Choosing a Macbook Air to run Mainstage Live?

Question

Level 1

4 points

Choosing a Macbook Air to run Mainstage Live?

Hi there, I work for a band who are looking to switch their keyboard rigs over to mainstage rigs running an Arturia Keylab 49 in addition to a Maschine Mikro for one shot samples. We've been looking into getting Macbook Air's but I want them to be plenty powerful enough to go through the show without any issues. Im new to the Mainstage game and just installed Mainstage 3 (3.2.4). I'm looking to find out what issues I may run into or be prepared for as well as which computer might keep me from running into any issues. Currently looking at buying two

13 In (mid 2012) Macbook Air's

2.0GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 processor
Turbo Boost up to 3.2GHz
with 8 gigs of Ram
256 gigs Flash Storage

Also looking into having the output stage of the computer be either a Motu 828X or Motu624.

Seems like that would be powerful enough for a computer thats sole purpose is running mainstage, right?

would love some input. Thanks

MainStage, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Feb 18, 2017 12:38 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 18, 2017 3:07 PM in response to Timbrehawk

If you can swing the $$, I would definitely go for the 15" MacBook Pro. I originally ordered the 15" but swapped it for the 13" because of the portability factor ( I carry it with me every day.) Bad move on my part. The separate video card and robust quad processor in the 15" is the tipping factor for me. My similarly equipped iMac never stumbles in MainStage whereas my 13"MacBook Pro requires memory optimization, big buffers, careful use of plug-ins etc to keep from having drop outs and digital splat artifacts. If MainStage is going to be mission critical for you, my reccomis to spring for the 15" MacBook Pro. You will never notice the hardware, which is what you want.

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Answer 2

Madddcow

Level 2

463 points

Feb 19, 2017 6:32 AM in response to Timbrehawk

I would HIGHLY recommend NOT using anything other than a 15" MacBook Pro. Every person I've known (about a dozen now, and still counting) who has tried to use anything less has encountered numerous issues, usually due to CPU overload or audio problems. I can't stress this highly enough.

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