Digi002 LE7.1 user wants to move to MAC, advice please?

[telemonster]

Hi, I'm a newbie on the forum, so I appologize if this is out of line.

After many years of torture with Windows, I'd like to escape to the MAC platform, but I have little/no experience on one. That doesn't scare me, I'll pick it up quick, but I was hoping for some advice on what to buy. As a piece of studio gear, I will not use it as a "computer."

I am considering a MAC Mini with 2 gig of RAM and a duo 2.0 Ghz proc. I don't do video editing, and I use only modest plugins, but want max tracks, and may use more plugins in the future.


It seems a mini should do the job, anybody have experience or warnings? Any video display issues?

Thanks much!

Bruce

[Craig F]

do you want to use Virtual Instruments (aka VIs)? if so a Mac Pro is the way to go w/ 4 GB+ of RAM

I have a mini that I have tried to use PT on but was less than thrilled w/ it but it is not a dedicated PT rig.

[Ultraslide]

It seems a mini should do the job, anybody have experience or warnings?

1) Simply put ... buy the fastest Mac you can afford.
2) Fill it with ram.
3) Wait for Digidesign to be Leopard compatible.

[stiefelmusik]

If you're just now moving over to Mac I would definitely go Intel, as that's clearly the future as far as Apple and most third party software developers are concerned. Unless you need some serious power, I would take a good look at the new iMacs before laying out a lot of cash for a Mac Pro tower. I am using a Digi 002r/Command8 combo with an Intel iMac 2.16 Core 2 Duo, and I am very happy.

The iMac used to be considered undesirable for professional work, but I feel this is no longer the case. You would probably get frustrated by the Mac Mini's limitations pretty quickly, so I would not recommend it unless you're only planning to do small projects. If you do decide on a Mini, definitely go Intel.

What ever you decide, I highly recommend upgrading your PT LE software to version 7.4. It is much nicer to work with than 7.1 -- and you can be happy that you missed 7.3.x which was consistently troublesome -- at least, for me. And stick in as much RAM as you can. To sum it up, I am very pleased with my current setup.

[telemonster]

Thanks all for the responses!!

stiefelmusik, how much RAM do you have in the iMac?

I'm planning on just the basics for now, no VI and no forward looking expandability needed. (though I'll take the PT 7.4 advice) I was planning on 2 gig of RAM, Intel Duo and hoping to be able to max out the tracks, and do slightly more than a modest amount of plugins.

A year or so after PT goes 64 bit I'd upgrade to a Mac pro, but for now I'm really more concerned about using my money to upgrade the physical studio. (walls, treatments, etc)

I'm more of a musician than a studio engineer (self proclamined anyway ) so I'm not looking to be too cutting edge or complex with my rig. I'm hoping for a no-nonsense "appliance" type functionality. This is why I want to move to MAC...........don't get me started on the PC garbage.

So I'm still leaning toward a mini, and plan to re-purpose it sometime down the road and go "pro." The iMac looks like a great value, but in the studio I'm having a hard time envisioning the "computer" at eye/ear level between my studio monitors. Please be blunt if I'm making a mistake with the mini.

Cheers!

Bruce

[stiefelmusik]

If you are planning to get a Mac Pro in the near future anyway, then you might be okay with a Mac mini for now -- but you would need to stick at least 2GB RAM in there (since the graphics chip "steals" from the system RAM on these models) -- plus you would definitely need an external HD for audio. True, you do have more flexibility regarding monitor placement with the mini, but you are pretty much limited to one monitor, whereas on the iMac you can connect a second monitor and place it wherever you'd like. There are also more USB/Firewire ports on the iMacs: you will quickly run out of ports on the mini once you've connected a MIDI interface/controller, iLok, etc.

I have 2GB of RAM in my iMac which I would consider the minimum for running Pro Tools LE smoothly. Again, I'm very happy with mine. To have a monitor on a Mac mini as nice as the ones on current model iMacs you would need to spend as much as you'd spend on the mini itself. So unless studio ergonomics insist that you have more flexibility in monitor placement, I still think an iMac is the better way to go if you want a truly useful down-and-dirty LE rig. With the limitations you'll be bumping up against running Pro Tools on a mini, I say you'd be better off with a Macbook even: then at least you'd be portable, plus you could hook up a second monitor and place it wherever it works best for you.

I know the mini looks like a bargain, but you have to factor in keyboard/mouse costs, monitor costs, RAM costs, etc. (unless you have these accessories already from you PC setup). Just my .02 Cheers!

[telemonster]

ahhh, the 2nd display on an iMac, now I'm interested! No doubt the iMac looks like a way better value.

My main concern is power supply fan and hard drive noise irritating me. I get easily irritated by those sorts of noises, and also a concern of microphones picking it up. I do not/will not have a control room/live room setup, rather 1 room setup.

Any comments on the ambient noise of the iMac?

Thanks so much for the great info!!

[stiefelmusik]

Any comments on the ambient noise of the iMac?

Negligible. Mine is whisper quiet. A while back I bought an iMac G5 and dude, was that a noisy beast, right in your face! I returned it after only a week and just continued working on my G4 Powermac until something better came along. Good luck with your decision. Cheers.

[georgej]

I'm a new convert. I went from a home built PC to an IMac (latest and greatest 20" model with only 1 gig). Conversion from PT on the Windows platform was a bit of a task. Typical PITA reinstall, reload, and some universal binary stuff from Digi's web site. Also I had to reload the ILok, All in all it was a good learning experience for a new Mac user. The IMac is the quietist machine I have ever owned. I was worried it was even working it's so silent. An upgrade to 3 or 4 Gig would be good. I say go for it.

[Jussi]

A vote for iMac with 2 gb. For your purposes it should be enough and more. No need to update to Mac Pro very soon, I would suppose. You could get some decent plug-ins instead.

Ps. Mine runs sessions with many plug-ins even better than the G5 with PT HD in a pro studio we've been working lately.