You'll want to track to an external drive wherever possible IMHO. There's a certain amount you can get away with working on an internal drive, probably more so with solid state, but that's not going to be a rock solid system you can rely on. Pro Tools is pretty resource hungry, plus there's the potential pitfalls of Mac OS indexing the same drive you're already pushing to the limit and a ton of other background processes that keep the OS ticking over. Considering how cheap external drives are at the moment, I wouldn't risk it. Wouldn't wanna lose that magic take.
Hth Scott On 4/13/11, bigboy529 <[email protected]> wrote: > Thanks guys this really helps, I know that a mac pro would be best and > if I had the cash I wouldn't even think twice about it but money money > money sigh... So is a external hard drive only nececery on a MBP, will > I be fine recording on a SSD drive on a imac? > > Frank Carmickle wrote: >> Hi >> >> I mostly agree with Kevin but... I've been running large channel count >> mixes with lots of plugs on my dual core i7 mbp with out any problem what >> so ever. At some point I will get a mac pro though. The quad core i7 is >> available in the 15 inch and I'm sure it would be more than enough. If >> you are thinking about the imac do wait a few weeks. Apple is about to >> release the new ones which will be based on the sandy bridge chips. Now >> with thunder bolt and sandy bridge quad core i7's the mbp is ridiculously >> fast. The SSD makes all the difference in the world. I know $400 - $600 >> sounds like a lot for a 240 -260 gb drive but it is worth every penny. It >> really does make it so that apps just open. You don't wait for them to >> load any longer. Do not get any less than 8 gb of ram. The cost is an >> extra 150 bucks or so but totally worth it. >> >> HTH >> --FC >> >> On Apr 13, 2011, at 9:57 AM, Kevin Shaw wrote: >> >> > HI, >> > >> > I can't help you with the PCI card information, but I can offer some >> > advice with regard to a desktop vs. a laptop for recording. >> > >> > If you're planning on doing recording as a career, invest in a desktop >> > like a Mac Pro or one of the i7 iMacs. You can get the iMacs now with a >> > solid state boot drive, which should make ProTools quite happy, as you >> > have the option of installing a .5, 1 or 2 TB data drive. The Mac Pro >> > has a very fast bus speed which is great for moving around multiple >> > tracks of audio and it is designed to be a workhorse when it comes to >> > media production. >> > >> > My music sessions will run upwards of 80 tracks and it's unlikely that a >> > laptop running ProTools, even a tricked out one, will be able to handle >> > that on the table tray of an airplane for an 8 hour mixing session. I >> > tend to advise people away from laptops for hard core mixing and audio >> > production as they can get overworked pretty quickly. >> > >> > Having said that though, if you're planning on recording in the field or >> > setting up a recording session in a barn somewhere, a Mac laptop will do >> > more than suffice for tracking. Just remember to use an external hard >> > drive and a fast interface. >> > >> > Hope this helps, >> > Kevin
