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@mosso said:
In my opinion you get far more bang for your buck with a PC slave (rather than OSX). Why are you only looking at Macs?
I use OSX and Logic on my master machine (just in case you thought I was biased).
M
I think you're right about that. However, some OSX users do worry about running a Windows machine, and I quite understand that if OSX is your home territory, anything else can be daunting. It's a bit like changing sequencer or notation program. Not for the faint of heart. [;)]
DG
Personally, I'd go with a PC slave before getting any mac to use as a slave machine. But my mac pro is handling everything I need, with my current setup it's plenty, I have no need for a slave machine.
@DG said:
Cyril, I'm not sure that there is anything to be patient for. Apple seems to have had very little response to the many complaints about the lack of performance using SSD with OSX. Also, now that Thunderbolt is out, I'm not sure that there is much incentive to do anything about it. I suspect that the full potential of SSD with OSX will only be seen with an external drive connected via Thunderbolt.
Apple is improving SSD support. Recently it was found that 10.7 has TRIM support, after that new MB air models included it for the latest version of 10.6 (in both cases, just for the apple SSDs but I expect that to get updated to support all).
In terms of performance on mac, it seems more dependent on the software. PLAY doesn't work well on SSD/Mac, and it sounds like the vienna stuff isn't really optimized for SSD on either platform. But Kontakt has major gains on SSD, mac and PC. That, along with major improvements on mac/ssd with other types of software, makes it seems like it's much more an issue for third party devs to fix than something on Apple's side.
New update of what? OsX or programm?@MS said:
A new update is currently in testing, which improves SSD loading performance. For one user with an SSD RAID on Mac, loading speed has increased from10-15MB/sec to roughly 480MB/sec. With this update - disk speed is the only limit to loading speed.
> But what does RAID mean in this case
raid 0 is about 1.5 the speed per disk, more disk you have, faster is the loading
the 490 mb/s test was done with a 11 GB template on a 4 x 64 gb crucial raid on a Rocket raid sata III, a 11.83 GB template was loaded in 50 secs using VE pro server and VI pro
> which SSD do you recommend for a Mac Pro.
Sata III if you can have a SATA III card in your MAC (like the Rocket Raid)
> Should I wait till the faster ones come out end of April?
up to you !
loading and playing
No problem to put a sata III card in your Mac
Crazy world - this morning I found out that my official mac-trader installed Western Caviar green HDs instead black ones on my new Mac. So maybe the exchange will bring me some gain of performance. We will see...
What do you think about a Western raptor? Is this kind of HD out of time now? It´s no so expensive...
Raid 0 of HD is also a solution now, this as soon the fix is out
If you leave in France in Paris I can sell you an 8 out Rocket raid PCI E with 6 raptors
Best
Cyril
it is 6 raptors 10 000 rpm of 32 gb, so you have a raid 0 of 192 GB
They have SE PLUS and Appassionata already loaded
Would you still be of the same opinion now that Lion is out? My MB Air screams with the SSD and Lion - but I haven't really tasked it yet. Just looking for some feedback.
Lion does not do anything !
The new comming VE PRO may change figures !
That's good news!
I'm new to VSL and I just created a post here: Re: New User -- Need Help Deciding Building a VSL Mac-based System.
I'm wondering if you could help me out. Based on your knowledge, which way should I go?
MacBook Air 13" 2011 i5/i7 w/256GB SSD and 4GB RAM
+
Mac Mini i5/i7 w/500GB+ HDD (or 256GB SSD) and 8GB RAM
OR
iMac 27" i5/i7 w/ 16GB RAM and 1TB HDD w/ 256GB external T-Bolt Drive (LaCie Little Big Disk)
See the link above for info on what my recording template looks like.
Thanks in advance!
Craig
it depends what you want to acheive !
Explain what kind of music you are writing, how many instruments, what lib you are using ...
Hi Cyril,
I do quite a bit of sacred music composing, arranging and recording.
For instance I may take hymns from the 17th - 19th centuries for some of my subjects. Typical arrangements use piano as a base (as that is my main instrument) and may add light orchestral accompaniment such as string trio/quartet all the way up to full orchestration with strings/woods/brass/percussion.
I also record acoustic instruments voice/strings/piano etc. The overall style is classical or neo-classical with a slight contemporary lean in terms of voicings, chord progressions, etc.
My recording template will probably max out at around 28 tracks but on average 16 - 20 tracks is plenty for what I do. I have VSL Special Edition - Standard but may need to download specific instruments to get the articulations I need.
What do you recommend? For context I am posting my earlier question I posted elsewhere on the forum:
==============================================================================
Hello Everyone,
Please help me decide between the two setups below.
My recording template will likely max out at around 28 tracks but averaging between 16 - 20 tracks. Although I be doing quite a bit of acoustic piano, vocal and acoustic instrument recordings, for the sake of this comparison let's assume that all of the tracks will be software instruments from VSL. Portability is a factor but I could go either way on this.
Hardware/Software I own:
Korg OASYS 88 (will be used as MIDI controller and plan to use some of the internal sounds in my projects)
Seagate 1TB HDD
Apogee Duet 2
Avid MIDI interface
Logic Pro 9
Vienna Instruments SE (standard)
VI Player & VE (standard)
======================
May be upgrading to the full library or SE Plus with VSL. Still evaluating my needs there but for now I could also go a la carte and download what I need.
Setup #1 (budget-friendly):
2011 MacBook Air 13" i5/i7, 256GB SSD, 4GB RAM w/Lion and ThunderBolt
THEN in the near - mid future:
2011 Mac Mini i5/i7, 8GB RAM ?GB SSD/HDD
LaCie Little Big Disk 256GB SSD External ThunderBolt Drive (to host VSL, etc.)
OR
Setup #2 (going all-out):
2011 iMac 27" i7, 1TB 7200RPM, 16GB RAM Drive w/Lion and ThunderBolt
THEN in the near - mid future:
LaCie Little Big Disk 256GB SSD External ThunderBolt Drive (to host VSL, etc.)
One more question: Is it better to have Logic Pro and VSL on the same drive or separate?
I currently have the MacBook Air 13" described above and it runs like butter. I haven't really tasked it that much but have about 100GB free after installing Logic Pro 9 and VSL SE and may be getting another external SSD to record to or use for hosting samples. This machine really screams with Lion and the SSD. I also have another Seagate drive (1TB) for backup purposes. I'm still within my window to return it and go with the iMac but I wanted some advice from the user community before making a decision. What I plan to do for the next couple of days I have the system is to load as many samples into memory as I can and try to bring the system to a crawl to get an idea of it's limits.
Thanks in advance for your help!!!
Having to work on a small 13" screen is a pain in ....
I work with 2 x 26" and 2 x 24" screen ( 2x screen for Logic and 2 x for VSL)
If you work with large orchestra the only way to work with comfort is the Mac pro with 2 x video cards
I have screen set for "finder" another for the Motu mixer and various tools
You can get Macpro from refurb for cheaper
I should have mentioned that I have a 27" ThunderBolt Display. :) Yes, 13" is a BIG pain!!! But I can't afford another display right now sooo...
Should I go MacBook Air + Mac Mini OR iMac (No T-Bolt yet with Mac Pro...)?
