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User profile for user: PansSiren
PansSiren Author
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MBP Configuration for Audio Engineering

I know there are a LOT of threads about the configurations, but I wanted this one to be more tailored to audio engineering.

I'm not very knowledgable about computers, and really this is my first time buying one (my current desktop is a hand-me-down from my sister I got when left for college). I'm pretty set on buying a 17" MBP because I want the matte screen. This being the case, it's time to start upgrading (if necessary).

My initial thought is to go all out upgrade the HDD to 320GB at 7200rpm, 2.93GHz processor, and get 8GB of ram. I will be running ProTools 8 and Logic 8, and a few of my other friends have the basic older generation macbooks (not pro - and no upgrades) and they don't run into many problems when running either ProTools (earlier versions) or Logic - only if they have a considerable amount of tracks going with a few plugins.

For actual recording use, I will most likely only be using this through an mbox or an 8-track (just personal use to record new guitar ideas and band practices/demos). But with the much bigger recording projects I do at school, I would like to bring these home to work on the editing and mixes.

I'll definately upgrade the HDD since it's only $50 do to so, but I'm questioning if I should upgrade the processor to 2.93GHz ($300) and the ram to 8GB ($1200!! - WOW). What are the pros to having these upgrades? Is it really worth the additional $1500?

Posted on Jan 10, 2009 11:22 AM

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User profile for user: clintbradford
clintbradford
User level: Level 3
912 points

Posted on Jan 10, 2009 11:45 AM

Professionals have been creating their works with less than 8GB RAM ... (grin) And without the 2.93GHz processor too.

Look into external hard drives for storage of your work. Many audio professionals use and appreciate the quality of Glyph products ...

http://www.glyphtech.com/

Since you are creating works for clients, having redundant backups is not an outrageous extravagance - but might just be a lifesaver.

Clint Bradford
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User profile for user: clintbradford
clintbradford
User level: Level 3
912 points

Jan 10, 2009 11:45 AM in response to PansSiren

Professionals have been creating their works with less than 8GB RAM ... (grin) And without the 2.93GHz processor too.

Look into external hard drives for storage of your work. Many audio professionals use and appreciate the quality of Glyph products ...

http://www.glyphtech.com/

Since you are creating works for clients, having redundant backups is not an outrageous extravagance - but might just be a lifesaver.

Clint Bradford
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User profile for user: Scott Radloff
Scott Radloff
User level: Level 6
14,496 points

Jan 10, 2009 12:09 PM in response to PansSiren

PansSiren,

You don't need any more than the "stock" Macbook Pro for audio use. Heck, I have a friend that still uses his old G4 iBook to run ProTools quite successfully, along with his mondo Mac Pro and Intel iMac.

It would be advantageous to upgrade to the faster hard drive, but certainly not necessary. You won't be storing any of your audio on the internal drive, anyway, so speed is more critical here than storage capacity. I certainly wouldn't recommend that you attempt to store any audio internally, and none of the audio pros I know do so.

As far as the processor, I don't think you would get that much mileage out of the upgrade. Stick with the standard clock speed. Stay with the default 4 GBs of RAM, too. If you need to upgrade after you purchase the Macbook Pro, go with (much less $$$) third-party RAM, not that from Apple.

The money you save will be needed for the aforementioned external storage, preferably Firewire 800. eSATA through an Expresscard adapter might seem attractive, but it will only provide an advantage over FW 800 when multiple external drives are used in a striped RAID setup; not something an audio pro wants to deal with.

Scott
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User profile for user: eww
eww
User level: Level 9
53,028 points

Jan 10, 2009 12:15 PM in response to PansSiren

Hi, PansSiren, and welcome to Apple Discussions.

Clint, in his understated way, is right on the mark. You'd be flat-out crazy to pay $1200 for the extra RAM before you even know whether your software or projects will make use of it. They may not, and odds are good that a year or a year and a half from now (when you're well on your way to fame and fortune 😉 ), you'll be able to buy the same RAM from a third-party vendor for half the money or less.

As for the processor, the difference betwen 2.66 and 2.93GHz will be just barely perceptible, if perceptible at all, for nearly all purposes. There at least the cost difference isn't totally outlandish, but for that $300 you could buy a whopping big, fast external hard drive, and that would do you a lot more good than a 10% processor blip (calling it a "bump" would be overstating the case).

If you sell the computer three years from now, the processor upgrade might add as much as half of its $300 initial cost to the resale value of the machine. I think it's a safe bet that by then it will be possible to put 8GB of new RAM in that MBP for only $300 or $400, so you'd lose 2/3 to 3/4 of your investment in the extra RAM at resale time if you bought it now for $1200. Let the Sultan of Brunei or Warren Buffett be the first one on the block with 8GB of absurdly overpriced RAM — you don't need it that badly.
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User profile for user: syrius777
syrius777
User level: Level 1
16 points

Jan 13, 2009 6:21 AM in response to PansSiren

Then you should read carefully the specs!

http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs.html

2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB on-chip shared L2 cache running 1:1 with processor speed;

or 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB shared L2 cache

1066MHz frontside bus

4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM; two SO-DIMM slots support up to 8GB
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User profile for user: Community User
Community User

Jan 13, 2009 6:43 AM in response to syrius777

2.7... and basically, yes. The MOBO is probably same, just a different processor. There won't be a noticeable performance degradation however, especially a noticable one.
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MBP Configuration for Audio Engineering

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