Mac Mini Connectivity questions

[Steven O'Neill]

I may be building a new PT rig around a new Mac Mini. I have questions regarding connectivity:

1) My current audio drives are firewire 400 & 800. Will they still work (smoothly) with adapters or should I consider new audio drives?

2) I have an older monitor that has the 9-pin style connector. Is there an adapter available or do will I need to consider a new monitor?

3) I have the original translucent-blue iLok. It’s my understanding it may not work with a new system running PT12. Are they making a new style that fits Thunderbolt ports or would I need some kind of adapter for this as well?

4) From what I can see, the new Minis ship with wireless keyboard and mouse. Do these effect PT performance in any way?

5) I’m going to need a new Interface as I doubt my old firewire Mbox Pro will work w/the new Mini. I’m considering the Zoom TAC-8 (hear me out) and was wondering if anyone has any experience with this unit. What’s appealing is that it has SPDF which will allow me to use my own mic pre via spdf, thereby circumventing the Zoom’s (likely) not-so-good preamps/converters. The Zoom also has MIDI, Thunderbolt, and it a good price…hence my interest.

Thanks to anyone who can weigh in here.

[Ben Jenssen]

It seems you mistyped the title here, as your quetion's about the mac mini and not the imac. (Unfortunately, I don't think you're allowed to change the title.)

I read both your posts, (the other: How much Mac Mini do i need for PT12? ) and I really think you'd be better off with one thread.

Anyway, I think if your only problem is your Macbook Pro died, and you were happy with what you had, and you really don't have a lot of money to spend, I'd be thinking like this:
Stay on PT10 (keep your ilok, plugins etc), get a used 27" I7 imac w/16gm RAM for a few hundred bucks (keep ext drives, keep the MboxPro interface wich has S/Pdif for your mic pre). Wireless keyboard and mouse is not a problem w/PT. Just my two cents.

[Southsidemusic]

Fixed title

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Steven O'Neill

I may be building a new PT rig around a new Mac Mini. I have questions regarding connectivity:

1) My current audio drives are firewire 400 & 800. Will they still work (smoothly) with adapters or should I consider new audio drives?

2) I have an older monitor that has the 9-pin style connector. Is there an adapter available or do will I need to consider a new monitor?

3) I have the original translucent-blue iLok. It’s my understanding it may not work with a new system running PT12. Are they making a new style that fits Thunderbolt ports or would I need some kind of adapter for this as well?

4) From what I can see, the new Minis ship with wireless keyboard and mouse. Do these effect PT performance in any way?

5) I’m going to need a new Interface as I doubt my old firewire Mbox Pro will work w/the new Mini. I’m considering the Zoom TAC-8 (hear me out) and was wondering if anyone has any experience with this unit. What’s appealing is that it has SPDF which will allow me to use my own mic pre via spdf, thereby circumventing the Zoom’s (likely) not-so-good preamps/converters. The Zoom also has MIDI, Thunderbolt, and it a good price…hence my interest.

Thanks to anyone who can weigh in here.

Do yourself a favor and dump all that old dinosaur equipment. Those old firewire drives are slowwwwwwwwww and then some. You'll only be frustrated trying to get any work done. With the new Mini's the internal ssd's are so fast you don't necessarily need separate sample and recording drives. You can still go old school with external ssd's for samples and recording.

You're also going to need an iLok 2 or 3 to use current PT versions.

A new monitor is also in your future. Essentially nothing from your old system will be usable. Better to recycle it and buy all new. And don't forget your old plugins may not work in the current PT. RTAS has gone away and it's all aax64 now.

[Steven O'Neill]

Do yourself a favor and dump all that old dinosaur equipment. Those old firewire drives are slowwwwwwwwww and then some.

Not sure what you’re talking about. Never had that problems with slowness. To the other user suggesting a refurbished iMac- I looked around quite a bit and can’t find one on the cheap. A refurbished iMac with the specs I need is averaging $1800. I don’t feel good about spending that kind of money on a five year year old computer with a 90 day warranty. The more the price tics up with all these other things like having to buy new plugins etc has the prospect of switching to Reaper looking more and more appealing. Apple and PT are on my naughty list although this probably isn’t the best place to complain so I’ll end it there

[mophilly]

I understand your hesitation, Steven. However, the suggestion about SSD's is spot on. They are so fast compared to Winchester drive devices.

I got bit by Apple's release of Catalina. As readers here know that borks your PT app. This was after I spent money to upgrade an iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013) with a 1 TB SSD. That system went from *not usable* with any software let alone PT, to way better than respectable. At the moment, I am running PT from a 2 TB G-Drive (USB 3.0, about $100 USD) with MacOS High Sierra installed. The iMac boots from the G-Drive when I use PT. Real audio experts will make me admit it is not optimal but it works well enough for me to continue my projects.

And I notice that Avid is pushing updates to support MacOS Catalina 64bit architecture. 64 bit from mic to drive will make the DAW experience very sweet!

Good luck.

[Ben Jenssen]

Originally Posted by Steven O'Neill

A refurbished iMac with the specs I need is averaging $1800. I don’t feel good about spending that kind of money on a five year year old computer with a 90 day warranty. The more the price tics up with all these other things like having to buy new plugins etc

What I meant was: you could get a 2011 imac for a third of that price, it would have more than enough power to run PT10 and you would not have to upgrade anything or buy any other equipment. Just sayin'.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Steven O'Neill

Not sure what you’re talking about. Never had that problems with slowness. To the other user suggesting a refurbished iMac- I looked around quite a bit and can’t find one on the cheap. A refurbished iMac with the specs I need is averaging $1800. I don’t feel good about spending that kind of money on a five year year old computer with a 90 day warranty. The more the price tics up with all these other things like having to buy new plugins etc has the prospect of switching to Reaper looking more and more appealing. Apple and PT are on my naughty list although this probably isn’t the best place to complain so I’ll end it there

When you look at what today's drives are capable of you'll thank me for saying to you to dump those old drives. Elsewise you're wasting the capabilities of what that new Mini can do. I'll bet those drives are 5400 rpm spinners Firewire is SO yesterday and nobody really uses it anymore. That being said I still do BUT as a connection to my backup drives which don't care abut speed.

Originally Posted by Ben Jenssen

What I meant was: you could get a 2011 imac for a third of that price, it would have more than enough power to run PT10 and you would not have to upgrade anything or buy any other equipment. Just sayin'.

I'd stay away from a 2011 iMac due to issues with video card failures that are endemic to that model. I know because I had one as detailed in my profile that crapped out due to the video card failing. And forget about getting it repaired as even Apple couldn't guarantee that you'd get an unused card/heatsink assembly. The reason the video cards fail is due to overheating from the system drive that's a 7200 rpm spinner.

[Ben Jenssen]

Originally Posted by musicman691

I'd stay away from a 2011 iMac due to issues with video card failures that are endemic to that model. I know because I had one as detailed in my profile that crapped out due to the video card failing. And forget about getting it repaired as even Apple couldn't guarantee that you'd get an unused card/heatsink assembly. The reason the video cards fail is due to overheating from the system drive that's a 7200 rpm spinner.

I've disassembled a couple of imacs of that era and installed SSDs and repaired one with a graphics problem, it was actually faulty wire connection to the screen (a known issue, I found on search), I tightened the connector and it was fine. All I'm saying is it might not be as bad as you outline. They can be good value, capable machines, still.


And to OP Steven, I'm just suggesting a simple, cost-effective alternative route to getting your system up and running again.

[Steven O'Neill]

Originally Posted by Ben Jenssen

What I meant was: you could get a 2011 imac for a third of that price, it would have more than enough power to run PT10 and you would not have to upgrade anything or buy any other equipment. Just sayin'.

thanks. any reputable sources you could recommend? i'm aware of owc and mac of all trades, but not many others.