SELLING MY MAC TO GET A BETTER ONE TO USE WITH PRO TOOLS

A V A

iv been told by a few people to sell my macbook 13" aluminium as im having problems with pro tools with trouble shooting etc and im thinking of upgrading to the 15" macbook with 4 GB, HDD 320GB 7200, NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT 256MB of GDDR3 memory??? could tell me if that better ?? and wold my pro tools 8 work better

please help me my head is melted

PMI

What are ya recording?

Location recordings?

if your recording 12-15 tracks of drums and running protools and soft synths and everything off one drive, I would still say no

hard to answer to be honest unless we know what your looking to do

Anima

I'd do it for the screen size alone. 13" is far too small for pro tools.

What are the specs of your current macbook?

A V A

im just looking to do simple recordings with soft synths and vocals and micing guitars but i say i wouldnt be going over 14 tracks at the most on one session to be honest im not looking to do big mad serious recordings the only reason i switched to mac is becaus em im only starting off and im only learning and as i progress ill get better equipment and id like to get better


i was told that i need to have a firewire hard drive in order for the files to work and i dont have a fire port on my mac and i was told that my specs were not good enough for my pro tools to run fully and better i dont even have a usb hard drive because i didnt know what external hard drive to get and i was told usb would not work

here are the specs of the computer i have now

Macbook 13 Unibody late 2008
Processor speed: - 2.0 GHz
Installed RAM: - 2 GB (2x1)
Hard Drive: - 160 GB, 5400rpm.
Processor Type: - Intel, Core 2 Duo (Penryn)
Max. Amount: - 4.0 GB
Drive Bus: - Serial-ATA
Number of Cores: - 2
Amount of Slots: - 2
Optical Drive: - This unit has an 8x SuperDrive built in.
Bus Speed: - 1067 MHz
RAM Speed: - 1067 MHz
Optical Bus: - Serial-ATA
Cache: - Information unavailable.
RAM Type: - PC3-8500, DDR3, SO-DIMM

Laserharp

If you can put in more RAM, that would be great. I dunno if your Mac can take it though. Have you checked the machine specs required for Pro Tools 8? On the Digidesign website? I have a feeling 2 Gigs is not enough.

You should probably also get a faster internal drive. 5400rpm is not great.

That said, I have used a G4 Mac mini (1.2 GHz, 2 Gig RAM and 5400rpm drive) OSX 10.4.11 and PT 7.x for going on 4 years now, and it's done several albums, loads of smaller projects, 3 films, 2 documentaries (one of which was on RTE), umpteen mastering projects, it can run Kontakt and Guitar rig (not at the same time!!) etc. etc. I'll be retiring it soon, but it was a great machine!

MilanPan!c

At least 7200rpm
at least 3-4 Gb ram.

So cheap these days.... Go nuts.

A V A

4 GB, HDD 320GB 7200, NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT 256MB of GDDR3 memory???
[/QUOTE]

is that not good??

my pro tools is supported i have all the updates it needs to run on my mac i just think i just dont have the right mac tbh

A V A

MilanPan!c wrote: »

At least 7200rpm
at least 3-4 Gb ram.

So cheap these days.... Go nuts.

were would o go to get the ram upgraded on the mac i have now and would it cost much??

woodsdenis

A V A wrote: »

im just looking to do simple recordings with soft synths and vocals and micing guitars but i say i wouldnt be going over 14 tracks at the most on one session to be honest im not looking to do big mad serious recordings the only reason i switched to mac is becaus em im only starting off and im only learning and as i progress ill get better equipment and id like to get better


i was told that i need to have a firewire hard drive in order for the files to work and i dont have a fire port on my mac and i was told that my specs were not good enough for my pro tools to run fully and better i dont even have a usb hard drive because i didnt know what external hard drive to get and i was told usb would not work

here are the specs of the computer i have now

Macbook 13 Unibody late 2008
Processor speed: - 2.0 GHz
Installed RAM: - 2 GB (2x1)
Hard Drive: - 160 GB, 5400rpm.
Processor Type: - Intel, Core 2 Duo (Penryn)
Max. Amount: - 4.0 GB
Drive Bus: - Serial-ATA
Number of Cores: - 2
Amount of Slots: - 2
Optical Drive: - This unit has an 8x SuperDrive built in.
Bus Speed: - 1067 MHz
RAM Speed: - 1067 MHz
Optical Bus: - Serial-ATA
Cache: - Information unavailable.
RAM Type: - PC3-8500, DDR3, SO-DIMM

Do you have a firewire port on the Mac?.If not, no amount of RAM will help you.

Rule no 1 of digital recording, never ever ever record audio onto your internal system drive, you are asking for a heap of trouble if you do. Always use a separate 7k firewire/sata or whatever. This rule applies for all programs including Protools,Logic, Reaper, Cubase etc. Protools does not support USB2 AFAIK

Unless you reallly want a laptop I would get an Imac min 4 gigs of RAM. The problem with laptops is you pay a premium for size and portability. Always check that there are the required firewire ports as these things change all the time.

Always check the Digi website for compatability with Protools.

If I was you I would go to an authorized Protools dealer and order your Mac off them. They will know exactly what specs you need and any issues. A Mac from a dealer will cost you little or no more than from the Apple store.

If you had done this initially you might not be in the pickle you are in now and have avoided all the issues you seem to be having.

Best of luck:D

Mataguri

A V A wrote: »

were would o go to get the ram upgraded on the mac i have now and would it cost much??

I'm not sure where the cheapest place to buy ram for Macs is online (hopefully someone here can recommend somewhere) but I can tell you that when you get it you can easily put it in yourself which will save yourself a lot of time and money.

I have a Macbook lying around here somewhere so I can take pictures of the process if you like but it really is very simple. If you take out the battery you will see a metal L bracket running along the inner wall of the cavity. Unscrew that and you will see the ram. There should be a lever beside each stick which when pressed will eject the ram. Then just slot in the new sticks, gold edge first, with the notch on the left side.

A V A

woodsdenis i didnt have money to start off with and i was told and mac would be fine once the pro tools was capitable with pro tools i put my faith in the hands of a music store which im not going to name they told me that the mac i have now would be fine he never said anything about having problem or having to a firewire port or anything

can i get like a usb to firewire port or something like that ??? would that work ?? i dont have a firewire port on my mac

i dj aswell so thats why i got a mac i can excatly lug a imac around you know lol

A V A

Mataguri wrote: »

I'm not sure where the cheapest place to buy ram for Macs is online (hopefully someone here can recommend somewhere) but I can tell you that when you get it you can easily put it in yourself which will save yourself a lot of time and money.

I have a Macbook lying around here somewhere so I can take pictures of the process if you like but it really is very simple. If you take out the battery you will see a metal L bracket running along the inner wall of the cavity. Unscrew that and you will see the ram. There should be a lever beside each stick which when pressed will eject the ram. Then just slot in the new sticks, gold edge first, with the notch on the left side.

cheers for that it sounds simple but id probley mess the thing up hehe

woodsdenis

A V A wrote: »

woodsdenis i didnt have money to start off with and i was told and mac would be fine once the pro tools was capitable with pro tools i put my faith in the hands of a music store which im not going to name they told me that the mac i have now would be fine he never said anything about having problem or having to a firewire port or anything

can i get like a usb to firewire port or something like that ??? would that work ?? i dont have a firewire port on my mac

i dj aswell so thats why i got a mac i can excatly lug a imac around you know lol

If that is the case you should name and shame the store. It is really bad practice to leave you in this situation.

You cannot get a usb to firewire connecter.

The issue is quite simple if you think of it. If you are only using 1 drive you would be trying to read audio off one part of it while accessing a different part of it for system/program related stuff. The disk head is going all over the shop resulting in loads of errors/data corruption etc. Also to cap it off system/internal drives are 5400rpm, way too slow anyway for audio.

There is absolutely no point in upgrading your RAM it isnt going to solve your biggest issue here, do not waste any more money on this. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but this is the reality.

If you still want a laptop for protools you will have to look at the macbookpro line with Firewire. ie the most expensive ones.

If you dont need the laptop an Imac would be a much better buy for your money. Check the Apple store. Get minimum 4 gigs RAM and the fastest processor you can afford.

Good luck

Mataguri

There is another option. You can get a dual drive which is an adapter with a hard drive that will replace your internal optical drive. This means you will have a second internal hard drive but you will lose your DVD/CD drive. External USB DVD-Roms can be bought very cheaply however.

Edit, link: http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/dualdrive_replaces_macbook_pro_optical_drive_with_second_hard_drive/

If you buy the adapter on its own for $60 you can pick up a cheap 7200rpm 2.5" HDD off Ebay or even Adverts if your lucky.

woodsdenis

Mataguri wrote: »

There is another option. You can get a dual drive which is an adapter with a hard drive that will replace your internal optical drive. This means you will have a second internal hard drive but you will lose your DVD/CD drive. External USB DVD-Roms can be bought very cheaply however.

Edit, link: http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/dualdrive_replaces_macbook_pro_optical_drive_with_second_hard_drive/

If you buy the adapter on its own for $60 you can pick up a cheap 7200rpm 2.5" HDD off Ebay or even Adverts if your lucky.

Wow good catch !!!. Very cool. Get the 7200 rpm drives though. This could be your fix.

A V A

lads im not good with computers atall and what you guys said there made sense to a extent but a few things i did not understand

A V A

im really sorry if im annoying anybody here its just im not the hole techical kind of kid atall i just want to do music and i seem to take to pro tools over any other program its just this hole f*cking system/ram/specs thing i just dont understand atall now if i had been told all this from the start i wouldnt have gotten into this im only 19 and iv spent an awful lot of money for my age to do some things that seem so easy(recording) but for me its making it hard and its killing me (sorry for the oprah moment)
with the imac will that be fine yes?? i wont have as much problems ?? and with pro tools after a session i would just save it to my fire wire when it asks me were i would like to save it?

woodsdenis

A V A wrote: »

im really sorry if im annoying anybody here its just im not the hole techical kind of kid atall i just want to do music and i seem to take to pro tools over any other program its just this hole f*cking system/ram/specs thing i just dont understand atall now if i had been told all this from the start i wouldnt have gotten into this im only 19 and iv spent an awful lot of money for my age to do some things that seem so easy(recording) but for me its making it hard and its killing me (sorry for the oprah moment)
with the imac will that be fine yes?? i wont have as much problems ?? and with pro tools after a session i would just save it to my fire wire when it asks me were i would like to save it?

I feel your pain. The simple answer is new IMAC with firewire port/min 4gigRAM and fastest processor you can afford=no hassle.

A V A

if i can get a laptop with fire wire and the 4gb ram that would ok ye i do still need a laptop to dj with aswell

PMI

You cant have a jack of all trades....

A real DAW is just a DAW so you dont mess with conflicts and software issues....

Keep your old one for DJ'ing and the MAC for the real stuff

It will have a fire wire port for extra drive and interfaces etc.. and off ya go....

A V A

but i dont have the money man thats what im trying to think about and consider

Laserharp

Just to add, the "never use the internal drive" thing is not a rule. I've been using the internal 5400 rpm drive on my G4 Mac Mini for the last 4 years. The only reason I need to upgrade is that the processor is not fast enough to run Kontakt and Guitar Rig at the same time. Bus speeds are so fast these days that hard drive speed is less of an issue than it once was.

woodsdenis, I think there's a test in Sound on Sound where they found that even a 5400 rpm drive in a modern fast bus machine could do over 100 tracks. I'll try and dig it out.

MilanPan!c

PMI wrote: »

You cant have a jack of all trades....

A real DAW is just a DAW so you dont mess with conflicts and software issues....

Keep your old one for DJ'ing and the MAC for the real stuff

It will have a fire wire port for extra drive and interfaces etc.. and off ya go....

I would say that I have a quad core HP PC with 4GB of ram (total cost - a little over 400 euro).

I use Cakewalk Sonar.

I currently can run 40 tracks of audio (that's the most I've needed) without the system crapping up.

The machine is connected to the internet.

I have a firewire soundcard.

I am running multiple VSTs (Kontakt, Guitar Rig, synths, FX, etc.)

I can monitor vox w/o latency, and record FX'd guitars w/o latency.

I also often do this with the soundcard sharing the drivers with a media player, which is open...

And I often have Firefox running.

My HD is about 90% full.

I don't defrag and I don't optimise.

I don't get crashes.

Stable solid machine.

No issues.

Windows Vista.

---

This is why it boggles my mind watching you PT/Mac people running around like this... desperately tweaking specs.

Where's that thread where the advice was to re-install the OS to use PT?

It's just mind-blowing to me.

Aren't macs supposed to be easy?

woodsdenis

Laserharp wrote: »

Just to add, the "never use the internal drive" thing is not a rule. I've been using the internal 5400 rpm drive on my G4 Mac Mini for the last 4 years. The only reason I need to upgrade is that the processor is not fast enough to run Kontakt and Guitar Rig at the same time. Bus speeds are so fast these days that hard drive speed is less of an issue than it once was.

woodsdenis, I think there's a test in Sound on Sound where they found that even a 5400 rpm drive in a modern fast bus machine could do over 100 tracks. I'll try and dig it out.

Just to be absolutely clear here I am talking about recording audio not running VI's. Audio track counts are directly related to drive performance/speed/seektime. The faster the better. The OP is talking about running ProTools and the issues that he is having. He will continue to have these if he continues to do this. Can you in theory record on your internal system drive, yes, but for all the reasons I have made clear this is a really silly thing to do. It is one of my rules in the same way that you should drive your car with tyres on it. You can do it without them but its not very clever.

Just because someone does this does not make it best practice.


I will say it again do not record audio on your internal drive !!!. Firewire drives are cheap and reliable, portable and give better performance

dav nagle

A V A wrote: »

im really sorry if im annoying anybody here its just im not the hole techical kind of kid atall i just want to do music and i seem to take to pro tools over any other program its just this hole f*cking system/ram/specs thing i just dont understand atall now if i had been told all this from the start i wouldnt have gotten into this im only 19 and iv spent an awful lot of money for my age to do some things that seem so easy(recording) but for me its making it hard and its killing me (sorry for the oprah moment)
with the imac will that be fine yes?? i wont have as much problems ?? and with pro tools after a session i would just save it to my fire wire when it asks me were i would like to save it?

It is not that complicated..

You need a Firewire hard drive, 800 is recommended, all your audio files are saved and streamed from this drive.
http://www.lacie.com/products/range.htm?id=10033

Your also need 4 gigs of ram, a minimum dual core computer. Laptops are nice but a desktop will give you more bang for your buck. Mac pro or a quad/dual core PC with 4 gigs of ram should be fine.

If you use Logic you will have plenty of processing power at your fingertips, if you choose Pro-Tools you will have to change settings and fiddle about all the time to get the most out of it, and you may find that your head is even more wrecked than it already is.

So:

800 Firewire hard drive
Fast macbook pro or quad desktop
Audio Interface (M-box)
Microphone
Headphones

Mataguri

A V A wrote: »

im really sorry if im annoying anybody here its just im not the hole techical kind of kid atall

It's no problem. We all had to start somewhere. From what I can see your Macbook isn't that bad, it's just being brought down by your HDD and lack of RAM. This leaves you with two options:

As Woodsdenis suggested, the best solution is to buy a new IMac. It should work perfect out of the box but it is a little pricey.

The other option is to replace the DVD drive inside your macbook with a second HDD which you will use solely for Pro Tools and add more ram. This is a lot cheaper and it's a fairly simple job to do if you know anyone who is technologically inclined. Doing this will invalidate your Mac warranty however and if you still want to be able to read CDs/DVDs you will need to buy an external DVD drive.

woodsdenis wrote: »

I will say it again do not record audio on your internal drive !!!. Firewire drives are cheap and reliable, portable and give better performance

Just to clarify on this, you should not record on your internal system drive. An internal drive used solely for recording will perform just as well as any external drive.

splitrmx

I see a lot of people recommending "a minimum of 4gigs of ram". Just remember that if you're using a 32bit processor, the maximum amount of ram the computer will be able to use is approximately 3.5 gigs.

Even with a 64 bit processor, if you want to use more than that you'll need to be running an operating system that is designed for a 64 bit processor, newer versions of OSX are. However then the Pro Tools software itself will also have to be able to run properly on a 64bit system.

From the Pro Tools FAQ:
http://avid.custkb.com/avid/app/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=363239

Q: Snow Leopard provides a 64-bit kernel mode. Will Pro Tools 8.0.3 work in 64-bit kernel mode?
A: Pro Tools 8.0.3 is not qualified with Snow Leopard’s 64-bit kernel mode at this time.

Q: Is Pro Tools 8.0.3 a 64-bit application?
A: Pro Tools 8.0.3 is a 32-bit application. We are investigating 64-bit support and have no release plans to share at this time.

Laserharp

Sorry to veer a little off topic here. woodsdenis, maybe you're taking this a bit too seriously? If you see my earlier post, I outlined what I've done with the internal drive on my Mac mini- a lot of multitrack projects. My personal experience is that this machine on internal drive is more than adequate for the OP's use. Sorry to have misled you there as to the reason for my next upgrade (the VI thing). I'm happy with the audio track performance, it's the processor that's a problem now, for VI's.

I've found the SOS test I mentioned:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Mar02/articles/firewire1.asp

And it would indicate that it is not cut and dry as you imply. You can see that at least two of the machines performed very well on their internal drives. It seems that in considering HD performance, one needs to consider the architecture of the machine as a whole.

So, back to the great advice for AVA! Thanks.

woodsdenis

Laserharp wrote: »

Sorry to veer a little off topic here. woodsdenis, maybe you're taking this a bit too seriously? If you see my earlier post, I outlined what I've done with the internal drive on my Mac mini- a lot of multitrack projects. My personal experience is that this machine on internal drive is more than adequate for the OP's use. Sorry to have misled you there as to the reason for my next upgrade (the VI thing). I'm happy with the audio track performance, it's the processor that's a problem now, for VI's.

I've found the SOS test I mentioned:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Mar02/articles/firewire1.asp

And it would indicate that it is not cut and dry as you imply. You can see that at least two of the machines performed very well on their internal drives. It seems that in considering HD performance, one needs to consider the architecture of the machine as a whole.

So, back to the great advice for AVA! Thanks.

If that is your experience fair enough you are entitled to your opinion and to share it with us. However I have never seen anybody or any company use or recommend an internal system drive for audio recording. It is as simple as that.

I certainly take giving the OP good advice seriously, as he seems to have been given bad direction in the past.

The OP can make his own mind up as which method is better.

I will ask you one question though. Do you really believe it is better to record on your internal system drive rather than a separate Firewire/sata whatever. If you do please tell me why.

BTW the SOS article was from 2002 ?

Anyway peace:D I certainly didn't mean to bust your b*lls and I am sorry if it came off that way.

woodsdenis

Performance Guidelines

• Recording to the system startup drive is not recommended or supported
• For desktop models, a separate internal or external dedicated audio hard drive is required for maximum performance and track count (see Hard Drive Minimum Requirements)
• Although limited recording and playback of audio tracks may be possible using the internal drive in laptop models, a separate external dedicated audio hard drive is required for maximum performance and track count. Digidesign recommends the use of FireWire drives for use with these computers. (see Digidesign FireWire Drive Requirements)

Just to get this issue sorted out, this is from the Digi website. It says it all.

http://books.google.com/books?id=JM8GM0mhLxMC&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=digidesign+recommendation+external+drives&source=bl&ots=ZMj3NYvQi9&sig=26oYjtmjB_POC83DuYv1r1pYtjA&hl=en&ei=_FHHS8ntCYj80wS3oIjKDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CCgQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=false


Read this one too for another explanation.

Laserharp

Thanks for the info Dennis, much appreciated. I didn't know Digi did not recommend it. I was assuming that the problem was over stated, because my machine worked. Clearly it's not that simple! The other problem I had was that an external firewire drive made the firewire audio interface intermittent. If that article is old, I think the bus speeds would be even better now? My machine is 2003 eek!

I was trying to save money by pushing the envelope of minimum specs. Anyway, with the new machine I will have separate physical internal drives

So I think the OP basically needs more RAM and a faster HD?

woodsdenis

Laserharp wrote: »

Thanks for the info Dennis, much appreciated. I didn't know Digi did not recommend it. I was assuming that the problem was over stated, because my machine worked. Clearly it's not that simple! The other problem I had was that an external firewire drive made the firewire audio interface intermittent. If that article is old, I think the bus speeds would be even better now? My machine is 2003 eek!

I was trying to save money by pushing the envelope of minimum specs. Anyway, with the new machine I will have separate physical internal drives

So I think the OP basically needs more RAM and a faster HD?

Cool:) A second internal drive is by far the best way around this.

A V A

but what about the hole fire wire thing?? how much would it cost to uprage my ram??

Mataguri

A V A wrote: »

but what about the hole fire wire thing?? how much would it cost to uprage my ram??

Firewire isn't an option unless you buy an I-Mac. As for the ram, 4GB costs €89 upwards on Ebay right now.

Anima

This site is good for anything memory related. http://www.memoryc.com/index.html

A V A

you see right i need firwire for my pro tools to function right from the info the lads have told me but i can get my ram upraded but im still stuck with out the firewire because i cant save me audio on the systems device . . .was that right



just want to add thanks to everyone that helped me out and gave me advise and tips etc theres been two lads that were specially helpfull but i cant name names:D

cheers guys

oh is it ok if i post a link to a mac im thinkin of getting to see if everythings ok with working with pro tools

Mataguri

A V A wrote: »

you see right i need firwire for my pro tools to function right from the info the lads have told me but i can get my ram upraded but im still stuck with out the firewire because i cant save me audio on the systems device . . .was that right

You wont need an external firewire drive if you add a second internal drive to your macbook.

A V A wrote: »

oh is it ok if i post a link to a mac im thinkin of getting to see if everythings ok with working with pro tools

Of course

Laserharp

AVA, get the RAM first, you'll need it anyway. Then see how PT works. You might find (as I did) that you can get sufficient tracks with the internal drive. It's up to you. You'll need someone to fit it for you too. Where are you based?

A V A

so you didnt use a fire wire drive or usb so . . how much ram would i need 4gb thats been suggested . . .so let me get it clear , when iv finished on session id save it to my expaned hard drive yes??then i would be able to bounce my songs yes because i tried bouncing a song last night and it wasnt happening

when i increase my ram etc will i not get the window coming up saying decrease/increase the buffer size and cpu etc?

A V A

lads something like this be suitable??

http://www.buyandsell.ie/search/image_preview?file=1382957_01_large.jpg&pid=1382957

Mataguri

A V A wrote: »

lads something like this be suitable??

http://www.buyandsell.ie/search/image_preview?file=1382957_01_large.jpg&pid=1382957

Throw in a firewire hdd and your laughing

A V A

kool im looking at a lap top now because i know people have said to keep your daw etc on one separate machine to your day to day use but i just havent the money

Seany

In my experience, Pro Tools can be a very difficult program to record with. The amount of conflicts/issues I have had over the past year or two has led me to question whether it is the best option simply for home studio use.

Perhaps I am missing the point here but to buy a whole new set up of hardware simply to compliment software seems crazy (I have done it myself!).

To OP, would you consider trying a different software program (Logic or Cubase) before making decision to completely upgrade hardware??

Personally speaking, I have spent far too much on my own home protools set up for it to warrant just using Pro Tools.


Using:
17" Mac Book Pro 2.3Ghz and 4GB RAM
300GB Firewire External Drive
Digi 002 Mixer & Mbox 2
Upgraded to Pro Tools 8.0.3

Thats before any mics, plugins, monitors/headphones, room treatment, etc.

I started withthe same intention...just to be able to record some tracks at home and it just escalated over time from there!!

MilanPan!c

Seany wrote: »

In my experience, Pro Tools can be a very difficult program to record with. The amount of conflicts/issues I have had over the past year or two has led me to question whether it is the best option simply for home studio use.

Perhaps I am missing the point here but to buy a whole new set up of hardware simply to compliment software seems crazy (I have done it myself!).

To OP, would you consider trying a different software program (Logic or Cubase) before making decision to completely upgrade hardware??

Personally speaking, I have spent far too much on my own home protools set up for it to warrant just using Pro Tools.


Using:
17" Mac Book Pro 2.3Ghz and 4GB RAM
300GB Firewire External Drive
Digi 002 Mixer & Mbox 2
Upgraded to Pro Tools 8.0.3

Thats before any mics, plugins, monitors/headphones, room treatment, etc.

I started withthe same intention...just to be able to record some tracks at home and it just escalated over time from there!!

Amen brother.

A lot of people just have never tried anything else or they've been fooled into thinking it's somehow "the best".

Like I've said many times, it's ok, but it's a huge pain to get it working and is finicky as all ****.

Most people would be able to do EXACTLY what they want for a grand less if they bought a PC and learned how to use Reaper... and there would be NONE of this, you need to re-install your operating system/you can only use one sound card/you can't use internal hard drives BS.

I have no idea why this doesn't seep down to the working/casual musicians in Ireland, but it doesn't.

Seriously, I use my machine for everything, it cost me 400e or so, I can happily simultaneously record multiple tracks, run all sample libraries, simultaneously play back 40 tracks (I did it a few minutes ago), and still use the machine as my everyday computer.

No crashing, no viruses, no problems.

I've NEVER had to re-install and OS, never lost huge amounts of data, never had to upgrade hardware (except I bought a different soundcard..of course).

It's just mind blowing.

pistonsvox

my 15" mac pro is running grand with PT8, the odd cpu thing going off if I try adding line 6 gearbox plugins tho..maybe line 6 should be left in guitar pedals:pac:

A V A

??? what are your specs just wondering my pro tools is fine yes but when it comes to bouncing my mac cant take it and cant take some plugins (that came with pro tools) with out glitching

dav nagle

A V A wrote: »

??? what are your specs just wondering my pro tools is fine yes but when it comes to bouncing my mac cant take it and cant take some plugins (that came with pro tools) with out glitching

Bounce each track that is using cpu intensive plugins onto a new track (using a bus), then remove the plug ins. Do this for all your 'plug in intensive tracks' and then bounce the entire project out of pro tools to your desktop.

madtheory

Don't remove the plugins, better to hide the track and make it inactive, after bouncing the output to a new track. Right click on the track name and you'll see that menu. That way you can go back to it if you need to make changes.

dav nagle

madtheory wrote: »

Don't remove the plugins, better to hide the track and make it inactive, after bouncing the output to a new track. Right click on the track name and you'll see that menu. That way you can go back to it if you need to make changes.

Yes my bad, as mentioned right click on the track label in the edit window and select 'hide and make inactive', then the track is left untouched. You can re open the track and make it active by clicking the small folder arrow on the bottom left hand corner of the screen and then right clicking the file and select 'show and make active'.

MilanPan!c

Can PT still not "freeze" tracks?

Wow.

A V A

:S:S lads im confused on what you guys are saying about bouncing everyting onto one track?is there a way to explain in a simpler form




im sorry lads if im annoying because iv got some stick on the digidesign forum