KVR Audio

Sjefke · Post by **Sjefke** » Sun Apr 16, 2017 9:31 am

Currently i am in doubt of what to choose....

First a macbook pro vs a imac...

I plan to have a big monitor, behind my keyboards for mostly Mainstage, logic AU units like komplete and omnisphere and some sheetmusic reading.. so i could choose an imac 27" ... but when choosing a macbook, i can take it anywhere i want and work on my projects everywhere, but it requires buying an extra monitor, and a magicpad.. the imac supports up to 32GB of memmory tough

If i choose the imac, should i choose an SSD and a sepparate USB HD or will the fusion drive do nicely?

If i choose a macbook, should i choose the much slower 2015 model which is still in shops, that has build in USB and a HDMI port... or should i choose the nifty and much faster 2016 model with touchbar (altough its useless when sitting behind my keys as i cant reach the laptop) but it is also more expensive and requires sepperate accesoires to connect to a monitor and my USB audio interface

Any advise is welcome...

Michael L · Post by **Michael L** » Sun Apr 16, 2017 10:39 am

My wife (photographer) recently bought a 2015 MBP because she wanted the function keys and usb; it is still a quad i7 with SSD and the CPU is only a bit slower (Novabench test: 2016 MacBook Pro 727; 2015 MacBook Pro’s 707) but SSD and graphics are ~30% faster. She also wanted it to run cool so we chose the slower speed in that CPU's thermal range.

If you want an iMac, wait until late this year! Apple announced the iMac will have major "pro" upgrade in 2017. According to a report on Pike's Universum the new iMacs could offer Xeon processors (a lot more cache), up to 62GB RAM, faster SSDs, and AMD graphics.

Expect a comically higher price of course.

Jace-BeOS · Post by **Jace-BeOS** » Sun Apr 16, 2017 5:37 pm

The current lineup of Apple computers is underwhelming to me. It's hard to choose when there are dumb limitations on each (max RAM, heat/throttling, connections, age of tech). I've been struggling with this for years because I only have one pile of money to expend on a new workstation computer. I can spend it once, and then I'll need the computer to last ten years.

Do you really need portability? How hot do you run your machines (including regional weather)? If you don't need portability, the iMac is really the only option for lots of RAM. However, it appears the iMac is getting updated this year, so maybe hold off a while.

Or maybe hold off even longer for a Mac Pro.

If you require portability, can you afford one of each? Can you do your mobile things on an iPad and then do the heavy work on a desktop?

I don't think it's an easy choice right now. Apple has been floundering where the Mac is concerned.

My stupid story:

If the 2013 Mac Pro had come with an Apple Retina display, I'd have bought them both.

Instead, Apple left it for years without a retina-type solution. 3rd-party displays are well known to be a PITA in terms of quality and compatibility with the Mac Pro.

I don't want thermally-troubled, suicidal, laptop-style components, so I refused to buy an iMac or another MacBook Pro (1 of 2 Macs died on me from a well known GPU defect).

My iPad Pro 12.9" satisfies my mobile computing needs (a better display then my MacBook, so it's maddening that the iPad Pro has no raw photo workflow). Korg Gadget is flawed but also awesome, so I do make music on it. There are lots of other neat music apps, like Finger Fiddle and Fugue Machine.

I'd been waiting for years for Apple to update the Mac Pro and offer a companion Retina display. Silence. Apple seemed to be abandoning freestanding displays... and pros. There's zero chance I'll return to Windows and PC hardware.

I finally decided I would just give up waiting and buy whatever desktop Mac Apple releases this year, because I've not done constructive work in photography for years (and a 13" MacBook Pro is also too small a screen for music, too, really).

Then, a couple weeks ago, Apple broke silence and admitted the 2013 Mac Pro didn't solve the needs of "all pros". They declared they're working on a more easily updated new Mac Pro and a pro display to go with it. It won't be out this year.

So now I'm back to waiting. Sigh.

The only debate I have now is whether to spend $900 on my MacBook Pro 5,5 to add a 24" display and replace the hard drives with SSD. $900 is all I can spend without risking stealing from myself when the next Mac Pro comes out.

Sjefke · Post by **Sjefke** » Wed Apr 19, 2017 3:56 pm

Good advise... very welcome...

But the new high end imacs will probably be totally out of my budget...

I think i will go for a mobile solution... did some research on the speed difference between 2015 and 2016 models... the 2016 models are not as fast as apple wants you to believe, only marginally faster then the 2015 models... and while very nice, the touchbar will be useless to me as the macbook is out of my reach on stage, and i will controll it with a remote magic pad...

So i will go for the 2015 model macbook pro.. as it aslo has native usb ports and hdmi.. so i can use a standard 4k monitor..

I would have gone for the 2016 model if it accepted 32GB, but it doesnt..

hivkorn · Post by **hivkorn** » Wed Apr 19, 2017 4:30 pm

Michael L wrote: If you want an iMac, wait until late this year! Apple announced the iMac will have major "pro" upgrade in 2017. According to a report on Pike's Universum the new iMacs could offer Xeon processors (a lot more cache), up to 62GB RAM, faster SSDs, and AMD graphics.
Expect a comically higher price of course.

WOW Really !!???

Insane powerful setup

V0RT3X · Post by **V0RT3X** » Wed Apr 19, 2017 5:18 pm

Honestly If you're making music and plan on using a lot of high-end plugins that use Multi-core processing I'd look towards buying a system with more than 4 cores. 4 cores is great because you get 8-cores because of virtual threading, but honestly 8 physical cores and 16 total threads would probably be the sweet spot IMO. Unfortunately the only 8-core option that Apple offers is the aging trashcan system.

I've spent a long time using a 4-core macbook pro, and I hated those moments when I would run out of DSP power while composing in realtime with Ableton Live. I think the reason I hated it was because I would be in a composing zone and I didn't want to have to pause for freezing.

Honestly for the longest time I wanted to have a real-time synthesis setup with similar performance to Propellerheads Reason but instead with plugins where I have to do very very little freezing. I absolutely loved Reason back in the day for the instant gratification factor, and on my Macbook pro I got up 30-40 fully loaded tracks which was always mind boggling for me!

Now a days I don't really like the sound of Reasons factory devices that much, and the PDC on the RE devices isn't that great either so I've ditched reason indefinitely. I still won't forget the performance I got out of it though, and for the longest time since, my goal has been to recreate that performance in VST land with a self-built PC.

Anyhow if you plan on choosing a Mac and want to work with lots of tracks filled with virtual instruments and effects, I would wait for the pro iMac lineup that was mentioned above. If you have the cash to spend and need something right now, you could also buy 6-core 3.5 ghz Xeon based Trashcan Mac pro which would be pretty good too.

However if portability is a concern, and you don't want a PC then Macbook pro would be my best recommendation. Again you might want to wait because of rumors that they will be getting upgraded CPUs and Memory.

Sjefke · Post by **Sjefke** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 11:00 am

V0RT3X wrote:Honestly If you're making music and plan on using a lot of high-end plugins that use Multi-core processing I'd look towards buying a system with more than 4 cores. 4 cores is great because you get 8-cores because of virtual threading, but honestly 8 physical cores and 16 total threads would probably be the sweet spot IMO. Unfortunately the only 8-core option that Apple offers is the aging trashcan system.

I've spent a long time using a 4-core macbook pro, and I hated those moments when I would run out of DSP power while composing in realtime with Ableton Live. I think the reason I hated it was because I would be in a composing zone and I didn't want to have to pause for freezing.

Honestly for the longest time I wanted to have a real-time synthesis setup with similar performance to Propellerheads Reason but instead with plugins where I have to do very very little freezing. I absolutely loved Reason back in the day for the instant gratification factor, and on my Macbook pro I got up 30-40 fully loaded tracks which was always mind boggling for me!

Now a days I don't really like the sound of Reasons factory devices that much, and the PDC on the RE devices isn't that great either so I've ditched reason indefinitely. I still won't forget the performance I got out of it though, and for the longest time since, my goal has been to recreate that performance in VST land with a self-built PC.

Anyhow if you plan on choosing a Mac and want to work with lots of tracks filled with virtual instruments and effects, I would wait for the pro iMac lineup that was mentioned above. If you have the cash to spend and need something right now, you could also buy 6-core 3.5 ghz Xeon based Trashcan Mac pro which would be pretty good too.

However if portability is a concern, and you don't want a PC then Macbook pro would be my best recommendation. Again you might want to wait because of rumors that they will be getting upgraded CPUs and Memory.

Actually thats exactly what i do.... making music, live playing mainstage..

When using logic, its for creating backing tracks, which if CPU is an issue, i convert to audio befor recording more tracks...

Maybe i wasn't clear enough... with mainstage, i rarely use more then 8 tracks with multiple effects layers.. if done smart i dont see me running into CPu issues with 4 cores and 8 threads..

Thats because i am not recording but making music....

Michael L · Post by **Michael L** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 11:48 am

Good. For your uses, the 2015 MBP seems to hit the sweet spot.
I need more cores for the reasons described above, and am going to wait and see if Apple changes their top-down attitude and improves expandability on the ~2018 Mac Pro. That is a huge issue for me.

c0nsilience · Post by **c0nsilience** » Mon Apr 24, 2017 11:30 am

~2018 Mac Pro should be very different than the 2013 model. I'm looking forward to it as well!

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Mon Apr 24, 2017 11:33 am

When written as MAC there is always somebody asking what is a MAC

So what is a MAC ?

fmr · Post by **fmr** » Mon Apr 24, 2017 11:40 am

Numanoid wrote:When written as MAC there is always somebody asking what is a MAC

So what is a MAC ?

A kind of hamburger. There are several sizes, like the Big Mac

There is also a very detailed instruction set about how to choose and eat them, called MacOS

DJ Warmonger · Post by **DJ Warmonger** » Mon Apr 24, 2017 12:09 pm

MAC adress I guess.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_address

llDNLll · Post by **llDNLll** » Mon Apr 24, 2017 12:20 pm

If you a little bit of a computer geek you could build a hackintosh. I did, and its very stable, very fast, I have much more control over hardware - can attach as many drives as I want, I can have better cpu cooling etc. And the most important, I saved a lot of money

Michael L · Post by **Michael L** » Mon Apr 24, 2017 12:25 pm

^^Did ypu build it primarily for audio? If so did you use a standard tonymac build or custom? Specs?

llDNLll · Post by **llDNLll** » Mon Apr 24, 2017 12:46 pm

Yes, I've build it special for audio production (amateur

) , have external usb sound card, everything work almost out of the box (including iStuff like iMessage ect). My build:
CPU - Procesor Intel Core i5-6600 (soon I will update it with Intel Core i7-7700 cause its compatible)
MOBO - ASUS H170 Pro Gamer
RAM - 32 GB Kingstone FURY DDR4 2133MHz
HDD - 2x SSD GoodRam Iridium Pro 240GB + 1TB Toshiba for samples
video - GeForce MSI GTX 950

Pic:
viewtopic.php?p=6754337#p6744966

Choosing a new MAC...