Sound Engineer Student: MacBookPro or MacPro?

I

ILuvMyMac

macrumors newbie

Original poster

Apr 1, 2008

2

0

• Apr 1, 2008

• #1

Hello there

Do we agree that Macs rock?

I thought so

The background: I'm starting as a Sound Engineer. I want my Mac. Won't be working with big mixing tables, maybe just for djing. The Mac should support 4 external devices.

So. The BIG question:

MacBookPro or MacPro?

 

CanadaRAM

macrumors G5

Oct 11, 2004

12,417

6

On the Left Coast - Victoria BC Canada

• Apr 1, 2008

• #2

MacBook Pro -- you can use an eSATA or Firewire ExpressCard/34 in it for fast external storage. Or an ExpressCard/34 DSP accelerator (pretty sure Universal Audio is shipping theirs). You have both FW 400 and FW800 ports. Larger screen for mixing and for VSTs/AUs which will take up screen realestate. Better video to support a second screen without lagging the CPU or main memory.

 

D

danvan21

macrumors regular

Mar 27, 2008

198

0

• Apr 1, 2008

• #3

macbook pro for a couple of reasons

portability and portability

 

FocusAndEarnIt

macrumors 601

May 29, 2005

4,628

1,113

• Apr 3, 2008

• #4

Agreed. Portability while maintaining great power.

 

faintember

macrumors 65816

Jun 6, 2005

1,362

0

the ruins of the Cherokee nation

• Apr 3, 2008

• #5

For DJing and classes, I would go Macbook Pro with an external monitor for home/editing use.

 

iknowyourider

macrumors 6502a

Mar 26, 2008

566

1

onanorthboundtrain

• Apr 3, 2008

• #6

I was a decent sound man for 15 years and I'm a MBP owner. Anyway, just talking. I heartily recommend a MBP.

 

C

change

macrumors member

Apr 2, 2008

46

0

Who knows...

• Apr 3, 2008

• #7

MacBook Pro

The Mac Pro is more powerful and expandable, but for a student and DJ, the MacBook Pro is the way to go. It is very powerful in its own right, especially with the 4GB of RAM it can accept. Most importantly, it is portable! This can not be understated. It is a serious professional capable piece of hardware that you can carry with you almost everywhere.

 

I

ILuvMyMac

macrumors newbie

Original poster

Apr 1, 2008

2

0

• Apr 5, 2008

• #8

Thank you all for your posts

The decision:


MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.4GHz, memory extended to 4GB, additional Apple Cinema screen (20")

Thank you all for your replies. It's collaborated to my final decision. Great help.


CanadaRAM - The screen was a great idea. Indeed, external storage is a good opcion.

dancan21 - portability is an important factor!

lilstewart - very true, the macbook pro combines portability with great power.

faintember - See my final decision!

iknowyourider - your recommendation reafirms my final decision. Glad to see people in the sound business supporting Mac use. (yesterday I was at an Underworld concert.. about 10 Macs on a row!)

change - I'm upgrading to 4 GB! Very true. Portability cannot be understated (specialy if I take djing out of home).


Again, thank you all for your constructive & helpfull feedback!