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  #1  
Old 08-06-2011, 06:13 PM
paulrgmusic paulrgmusic is offline
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Question Thinking of moving to iMac, help please!

Hi

I've used PT for a few years now (since 7.4) and I've been really pleased with the way my PC has handled everything. My PC is now showing signs of fatigue and I'm considering an iMac 27 i7.

I've looked on the Avid website and this machine is listed as supported but there are a couple of things I'd like some advice about please.

1. The iMac doesn't have space for 2 hard drives (unless one is an SSD, which I can't afford and I don't know if Avid supports them). What do people do? System drive for PT9, FW800 HD for recording onto, and USB drives for sample libraries & backups?

2. If that is the case, will the FW drive need its own power socket or does it get power form the Mac?

3. Are the USB drives OK for streaming sample libraries or would these be better on the system drive? My sample libraries (Kontakt, EWQL etc) are all on my system drive at the moment on my Win7 PC and they work fine but I've heard others suggesting that they should be on their own hard drive. I presume the USB hard drives only run at 5400rpm (again, perhaps if you use a powered one, it will be faster but the number of plug sockets required is creeping up again).

4. Last one: Is it worth getting more than 4GB RAM? As PT is still 32 bit only, is 8GB/16GB worth having?

I appreciate any help or advice.
Paul
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  #2  
Old 08-06-2011, 06:55 PM
Charvelman Charvelman is offline
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Default Re: Thinking of moving to iMac, help please!

If you're going Mac, don't even waste your time with an iMac, as it's a dead end machine, with limited upgrade options. The Mac Pro is the only way to go, and assures you future upgrade capability.

Get as much memory as you can afford....the more the better. 4GB isn't nearly enough.....I currently use 16 GB and can upgrade that to a max 32GB if I ever have the need.

You need a minimum of 4 drives: System / Audio / Samples / Backup

And, don't put anything on the system drive, except the applications.
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  #3  
Old 08-06-2011, 07:12 PM
MidnightFlyer MidnightFlyer is offline
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Default Re: Thinking of moving to iMac, help please!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Charvelman View Post
If you're going Mac, don't even waste your time with an iMac, as it's a dead end machine, with limited upgrade options. The Mac Pro is the only way to go, and assures you future upgrade capability.
This may be so, but the latest iMac's have Thunderbolt ports. And the power of that alone may somewhat level the playing field, we just don't know yet...
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  #4  
Old 08-07-2011, 12:52 AM
BradLyons BradLyons is offline
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Default Re: Thinking of moving to iMac, help please!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Charvelman View Post
If you're going Mac, don't even waste your time with an iMac, as it's a dead end machine, with limited upgrade options. The Mac Pro is the only way to go, and assures you future upgrade capability.

Get as much memory as you can afford....the more the better. 4GB isn't nearly enough.....I currently use 16 GB and can upgrade that to a max 32GB if I ever have the need.

You need a minimum of 4 drives: System / Audio / Samples / Backup

And, don't put anything on the system drive, except the applications.
No offense, but I couldn't disagree with this more. Sure, a MacPro has some advantages such as a faster processing, PCIE slots, the ability to upgrade the video card, etc----HOWEVER iMac computers (today) are INCREDIBLY POWERFUL COMPUTERS THAT ARE BEING USED IN PROFESSIONAL STUDIOS and HOME STUDIOS ALIKE. I know, I design them (the studios, that is). Not everyone needs a MacPro, the iMac certainly doesn't disappoint by any means. In fact I was using a MacPro for my ProToolsHD system but I got tired of having to wait for my video in Final Cut to render while I wanted to further mix in Pro Tools. So I bought a Core i7 Quad iMac with a MOTU V4HD to dedicate solely to video, I used this over my 8-core MacPro and actually preferred it. One can easily use an iMac for high-performance video recording, audio recording, virtual instruments for composition, etc.
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  #5  
Old 08-07-2011, 02:46 AM
HolB HolB is offline
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Default Re: Thinking of moving to iMac, help please!

Hi,

My last configuration was a PC desktop i7 950 4Ghz, 6Go DDR3, SSD Vertex 2 128Go + 1To seagate.. But I had lots of problems between Protools and Win7..
I sold it and hesitated between a Mac pro or a new iMac i7.. Finally I took a iMac 21" i7 2.8 on the refurb, 1400 euros.. It's perfect, I put a 2x1To drives FW800 for backup and work files (soon, the new Thunderbolt drives will be the best solution for huge power..) I think the new iMac is an excellent choice. The 7200 rpm drive is good enough for working in audio..

Best,
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Old 08-07-2011, 03:24 AM
paulrgmusic paulrgmusic is offline
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Default

Thanks so much for the feedback. I'm really quite tempted by the iMac. I know the Mac Pro is a behemoth of a machine but I quite like the idea of an all-in-one solution as I work with PT at home in a room with limited space.

Just to clarify. Will PT be happy with PT + sample libraries on the system drive and the FW800 drive used for recoding to or will I need a USB hard drive for the sample library?

Do the FireWire 800 drives take power from the iMac or do they need to be plugged into the mains?

What amount would you recommend for RAM?

I appreciate all of the advice.
Paul
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2011 27" iMac
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12GB RAM
500GB G-Drive Mini (FW audio drive)
Mac OS X 10.7.3 (Lion)
Pro Tools 10.0.1
Mbox 2 Pro (connected by FW)
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  #7  
Old 08-07-2011, 03:29 AM
paulrgmusic paulrgmusic is offline
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@HolB

I'm just wondering how you got 2 hard drives using FW as the iMac only has 1 FW port. I've never used FW so I apologise for my ignorance.
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2011 27" iMac
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500GB G-Drive Mini (FW audio drive)
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  #8  
Old 08-07-2011, 03:40 AM
HolB HolB is offline
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Default Re: Thinking of moving to iMac, help please!

Quote:
Originally Posted by paulrgmusic View Post
@HolB

I'm just wondering how you got 2 hard drives using FW as the iMac only has 1 FW port. I've never used FW so I apologise for my ignorance.
There's FW800 external drives, like this >> http://www.lacie.com/uk/products/product.htm?id=10310 (or you can also chained FW800 drives)

Very good solution, but, if you want more power, you can wait for the thunderbolt SSD external drives !

>> http://www.lacie.com/uk/products/product.htm?id=10549 (with Thunderbolt you can make big chain of drives, monitors, for sure they will make DSP cards, audio cards..)
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Old 08-07-2011, 05:47 AM
Bubblegum Bubblegum is offline
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Default Re: Thinking of moving to iMac, help please!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Charvelman View Post
If you're going Mac, don't even waste your time with an iMac, as it's a dead end machine, with limited upgrade options. The Mac Pro is the only way to go, and assures you future upgrade capability.

Get as much memory as you can afford....the more the better. 4GB isn't nearly enough.....I currently use 16 GB and can upgrade that to a max 32GB if I ever have the need.

You need a minimum of 4 drives: System / Audio / Samples / Backup

And, don't put anything on the system drive, except the applications.
Not my experience at all.

True there is not much room for expansion compared to a Mac Pro, but a seriously useable machine none the less for PT9.

I have a 27" i7 iMac (pre-thunderbolt), but I also opted for the SSD plus internal HD option, which I would recommend you stretch to afford if you do go for an iMac. I have 8GB of RAM installed.

In my experience a FW800 drive works well for audio, but can be flakey if you rely on buss power. It performs much more reliably with it's own power supply.

My setup runs with 1TB HD partitioned into 4, one for audio, the others for backups, archives (as well as an external drive for double backups) & docs.

SSD partitioned into 2 one for OS and applications, the other for samples and libraries, which performs amazingly well, although I am not a heavy user of VIs, normally up to about 4 VIs (Mini Grand, Hybrid, Xpand2 plus Kontakt player running 2 or three libraries like Abbey Road drums, Session Strings etc...)

There is still power left.

A moderate, but busy mix session (no VIs active) running about 30 tracks, with Slate Digital VCC on every channel and mix buss, SSL Duende on every channel plus a few SSL buss comps plus Oxford dynamics, SSL vocal strip, Lexicon LXP reverbs (anything from 2 to 4 instances), Digi tape delay and Reel tape suite on the master. Normally runs the CPU to about 30 - 35% with 1024 buffer.

I can add an instance of Slate Digital FG-X to the master on the same session and be running CPU at about 60 - 70% and the system is still as rock solid.

For me it works perfectly and a Mac Pro, whilst nice is just not necessary for me. I like the small footprint of the iMac compared to a Mac Pro and that display is included in the price too. Can't be beaten for value in my opinion (at least compared to other Macs).

Oh yeah, my interface is an Eleven Rack (yes USB 2.0), which many people seem to think can't handle audio very well. Not in my experience.

It is more stable under Protools 9 than it was previously under 8LE.

I use my setup professionally too and since putting it together nearly one year ago I have several very happy clients.

Good luck with whatever new system you choose!
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  #10  
Old 08-07-2011, 06:54 AM
nst7 nst7 is offline
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Default Re: Thinking of moving to iMac, help please!

PaulRGmusic,

You don't want to use usb hard drives for samples, regardless of how fast they spin. Usb is just not optimal for this type of thing.

What should work fine is daisy chaining drives of the Firewire port.

I have a 2007 Imac and I've daisy chained 3 drives and a 003R off the fw800 port and it worked fine.

As someone else mentioned, I also recommend the Quad interface Mercury Elite Pro drives from OWC (macsales.com). You can use 1 for audio, and 1 (or maybe even 2) for samples. And of course your system drive for running the programs.

Depending on how this performs, it may be adviseable to print your VI tracks to audio as you go along, so that you're streaming as little as possible.

Doing it this way should tide you over until we see more Thunderbolt solutions come out. Ideally, we'll see some hard drives that interface with it, which will allow you to put those drives on a completely different buss.

What will probably happen much sooner, is that we'll see firewire to Thunderbolt adapters, which will still help because then each thunderbolt port you use will be like having your firewire drives on a separate buss.


Regarding just backing up your sessions, that can be on usb drives, and I would turn them off or disconnect them when not in use.


As for ram, for now, it would be worth moving up to 8 Gigs. Though Protools won't use it, it would give you some extra breathing room for other things.

Again, don't pay for Apple's overpriced ram. I recommend the same place that sells the hard drives, OWC (macsales.com).

I would recommend that you get the custom order 2011 27" Imac 3.4 I7. From benchmark tests, the performance is close to that of a 6 core Mac Pro.
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