Logic Pro X and CPUs...

[Rob.G]

I'm a Logic Pro X noob, but I'm learning quickly and hope to be able to start doing some great stuff with it in the not too distant future. Maybe in a year or two even start making some money with it.

That being said, I'm also due for a new Mac. My little 13" i5 2.6 and 16 gig isn't gonna hold up for long, I know. I read a long thread about CPU requirements for "heavy" use, and it definitely sounds like I'll need a 12-core Mac Pro in the long run. BUT... since it hasn't been updated since 2013, I'm hesitant to spend the money on one right now.

I was wondering... how far would I get on a maxed-out 15" MBP or 27" iMac? Would it last me a year or two until I have the reason (and money) to spend $$$$$ on a Mac Pro? And hopefully by then, an updated (and even faster) one will be out.

My main interest will be for recording bands, at least for now. I'd like that to evolve into much more, but that'll take time and experience (and connections).

Thoughts?

Rob

 

[keysofanxiety]

I was wondering... how far would I get on a maxed-out 15" MBP or 27" iMac? Would it last me a year or two until I have the reason (and money) to spend $$$$$ on a Mac Pro? And hopefully by then, an updated (and even faster) one will be out.

My main interest will be for recording bands, at least for now. I'd like that to evolve into much more, but that'll take time and experience (and connections).

Thoughts?

Rob

Very, very, very far. Certainly more than a few years. Any spec of quad-core i7 currently shipping in the iMacs/rMBPs will be more than apt. Just ensure you go full Flash as well. You can get some real resource-heavy AUs which will make loading projects a chore unless you ditch the spinning drive.

I had a 2011 2.7GHz i5 iMac with 32GB of RAM, and that almost immediately hit the CPU bottleneck with 30-odd plugins on LP9. Admittedly that had a spinning drive rather than an SSD, but the CPU was utterly bricked. It wasn't hyperthreaded though, so I'm not sure how much impact that had. Regardless, the same projects absolutely flew on my 2012 15" cMBP w/16GB RAM & SSD. I still use that machine to this day and it hasn't missed a beat with LPX.

Just to add, I can't overstate how incredible Logic Pro X is as a DAW.

Honestly, you'll be more than fine with a top spec iMac or rMBP. Oddly enough the top shelf mobile 2.8GHz processor in the 15" rMBP has practically identical performance to the 4GHz i7 in the iMac, so either or, really. They'll perform equally as good. It's just up to you how much screen real estate you feel is best for you, and if portability is a big factor for you.

Hope this helped, though please feel free to quote this if you have any further questions!

 

[Rob.G]

Phew! That's a relief. I can squeeze $2500-ish on a system way easier than $8k on a MacPro.

That's very interesting that the 2.8 rMPB15 is as fast as the iMac27 4.0. I already have a 27" Thunderbolt display and a secondary 22" Dell monitor that I run in addition to the screen on my 13", but figured if I got the iMac, I'd just run the Thunderbolt with it and ditch the Dell. Or if I got the 15", it'd stay as it is now. I'm considering the 15" for portability.. I can live on a 15" screen (scaled out one step like I do on my 13") for short periods of time, even in Logic, like when using my iPad as the remote to be the mixer.

Definitely all SSD. I haven't used a spinning hard drive in five years, other than for an external drive for extra storage. I do want to step up to the 1TB this time. I also wish the 15" could go to 32 gig... that's one of the things I like about the iMac.

Thanks!