Best retina laptop for audio recording/film scoring

I already asked this question in a non audio based forum, and was looking for anyone who may use similar programs to me. (The original advice was great, but with all the changes Apple has made, it's difficult to make a decision)
I currently bought a rMBP i7 dual processor with 8 GB ram and am considering going for a return to upgrade to the 15 inch for it's quad processing potential and larger RAM capacity.
I am a seasoned composer and do quite a bit of audio recording. (I've been using Logic 8 on a quad processor iMac with no problem, running Stylus RMX, reason, digi performer (yes, someone still uses it) all at the same time)
Does anyone have any strong feelings about this?
I hate that you're stuck with what you buy these days, and I know the non retina route is available, but I fell in love with the retina.
Anyone have any personal experience on this one?
Best-
JP

Thank you all for reading. If anyone else is having this question, Get the 15 inch w/16 Gigs and the 2.7..
If you don't have other computers, you should go non retina, but if you're going to be using a lot of intsrument librarys, plugins, etc.. You'll grow out of the 13inch in a year.

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Wich one best for Audio Recording using cubase and pro tools? MBP md102 or MBP md103? i often using a lot of VST

wich one the best for Audio Recording using cubase and pro tools? MBP md102 or MBP md103? i often using a lot of VST too

Well, I've been trying this for a while. By my calculations, at this rate, installing all the applications one by one and trying to restore all the data manually will take me about six years. I would finished just in time for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The main problem is, I don't know where all the bodies are buried. Just one example, I'm using Cornerstone for an svn client. I have working copies of multiple repositories on my computer. I really don't want to set them all up again, and I can't figure out where the Cornerstone preferences and all settings are stored. I couldn't find them in the Library anywhere.
And that's just one case.
I haven't done much with my MacBook Pro yet, I think in retrospect the easiest course of action is to reinstall OS X as though it were new MacBook Pro, start from scratch, and use my Time Machine backup with the migration assistant and go from there.
And that's what I'm doing right now. I'm in the middle of reinstalling OS X.
Afterwords I'll use a clean app uninstaller application to get rid of all the applications that I'm not using. And I'll just hack away at directories that I know I haven't looked at for years, with the confidence that I have a backup both in Time Machine and in CCC and also on my iMac. That's three backups.
I would rather start out "light", but I can see it's just going to take forever and a day to get it done. Anyway, fortunately nothing is carved in stone, and I can always try again if I want to. But dealing with all the documents and all the applications one by one separately was just obviously going to take too much time.
I'll report back on my results. And I appreciate your suggestion.
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IMac Optimization for Audio Recording

Good Afternoon iMac Community,
I recently made the switch to the new intel based iMac and tried my best to load it up in preparation for doing some intensive audio processing. Specs of my Imac are 2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo, 4GB RAM, and 320 HD. Was wondering if anyone had any links or sugestions that could help with optimizing my iMac for audio recording? Maybe things like disabling the internet capability and or losing all the internal sounds and etc.
When I am running Logic and Reason together I hear a skip when the loop comes back around and it is all off beat. My DAW audio interface is a Tascam FW1884 and is fairly decent when it comes to latency. I may need to adjust the latency parameters a bit though. Any information would be helpful.
Thanks

Hi and welcome to Apple Discussions.
Disabling the internet capability and concerning yourself with the built in sounds will make no noticeable difference. I have been running audio on Macs since the very first version of Cubase VST on a PowerMac 7100, and those things haven't got in the way.
Optimizing your system for audio would for me include an external drive with a Firewire800 connection (assuming you have one if it's newish!) for the majority of your recording. Seriously reduces system disk fragmentation. I would (and did) get a de-fragmentation program. I use iDefrag. It is very thorough, although not super fast.
http://www.coriolis-systems.com/iDefrag.php
As for your problem with Logic and Reason, I would try the Logic forum with details of which version of Logic and Reason etc. Your fine Tascam interface will not be responsible for the loop problems. It is the 'communication' between Logic and Reason. I don't and haven't used Reason (not my bag) so can't help you as much as maybe others.
Karn.

How Much External Hard Drive Partition Recommended for Audio Recording?

Hi,
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Okay...There are 3 guys and each has a basket full of marbles. The 1st guy has a basket full of red marbles, the second guy has a basket full of blue marbles, and you have a basket full of red and blue marbles. All three of you have your left hand tied behind your back. You are in competition with the other two guys, you are on your own and they work as a team. Someone starts shouting give me 3 reds and 2 blue marbles. You reach in your basket and grab 3 reds and 2 blues as fast as you can, but the other guys are way ahead of you because there are 2 of them and they each only have to worry about grabbing one color of marble at a time. So you lose the contest badly... that is why you need at least
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Mac Mini for audio recording using LOGIC X

Has anyone had experience using the latest Mac mini for audio recording? I'm thinking of purchasing the 2.6GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x8GB 1TB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm model. I'll be using Logic X along with Reasons, Wave, UA plugins with a Apollo I/O I'd appreciate any feedback and or suggestions.

I'd work off of another hard drive as much as possible. Install the applications to your boot drive, but keep your data on a separate external hard drive. If you try to run OS, apps and big audio data off of that 5400, I foresee performance issues even with 16GB of RAM. Also, don't forget a second external hard drive for your backups.

Need advice on a strong laptop for playing/ recording music / .wav files

I primarily use my laptop for music and enjoy making .wav files and hooking up to main stereo of house. I've been experimenting with my daughter's laptop but I had to buy a sound card that attaches to the laptop. Are there any good laptops out there with a good enough sound card available internally? On my desktop I had a similar problem and needed to upgrade sound card to get the "what U hear" option.

TheLexMachine wrote:
SlimJim77 wrote:
TheLexMachine wrote:
Entropy wrote:
Most newer laptops have pretty good playback quality, and also most have optical digital audio outputs if you have a surround receiver with digital in.
Recording is a different story. In general, almost no system will have good internal recording capability, even with an internal addon card. Recording is best done with an external device.
You are confusing TOSLINK optical ouputs with digital coax outputs which are what they normally put on multi-media desktops to provide digital audio output though some older desktops did have TOSLINK ports. There was a period of time several years ago when you might find TOSLINK on a high-end multi-media notebook but digital coax was the standard in those days and that has obviously been replaced by HDMI which carries both digital audio and video signals.
In my experience, when it comes to laptops, HDMI will produce no sound. I too have seen a handful of laptops that support TOSLINK in the form of a 3.5mm connector, and even the standard sqare connector(not common, however).
If you aren't getting sound from your HDMI port that means your digital audio output is incorrectly configured, the digital audio signal is not in a format that your HDTV or display can recognize (simply uncheck the Dolby Digital, DTS, or WMA Pro boxes in the properties panel for your digital audio output), or the port on your display doesn't accept digital audio or is set to use analog audio in the settings. If you look in your TV's manual or dig up the manual online, the specs page will tell you what digital audio formats it accepts if any. A lot of older HDTVs with HDMI, as well as a lot of the first monitors with it, didn't accept digital audio over HDMI because they were using repurposed DVI chipsets which could be modified for use with HDMI by swapping out the DVI connector with an HDMI jack due to the fact that HDMI shares it's base video protocols with DVI. All it takes is fifteen seconds to figure it out if you know what you're doing.
Ya, a mere few hours after I made that post, a friend hooked up his newer laptop to my TV via HDMI, and sure enough...there was sound. Me stands corrected.
Disclosure: Former BBY employee.

Mac Mini for audio recording???

Hello,
My name is Gavin Brinck. I have been fishing in the pc market for about 6 months. I just bought a BEAST of a PC with all the parts. I assembled everything, and seemingly the motherboard is fried. That's another story.
I am looking into the mac mini, seeing as I have a nice HDTV + HDMI cable as well as a wireless Logitech keyboard and mouse bundle to use with it. I am intyerested in audio recroding, mostly guitar, vocals, and hopefully MIDI controlling in the future. I like the idea that the mac mini can be a very portable device.
I will be using it to write, record music, play Starcraft 2 HOTS as well as surf, research, and continue to learn. I am on a budget and am looking into my options.
Is audacity(free music recording software) decent? Do I really need 8 GB of RAM? In the future I will probably get an external harddrive for storing all of my information. I am also looking into getting a camera. WILL THE MAC MINI FIT MY NEEDS?? I do not need a mac pro, and the mac air does not have hdmi . I think I have found a decent solution. Please help! Thank you.
all the best.
-Gavin Brinck

In addition to BDAqua:
You will probably want to purchase and use an external "sound card" or DAC via USB or FireWire to get decent audio quality from external sources into the Mac.
Audacity is sort of an 'industry standard', but not for complex recording purposes as I read in (and in between) your lines. Free on bord with a new Mac will be Garageband. Once you've got your head around it, you'll love it.
Gaming - I have no clue, but don't expect the lower-end models of Macs ideal for heavy gaming... even the higher-end versions can lack, depending on the games. Check around here and elsewhere, there are gazillions of gamer forums.
Budget & portability: Keep in mind that for a Mini you'll need an external screen, and if that's supposed to be your TV, make sure it accepts data (PC or Mac) signals on HDMI. Or has DVI as well. Otherwise disappointment - not due to Apple!
Eventually take a look at MacBook Pros, they are portable, do come with a screen, and can do more than an Air - depending on model.

Best Mac Laptop for X Code Development

Hi,
I'm trying to make some ios Apps from the X Code. So what is the best Mac Laptop to use this for..
I'm expecting your kind response from yours.
Thank you,
Iranga.

Anyone should do the job.
However, when writing software, the larger the screen the better, as often times you have multiple windows open for different aspects of your development project (code, debugging, simulator, documentation, UI builder, etc...).
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Resources for audio recording with LE 7.2

Greetings, folks. I'm a recent convert to Macs and to Logic Express, having futzed around with various flavors of Sonar and wanting to take advantage of the many nice features of my Macbook. I've been working through the Logic Pro and Express training manual and I think I'm coming up to speed on using LE OK. My main use for LE, though, is going to be audio recording small acoustic ensembles (and mainly acoustic guitar and vocals), and I could really use a fuller discussion of LE's audio recording and editing features than is found in the training manual. What I'm really looking for, I suppose, are task-oriented explanations of how to do things such as comping tracks, rather than the system-oriented descriptions of what you find in the various LE windows. Any recommendations?
Thanks,
Trent
Macbook Mac OS X (10.4.9)
2 GHz Macbook w/ 2 gigs memory Mac OS X (10.4.9) Logic Express 7.2, Presonus Firebox interface

You might look here and see if any of these tutorials help:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Logic+tutorial&search=Search

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Google something like "copy vinyl to iphone".

Up to how many inputs for audio recording.

just like the subject, up to how many inputs can be used for audio recordings at one time. i have four audio tracks but i could only arm 2 because i only have the choice for input 1 and 2. ive tried several things but cant seem to get any more inputs. is it possible to get more? if so can anyone help me. ive been told audio input objects but it didnt work.

Greetings! You don't say what audio hardware you have. If you have nothing other than your standard inputs on the MacBook, then you can't have more than two inputs. If you have a multi-input audio interface then it sounds as if it's not connected properly. Check:
Audio > Audio Hardware and Drivers
Make sure your audio interface is selected.
Also, click-hold on the I/O button for each track and make sure that you have selected different inputs - there should be one input listed for each physical input port on your audio interface.
If you're still having problems, you may need to delete your preferences and run Logic Set Assistant to rebuild your system - only takes a couple of minutes and worth doing.
Clangwork is also right about Audio MIDI Setup since Logic can only see what AMS tells it about.
Pete

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http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Audio-Cable-Splitter-1-Mini/dp/B00004Z5CP

Quiet HDD for Audio Recording on T61

The original hard drive on my T61 having just died I need to buy a replacement.
One of the best features of this computer for me has been its near silent operation - I use it to record spoken audio and so this is REALLY IMPORTANT.
What would be the quietest HDD I could buy for it ?
Are 7200rpm drives louder ? Do they run hotter and make the fans come on ?
Can Solid State Drives be used in T61s ?

I haven't tried it myself, but an SSD should be fine. There may be alignment issues, depending on your OS - and as always, there can be compatibility issues with a given manufacturer. Here are a few links that may help. You can also search "T61 SSD" here on the Lenovo forums.
Does T61 w/ traditional HDD supports new SSD
T61 SSD replacement
Crucial® Memory Advisor results for the Lenovo ThinkPad T61 Series Laptop/Notebook.
I'm not recommending or not recommending Crucial - but their T61 compatibility list should be a comfort.
Z.
The large print: please read the Community Participation Rules before posting. Include as much information as possible: model, machine type, operating system, and a descriptive subject line. Do not include personal information: serial number, telephone number, email address, etc. The fine print: I do not work for, nor do I speak for Lenovo. Unsolicited private messages will be ignored. ... GeezBlog
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What imac for audio recording?

I am currently a PC user that is looking to switch to a mac. Over the past year or so I have been debating over an imac and a mac mini. Ever since the announcement 2 months ago, I have essentially decided on a new imac. Now the question is WHICH imac to go with.
Obviously I will do all of the normal "stuff" that everyone else will do with their computer (pics, internet, dvds, etc). For me, I will also be using this for music creation. I want to start out with Garageband (since I am new to mac) and then move to Logic Express/ Logic as I gain experience.
i mostly record guitars, bass, vocals and program my drums. On my old PC I can record and play simultaneously without any latency or freezing. My normal projects play up to 20-30 tracks (with some effects) and record 1 track all at the same time. I am planning on getting a firewire audio interface, as well as, an external harddrive for writing to.
My only concern is which imac will be best for me. I have read some things regarding imac dual core and quad cores. I am confused regarding which to go for. I do not believe (at this time) garageband, logic express or logic actually utilize the quad cores.
Am I asking the right questions? Should I be looking into anything else? Are there other places to look for suggestions?

I would recommend any entry level iMac, particularly if you are the type of individual that likes to upgrade every 2-3 years. I think even an entry level refurbished iMac would be fine for your needs. For your needs unless you're making your living making music there really isn't a major reason to go with anything more robust. However if you like to keep machines longer and you want to future proof your machine a bit then take a look at the i5 or i7 machines. What you're going to be doing isn't really that taxing, I'd save my money and use it for software and any new peripherals you may want or need like external drives, music keyboards, etc..
My rational is musicians have been using far less powerful Macs for creating music for quite awhile. Having the extra power is a luxury, what really matters though is do you really need it or not.
I would recommend you purchase AppleCare though, it's a modest cost and protects your new iMac for 3 years, yes even an Apple refurbished machine.
Prior to making the change I'd also recommend you go over these site if you haven't already:
http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/
http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/
Regards,
Roger

App for audio recording on ipad that doesn't have the red status bar.

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You need to have the capability to export the presentation in a format your teacher can use. Ask your teacher what format she wants the presentation in. If she wants PDF then you have to send her a PDF file. If she wants something else send her the presentation in that format.
Be warned that not all apps supporting opening presentations preserve or support all layut and formatting. The best approach to ensure your presentation looks as you intended when she opens it is to write it in the same app she will be viewing it.
It is not unreasonable for the teacher to specify a format/application. Otherwise a teacher with 100 students could find herself having to deal with multiple apps, formats, standards, layouts, being sent to her.

Best retina laptop for audio recording/film scoring

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