MacBook AIR and Mbox2/PT8

[DiegoFox]

I just came back from a friend who showed me how smoothly Logic runs on the new MB Air (11"!).

I am interested in doing some recordings that would demand extreme mobility, so MB Air could come in handy. Is there a way to record PT sessions on the USB external disk now?

[CME]

AFAIK usb drives are still unsupported. I wouldn't hold my breathe for that to change, but you never know.

[DiegoFox]

Is there maybe a FW to USB cable that would work? I find it ridiculous that the most sophisticated little computer can't work with PT.

[albee1952]

No USB-Firewire is going to work here. The Macbook Air, as cool as it is(and as sophisticated as you call it) is still a poor choice for Pro Tools. It was designed to be elegant, slim and lightweight.....NOT to be a powerhouse for DAW use Is there really a dramatic difference in portability between the AIR and a MacBook Pro?

[DiegoFox]

albee, the thing is so well engineered that running Logic is not a problem. The speed of flash "disk" compensates for the comparatively slow CPU or small amount of RAM.

Your "powerhouse DAW" is so nineties... :)

[BGMusic]

Originally Posted by DiegoFox

albee, the thing is so well engineered that running Logic is not a problem. The speed of flash "disk" compensates for the comparatively slow CPU or small amount of RAM.

Your "powerhouse DAW" is so nineties... :)

Good, then get yourself an mbox hook it up and run it. I'd love to hear the results.

You obviously know a lot about computers and DAWs if you know about USB to FW cables and adapters.

[DiegoFox]

My dear fellow, whatever you might wrongly presume, MacBook Air I talk of is still a whole lot more powerful than any of your celebrated DAWs not too many years ago (say - 8?). And I assume you would proudly stand by your work of then?

[Sardi]

Originally Posted by DiegoFox

My dear fellow, whatever you might wrongly presume, MacBook Air I talk of is still a whole lot more powerful than any of your celebrated DAWs not too many years ago (say - 8?). And I assume you would proudly stand by your work of then?

True, but most current software you're going to want to run is far more CPU/RAM hungry than what was around in the 90's.

FWIW, I think you'll prob be fine running PT on that thing. If you're not planning on recording many channels simultaneously, you'll be fine.

Whilst the consensus is to record to an ext FW drive (I agree) I have recorded MANY vocal takes and run quite large track count sessions off the internal 5400RPM drive on my 2Ghz C2D MacBook using an original MBox.

Can it be done? Yes. Is it recommended? No.

I agree about the MBP 13" being a better bet and it really isn't that much more bulky than the MBP all things considered.

[DiegoFox]

Sardi, thx for the input, especially this part:

Originally Posted by Sardi

T
Whilst the consensus is to record to an ext FW drive (I agree) I have recorded MANY vocal takes and run quite large track count sessions off the internal 5400RPM drive on my 2Ghz C2D MacBook using an original MBox.

As we talk of FLASH storage and not the "slow" 5400RPM drive, I am getting convinced that it could work well without external disk, provided - as you said - that there are not to many tracks (for the project I have in mind I count on 4).

[stoneinapond]

Originally Posted by DiegoFox

As we talk of FLASH storage and not the "slow" 5400RPM drive, I am getting convinced that it could work well without external disk, provided - as you said - that there are not to many tracks (for the project I have in mind I count on 4).

Well, there's only one way to know for sure....

(You can always tell who the pioneers are because they have arrows in their back and are lying face down in the dirt.)