Vienna Symphonic Library Forum
Forum Statistics

182,506 users have contributed to 42,234 threads and 254,827 posts.

In the past 24 hours, we have 6 new thread(s), 23 new post(s) and 48 new user(s).

  1. Home
  2. Software
  3. Vienna Instruments Pro
  4. Best VE PRO slave: 1 Mac Pro or 4 mac mini?
  • S
    S

    Wow, that seems to be a great thing. How many Gb does it have?
  • Cyril BlancC
    Cyril BlancC

     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

    MacBook Pro M3 MAX 128 GB 8TB - 2 x 48" screen --- Logic Pro --- Mir Pro 3D --- Most of the VI libs, a few Synch... libs --- Quite a few Kontakt libs --- CS80 fanatic
  • S
    S

    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.
  • Cyril BlancC
    Cyril BlancC

    Lion does not do anything !

    The new comming VE PRO may change figures !

    MacBook Pro M3 MAX 128 GB 8TB - 2 x 48" screen --- Logic Pro --- Mir Pro 3D --- Most of the VI libs, a few Synch... libs --- Quite a few Kontakt libs --- CS80 fanatic
  • S
    S
    last edited
    last edited

    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
  • Cyril BlancC
    Cyril BlancC

    it depends what you want to acheive !

    Explain what kind of music you are writing, how many instruments, what lib you are using ...

    MacBook Pro M3 MAX 128 GB 8TB - 2 x 48" screen --- Logic Pro --- Mir Pro 3D --- Most of the VI libs, a few Synch... libs --- Quite a few Kontakt libs --- CS80 fanatic
  • S
    S

    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!!!
  • Cyril BlancC
    Cyril BlancC

    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

    MacBook Pro M3 MAX 128 GB 8TB - 2 x 48" screen --- Logic Pro --- Mir Pro 3D --- Most of the VI libs, a few Synch... libs --- Quite a few Kontakt libs --- CS80 fanatic
  • S
    S

    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...)?
  • I
    I
    last edited
    last edited

    The Mini makes for a good little server (it's almost silent and you can put 8Gig of RAM in there for about $60-70). Keep in mind that any server will have to have a vienna key and additional licenses which becomes quite costly. One Mini can comfortably host VSE. If you add all of the special edition + then 8Gig may not be enough but there is a new version of both VEPro and VIPro coming up that may allow for a smaller memory footprint while using SSD.

    The current generation iMacs are really quite powerful machines. Apparently they get around the same benchmarks as the 2008 MacPros. The biggest limitation there would be memory, but that may also change when 4Gig sticks become cheaper.

    Personally, I love having the VSE hosted on my MacMini. I also use it as a media server and for other stuff.

    A PC slave would be the most powerful option, but can you build a nearly silent one for $600-700? It would be a tower case which may or may not be an issue. In Australia, the full retail prices of Windows 7 are at $299 for Home Premium, $449 for professional and $469 for Ultimate. I have no idea how cheap you can get them or which is the lowest incarnation that will do the job as a server for VEPro. And then there's Windows to deal with ;)
  • I
    I

    Oh, and I should mention that if you're happy to run your Vienna Instruments on the slave then there is no need for an additional key or license. From all the information I could gather here it was unclear whether I could host VEPro with VSE on the Mini and still have the VEPro Server connection running on my MacPro without an additional key. I was pleasantly surprised that it worked, but of course I can't use any Vienna Instruments on the Mac Pro. So the limitation is that if I want to deviate from my template I have to do it on the Mini rather than just insert a single instance of VIPro in Logic.
  • M
    M

    Interesting thread. What about Windows running in bootcamp on a Mac Pro? 
  • C
    C

    Mac minis make very interesting slaves.  I've been fiddling around with a couple recently.

    The reason you might want to go with them : They consume VERY little power, they are light (if you travel at all for jobs, this is a huge benefit) and they are very easily scalable.

    The reason you might not want to go with them : They are fiddly to work on (adding second drive / ram etc is not for a beginner) and putting 16GB ram in (possible) is still expensive (OWC = about $900!)  However, 8GB So-dims that work with the mac mini's are starting to become avaliable from other sources, and within 3 or 4 weeks we should see good supplys of crucial 2x8GB for around $450 to $500 in various stores.  This immediately makes a very interesting proposition out of the mac minis.

    You can rack 2 in 1RU easy enough (and there are even 4 in 1RU trays around) - and it doesn't cost TOO much to have a spare.

    I *was* looking at building a sandy bridge 2600 based machine for a slave, but could not seem to get one under 12KG (needed for my travel rig) and within 1 or 2RU.  I tried hard, but it just never worked out for me.  I'd certainly be interested in seeing if anyone has done this!

    Testing WD Black 2.5" 750GB drives in the mac mini showed about 120 (!!!) MB/s transfer rates (not bad at all!) and my OWC SSD's gave me results of over 500!

    At this stage, 4 mac minis, (2 with 16GB ram, 2 with 8 GB ram) might just do the trick for me... (SSD's for samples, HD for OS) but I'm still not totally committed to pulling the trigger.  I only need to put my new system together by beginning of next year, so I have some time to experiment, plan, and think.

    B.