DP on MBAir with 828x

[blkraemer]

Long time on and off again user of DP. I want to use my existing MacBook Air to do some basic demo work, with DP and most likely with a 828x (because it has MIDI, Optical and Mic Pre's) and I wanted to ask the forum if anyone has experience trying to run DP on a MacBook Air.

Mine is the 1.7 GHz i7 with 8 GB RAM.

I'd be trying to use the 828x over Thunderbolt 2 and probably daisy-chaining a TB hard drive between the Mac and the 828x or downstream of the 828x. Another possibility would be using a USB 3.x drive on a separate bus.

Is this system going to work or fail?

[waxman]

It won't fail. I have an early 2014 11 inch Macbook air. It's an i7 2 core 1 processor. My Apollo Twin works on TB with it. So I'm talking Volkswagen Bus not a Porsche or Jetta or even a bug... Don't expect to go fast but you will get there. DP's 9.12 will help a ton. If you start trying to use plugs that are cpu hogs forget it. If you finish (freeze or bounce by aux) tracks as you go and then merge bites and delete unused soundbites often it will be fine. I have used mine for playback of multitracks for live and it was flawless. Good luck. Report back how it works for you. By the way I would strongly recommend the Slate Everything Bundle subscription. It really has all the plugs you need to do great recording and mixes. Easy on CPU and costs $15 bucks a month.

[blkraemer]

Thanks waxman... I'll give it a go and will report back with resuts.

Mostly I want to build some muti-track demos to clicks so I can take those into a studio (running DP or PT) and have some structure in place. 8 tracks max kind of thing, no real processing.

-bk

[mikehalloran]

You will be fine.

Your biggest bottleneck will be the 8G installed RAM and Waxman has already given you some suggestions on how to manage that. Having a larger buffer when mixing will also help.

I don't know that it will make a difference how you have the external drive. I would get one of the new SSDs.

[blkraemer]

Thanks for the suggestions Mike!

I haven't ordered the 828x yet, I'll report back with some user results when I have things setup.

bk

[waxman]

I would recommend looking at the Apollo Twin as a 828 alternative. It sounds like you don't need to record more then 2 channels at a time. Also there is an 8 channels ADAT light pipe input on the Apollo Twin. So a decent pre with adat out and you will be able to use the Apollo mixer which is great for the input stage. Not to detract from MOTU but you should listen to it first. The twin duo or even solo will give you a set of great plugins that off load the DSP which could help with working on a Macbook Air. To speak to Mikes suggestion. If you are using DP 9.12 you will not need a big buffer. 256 will feel like there is no latency...