Re: OT Query Mac purchase

[Per Boysen <perboysen@gmail.com>]

For "MIDI recording" he won't need a lot of computing power at all and
can go with the least expensive "last year's model" or refurbed
machine. The bigger machines are a lot less expensive than laptops.

If he is going to be mixing music too and want to use lots of virtual
instruments (software synths/sampler) he will need as much processing
power he can get. The new Imac has proven to be exceptionally
powerful, especially the model with the i7 processor. It has been the
"most bang for the buck" box for a while now.

If looking at a MBP there are two ways to go. The 13" screen model
that has a dual core i7 is one alternative. It's "overdrive" (whatever
that means in tech spec's) kicks in at high CPU load and makes this
laptop powerful with software that can not treat the two cores as two
processors. If running software that can treat multiple cores as if
they were in fact parallel processors the bigger MBP with a four core
i7 gives almost three times as much muscles (we measured this with
mixing in Logic and the "x3" is related to the previous MBP model)

Greetings from Sweden

Per Boysen
www.boysen.se
www.perboysen.com
www.looproom.com internet music hub



On Thu, Jun 30, 2011 at 11:08 AM, Rick Walker <looppool@cruzio.com> wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> I have a client who is considering putting together a midi recording
> setup using a Mac computer.
>
> He's going to use VSTi instruments with a keyboard almost exclusively and
> very little real time audio.
>
> He wondered whether a brand new Mac Mini or a Macbook would do the trick
> or whether he should fork out the extra dough and get a Macbook Pro.
>
> My MBP is over 4 years old now so I can't really advise him.
>
> Would you mind letting me know what you guys know about such a purchase?
>
> Thanks a lot,
>
> Rick Walker
>
>