Members moog man Posted May 31, 2009 Members Share Posted May 31, 2009 I am looking to purchase a macbook or a macbook pro for audio use, school use, and work use. I should also say that I do not want a PC- I love the Mac OS and I want to use Logic. What I am wondering about is which macbook to get and furthermore what specs to upgrade for audio use. I am going to be using this machine for recording and possibly for live use where I will want low latency with soft synths. I also realize it is a good idea to upgrade to 4 GB of ram so I will be doing that regardless of the machine I end up with. If I could get away with buying a regular Macbook I would prefer that, but I realize that it does not have firewire. Is it necessary to have a firewire interface? I will be wanting to record at least 4-8 tracks simultaneously and want low latency on softsynths. I realize that most pro interfaces are FW, so I am thinking a Macbook Pro will be necessary. I like the looks of the Firebox and the Ultralite. The second thing I was wondering about is the Hard Drive. Should I upgrade to 7200 rpm from 5400 rpm? Will this make a big difference in realistic use? Finally if I go the Macbook Pro route would it be worth it to upgrade from 2.4 GHz to 2.66 GHz? It is a $250 dollar difference for me but I have a hard time seeing how much faster it would make things. If there will be a considerable difference in performance I will consider the upgrade. Obviously I want to spend the least amount of money but still get good performance. Thanks for the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ed A. Posted May 31, 2009 Members Share Posted May 31, 2009 MacRumors Buyer's Guide says MacBook and MacBook Pro updates are imminent. I'd wait until the Apple WWDC next week before buying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members raffor Posted June 1, 2009 Members Share Posted June 1, 2009 Don't forget Apple is running the student rebate: buy an apple and get a free ipod touch. If you are a student or know one, you can save and get an extra iPod. Actually, the white macbook got just updated to a nice spec. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AfroRouge Posted June 1, 2009 Members Share Posted June 1, 2009 [hijack] I'm thinking about buying a coworker's loaded G5, which he bought for high end video work but no longer needs. I'd use this exclusively for music. My needs are quite minimal as a hobbyist, but my iBook G4 is well along in years and doesn't play nicely as a DAW (it wasn't purchased for that purpose anyway). Seem like a decent way to save some cash while getting a system that can probably do all I want pretty comfortably. Seem like a good idea? [/hijack] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members plaid_emu Posted June 1, 2009 Members Share Posted June 1, 2009 The second thing I was wondering about is the Hard Drive. Should I upgrade to 7200 rpm from 5400 rpm? Will this make a big difference in realistic use? Finally if I go the Macbook Pro route would it be worth it to upgrade from 2.4 GHz to 2.66 GHz? It is a $250 dollar difference for me but I have a hard time seeing how much faster it would make things. If there will be a considerable difference in performance I will consider the upgrade. Definitely upgrade the system drive to a 7200 RPM. Last December I put a 7200 RPM (16 MB buffer) Hitachi drive in my MacMini and also upgraded the 1.5 GHz Core Solo to a 2.33 GHz Core 2 Duo. WOW! Like a totally new machine! Also, DO NOT keep any files that are unnecessary on your system drive. Before I upgraded the system drive, I was having performance issues with Reaktor 5. I was using about 40 GB of a 60 GB drive. I moved EVERY file that didn't need to be on the machine to an external drive and slimmed it down to about 9 GB. The difference was night and day. One good way to clear up space is to delete the five billion unneeded printer drivers in Macintosh HD > Library folder > Printers folder As far as the USB Vs. Firewire goes: I've heard RME is making a Fireface 400 for USB 2.0 that's going to be awesome. If you go for the Pro, in my opinion the difference between the 2.4 and 2.66 GHz isn't worth the dough. Spend that extra money to save for the RME Fireface 400 with Firewire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members raffor Posted June 1, 2009 Members Share Posted June 1, 2009 I personally would not buy any G-line computer anymore. The intel processor surpassed even the G5 power. You are probably better of buying a mac mini. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brzilian Posted June 1, 2009 Members Share Posted June 1, 2009 Old technology which will no be supported once Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6) is released later this year. G5s also sound like jet engines because they run so damn hot. As raffor points out, even a Core2Duo Mac Mini runs circles around an older G5 in terms of processing power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members moog man Posted June 1, 2009 Author Members Share Posted June 1, 2009 Ok, I will be sure to go for that faster drive. It is only $70 and it sounds like a good thing to have for sample streaming. I think I will probably just stick with the 4.6 GHz processor as well. It just seems like a lot of money for something that I will probably not use. I finally am ready to get a Macbook and then they talk about releasing an upgraded one! Uggh. Though if the upgrade only concerns 3G I could care less. But a possible Logic upgrade is exciting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sad Darwin Posted June 1, 2009 Members Share Posted June 1, 2009 G5s also sound like jet engines because they run so damn hot.As raffor points out, even a Core2Duo Mac Mini runs circles around an older G5 in terms of processing power. See above. You guys speak the truth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AfroRouge Posted June 1, 2009 Members Share Posted June 1, 2009 Yeah, those have been my concerns. I'll probably steer clear. Thanks y'all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members goldphinga Posted June 1, 2009 Members Share Posted June 1, 2009 4gig ram, 7200 drive..rocks ive only got 2 gig in my new macbook pro and it still never maxes out amazing machine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kooki_sf Posted June 1, 2009 Members Share Posted June 1, 2009 to the OP: in addition to the better system drive, you want to be using an external drive for streaming your samples/ audio files. using your internal drive for your media is considered harmful.. to goldphinga: of course it doesn't max out, it just goes into virtual memory. have you had a look at your activity monitor lately? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members moog man Posted June 1, 2009 Author Members Share Posted June 1, 2009 I am a computer tech novice in general, so this is quite helpful. I will look into an external as well. Should it be FW as well? Would I be ok if I used the internal for a while or is it that bad for the comp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kooki_sf Posted June 1, 2009 Members Share Posted June 1, 2009 FW or USB2. not really a problem for the computer itself but the internal drive will have an increased chance of failing.. people still do it all the time, so its really up to you.. but external drives are pretty cheap.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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