mac mini and Pro Tools (LE 8, or 9)

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Level 1

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mac mini and Pro Tools (LE 8, or 9)

Anybody out there using a Mac Mini as a pro tools DAW? Thoughts on performance? I'm currently setup with an '08 iMac and Pro Tools Eleven Rack, but thinking about maybe switching to a mini later this year depending on what the new ones offer when they're announced.....

Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on Apr 4, 2011 10:05 PM

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Answer 1

a brody

Level 10

83,011 points

Apr 5, 2011 5:38 AM in response to telefonique

thinking about maybe switching to a mini later this year depending on what the new ones offer when they're announced.....

If that's what you are planning, wait till they are announced to be in the channel to find out what the mileage is like. You never know what new compatibility issues might arise. Remember with each new release, no Mac can run an older Mac operating system than shipped with it. So any experience we give here today may be vastly different from what you might run into in the future.

Then if people's mileage is not what you want, and it is better on the old, get a refurbished model*:

http://www.macmaps.com/usedrefurbished.html

Note, most Mac Mini users are not running Pro Tools. If you want Pro Tools experience of today, it is better to ask in the Mac Mini forum. If you like, I can ask a moderator to move this thread.

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Answer 2

telefonique Author

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26 points

Apr 5, 2011 6:22 AM in response to a brody

Thanks, I'm definitely aware of the things you'd mention and would research a bit further when the time comes. Still interested in peoples experiences today though. It is my hope that when they do announce upgraded machines, that they'll still be shipping with Snow Leopard. As long as they keep their firewire port, I can't see why they wouldn't do the job for my needs, perhaps even better for recording in some ways because there will be external HDD options to take advantage of Thunderbolts speeds and I'm anticipating a CPU bump that will increase their performance to a point where they are faster than my current iMac. As it stands today, the base model mini is probably close enough, with the upgraded one matching my machine.

Anyhow like you said, most don't use a mini for this so that's why I'm asking.

I thought this was the Mac Mini forum?

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Answer 3

a brody

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83,011 points

Apr 5, 2011 6:26 AM in response to telefonique

Yes, but my point is, not everyone using a Mac Mini would know if Pro Tools can work on a Mac Mini. Many more Pro Tools users are on the Pro Tools forum, and the chance of finding a Mac Mini user there with Pro Tools I think would be greater since it is entirely focussed on Pro Tools. The Mac Mini forum is more a troubleshooting forum for the Mac Mini hardware itself, as well as possible third party software and hardware that might be used on the Mac Mini.

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Answer 4

telefonique Author

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26 points

Apr 5, 2011 8:03 AM in response to a brody

Gotcha.

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Answer 5

telefonique Author

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26 points

Apr 5, 2011 3:44 PM in response to a brody

By all means if you don't mind, link me to the appropriate Pro Tools forum and I'll cut and paste my questions there.

Thanks!

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Answer 6

a brody

Level 10

83,011 points

Apr 6, 2011 4:58 AM in response to telefonique

Egad, when I made my first reply I thought Protools was an Apple product. It is not. It appears to be Avid's. Anyway, here is their forum:

http://duc.avid.com/

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Answer 7

MozNZ

Level 1

0 points

Apr 17, 2011 10:21 PM in response to telefonique

ProTools 7.3 runs fine on first generation intel Mac Mini - v8 should be fine but v9 may need a more recent Mac Mini

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