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#11
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Re: Buying a new Mac.
Understood
On the mac desktop side its either a mini - imac or MP (old or new) - For a desktop class proc with pretty good heatsinking the 3.5GHz imac is a big step up from the mini and kind of the only choice if not going for a MP. If they would sell the guts of the imac in a nice quiet case with good heatsinking for $1500 I would be all over it ! Instead I get a really nice monitor for $1000 more - not the greatest deal ever but gets the job done...
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2017 27" iMac 3.8GHz i5, 1TB SSD Logic ProX, Studio One V4, PT current version, Apogee Ensemble TB Musician: http://www.ivanlee.net/ Design Engineer: http://www.propowerinc.com/resume.html |
#12
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Re: Buying a new Mac.
Understood
On the mac desktop side its either a mini - imac or MP (old or new) - For a desktop class proc with pretty good heatsinking the 3.5GHz imac is a big step up from the mini and kind of the only choice if not going for a MP. If they would sell the guts of the imac in a nice quiet case with good heatsinking for $1500 I would be all over it ! But if you are OK with just running Windows - building a killer PC is fun, cost effective and not at all difficult.
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2017 27" iMac 3.8GHz i5, 1TB SSD Logic ProX, Studio One V4, PT current version, Apogee Ensemble TB Musician: http://www.ivanlee.net/ Design Engineer: http://www.propowerinc.com/resume.html |
#13
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Re: Buying a new Mac.
Quote:
I am all for saving money, and switching platforms is not something I relish, I am used to windows, and before that MS DOS. But, I have priced the components, and a complete build (minus a couple of HDD's) but with a high res monitor, is going to cost more. The main issue that I have run into; if I use the consensus of the forum with regard to chip set etc, and cpu, I have not been able to economically configure a system with thunderbolt ports. If I am missing something, I am glad to have someone point me in the right direction. I've even looked at the off the shelf or built to order, purpose built audio pcs. Their specs don't meet the consensus of the forum even though they do have the thunderbolt connectivity and are being marketed and sold as compatible with Pro Tools. Thunderbolt connectivity is important for my future expansion plans into HDN. I've been using Pro Tools since PTMP 7.0 and have NEVER had any PT issues related to hardware incompatibility and I don't really want to start now. That was my main reason for considering a platform switch. I would be glad of any further information/advice.
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"If the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, well, it is likely due to the amount of manure being spread on that side of the fence." Cowboy Bob Squaw Creek Road Studio Pro Tools Ultimate (2024.3.1)| Pro Tools Carbon | Sibelius Ultimate (2024.3.1) | M2 Max Mac Studio w/64GB RAM | 1TB SSD | Mac OS 14.4.1| (Main Rig) | 3.6GHz 8-core 9th-generation Intel Core i9 processor iMac w/40GB RAM | 1TB SSD | macOS Ventura 13.3.1 | Avid Eleven Rack ERXP | Focusrite Clarett 8Pre X | |
#14
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Re: Buying a new Mac.
Unless you are heart set on lowest buffer recording the i7 Mini with a decent monitor is hard to beat in the bang for the buck category. The imac is only needed (IMO) if you need the CPU speed to keep buffers down at 32/64 44.1/96 for latency preference reasons - or - if your sessions are so dense that the CPU usage is like 50% and you don't want fan noise (though I can only vouch for the 27" in this respect) - or - you just like all in ones. PS-- if you NEED two TB ports then you need an imac today (although a mini refresh MAY change this)...
my 2 cents --
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2017 27" iMac 3.8GHz i5, 1TB SSD Logic ProX, Studio One V4, PT current version, Apogee Ensemble TB Musician: http://www.ivanlee.net/ Design Engineer: http://www.propowerinc.com/resume.html |
#15
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Re: Buying a new Mac.
Quote:
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pro-tools-pc.com TRASHER Pro Tools Utility(updated 4-11-2024) HD Native, Avid 16x16, Eleven Rack, Focusrite Clarett 8preX, UA Quad Apollo TB. Intel I7 9900k Win 10 |
#16
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Re: Buying a new Mac.
A refurbished mini with quad core i7 and 1TB fusion drive cost me under $1000
Always record to external. Also you could look at mini server and have a internal audio drive. Note: what you don't have with a mini is an optical drive if that matters to you. |
#17
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Re: Buying a new Mac.
And just to throw this out there. I found a 2009 Mac Pro 2.66 quad on eBay for $500. I paid a little more than this but I've seen 24gb (3x8gb) of ram for around $200. And then I found a w3670 processor (6-core 3.2 ghz) for $250. So for about $1000 I have a 6-core 24gb Mac Pro with 4 internal drives. The drawbacks are no thunderbolt, sata 2 ports, and no USB 3.0. The latter two can be addressed with PCIe cards. But no way to get thunderbolt. Just food for thought.
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Dell T5810. Harrison Mixbus 32C. Haven't used PT since 2015 and never been happier. |
#18
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Re: Buying a new Mac.
Quote:
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Janne What we do in life, echoes in eternity. |
#19
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Re: Buying a new Mac.
@CME That's a reasonable approach, especially if you need the pcie slots, but I would add that the i7 quadcore 2.6 outperforms a quadcore nehalem 2.66 by a factor of 1.5 in benchmark tests.
http://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks |
#20
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Re: Buying a new Mac.
I bought a used 2008 MacPro last year from a place called Mac of all Trades to run PT10 HD Native (to replace my HD3 TDM on a G5) for only around $700. It's a dual 2.66 that I added RAM to. I have had no problems with this machine. Unfortunately it won't run PT11 so I just got a dual 2.66 Nehalem machine from the same place for about $1300. They have more of this model and newer. It comes with a 90 day warranty and you can get Apple Care because they are an authorized reseller. I intend to sell the one I got last year as well as the G5 (if I can- there are some nutty Apple people out there so why not try?). At the very least this is a good stop-gap until I can get a newer machine and trade my old extra TDM HD core card towards a Thunderbolt Native or wait out a price drop on HDX.
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