IMac Pro or UA Apollo 8

[Progear]

Hi Guys,

Not sure if this is the correct sub forum, if not please move.

Been a long time PT users and my current system is starting run out of juice.
2011 Imac quad i7 w/16 gig mem, two installed ssd drives with focusrite TB Clarett interface.

I mostly do mixing and tracking Gtrs, Bass and Vocals. 2 tracks at a time

So, my questions is do i spend 3-4K on a IMac Pro or 2.8K on a UA Apollo interface. Just looking for more plugin horsepower and less lantecy.

Would love your opinion.
Thanks
Progear

[arche3]

Imac pro

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

[albee1952]

I tend to agree. But it really depends on a few things:
1-how often do you use UA plugins?(if not, then the iMac pro makes more sense to)
2-How many things do you track at one time? Full bands? If its just you or you and 1 other player, then the Apollo 8 might be overkill(IOW, get a smaller interface and upgrade the computer for better performance)
3-Do you want to track WITH UA plugins?(if yes, then an Apollo is the only way to do that. Without Apollo, all UA plugins will have too much latency for tracking).
4-Does the Clarett cover your IO needs?(if it DOES, that's another good reason to get a new computer, which will give you much improved performance)

Last thought, if you have a big investment in UA plugins and you use them a lot, then maybe using the Apollo could take enough strain off the old computer enough to make you feel like its faster.

Having said that, and as a former UA user(with their older PCIe cards), when I sold off my big rig last year, I really can't say I miss it at all. Are the plugins great? Absolutely. Do they make any plugin that I can't live without? Nope If I had $3K to spend, I would spend that on a more potent computer

[Flyingrockstudios]

Upgrading my studio computer has always been worth it and a great choice! UA Apollo would only help with UA plugs. A better computer can improve performance for many aspects. Go for the computer.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Progear

Hi Guys,

Not sure if this is the correct sub forum, if not please move.

Been a long time PT users and my current system is starting run out of juice.
2011 Imac quad i7 w/16 gig mem, two installed ssd drives with focusrite TB Clarett interface.

I mostly do mixing and tracking Gtrs, Bass and Vocals. 2 tracks at a time

So, my questions is do i spend 3-4K on a IMac Pro or 2.8K on a UA Apollo interface. Just looking for more plugin horsepower and less lantecy.

Would love your opinion.
Thanks
Progear

iMac Pro all the way. I say that because sooner or later you WILL have a problem with the video card in that machine if you haven't already. I know because I used to run one for PT. Good luck finding an iMac Pro as cheaply as that price level you're looking at.

[EGS]

Originally Posted by Progear

... looking for more plugin horsepower ...

New computer.

[Progear]

Thanks Guys, the more I thought about it new cpu makes more sense for my needs..

now comes the other question,

used Imac Pro 8 core (3k), New Imac i9 8 core (3k) or Used Mac Pro 6.1 12 Core (1.7k + 600 monitor) ?

would again love you input
Progear

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Progear

Thanks Guys, the more I thought about it new cpu makes more sense for my needs..

now comes the other question,

used Imac Pro 8 core (3k), New Imac i9 8 core (3k) or Used Mac Pro 6.1 12 Core (1.7k + 600 monitor) ?

would again love you input
Progear

Keep in mind the iTrashcan has no internal drives other than the system drive. And you can't put any other drives in there. It's all external drives so what you've got with the two internal drives in your current iMac isn't possible.

[John_Toolbox]

I went through a similar dilemma a few months ago, I upgraded from a 2009 i7 iMac with 16gb ram. The iMac i9 has loud fans compared to the other choices, so you can narrow it down between iMac Pro and trash can unless fan noise doesn’t bother you.

iMac Pro advantages include thunderbolt 3 (faster than thunderbolt 2 and more choices for external enclosures), really nice monitor and slightly more CPU power.

The trash can Mac Pro is cheaper even after buying monitors and a thunderbolt drive dock, and even though it’s 7 year old technology, it’s still a beast of a computer, and runs nearly silent.

I ended up getting a Mac Pro for $1600, it had 64gb ram, 6 core and 512MB SSD. I bought a thunderbolt 2 drive dock from OWC and that seems to great for my needs. I love that I can swap drives quickly for backup purposes, and run both 3.5 drives and 2.5 ssd in it. It runs the 2.5 SSDs at their max speed, which is not as fast as the internal ssd of the Mac Pro but fine for streaming samples or recording audio.

[Progear]

New 2019 iMac i9, 500g ssd, 40 gigs ram, I couldn't be happier.
im glad I didn't for the 2013 12 core Mac or the Apollo route.

twice as much power as my 2011 i7, very snappy and so far real quite.

Thanks for the advice gents
Progear