Which is better for music production: macbook air or pro?

Which is better for music production: macbook air or pro?

The MacBook Pro has higher specifications, depending
on the model, and then CTO additional upgrades.
The Air does not have a Retina display, but has lesser
specs, so that may make a difference. They still offer a
low-end MB/Pro w/ optical drive, w/o Retina; specs vary;
it may work in your instance. You'd have 14 days to take
a new Apple computer back, so keep that in mind.
Good luck!

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    I am using this macbook air:
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    Will I notice a difference in speed from 8GB to 12/24GB for memory (for AE / Pr)?
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    chanx in advance - horton ;o)

    For what it is worth here is my tuppence worth on the subject, horton. (and a warm welcome to the forums , by the way!)
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    Hi whopkins85
    Well I ended up going with the 16GB Retina MBP. For the simple reason that the 8GB would've seen me constantly second guess my decision. Plus I wanted to "future proof" myself as best as I could knowing that these babies cannot be 'upgraded' with additional ram at a later date due the whole soldered RAM issue. So yeah I shelled out some extra money, bought my rMBP from B&H in NYC through their webstore and saved a ton on not having to pay sales tax since I am not a resident of NY state.
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    I hope this helps. My mantra for technology is, when in doubt go with max specs on a machine.
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    Hi everyone:
    I am seeking suggestions here from fellow music artists/ DJs and tech wizards to help me make the "right" decision in where to invest my money.
    I don't know wether to buy the base model MBPr 15inch with 2.0Ghz Quad Core i7, 8gb ram and 256 flash drive. I am a musician and this laptop will solve two purposes
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    THEREFORE, now I am second guessing my purchase on two aspects -->
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    2) Is the 256 GB SSD going to be an issue with file sizes? I mean like I can always transfer stuff to an external drive and keep creating space but then its almost like having a McLaren SLR and running it constantly on EMPTY and getting gas filled in it every 2 miles. Idk....
    Any advise, nudge in the right direction, suggestions, recommendations would be much appreciated. . Is 8gb of ram enough? I am more on the 8gb ram side because of money issue also the place I am buying is offering 10% discount (cannot configure with the specs) I want to be happy with my purchase, but I don't want to be 2 years down the road kicking myself for not having gone with the 16GB and bigger SSD.
    Which is a notable problem with the rMBPs and their lack of upgradability.

    Hi whopkins85
    Well I ended up going with the 16GB Retina MBP. For the simple reason that the 8GB would've seen me constantly second guess my decision. Plus I wanted to "future proof" myself as best as I could knowing that these babies cannot be 'upgraded' with additional ram at a later date due the whole soldered RAM issue. So yeah I shelled out some extra money, bought my rMBP from B&H in NYC through their webstore and saved a ton on not having to pay sales tax since I am not a resident of NY state.
    Another thing I'd like to recommend to you is that if you plan on running a number of VSTs or AUs with your DAW especially of the nature of heavy sound libraries such as Spectrasonics Omnisphere or KOMPLETE then I would highly highly recommend purchasing a Lacie 2 or 3TB 7200 RPM external drive. I wish I had known this earlier but an incredibly efficient (and correct) way to run DAW with sound libraries to load your VSTs on an external drive which is either a fast SSD or at least a 7200 RPM. This way your system drive doesn't get overloaded reading and writing at the same time between multiple programs running in parallel. Once your system drive runs the DAW and the system accesses the sound libraries through and external drive, it makes for a much more efficiently managed read/write process.
    I hope this helps. My mantra for technology is, when in doubt go with max specs on a machine.
    Thanks for your post

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    The MacBook Pro has higher specifications, depending
    on the model, and then CTO additional upgrades.
    The Air does not have a Retina display, but has lesser
    specs, so that may make a difference. They still offer a
    low-end MB/Pro w/ optical drive, w/o Retina; specs vary;
    it may work in your instance. You'd have 14 days to take
    a new Apple computer back, so keep that in mind.
    Good luck!

  • Which Mac Pro to buy for Music Production

    Hi All
    Hope you can help.
    Currently I have a macbook pro ( 2.66Ghz + 4GB ).
    Im planning to buy a mac pro for music production, which is better
    4 Core 2.66Ghz Nehalem CPU + 3x2GB or
    8 Core 2.26 Ghz Nehalem CPU + 6x2GB
    Im heavy on VST/AU's, use a fair bit of audio samples and also will be using a load of ROMpler style sampler instruments.
    Im also looking to future proof the system but if the 8 core system is unnecssary for using logic studio id rather get the 4 core option as its easier on my budget.
    Im also planning to run 3 x 1tb HDD's ( 1 x OS / 1 x Samples / 1 x Music )
    Hope you can advise as itching to buy one with my commission money
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    Andrew

    JG99 wrote:
    I've heard from a few Logic users and read on other forums that there is currently little difference in performance between the 8-core and 4-core Mac Pro's when running Logic 8. This may change in the future...?
    Really? The benchmarks seem to indicate that the 8 x 2.26 is 30-40 % more powerful than the 4 x 2.66, a significant difference...
    Personally, I'd get a quad core and spend the difference on ram (from crucial.com) as this will make more of a difference when running power hungry plug-ins.
    JG
    But the 4 core has a max RAM of 8 GB where the 8 core maxes to 32 GB. Might be worth considering.

  • Which mac pro to get for music production?

    which is the best macbook to get for music production? I want it mainly to be able to handle a lot of vsts being used simultaneously. I see upgrade options such as from an ata drive to a solid state, and am wondering on which would be the best for my cause! any help would be much appreciated!

    Avi Selva wrote:
    well im looking at the 15 inch non retina and the retina doesnt come with a superdrive, as ill be needing that to burn material straight from my laptop to cds. So that more or less rules out any of the retina display models. Its just the customizing i needed help unless you could suggest another model entirely!
    You can add an Optical drive to the Retina models connected by USB. And it does not have to be the Apple branded (Not So) Superdrive. It can be any portable CD/DVD burner that connects by USB.
    But in all honesty you can get a faster Windows PC notebook then any of the Mac notebooks for around 1/2 - 2/3 the cost for what you want to do with it.

  • MSI GT60 review for music production (former MacBook Pro user)

    Due to the upgrade limitations of MBPr (Macbook Pro Retina) I decided to try Windows after 7 years of using OSX. I chose the MSI GT60 over a Mac product by a close Margin and I still have doubts about windows 8.
    The GT60
    The hardware:
    1. The casing - coming from a Mac, this casing is disappointing. It's not cool, sexy or anything. It's "plastiky" and the design looks like something from the late 90s. you're not impressing any chicks with this one and it's nothing I'd take to Starbucks.
    2. The Keyboard - Excellent. It has a nice feel and the lights are kinda cool, but don't make up for the ugly design.
    3. The Mouse pad - too small and cheap looking. It tries to hang with a MBP mouse, but it's not as responsive and fluid.
    4. Connections - I can't think of any other connections I would want.
    5. Ram Capacity - Blows away the Mac at 32GB. This comes in handy for music projects loaded with plugins and is one of the major reasons I went for this box over a Mac. 
    6. Super raid 2 - This is another cool option Apples don't have in their laptops. The ability to add 3 ssds in addition to another storage drive really makes this a lucrative music machine. Loading samples quickly greatly improves workflow.
    7. Screen - This screen is good, but vs a retina...well...you know.
    8. Optical drive - Mine is ...strange...sometimes it works sometimes it don't. Maybe w firmware update will fix it?
    Performance - I loaded a Cubase project that even my Older 12 core Mac Pro had to wrestle with. That Mac Pro had 40GB of ram. Well, this GT60 pass with flying colors and with the most resource hungry plugins loaded it operated at an average of 60% CPU and 10 of the 12 GB of ram. I'm interested to see if more ram may help improve performance and/or reduce CPU usage.
    Heat Myth - I read in other forums (and ofcourse ASUS) of the
    so called" heating issues with the MSI Laptops. I do believe, by theory the ASUS gaming box may run cooler, but all the jibba jabba of overheating I never experience. The GT60 is not loud and it's not hot.
    Overall, I find this to be a cool laptop for music production but if I didn't need all the extra ram or drives I'd probably stick with a MBP. They look way cooler. If MSI had put this hardware inside of an enclosure like that GS70 (but bigger), It would be cool.

    While this is a review, let me just comment on a few things....
    Part of the reason that half of what you get is possible, is because of how large it is.
    You wouldn't be able to get 3 mSATA SSD's if you didn't get a GT60/GT70.
    You wouldn't be able to get 32 GB of RAM if you didn't get a GT60/GT70 (actually, I guess the GE60/GE70's can handle that too).
    The GT series also has a more beefy video card that requires more cooling than the GE or GS series laptops.
    Either way, the GT60 is a great notebook overall. The screen could be better, but it's not bad by any means either. Compared to many other similarly or higher priced notebooks, it's just as good or better IMHO.
    The keyboard is actually very nice, and while the backlighting is somewhat gaudy at times, it's nice to be able to see the keys in the dark.
    The biggest downfall (personally) is the screen hinge and the back of the screen and how flimsy it is. That's honestly  my biggest gripe about the notebook. I always feel or think I'm going to break the screen when I open or close the notebook.
    Have you messed with the built in sound card at all? Got any thoughts on that?

  • I have just upgraded from a Macbook to a Macbook Air. I have been using a iomega external hard drive for Time Machine, which use a Firewire. However, Macbook Air's do not have a Firewire port and i cannot find an adaptor anywhere. Can anyone help?? Thanks

    I have just upgraded from a Macbook to a Macbook Air. I have been using a iomega external hard drive for Time Machine, which use a Firewire. However, Macbook Air's do not have a Firewire port and i cannot find an adaptor anywhere. Can anyone help?? Thanks

    There has never been a reliable firewire ---> USB adapter suitable for external high speed storage.  This was a major issue when the MacBooks lost the firewire port a number of years ago (Apple subsequently brought it back).
    The only high speed port on the Air is the ThunderBolt port.  There are external ThunderBolt drive options out there, but they're somewhat more expensive than traditional USB/FireWire options.

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