Which is better MBPr for music production? 8gb or 16gb

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
1) Usual everyday Microsoft Office kinda stuff and web surfing and
2) More importantly for Music production using Logic Pro X, Ableton 9 using KONTAKT and Omnisphere along with Reason Rewire for loops.
THEREFORE, now I am second guessing my purchase on two aspects -->
1) Is the 8GB enough to run, say a typical setup of Ableton along with 2-3 vsts softwares, would these specs on the MBPr last about 3-5 years?
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

Similar Messages

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!

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
Cheers
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.

MacBook Air i5 for Music Production?

Does anyone have any experience of using a 2013/2014 13" i5 MacBook Air for music production? Specifically, I want to know if Reason 7 will run okay with a reasonable number of instruments, effects etc, but if anyone has experience of using another DAW on it I would be interested to know. Cheers.

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

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?

Which Mac is best for music purposes? I want to mix music recorded from MIDI and live sound, and also want to use Sibelius to play music in. I'm looking at MacBook Pros; any tips? 13" or 15"?

Which Mac is best for music purposes? I want to mix music recorded from MIDI and live sound, and also want to use Sibelius to play music in. I'm looking at MacBook Pros; any tips? 13" or 15"?

I would think a 15" with the i7 CPU. You can get a 13" with the i7 CPU but the 15" has a dedicated graphic chip along with the intergrated one.
You will also need to upgrade the hard drive to a faster 7200RPM model instead of the standard 5400RPM model that comes with all MBPs. The Sibelius website recommends the 7200RPM or a SSD. You will also be better off installing 8GBs of RAM.
Both of those upgrades can be made after you buy a MBP for much less then Apple charges for the same upgrades and you get to keep the original RAM and hard drive.

Macbook pro 15 mid 2012 2.7 ghz vs late 2013 2.0 ghz for music production. what to choose ?

Hello !
Im between macbook pro 15 mid 2012, 2.7 ghz, 1tb hhd, 8 gb ram 10.7 OS & late 2013 2.0 ghz, 256 gb ssd, 8gb ram 10.9 OS
What is the best choice for music production ? Mid 2012 is not retina but i dont need good grafics at all....i need a powerfull quadcore machine that will coast not more than 2000 US Dollars
what to choose
thank u

no but im checking it out now .
...looks cool !
thnx !

Which is better software for brochures and PDF forms ? Photoshop or InDesign ?

Which is better software for brochures and PDF forms ? Photoshop or InDesign ? and why ?

If you are going to be making a lot of brochures, with photos, you probably want both. Photoshop to edit the photos, and InDesign to assemble and layout images with text.

Dedicated system for music production?

I have a measly 80GB internal HD on my Powrbook that is taken up mostly by my business stuff and email. I have a couple of large external FW HDs that I could use for Logic. Does it make sense to install a fresh copy of Leopard onto one of these HDs and use that disk and system solely for music production?

No, just save all your logic files on one of the external drives. Run the Logic app and leopoard from your MB.

What computer do you recommend for music production, photo and video editing?

I'm looking to buy a computer mainly for music production with native instruments and photo and video editing with adobe elements. I'd like a crisp image, good sound and also runs as smooth as possible. I am planning on using external hard drives for most of my storage so space isn't an issue for me. I don't mind buying a refurbished computer. I am looking to spend around $3000 to $3500 on the computer itself. What computer do you recommend?

Please do not double post; it gets too confusing for us - the volunteers - if there is more than one.
the new iMac - just introduced - sounds like it'd be the right thing; I'd upgrade to an SSD and the fastest processor offered. You can also add RAM, but I'd do that later as it'll be less expensive and it's very easy to do yourself.
Good luck.

About Lenovo Thinkpad W540 for Music Production at a Professional Level

Hey there! I just signed up to this blog in search for an answer to my quest. I've heard a lot of good things about Lenovo ThinkPad W540, and I would like to make sure that I am getting what I really need to stay up to date, in this everyday changing technological world, for a while before making a purchase.
So far, this is what I got in my wish list:
Intel Core i7-4700MQ Processor (6MB Cache, up to 3.40GHz)
Windows 7 Professional 64
15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) LED Backlit Anti-Glare Display, Mobile Broadband Ready
W540 NVIDIA Quadro K1100M 2G
16GB PC3-12800 DDR3L (4 DIMM)
500GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
DVD Recordable
Intel Dual Band Wireless 7260AC with Bluetooth 4.0
1 Year Depot or Carry-in
I would like to know what are the major differences between the above items, which I have in my wish list, and the ones below:
1) Intel Core i7-4930MX Processor (8MB Cache, up to 3.90GHz)
2)15.5” 3K (2880 x 1620), IPS LED Backlit Anti-Glare Display, Mobile Broadband Ready, Color Sensor
3) W540 NVIDIA Quadro K2100M 2G
4) 32GB PC3-12800 DDR3L (4 DIMM)
5) I would like a 1TB hard drive but they don't come at 7200 rpm, i guess the one in my wish list works fine.
6) Do I need a more sophisticated Optical Drive from the DVD Recordable in my wish list?
I guess whay I am trying to investigate is if I can function in the music production world with a Thinkpad W 540 with the specs already in my wish list? And, what difference would it make updating this machine with the specs below. Your assistance and comments will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hi ColonellONeill, thank you for taking your time in attempt to solve my problems.
Temperatures varies, but it never reached to unbearably hot.
Shutdown warning: for the last couple of times, I did got the blue screen warning (that windows had problem and will restart after collecting the necessary information) on my Helix and hanged display on my external monitor. Otherwise, most of the time, there isn't warning at all.
I doubt if there is anything to do automatic windows update as I have scheduled it every morning at 3 'O' clock! Sometimes it works from weeks to couple of months without even noticing any of these technical problems but then when it starts, it stays for weeks; it just comes and goes - never been able to resolve the issues completely; even the technician.
(It just happend right now! and this time wihtout even warning, and Helix wasn't even running 30 minutes - temperature is normal, I can feel it's little warm.)
Currently I am using my Helix with Thinkpad USB 3 dock connected to external Monitor with wired keyboard and mouse connected back at the dock.

Older imac just for music production?

Hi,
I have an 'oldish' iMac 21" (white casing with isight camera - macOSX 10.5.8 - 2.1GHz power pc G5 - 1.5GB DDR2 SDRAM- apx march2006).
I am wondering if this machine would be ok for running pro tools (or perhaps other music prod apps) and not much else - just music production.
If the answer i get is yes, how does one go about removing everything off the imac to make it essentially new again?
thanks in advance
adam

nibbs wrote: ... I am wondering if this machine would be ok for running pro tools (or perhaps other music prod apps) and not much else - just music production....
Yes, but you must check software system requirements with your iMac's hardware capability. Example:
1. Decide which software you want to use based on what you want to do.
    For example, you might decide you need Apple Logic Pro X to do the things you want.
2. Look at Logic Pro X Technical Specifications to find its minimum System Requirements.
3. Compare the specs for your iMac with those needed by Logic Pro X.
4. I cannot tell exactly which iMac you use from your description. However,
    because Logic Pro X requires Mac OS X 10.8.4 or later, I know it cannot work with your
    PowerPC Mac. PPC Macs cannot run any OS X version later than 10.5.x.
5. If lesser software will meet your needs, you may decide to try to find an older version
    of Logic like Apple Logic Express or something else whose system requirements match
    the capabilities of your iMac. NOS (new old stock) items of older software versions
    compatible with your PPC Mac may be available at your store or on line.
    If you MUST have Logic Pro X capability, there is no way to make your old iMac work.
nibbs wrote:... how does one go about removing everything off the imac to make it essentially new again...
Make backups of all important files. (They are NEVER coming back.)
Startup your iMac with the OS X install (DVD) disk. You MUST boot with the install/restore disk that came with your iMac or use the 10.5 Leopard install DVD if you upgraded from an earlier Mac OS X version.)
After you choose your language, use Disk Utility on the Install DVD to "zero" (sometimes called "secure erase") your startup disk. This can take an more than an hour per "pass", so do NOT use the higher numbers of zero writes option for your purpose. One zero write pass is enough.
After your disk is wiped, quit Disk Utility. While still booted with the same DVD, choose to "Install (or reinstall) OS X. You can follow or print the instructions from Apple's Welcome to Leopard document.
After the restart that completes the installation, your Mac will be as new. You can then install any of the applications that you want to use from the disks that came with your Mac or from Apple or third-party software CD/DVDs.
Message was edited by: EZ Jim
Mac OSX 10.8.4

Which is better ? for loop or iterator ??

Hi,
I have one array list having more than 100 objects in it.
I have two way to ietrator.
1.
for(int i=0; i<list.size(); i++)
Object o = list.get(i);
2.
Iterator i = list.getIterator()
while(i.hasNext())
Object o ...
which is better in performance ??

Well okay. It's an easy optimization but I guess Sun
doesn't want to "bail out" people who don't know
their data structures.It won't always be optimal, though. If you use
iterators and don't iterate the whole way through
every time, it would degrade performance. It's hard
for them to make assumptions about how you will
access the data. So you punish people who do use it
properly if you do that.I don't know. The optimization I suggested is isolated to random accesses in the linked list only. Say you access index 5. The node pointer corresponding to 5 is stored and if the next access is index 6 the node pointer you're looking for is pointer.next. There's no need to walk the list from the beginning.

Best video setting for music production?

I am getting set up with my new MBP15 2.53 with 4GB of RAM. Have a question -- my most intense application is music production in Logic Studio. I always have the power cord connected when using it and am not currently using an external monitor.
Will it make any difference in Logic's ability to handle MANY tracks which internal video card I use? Does the enhanced card put less or more drag on the system if you are not gaming?

JDF,
It shouldn't make any difference one way or another. On the face of it, using the integrated GFX would obviously consume some of the available RAM, but it turns out that it doesn't matter whether the integrated GPU is active or not; that RAM gets allocated to the GPU anyway (even when using the discrete GPU).
The issue of whether or not physical RAM is being allocated to the integrated GPU is the only issue that could possibly have any bearing. Since it is always allocated, it makes no difference.
Scott

Which is better MBPr for music production? 8gb or 16gb

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for