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Pro Tools Macbook Pro Question

ViciousShadow21

ViciousShadow21

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Mar 11, 2009
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To your left or right
I had posted this as a reply to another thread but got no response. i guess it wasent an appropriate place for it. :rolleyes:

I am going to buy the 2.4ghz (with 4gb ram upgrade) or 2.66ghz MBP very soon. I am wondering the advantages of the graphic card ram difference (256mb v 512mb) and also the L2 cache difference of 6mb over 3mb?

The most rigorous application I am going to use on this is high end audio mixing and editing with Pro Tools HD.

I am a student and with the discount that i get the difference btw the two is $310.

So the question, is it worth that difference ($310) to buy the high-er end MBP over the entry-level when the most demanding application is Pro Tools HD?
 
I'd say no. I have been using Pro Tools for a number of years now, but on PC.
I recently got my first Mac, a new MacBook Pro, about 2 weeks ago.

I've always used Pro Tools LE...
Can you even run HD on a laptop?
I thought you had to install the HD cards to run Pro Tools HD...?

If you're familiar with eBay, I'd highly suggest going there for the computer.
I paid $1999 for what I would have paid $2700 for through Best Buy and most other retail places...MUCH nicer than the student discount through Apple.

Definitely get the fastest processor you can, and max out the RAM.
The doubled L2 cache will also make a difference.
 
I work on a 2.4 GHz Penryn MBP with 4GB RAM and have almost no lag problems with Final Cut Studio. I don't know about Pro Tools HD but FCS is very resource demanding. One thing I have noticed is how much faster my MBP is since I upgraded the HD to a SSD. It was very expensive to do but it runs at least 4x faster. I think the 2.4 should be fine, go with the 2.66 if you can afford it but I know as a student, you probably want to save money.:)

David
 
im not sure if i could run Pro Tools HD on the laptop with out the hardware upgrade, does anyone know? it would really help because the studio mac pro runs HD and it would be nice to use the same software.

yea i think i am leaning towards the 2.66ghz, unless someone can give an example like, 'i use the 2.4ghz umbp with pro tools 8 and it works flawlessly.'

the $310 isnt that big of a deal, but i wouldnt mind saving it cause like you said i am a poor poor student hahaha :(
 
Pro Tools HD and LE are basically the same thing... in case you aren't familiar with LE at all.
HD sessions can be opened in LE, if you want to work on them at home.
I'm almost certain that you won't be able to run HD from a laptop.
LE is fine... you can install an upgrade that will also increase your maximum track number in LE.
 
i have only ever used HD in the studio. never used LE so i wasent sure if i could use the LE files on HD or vice versa. do you think you could let me know for sure if thats possible?
 
Yes, it is definitely possible.
I think the only stipulation is that the version of LE must be the same OR NEWER than the version of HD that the session came from.
I think in the new Pro Tools LE, the maximum number of tracks is 48.

If your sessions are using more than 48 tracks, you can just disable some of the voices on some tracks to enable whichever ones you must hear at the time.
Hope this helps...
 
Yeah the cache thing will make a difference, one thing to remember though

Pro tools LE has NO plugin delay compensation. That in itself may not be so much of a problem if you're doing light mixing, but if you using a lot of heavy processors (waves, sonnox etc.) then you may start to notice the latency. This also may be a problem when trying to create a cue mix out the back end of Pro Tools (one way around this would be to use a mixing desk and send a post fader stereo aux feed to your headphone amp)

also make sure you go for a 7200 rpm HD, it's all very well and good having loads of space but if the audio can't be written and read fast enough you're gonna get artifacts, not to mention software glitches and system slowdown (this only really applies in a massive way when you're trying to say record a whole drum kit)

To be honest Digidesign are normally very poor at getting their act together (anyone remember how long it took them to release a leopard version of Pro tools?)

What college do you go to?
 
sochet said:
Yeah the cache thing will make a difference, one thing to remember though

Pro tools LE has NO plugin delay compensation. That in itself may not be so much of a problem if you're doing light mixing, but if you using a lot of heavy processors (waves, sonnox etc.) then you may start to notice the latency. This also may be a problem when trying to create a cue mix out the back end of Pro Tools (one way around this would be to use a mixing desk and send a post fader stereo aux feed to your headphone amp)

also make sure you go for a 7200 rpm HD, it's all very well and good having loads of space but if the audio can't be written and read fast enough you're gonna get artifacts, not to mention software glitches and system slowdown (this only really applies in a massive way when you're trying to say record a whole drum kit)

To be honest Digidesign are normally very poor at getting their act together (anyone remember how long it took them to release a leopard version of Pro tools?)

What college do you go to?
Click to expand...

wow thanks for all the suggestions.

i have definitely made up my mind to go with the 2.66. you mentioned using the 7200rpm hd. i currently have a 7200rpm external hd that i will run through the firewire 800 port. is that good enough you think or should i go for the faster internal?

i am transferring into Brown From New England Conservatory.
 
ViciousShadow21 said:
wow thanks for all the suggestions.

i have definitely made up my mind to go with the 2.66. you mentioned using the 7200rpm hd. i currently have a 7200rpm external hd that i will run through the firewire 800 port. is that good enough you think or should i go for the faster internal?

i am transferring into Brown From New England Conservatory.
Click to expand...

Yes and no, it depends on what chipset your HD uses. Digidesign specify only a couple will work (can't remember which ones, I'll dig them out) it's cheaper jut to replace the HD yourself and incredibly easy too.

Have you used Pro Tools much? I hate the thing now, for a lot of things it's backward, awkward and fiddly. I have good friends who work for them and are fed up because they don't seem interested in changing the software, because people will buy it no matter what.

Check out Logic if you can, I use it for all my work (including waveburner for mastering) I've done recordings broadcast on MTV using Logic and did the work in half the time it would have taken me in pro tools (although that's more than likely a personal thing)

The other MAJOR reason why Pro Tools sucks is the hardware they make you use SUCKS. I have synths with better Analogue to digital converters in them than those crappy mboxes. Gah /rant :p
 
NickM said:
I'd say no. I have been using Pro Tools for a number of years now, but on PC.
I recently got my first Mac, a new MacBook Pro, about 2 weeks ago.

I've always used Pro Tools LE...
Can you even run HD on a laptop?
I thought you had to install the HD cards to run Pro Tools HD...?

If you're familiar with eBay, I'd highly suggest going there for the computer.
I paid $1999 for what I would have paid $2700 for through Best Buy and most other retail places...MUCH nicer than the student discount through Apple.

Definitely get the fastest processor you can, and max out the RAM.
The doubled L2 cache will also make a difference.
Click to expand...

brand new? do you still get the same warranty as with apple?
 
NickM said:
Yeah...and I plan to buy Apple Care soon.
I think you have 1 year from purchase date to buy Apple Care... so I might wait a while.
Click to expand...

did you order from a private seller or was it an online marketplace type deal
 
sochet said:
Yes and no, it depends on what chipset your HD uses. Digidesign specify only a couple will work (can't remember which ones, I'll dig them out) it's cheaper jut to replace the HD yourself and incredibly easy too.

Have you used Pro Tools much? I hate the thing now, for a lot of things it's backward, awkward and fiddly. I have good friends who work for them and are fed up because they don't seem interested in changing the software, because people will buy it no matter what.

Check out Logic if you can, I use it for all my work (including waveburner for mastering) I've done recordings broadcast on MTV using Logic and did the work in half the time it would have taken me in pro tools (although that's more than likely a personal thing)

The other MAJOR reason why Pro Tools sucks is the hardware they make you use SUCKS. I have synths with better Analogue to digital converters in them than those crappy mboxes. Gah /rant :p
Click to expand...

my experience with pro tools has been strictly limited to the work i have done in various studios that my band uses. im pretty tech savvy and i just taught my self to use it by messing around. i hear what your saying about it tho. it can be REALLLLY frustrating to use. but it seems like its all anybody uses, at least in my limited experience. its good to hear that there is better stuff out there hahaha. thats cool that you did some work on MTV. do you work for them?

i will definitely replace the internal drive before i go to school. it would be really great to know what external HD i could use to have a back-up for my files. thanks for looking it up.
 
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