Late 2012 Imac I7 for Protools Ultimate?

[delay1968]

I have been running PT 11 for years doing music and my machine has been fine (even with a fusion drive, no issues). I have been doing a lot more post production lately and got used to HD/Ultimate where I was working until recently. I want to make the upgrade at home but really don't want to buy a new machine if I don't have to. I know these aren't officially qualified for ultimate, but figure it might be fine.

It is a late 2012 27" imac with 3.4Ghz i7, 16GB RAM, 1TB fusion drive. Currently on Yosemite but I know I will need to upgrade to Sierra or High Sierra. I can also go to 32GB RAM pretty easily. Like I said, I have had no fusion drive issues so please let's not dwell on that unless it causes new issues with ultimate specifically.

So anyone out there with a 2012 i7 imac running Ultimate?

The Post stuff I work on has generally been short to medium length stuff, rarely more than 44 min, usually less, with a fair amount of tracks and processing but not as crazy as I am sure feature films get, though.


Thanks.

[delay1968]

Oh and I should specify I do not have any HD hardware. Just use an Apogee Duet 2(not the PT branded one).

[Darryl Ramm]

Nobody here can add much value. You need to try it. You can always do a trial eval of Ultimate. You are running a marginal system, so if there are problems you will need to deal with them. Adding more memory or drive (hopefully you are not recording to the fusion drive... easy to add an external SSD if needed). How well will the system handle video?... you need to try it and see.

How much memory do the systems running those post sessions have in them today?... that should give you a clue on what you might need. Disk cache in current Pro Tools (even without Ultimate) is another reason to want more memory, especially if your IO setup is marginal.

[delay1968]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

Nobody here can add much value. You need to try it. You can always do a trial eval of Ultimate. You are running a marginal system, so if there are problems you will need to deal with them. Adding more memory or drive (hopefully you are not recording to the fusion drive... easy to add an external SSD if needed). How well will the system handle video?... you need to try it and see.

How much memory do the systems running those post sessions have in them today?... that should give you a clue on what you might need. Disk cache in current Pro Tools (even without Ultimate) is another reason to want more memory, especially if your IO setup is marginal.

Well, yes of course there are lots of variables and what works for one person might not work for another. My question was more in terms of if there are compatibility issues that really prevent this combination of hardware/software from being even worth trying. Or even if, say, Ultimate was that much more demanding on the system and would barely run. So if a few people said they have done it and it works or they have tried it and it doesn't then that would be of value.
Trying it also involves upgrading the OS to one where PT 11 won't work and (I assume) uninstalling PT11 so it is complicated in that regard.

[Darryl Ramm]

“Ultimate” really is no different than Pro Tools standard, it’s the exact same binary running with different license key changing otherwise minor things as far as the system is concerned. You need to try and see, it’s that simple.

The first thing to worry about is OS compatibility, and you don’t mention what you are running today. There are no specific hardware gotchas that leap out with 11/12/2018, its all OS compatibility.

Test it. And do so where you are not shooting yourself in the foot, or head, or groin. Grab a good external SSD (e.g Samsung T5... but you are stuck at USB 3 performance) do a clean macOS install on that, clean Ultimate trial install, latest ILM, drivers etc. and see if it works at all, and then add your plugins and see if stuff still works...for what you need to do. When happy clone that over your current boot drive. For bonus points see if that will fit into the SSD part of your Fusion drive so you can get rid of Fusion and get a super fast system drive.

[Darryl Ramm]

And start worrying now if you can get a macOS installer before Mojave, and what exact one, or are going to play the unsupported Mojave game like the rest of us, if so you want to read up on DUC about disabling hyperthreading with Mojave....

[Oli P]

I just upgraded from an iMac late 2012 i7 ...and it ran fine with Pro Tools ultimate.
But I did have some issues with High Sierra...as it began to make my fan go crazy if the screensaver was enabled.

But other than that it was pretty stable ...especially being such an old machine that had been on practically for 6 years.

[delay1968]

Originally Posted by Oli P

I just upgraded from an iMac late 2012 i7 ...and it ran fine with Pro Tools ultimate.
But I did have some issues with High Sierra...as it began to make my fan go crazy if the screensaver was enabled.

But other than that it was pretty stable ...especially being such an old machine that had been on practically for 6 years.

Thanks!

[delay1968]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

“Ultimate” really is no different than Pro Tools standard, it’s the exact same binary running with different license key changing otherwise minor things as far as the system is concerned. You need to try and see, it’s that simple.

The first thing to worry about is OS compatibility, and you don’t mention what you are running today. There are no specific hardware gotchas that leap out with 11/12/2018, its all OS compatibility.

Test it. And do so where you are not shooting yourself in the foot, or head, or groin. Grab a good external SSD (e.g Samsung T5... but you are stuck at USB 3 performance) do a clean macOS install on that, clean Ultimate trial install, latest ILM, drivers etc. and see if it works at all, and then add your plugins and see if stuff still works...for what you need to do. When happy clone that over your current boot drive. For bonus points see if that will fit into the SSD part of your Fusion drive so you can get rid of Fusion and get a super fast system drive.

I hadn't thought about doing the external system drive to try it out. Good idea.

I was thinking of upgrading the internal drives and breaking the fusion a while back. I gotta open it up anyway to swap the power supply as I am starting to get the random shut downs as happens on these machines. Just have to decide whether it's worth putting the money into new drives on an old machine.