DP 9 or 10 with the NEW MBP!!

[waxman]

Starting to see interesting hubs...
https://www.dudesgadget.com/products/th ... acbook-pro

[Michael Canavan]

Just wanted to toss this out there, and more tech inclined people, feel free to shoot me down, it's a slightly informed opinion, not based entirely on empirical evidence.

People are freaking out because PC laptops have 32GB options for RAM, but has anyone even thought about what RAM does and how it works when you run out? OSX uses swap space on your drives to compensate when RAM taps out, which in days of old (yesterday), meant slow hard drives. We now live in the world of blazingly fast SSDs, swap space, and the OS's ability to use the drives empty space to manage RAM has to be improved by all this.

Just saying, 16GB might seem low if you're running VSL, Play, Spitfire etc. orchestral libraries, but how much of that is going to fit on a laptop in the first place? Likely if you're running that stuff you're using a dedicated PC/Mac as a slave etc. Plus Kontakt at least sets most libraries up to run mainly off the SSD, utilizing the speed of the things to save RAM etc.

All that said I would be a fool to upgrade, writing this on a 2012 2.7 four core with 16GB RAM, it's still competitive in tests against the latest MacBooks. Don't get fooled by marketing, Geekbench at least in my experience is accurate.

[mikehalloran]

Just wanted to toss this out there, and more tech inclined people, feel free to shoot me down, it's a slightly informed opinion, not based entirely on empirical evidence.

People are freaking out because PC laptops have 32GB options for RAM, but has anyone even thought about what RAM does and how it works when you run out? OSX uses swap space on your drives to compensate when RAM taps out, which in days of old (yesterday), meant slow hard drives. ...

All that said I would be a fool to upgrade, writing this on a 2012 2.7 four core with 16GB RAM, it's still competitive in tests against the latest MacBooks. Don't get fooled by marketing, Geekbench at least in my experience is accurate.

Until I went from 20G to 32G RAM, my system would choke on occasion. My many open browser tabs (over 100 on 3 monitors is normal for my job) is definitely the culprit but DP would freeze if I hadn't closed my browser first—better if I rebooted. I was able to trace this to RAM and haven't had a problem since I upgraded to 32G. There are times when I have only 1.2G free. Yes, virtual RAM works well but sometimes it's not fast enough.

This was after I upgraded to an internal SSD. It was much worse before.

[waxman]

32gb not available in the MacBook Pro...

[waxman]

Until I went from 20G to 32G RAM, my system would choke on occasion. My many open browser tabs (over 100 on 3 monitors is normal for my job) is definitely the culprit but DP would freeze if I hadn't closed my browser first—better if I rebooted. I was able to trace this to RAM and haven't had a problem since I upgraded to 32G. There are times when I have only 1.2G free. Yes, virtual RAM works well but sometimes it's not fast enough.

This was after I upgraded to an internal SSD. It was much worse before.

I am disappointed the new MBP does not have 32gig Ram option. Will only 16g ram impact performance to the point a new MBP will not be as fast as the 2013 Intel 3.5 6 core MacPro trashcan?

[mikehalloran]

Until I went from 20G to 32G RAM, my system would choke on occasion. My many open browser tabs (over 100 on 3 monitors is normal for my job) is definitely the culprit but DP would freeze if I hadn't closed my browser first—better if I rebooted. I was able to trace this to RAM and haven't had a problem since I upgraded to 32G. There are times when I have only 1.2G free. Yes, virtual RAM works well but sometimes it's not fast enough.

This was after I upgraded to an internal SSD. It was much worse before.

I am disappointed the new MBP does not have 32gig Ram option. Will only 16g ram impact performance to the point a new MBP will not be as fast as the 2013 Intel 3.5 6 core MacPro trashcan?

I don't know. It's hard for me to say. My browser is clearly the RAM hog in my setup. Otoh, I don't have the heavy VI use that so many others do.

[waxman]

I am disappointed the new MBP does not have 32gig Ram option. Will only 16g ram impact performance to the point a new MBP will not be as fast as the 2013 Intel 3.5 6 core MacPro trashcan?

I don't know. It's hard for me to say. My browser is clearly the RAM hog in my setup. Otoh, I don't have the heavy VI use that so many others do.[/quote]

Hmmm... I don't have other apps open when using DP. I use mostly traditional key VI's and rarely large VI templates for scores. So maybe it won't be an issue. Does anybody know of anything in the new MBP that would significantly slow it down compared to my 3.5 six core MacPro trash can?

[mikehalloran]

Does anybody know of anything in the new MBP that would significantly slow it down compared to my 3.5 six core MacPro trash can?

Make sure you get the i7 chip. The i5 does not have an FPU. With DP, it does make a difference as I discovered.

[HCMarkus]

Does anybody know of anything in the new MBP that would significantly slow it down compared to my 3.5 six core MacPro trash can?

Yeah; two missing cores, possible thermal throttling, and less RAM. But still, a lot of power in a very small space!

[waxman]

Does anybody know of anything in the new MBP that would significantly slow it down compared to my 3.5 six core MacPro trash can?

Yeah; two missing cores, possible thermal throttling, and less RAM. But still, a lot of power in a very small space!

That is my concern... I was ok with it when I thought it was 32gig RAM. Thermal throttling? Yikes... My purpose is to be mobile. I am concerned now if a mobile state of the art rig will be feasible.

[waxman]

Does anybody know of anything in the new MBP that would significantly slow it down compared to my 3.5 six core MacPro trash can?

Yeah; two missing cores, possible thermal throttling, and less RAM. But still, a lot of power in a very small space!

The guy at the Apple store said just buy the MBpro and try it for a couple weeks and bring it back if I don't like it... that is what I will do. If it throttles or can't handle at least at the level of my 2013 MacPro I am going to be bummed...

[waxman]

Got Macbook Pro... so far so good. Added the Hyper-Drive hub. It is nice to get out of the room. If anyone hears of a small high end A to D with TBolt III let me know. I am considering the Benchmark ADC but it's USB.

Here is the Hyperdrive Hub which pretty much takes care of things and the other two Tbolt 3s are still available...

[wvandyck]

Got Macbook Pro... so far so good. Added the Hyper-Drive hub.

The Satechi Type-C Pro Hub Adapter also works great with the 2017 MBP.

For inquiring minds, the MOTU Track 16 does work well and is bus powered when connected via a FW 800 to TB2 adapter connected to a TB2 to TB3 adapter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XSC_UG5_kU

[mikehalloran]

Got Macbook Pro... so far so good. Added the Hyper-Drive hub.

The Satechi Type-C Pro Hub Adapter also works great with the 2017 MBP.

For inquiring minds, the MOTU Track 16 does work well and is bus powered when connected via a FW 800 to TB2 adapter connected to a TB2 to TB3 adapter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XSC_UG5_kU

There are a number of reports that the Track 16 runs much hotter when bus powered. If that's not an issue for you, then great. Are you able to use phantom power with the small amount of juice that TB supplies?

[wvandyck]

There are a number of reports that the Track 16 runs much hotter when bus powered. If that's not an issue for you, then great. Are you able to use phantom power with the small amount of juice that TB supplies?

Heat from bus power while perhaps noticed early on has never been an issue.

The mics I have - Oktava large and small condensers - require mic inputs available on either the breakout cable or breakout box, in either case this means connection via USB and use of the external power supply.