
4. Backup back to external

Does anybody do anything like this? I've been around it a long time, but I'm still very much a self-taught PT newbie. Thanks for your patience.

Ken

[csdg]

Sometimes in a pinch I'll record to my internal drive, but never anything uber-critical. I usually have a really portable (the size of my hand) FW drive with me that I work from. The thing (I think it's still the case) with working from your internal drive might be the possibility of over fragmenting it. Someone with more knowledge might have a better more exact answer, but this has been my assumption. Like I said, it will work, but I wouldn't want to count on it if I had another drive. OWC has some great deals on tiny FW drives. That's where I got mine.

My 2 bits

Re-reading your post you mentioned only wanting to mix on your internal drive. I hadn't thought of that, not sure if there's any file issues with it. Maybe processing lag?

[Dism]

Originally Posted by KenOnBass

Hi,

I just crossgraded from PT 8 LE on my MacBook Pro (3 GHz, 8 GB RAM, 500GB 7200 RPM drive). It's a pretty maxxed out notebook and has worked great so far. Since I've always recorded to an external drive wondering now if I can just record to my internal drive and mix on the internal drive as well or does the workflow need to be:
1. Record to external HDD
2. Copy project to internal drive to take on the road
3. Mix on internal HDD
4. Backup back to external

Does anybody do anything like this? I've been around it a long time, but I'm still very much a self-taught PT newbie. Thanks for your patience.

Ken

Just because you aren't tracking... doesn't make the internal drive a more viable option. It still has to read a lot of data and the best way is to separate the files from the software and OS.

Keep the external drive.

[CME]

Yeah I wouldn't like the extra wear and tear using my internal drive as the audio drive would cause either. FW drives can be pretty small and portable.

[KenOnBass]

OK, external drive for recording still seems to make sense. I have an portable ext OWC fw drive too. Just surprised because it seemed like one of the benefits of PT9 is that you can mix untethered to anything but an ilok (by the pool) on a MacBook. :-(

[Dism]

Originally Posted by KenOnBass

OK, external drive for recording still seems to make sense. I have an portable ext OWC fw drive too. Just surprised because it seemed like one of the benefits of PT9 is that you can mix untethered to anything but an ilok (by the pool) on a MacBook. :-(

Being untethered to an MBox has nothing to do with the performance of the software. Essentially, the MBox was doing the job of the iLok at this point.

All the usual system requirements still apply.

[Talisker]

I can just say, every once in a while, I copy sessions to my internal drive to work on them, while I travel. And it do have more issues doing that in terms of crashing, freezing and in general "strange behaviour" So it does work in a way, but it doesn't feel very comfy.

[malfunction]

you could also take this route:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other...ng/DDMB7K500G/

I'm going to go this way when the warranty on my macbook pro runs out. Actually i'm thinking about upgrading the system drive to an SSD also, should be quite an awesome set up.

[KenOnBass]

Is the Avid PT9 promo video misleading then? They guy literally takes the MacBook Pro outside and is mixing. I get that now people can use a more control surfaces, etc, but isn't one of the key benefits they brag about more portabiliy ("mix on the go")?

Originally Posted by Dism

Being untethered to an MBox has nothing to do with the performance of the software. Essentially, the MBox was doing the job of the iLok at this point.

All the usual system requirements still apply.

[Dism]

Originally Posted by KenOnBass

Is the Avid PT9 promo video misleading then? They guy literally takes the MacBook Pro outside and is mixing. I get that now people can use a more control surfaces, etc, but isn't one of the key benefits they brag about more portabiliy ("mix on the go")?

The lack of needing an interface certainly makes it more portable... There are also some very portable external drives. Not to mention options to replace the internal optical drive, or use an expresscard SSD card, or even an SLC SSD internal would probably do the job alone.

Look.

It comes down this... If you think you can get away with mixing from the internal drive, go for it. If you aren't running more than 30-40 tracks, and don't use VI's, you'll probably have success doing it. There's nothing stopping you.

However... performance will be a factor. If you find your system isn't performing the way you expect "on the go" then it's more than likely the fact that you aren't using an external drive. The only logical solution would be to attach one to eliminate that factor. If it inconveniences you... you have to ask yourself which you'd rather sacrifice.

Personally, I don't like mixing with headphones. When I'm "on the go" it's usually because I'm creating something rather than trying to mix in an environment not suited for mixing. I understand everyone's needs are different... but I always expect the most from my systems. YMMV as always.