How about 2 solid state drives in the iMac? Wouldn't that improve the performance even more? On Aug 30, 2010, at 12:32 AM, Bryan Smart wrote:
> Those PCI and PCIE interfaces are only for Pro Tools HD. They obviously only > run on a Mac Pro, though it is possible to run them on some specific models > of older Macbooks along with some external enclosures. > > The USB and Firewire interfaces work with both Pro Tools MPowered and LE, but > different ones work with each. M-Audio interfaces work with MPowered. The > various Avid/Digi USB/Firewire interfaces work with LE. > > You can run MPowered or LE on a MacBook, IMac, or Mac Pro. However, when you > run them on a MacBook, you give up a lot of performance in exchange for the > portability. When you run them on an iMac, you save a lot of money over the > Mac Pro, but there are lots of restrictions on what gear you can use together. > > Some of those restrictions are changing, though. The newest 27 inch iMac > comes with two hard drives: a solid state drive and a mechanical drive. You > can install the OS and Pro Tools on the solid state disk for performance, and > use the mechanical drive as your data/audio drive. That still leaves both the > Firewire and USB ports free for an interface. You could, for example, attach > a ProjectMix I/O audio interface/control surface and run MPowered, or attach > a 003 audio interface/control surface and run LE. > > Bryan > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf > Of RvR > Sent: Friday, August 27, 2010 7:07 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: RE: PCI audio interface M-Powered and monitor for Mac Pro > > Hi Frank, > You only mention firewire and usb m-audio interfaces for use with m-powered > pro tools, but there are plenty of pci ones from m-audio. Do those not work > with the m-powered version of pro tools? One of the main reasons to buy a Mac > Pro is the use of pci cards. > I only need an audio interface for the moment. > Although the choice for a Mac Pro may be obvious for real power users, but I > ain't that just yet. > Both the iMac and Mac Pro have their pros and cons. > Regards, > Ronald > -----Oorspronkelijk bericht----- > Van: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Namens > Frank Carmickle > Verzonden: donderdag 26 augustus 2010 22:28 > Aan: [email protected] > Onderwerp: Re: PCI audio interface M-Powered and monitor for Mac Pro > > Hi > > On Aug 26, 2010, at 4:10 PM, RvR wrote: > >> Hello, >> Can't seem to make the choice between an iMac and a Mac Pro for use >> with Pro Tools and such. Having great difficulties with making >> decisions the last couple of months...LOL I cannot ask you guys cause >> you don't know what I am going to do with it. But maybe you can shed >> some light on some things which hopefully can help me make my decision. >> >> First I was wondering if a Mac Pro also needs a monitor connected to >> function properly and if so does it has to be turned on also? >> > I can't answer this directly but my experience with a Mac mini shows that yes > you need a monitor attached but it does not need to be powered on. > >> Secondly, I presume using a pci audio interface with a Mac Pro is the >> obvious way. Or is firewire also an option? > > For protools specifically you have hd, which is a pci/pci-e card, 003 or the > supported m Audio devices which are firewire or usb. > >> In both cases (external for iMac) which audio interfaces would you >> recommend? I don't need tons of ins and outs, just a midrange solution. >> > Brian recommended one of the MAudio boxes before but can't remember what that > was. Do you want something with a built in control surface? If so the > 003 is probably a good fit. > >> I probably gonna choose between an iMac i7 and a Mac Pro quad core >> xeon 2.8. > > Brian has recommended the iMac to a few people on this list. I lean towards > the Mac pro because you can put pci/pci-e expansion cards in it. Also you > can easily upgrade the memory and hard drives. You can also put four hd's in > the pro. > >> Maybe I will have some more questions later on. > > I don't mind answering questions. This stuff seems to come up a lot on the > list. Maybe we should put up a page about the different hardware choices? > > Hope that helps > --FC > >
