Macbook pro 13"?Good enough for serious mixing?

[Iliketapping]

Hi

 

I've intrested in buying this mac:

 

http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs-13inch.html

 

2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

 

4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB

 

250GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm

 

SuperDrive 8x (DVD

[Phil O'Keefe]

It will probably depend on two things:

 

How many plugins you want to use on those 30 tracks.

 

How good the external firewire drive you're using is.

 

 

You don't want to use the internal hard drive for the audio data; ideally, you want to have all the audio files on a Oxford chipset equipped firewire drive. While you might be able to get 30 tracks going with the internal, neither I, nor Avid / Digidesign, recommend it.

 

As far as the plugins go, I think you'd probably have more than enough "horsepower" with that MBP to do a 30 track mix, complete with a "typical" plugin array, but the specific plugins you use, and how you utilize them will definitely be a consideration. If you want to put a high end reverb plugin as an insert on every track, you may run out of CPU horsepower, but if you use half a dozen different reverbs, along with aux sends / returns, you'd probably have power to spare. In terms of things like EQ and compression, I'm sure you'd have plenty of power with that machine to put one on every track if you so desired.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Oh, and as far as video editing, again, depending on how fast you need the rendering to be, and how elaborate you are going to get with the production, you'll probably be fine. My daughter has done some pretty cool music videos using nothing but the camera and iMove in her 2.1 GHz Core 2 Duo White Macbook.

 

For both audio and video, I recommend LOTS of RAM; I think you're wise to get 4 GB. I have 4GB (maxed out) in my 2.1 GHz C2D Macbook, and it made a big difference with Pro Tools.

[CME]

I have an older MacBook Pro. It's a 15" with the 2.4 Core 2 Duo proc and it is a great machine. I have mine also maxed at 4GB of ram and recommend at least that. Which it appears the new ones come with. I believe the new ones can handle up to 8GB. Look at OWC and Crucial for cheaper prices on RAM if you're gonna upgrade.

 

If you're gonna run PTLE on it, check out the DUC (Digidesign User Conference, well Avid now). Under PTLE for Mac OSX there is a setup and trouble shooting guide. Not familiar with Logic or video editing though.

[GtrProductions]

From my experience using ProTools LE on my new iMac, which is more powerful on than the 13" MacBook Pro, you may end up bogged down with too many plug-ins going. You may want to use some of the less heavy plug-ins like the Digidesign EQ III to keep your CPU load down.

[Rimmer]

 

Hi   I've intrested in buying this mac:   http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs-13inch.html   2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo   4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB   250GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm   SuperDrive 8x (DVD

[bobonblonde]

I just bought that same MBP about 2 months ago to use with my Profire 2626 and Logic and have already mixed several albums with it. IMHO it definitely does the job and then some. I don't think you will be disappointed at all, especially if you get a good deal on one.

I don't use a ton of VI's but can run at least 32 mono audio tracks and 8-16 busses with several plugs on each.

[Kerouac]

I'm thinking of breaking down and getting one until the 2010 Mac Pros come out as my old iMac is starting to hit the wall. I do use quite a few VIs though, and the extra RAM would be a must have. I don't mind freezing tracks either.

[gdoubleyou]

I have an older Black Macbook, no problems with sessions of 32-48 tracks.

 

Mostly virtual instruments, added a 500GB 7200rpm internal drive, maxed the RAM, and all audio goes to an external firewire drive.

 

Sometimes I have to freeze an effects heavy track during the mixing process.

 

From my experience Logic is the most cpu friendly Mac DAW.

 

[CM1000]

I also need to run logic, does anyone know about if this computer is powerful enough for sibelius as well?

[Phil O'Keefe]

Remember that in Logic Studio you can 'freeze' tracks if need be. I have never had to do this with my MBP 15.4 (2.4ghz, 4 GB Ram) although I have hardly stretched it to the point I would expect to have to do that. This gives (despite being a minor pain) a much greater scope for heavy use of plugins. I have no idea whether you can do the same with PT. Rimmer

 

You can do it with ANY DAW, but I must admit, it's much more of a "process" with Pro Tools than it is with Logic.

 

In PT, it requires creating a new track and busing / recording the processed audio (with all the plugin processing active) to a new audio track, then disabling the original track and its plugins... or moving the audio from the "new" track on to a new playlist of the original track and disabling the plugins.

[Jon Chappell]

Re: freezing tracks in PT:

 

... or moving the audio from the "new" track on to a new playlist of the original track and disabling the plugins.

 

Great tip, Phil! This keeps the original layout of your "board" (i.e., channel assignments in your Mixer window) intact. Thanks for this!

[zildjidan]

LOGIC 9 + 8 gb's or ram will be plenty to handle 30 tracks + plug-ins.. I've done it a lot on weaker MacBook configurations.

 

In Logic you can freeze tracks too.. so if you have a lot of plugins on a channel and it sounds good for the time being, "freeze" it, and it will deactivate the plugins on that channel and play the channels content from an audio file it creates behind the scenes. It's very handy and quick to enable/disable

[SOUND PROOF]

That's the same computer i have been recording with for the past 3 years. But i only usually run no more then 12 tracks. I am using the waves pluggins with several tracks that have melodyne on them too. It serves me fine.

[Kerouac]

I did some recording this week with 30+ tracks, Logic compressors and EQ on all of them, two instances of Battery 3, three Space Designers, and 5 Amp Designer sims. Both of my cores were hovering around 25%. I do have the 3.06ghz Core 2 and 4GB of RAM, so the Macbook Pro should be able to at least get in the ballpark.