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darkanddivine

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 13, 2007
99
15
OK, last time I bought my iMac the primary use was as a freelance designer. However since then I got a day job and the iMac has become a powerhouse for bits of freelance work and music. I mostly enjoy working on Photoshop, Illustrator and I'd like to include Logic potentially in the future, so the machine would also be used for basic, and perhaps some tracking a maximum of 8 to 10 tracks of music in Logic, though often this would be less maybe 4 max. I'm looking to get a new machine now however.

I'm really happy with the performance I got out of my iMac for PS and similar, so I have no worries about using another for graphics, so I wanted to focus on the music production and recording side.... and the options now available with the refreshed ranges.

The main question I have is really about the hard drive speeds in the new machines. I believe the new 21" iMacs will have a 5200rpm drive, and a few musician friends recommend the faster drives when recording 6 or more audio tracks. I have a feeling that when looking at the new iMac range, that would lean towards the 27" model with its 7200rpm. Also, I'm guessing that an SSD would be a dream for recording many tracks on due to the write speed but I haven't seen any of these out in the wild yet.

I ask this because many people seem to get a lot out of running with and recording on a Macbook Pro, and I would consider that option for the portability (and upgradeability of the non retina version) if the spec is up to scratch for recording. These machines seem really popular with musicians even though the base 15" is not a million miles away from the new 27" iMac of the same price at a first glance.

If anyone has any experience of using either for music purposes I would like to hear any comments or notes of your experience, maybe you've tried both! Also any notes on the hard drives (especially SSD's which I haven't heard much about yet) would be helpful. Thanks.
 

terry007

macrumors member
May 27, 2010
53
4
Imac , MacBook Pro or air on record music

Hello


I m looking to buy one of these computers to record music , It seams a lot of people are buying the MacBook Air these days ,
Would I be able to achieve the same tasks with the MBA ?
Will most likey run protools or Logic etc etc
I'm planning on buying a used one .
In other words for my money under 1500 dollars what should i buy ?
 
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