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Maschine and Ableton on a Macbook: Pro vs. Air?

N

Nostalgebra

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 21, 2012
3
0
I've been using a PC for quite some time and recently the thing crapped out on me (it wasn't great to begin with). I'm ready to jump into the world of Apple but not sure what computer I should get. My main reason for getting a laptop is for running Native Instruments Maschine and Ableton and also the need for portability. I have an iPad for general browsing and entertainment.

Simply asking if I need to go Pro or could I get away with goin Air?

Thanks in advance!
 
I don't see how you can't get away with the air, unless, you're mixing a lot of loops at once, then I don't think the air's CPU will handle it. If you want a sure proof that it'll run like you expect, grab the Pro. You'll have a larger hard drive space to store stuff as well, compared to the air's 256GB SSD (unless you go custom for 480GB)
 
Music programs. Maschine is a sampler and Ableton is a program where you can write and record within.
 
I've been running Ableton and tons of vsts on a 2008 unibody MacBook (2.0 ghz core2duo) and it handles it fine. (enough to produce everything on soundcloud.com/dceived). Anyways I'm updating to a 15 inch MacBook pro but that's just because my MacBook has died. Personally I say go with the MacBook pro because of the better processing speed but the Air should be fine also!
 
I'd go pro. Music programs seem to be CPU intensive and also seems like audio program users need lots of hd space for programs clips and projects
 
+1 Air, YMMV

I've been using the new Air w/ the i7 and "big" SSD ;-) -- wonderful machine for me, but YMMV. Guesstimate the complexity of the projects you'll realistically be doing by factoring in stuff like the number of tracks, plugins, hardware I/Fs, and the overall complexity of your workflow. If the numbers you're throwing around are in the 10s, the Air's your new magic carpet! If you're in the 100s, you're gonna need the extra memory the MBP can provide. If its still too close to call, take a closer look at your plugins -- how many at once, and are they modeled or sampled? Air also only support a single external thunderbolt monitor -- MBP can support more. SSD is awesome for music production and an option on both. Personally, I'd tend to tweak my workflow before moving back to MBP and the extra weight/dimensions! Good luck, and enjoy...
 
http://www.native-instruments.com/#/products/producer/maschine/?page=277
Based on this and this http://www.ableton.com/suite-8 I would say the mac book air might struggle. I would play it safe and get the pro 13" with its dual core at least.

Nostalgebra said:
I've been using a PC for quite some time and recently the thing crapped out on me (it wasn't great to begin with). I'm ready to jump into the world of Apple but not sure what computer I should get. My main reason for getting a laptop is for running Native Instruments Maschine and Ableton and also the need for portability. I have an iPad for general browsing and entertainment.

Simply asking if I need to go Pro or could I get away with goin Air?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
 
Thanks everyone. Very helpful. Waiting on the Mbp refresh so I'll either do that or get a refurb.

Thanks again!
 
Pro has FireWire, air does not. It should be an easy decision based on this alone.
 
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