Trash can?

[Phil O]

Can you selectively power up individual drives?

I don't think so. Seems to be one power switch, but your point is a good one.

[HCMarkus]

I've ordered a new mac. It will be shipping with High Sierra. Can I downgrade to Sierra? If so is it advisable? I've heard there are some issues with HS.

Phil

You should be able to do, as the 6,1 initially shipped with Mavericks. Sierra (the sober version) has been working well for me.

[Phil O]

You might want to consider having a daily manual Project Backup spinner in addition to your automatic Time Machine backups. With a Project Backup always available and storing loads of stuff, it is easy to find old projects when the client calls for an update/rework.

That's the way I do things now using a single 3.5" dock and cheap WD 500GB drives. I get two (for redundancy) for a client and keep them in separate locations. That worked out really well for me in the flood . If the client fills one pair, I get two more. They can usually be had for under 50 bucks - an expense easily passed on to the client, and really handy if a client needs re-work. I keep everything associated with the client on there. That way it's all easy to find.

Phil

[HCMarkus]

You might want to consider having a daily manual Project Backup spinner in addition to your automatic Time Machine backups. With a Project Backup always available and storing loads of stuff, it is easy to find old projects when the client calls for an update/rework.

That's the way I do things now using a single 3.5" dock and cheap WD 500GB drives. I get two (for redundancy) for a client and keep them in separate locations. That worked out really well for me in the flood . If the client fills one pair, I get two more. They can usually be had for under 50 bucks - an expense easily passed on to the client, and really handy if a client needs re-work. I keep everything associated with the client on there. That way it's all easy to find.

Phil

Glad yo had those backups!

Do you work directly from the 500GB drives Phil? Also, do you let the client take his/her second drive home when the session done, or do you keep both on hand?

[Phil O]

No, I don't work on those drives. They are strictly for storage. I have been working off an SSD (separate from my boot drive) in one of the bays in my cheese grater. When the project is finished it gets deleted and only exists on the two spinners. But, now with the new trash can I'll need a new workflow.

I don't release individual tracks to my clients unless that is something that is agreed upon in the initial contract (which has only happened once), so both copies stay with me - one in the studio and one in my office.

Phil

[mikehalloran]

I've ordered a new mac. It will be shipping with High Sierra. Can I downgrade to Sierra? If so is it advisable? I've heard there are some issues with HS.

Phil

Very few if you’ve kept current. Many threads on this. If you aren’t running one of those apps, no reason not to run High Sierra.

If you have problems with 10.13, you can go back but only if you plan for it in advance. The way to do so is to have a bootable USB drive running Sierra and a Time Machine backup (or clone) of a device that ran Sierra or older. It’s also what you need to change a Mac Pro to Sierra if the firmware will let you do so—don’t assume it can. Changing an APFS drive back is no picnic.

You cannot downloaded Sierra from the App Store and use it to downgrade the OS. You can use that download with Terminal to create a bootable USB drive. If you have an old 8G thumb drive, use that. Many newer thumb drives will not work even though Terminal will report success. I bought an assortment from BestBuy last month and only a few were able to boot my iMac.

If you have only one TM backup of your old system, do not let it backup a system running High Sierra until you’re sure. TM will not be able to restore to an older system. If you have two backups, you’re good as long as you use only one for now. A clone works as long as Migration Assistant can pull data from it.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I assume you are getting a 2013 Mac Pro. I don't think they've released a new model since then. If so, something to look to for is a problem Apple had with some graphic card failures. The card in mine had to be replaced within a week of purchase. It just crapped out and was only working intermittently. There's an upper and lower card (according to my tech guy). The lower card (I think it's called the B card or something like that) is the one that has the issues. Hopefully, Apple pulled and replaced all the defective ones, but who knows?

[waxman]

I've always been one to go for the bleeding edge at times even needing a transfusion. USB3 and Thunderbolt 3 technology is no online. The Arrow interface from UAD is one example. It was a big risk and real paradigm shift for me to switch to the new MacBook Pro from a 2013 Trash Can.

After 6 months of using the MBP I can't imagine going back to a desktop or tower or anything that I can't work with "anywhere anytime." I love my studio but getting out of the room is a game changer for my body, mind, and spirit. I did not experience a loss of power in switching to the MBP from the Trash Can. The I/O was a hurdle at first but now is a non-factor. Hubs, connectors etc. are plentiful and inexpensive.

This is not widely known... From your local Apple store you can buy a MBP and use it for 30 days and return if needed. Laying out a project, editing at Starbucks, the park, beach or anywhere you imagine is amazing. It reminds me of walking around the house or sitting in front of a TV with a Strat around my neck... full immersion in the art.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Hey Waxman, I went w/o a laptop for a long time as I was doing all studio work and live performances. When I took up drawing and painting and then saw someone using an iPad Pro for that on my way home from a gig on Catalina, I bought the 13” with max ram. I still don’t need to do my music work outside th studio, but find myself using the iPad for most daily things (email, research, texts, news, and drawing. No DP (yet) but I can write music with the Apple Pencil and port that as notation into Finale. That’s where I do most of my work anyway. Unless there’s a specific gig that requires a laptop, the iPad covers most of my portable needs and is even more portable than my wife’s MBP. She, OTOH, doesn’t use a desktop, just the laptop and an iPad Mini for super portability.

I’m not saying you’re “wrong” or the advice isn’t good. It is. It if you don’t need to work in DP or another app that’s only on a desktop machine, iPads are a good option as well.

[mikehalloran]

…
After 6 months of using the MBP I can't imagine going back to a desktop or tower or anything that I can't work with "anywhere anytime." ...

As attractive as that sounds—and it does—I found that running DP anywhere wasn’t for me. I tried it on my daughter’s MBP... nah. I’m glad it’s working for you, though.

A Zoom R24 lets me put the ‘recording” part of my studio into a briefcase plus mic stands. I like great sounding rooms, halls, outdoors, churches for capturing music where the performers feel most comfortable. My 828mkII gets very little use anymore and I’m just as likely to use the Zoom when recording my piano.

I want the big screen plus a monitor on each side for mixing, MIDI, processing etc. in DP. Don’t know it my next rig will be another iMac such as the Pro or a Mac Pro w/ 3 monitors but it won’t be a laptop.

Hey Waxman, I went w/o a laptop for a long time as I was doing all studio work and live performances. When I took up drawing and painting and then saw someone using an iPad Pro for that on my way home from a gig on Catalina, I bought the 13” with max ram. I still don’t need to do my music work outside th studio, but find myself using the iPad for most daily things (email, research, texts, news, and drawing. No DP (yet) but I can write music with the Apple Pencil and port that as notation into Finale. That’s where I do most of my work anyway. Unless there’s a specific gig that requires a laptop, the iPad covers most of my portable needs and is even more portable than my wife’s MBP. She, OTOH, doesn’t use a desktop, just the laptop and an iPad Mini for super portability.

I’m not saying you’re “wrong” or the advice isn’t good. It is. It if you don’t need to work in DP or another app that’s only on a desktop machine, iPads are a good option as well.

Another 13” iPad Pro User here for all the same reasons. I like my wife’s MB Air and my daughters’ MBPs but prefer the iPad. I still have a day job but it’s fine for working in hotel rooms, business meetings and the like when paired with a keyboard/cover. Notion for iOS has gotten really good and exports .xml to Finale. I can even use the GarageBand instruments with a portable keyboard or by tapping on the screen. Thanks to Google, Dropbox and Scrivener, I can collaborate with others at work or on my book and other projects.

It’s all good.

[Phil O]

I've ordered a new mac. It will be shipping with High Sierra. Can I downgrade to Sierra? If so is it advisable? I've heard there are some issues with HS.

Phil

Very few if you’ve kept current. Many threads on this. If you aren’t running one of those apps, no reason not to run High Sierra.

You are correct, I wasn't current, but after reading through some of those threads I think I'm gonna go with High Sierra on the new machine. It will be my DP workhorse and other programs that may have issues can be run on my laptop with Sierra or my old 2006 Mac Pro with Snow Leopard. Thank you for the advice Mike. As always, it's much appreciated.

Phil

[Phil O]

I assume you are getting a 2013 Mac Pro. I don't think they've released a new model since then. If so, something to look to for is a problem Apple had with some graphic card failures. The card in mine had to be replaced within a week of purchase. It just crapped out and was only working intermittently. There's an upper and lower card (according to my tech guy). The lower card (I think it's called the B card or something like that) is the one that has the issues. Hopefully, Apple pulled and replaced all the defective ones, but who knows?

Hey, thanks for the heads up. I'll keep an eye on that.

Phil

[Phil O]

After 6 months of using the MBP I can't imagine going back to a desktop or tower or anything that I can't work with "anywhere anytime."

I hear ya, waxman, but the insurance company is being very specific about what I can get. They are paying for an "equivalent" machine. No more, no less...and I'm ok with that.

Hey, I had an old relic of an oscilloscope (Tektronix 465) that I picked up on ebay for $160 and they are replacing it with a brand new Tektronix digital scope TBS1052B $550. I told them that I would be happy with 160 bucks, but they insisted!

[HCMarkus]

Apple has almost certainly resolved the GPU issues. That said, the base GPUs are probably the best bet unless you are doing a lot of graphics work, as they have lower thermal footprint and thus won't contribute heat that could result in CPU thermal throttling.

Glad your carrier is treating your properly Phil!

[Phil O]

Thanks HC. Yeah, I'm getting the 6 core model upgraded to 8 core and 500GB drive. It's the way you order it if you don't want the bigger graphics card. Why they don't just let you order the 8 core with downgraded graphics I don't know.