This is not good.
I never thought the day would come.
The End Is Near!
I’ve got major gear lust for a Mac.
Like an uncontrollable urge to buy one RIGHT NOW…but it’s late and tired and I figure it’s probably better to write about it instead.
These new June 2009 Mac Book Pro models look (almost) perfect. Firewire is back, useless audio input port is gone (on the 13″ model), SD card is in. 7hr battery life and 5 yr battery lifespan is pretty amazing. I’ve the new multi-touch Macbook touchpads a few times and they’re very impressive, better by far than any other pointing device built into a computer.
I’d most likely be getting the 13″ 2.26 GHz model upgraded to 4GB RAM. It wouldn’t be my main computer, my Quad-Core PC will (likely) still be the core of my studio, but so many times I’ve wished for something more portable, but still powerful and reliable. The Macs just have always seemed a bit under powered especially at the cost, the base model 13″ MacBook Pro is just $1399 and that does not seem overpriced at all.
Dammit, I don’t even own a single Apple product (I don’t even use iTunes) and I already sound like a typical Mac Fanboy.
I think I’m going to take one for a test tomorrow at the Future Shop not far from here.
I’d like to see if it can record 10 tracks for over an hour continuously. I have a live recording coming up this month and a set and forget solution would be a dream. I’d likely use Reaper and my Profire 2626 for the gig rather than Pro Tools (another shocker!). It would really come in handy as a mobile rig for Epic Sounds.
It may be time to join the cult of MAC. I probably won’t be buying it tomorrow but probably by the end of summer.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, criticism, and encouragement on this.
Is the SD slot useful at all? Can you record to SD the same as a Firewire drive? Surely it’s better than recording to the internal drive.
Newest 13″ model vs late 2008 refurbished15″ model?
Also Interesting:
Go for it! You’ll never look back. Your only new problem will be…which Mac will you choose in a few weeks to take the place of that PC?
Go for it.
I made the switch to an older MBP and love it. Software does crash and I have at least once had to manually power it down, but everything else is better, easier and more intuitive than PC.
I’ve never had the nerve to record to SD, but it is, of course, much faster than any HD connection. Firewire 800, though is only about a third the transfer rate of most SATA drives but works fine for most audio projects. Theoretically if you have enough tracks playing at a high enough sample rate/bit depth, the FW transfer wouldn’t be able to keep up.
I’ve used Logic Pro and Pro Tools but I don’t know about reaper.
I have the 13″ macbook pro and its amazing!!!
Pro tools is sluggish sometimes cause digidesign has not released an update yet to make it work with the new models, but it works.
I have recorded a live show with Logic to the internal hard drive 26 simultaneous tracks with no issues. External hard drive is better, usb2 works great even with pro tools.
I Dont think recording to sd will be a good idea the internal drive is much faster.
Battery life is insane!
Sd slot great for camera dont have to bother with the cable and wasting battery on my camera to transfer pics to the computer.
Touch pad is insane!!!
U will love it!!
I purchased a 17″ MBP just a few moments ago from the Apple store business center. Saved $300 because I picked up the phone instead of using the online store. Highly recommended!
I ordered…
17″MBP with 7200rpm 500gig HDD, 4gig ram, & antiglare screen
Final Cut Studio,
And the ExpressCard to eSATA for my external “offline” storage.
Grand total $4003.60
I plan on incorporating this with my current gear,
Mackie d8b (got this sometime ago but it was worth every penny),
Mackie HDR 24/95 (great multitrack for live applications as well as studio) and
the Presonus Firestudio lightpipe (the d8b has 24 channels (3 fiber) of ADAT optic, so when in Soundtrack Pro2 (FCS) I can multi track there as well).
As far as Video goes, I capture with a Canon XL-H1 HDV system.
I have found that being mobile opens more opportunities for cash flow. This is the only reason I passed on the 8-core MacPro.
Also being an Audio Engineer in a Videographers world has brought great opportunities.
Good luck with your decision making!
Matthew Carnes
I haven’t tried Reaper 3.x but I did get occasional crashes with the older versions on my Mac.
Reaper has such low cpu and loads instantly. That’s why I’ve been using it more than PT lately.
For simple recording/jamming through plugs, I don’t think Reaper 3 can be beat. I can also run at a lower buffer size than in PT.
I ordered the 13″ Macbook Pro last night. Hopefully it will be here soon.
Jon: Yes, you are correct however, Reaper doesn’t enjoy the same stability on Mac as it does on Windows. Just an FYI, otherwise yes it is solid. I use Reaper for quick demos (ampsims, VSTi drums etc.) and Pro-Tools for more serious work (Reaper can’t touch PT’s audio editing features IMO).
just a heads-up, computers do NOT qualify for “gear lust.” never did, never will. seriously. ok, carry on…
I can assure you- you won’t be disappointed! I’ve been a Windows user for a long time but a few months ago purchased my first 24″ iMac. I got hooked instantly and subsequently bought myself a 2006 MacBook (hey, this stuff’s expensive!) You should do a post about your first hands-on with it!
Old post, I’m sure you have used the mbp fully now. My question – since I am poised to purchase a laptop for mobile studio work – is if something like a lenovo t500 with a 7200 rpm drive, 4 gigs ram, would compare? I have both macs and pcs and feel that the (cheap) alternative of a faster hard drive and cheaper upgrades on both ram and cpu put it in the running with the 13″ mbp. Could someone educate me if I’m wrong? The lenovo is grounded the same way the mbp is so noise wouldn’t be an issue… ???
Hi Mike
Ideally you don’t want to be recording to the internal hard drive at all, so the standard internal drive is fine for what it needs to do. All my recording is to an external LaCie D2 Quadra 1TB.
Lenovo T500- yuck plastic case.
Yes by specs alone a Lenovo, HP, Dell, Asus, Sony laptop could be the same or better than the MBP. IMO none of the others are engineered the same as a MBP. Glass screen, backlit keyboard, multi-touch track pad, aluminum case (no plastic except the keyboard!), fantastic battery life, magsafe power adapter, compact, lightweight, all that and OSX! It may not be quite as fast but it’s a pleasure to use and a quality product throughout. I’d NEVER consider a PC laptop now.
First off, your response time is amazing! Zero latency! Second, you are echoing feeling I had inside but wanted to disbelieve for the sole reason of having a little more screen space – I cannot afford a 15″ mbp and I was thinking the 13″ screen would be too small. You’ve got me on the fan wagon now. Would you stick with the above specs you used – 2.26 cpu w/ 4 gig ram – thanks for a push in the proper direction.
The 13″ is small if it’s your main system. For portability it’s a good size.
A Mac mini is another (less expensive) option if it doesn’t have to be battery powered.