New Purchase hardware, group wisdom Please

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jfmusic
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2005 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: Unspecified

New Purchase hardware, group wisdom Please

Post by jfmusic »

I'm at the point of spending on a new CPU...
Currently using an 2009 8core Mac Pro hot rodded. also a 2008 Mac Pro and a older i7 PC.

I am considering a New MacBook or one of the New IMac pro's .
Imacs are bloody expensive and I cant even think beyond a base model with upgraded memory.

Macbook pro is 7th gen chip since they have not released 8th gen or other Form factor.

For DP what do the members think would be a better use of funds...
Better:
new iMac
or
will a Loaded MacBook Pro handle DP loads sufficiently.
Not currently doing major scoring, probably not past 50 tracks and 2 Vracks
Dumping all my out gear for onboard sounds and processing. But can still use the older 3 boxes
for sounds... if I don't sell them off as well.
Using ID22 interface i/o
Thanks for your wisdom... Happy Holidays.
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mikehalloran
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Location: Sillie Con Valley

Re: New Purchase hardware, group wisdom Please

Post by mikehalloran »

Well, the iMac Pro is a beast

https://www.apple.com/imac-pro/

but there are others. At $3,139 in the Refurb Store, this is as tricked out as the non-Pro iMac gets with 32G RAM and 1T flash drive. You can use a TB dock to add additional SSD storage or open it up to add up to 4T additional inside.

https://www.apple.com/us-hed/shop/produ ... 5k-display

Even though I want the new Pro, I may settle for one of these instead. Or not. Adding a 4T SSD brings it nearly to the base price of the Pro.
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
2023 Mac Studio M2 8TB, 192GB RAM, OS Sonoma 14.4, USB4 8TB external, M-Audio AIR 192|14, Mackie ProFxv3 6/10/12; 2012 MBPs Catalina, Mojave
IK-NI-Izotope-PSP-Garritan-Antares, LogicPro X, Finale 27.4, Dorico 5.2, Notion 6, Overture 5, TwistedWave, DSP-Q 5, SmartScore64 Pro, Toast 20 Pro
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James Steele
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Re: New Purchase hardware, group wisdom Please

Post by James Steele »

jfmusic wrote:I'm at the point of spending on a new CPU...
Currently using an 2009 8core Mac Pro hot rodded. also a 2008 Mac Pro and a older i7 PC.
When you say the 2009 8-core is hot-rodded, does that mean you hotrodded it into a 12-core by installing a firmware patch and two hexcore processors? You can do that for $150 these days if you de-lid the processors yourself and it might tide you over a while longer.
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jfmusic
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2005 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: Unspecified

Re: New Purchase hardware, group wisdom Please

Post by jfmusic »

Thanks Guys appreciate the Previous input... Following up again since I have not
Bought yet.
Are we at the point where the MacBook pro does an ample Job, or is the iMac 8 or 10 Care a far better solution.
Of Course its ridiculously expensive, 5000.00 UGH.

It used to be, for Audio/Video always buy the top of the line with the most ram possible, But have we caught up in speed to not need the Most expensive CPU's to be functional for most Normal tracking,
Short of Full orchestrations? See original Post for specifics...


Thanks in advance
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mikehalloran
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Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 5:08 pm
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Re: New Purchase hardware, group wisdom Please

Post by mikehalloran »

You say Audio/Video but that doesn't narrow it down. AV is what the large multi-core Macs are built for. Audio doesn't require the same horsepower.

So... how much Video and how demanding is the load?

Audio with a light AV load can be done in a 4 core iMac or 6 core Mac Pro.
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
2023 Mac Studio M2 8TB, 192GB RAM, OS Sonoma 14.4, USB4 8TB external, M-Audio AIR 192|14, Mackie ProFxv3 6/10/12; 2012 MBPs Catalina, Mojave
IK-NI-Izotope-PSP-Garritan-Antares, LogicPro X, Finale 27.4, Dorico 5.2, Notion 6, Overture 5, TwistedWave, DSP-Q 5, SmartScore64 Pro, Toast 20 Pro
jfmusic
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2005 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: Unspecified

Re: New Purchase hardware, group wisdom Please

Post by jfmusic »

Thanks for the reply,I made a feature length movie years ago...
but I don't see anything long form in the foreseeable future.
Maybe a short piece or two.

Mostly Audio...
Jazz, pop, rock tracks...
Unloading all my rack gear and moving to Softsynth and samples.

MY 2009 8 core with SSD's and 18gigs of ram seems to bog down.
I do have a 5 year old i7 PC as well and a 2008 8 core sitting...
Purchased Vienna for tying them together if I need full orchestration.

I know I need a new rig... Rather not drop 5000 on the iMac if it is simply over kill at this point.
For shear Power the 10 Core is tempting but a lot of money for me at this point.
Macbook pro seems to be around 3200 rather then 5000 of course the 5000 includes a 27" 5k screen.

Just not sure where the best bang for the buck is at this point.
In the past it was simple, save up and buy the biggest baddest ... 10k for the top end iMac is unthinkable.
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