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Old 09-06-2012, 05:21 AM   #1
kristen
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Default Looking for tips on how to set up a Mac Pro. Whats Your setup like?

I am going to soon get an older mac pro (can't afford a new one!!!!!), and was wondering what type of setups you guys use. Will be Quad core (two 3.0Ghz dual core processors)with 4 gig ram.

Currently I run mac-Reaper on a small macbook in OS mode (and bootcamp xp mode) as well as on a desktop with windoze xp. My delta 1010lt card cannot be used with the mac pro so it will stay in the xp machine.

So looking for suggestions on :
How you hook your Mac Pro up...
What soundcards (if any) usb firewire do you use???
RAM - I know you can never have enough. Any good sources?

And any other tips.
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Old 09-06-2012, 05:51 AM   #2
triton60
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Hi Kristen,

I only recently got into Reaper a few weeks back and bought a copy last week but I normally use a Windows PC but do have a Mac Pro which I need to use for the current project I am on and is another reason I bought into Reaper as I wanted a DAW that worked on both platforms.

My Mac Pro was bought around 2006 and is a Mac Pro 1,1 so I cannot upgrade to Mountain Lion (without a lot of hassle).

I recently bought 8 gb (4 x 2gb sticks) for it so now it has a total of 11 gb and so far I haven't had any issues with it running Reaper.

Not sure which Mac Pro you are getting as this affects what type of ram you buy, mine uses FB-DIMMs which is expensive but the newer Mac Pros used conventional DRAM, if you have a look here it gives you a lot of information that should be useful to you.

I got my ram here, it was very cheap compared to others but as I say so far it has been fine and it comes with a lifetime warranty, I have previously used crucial for ram and they are very good.

I use an older presonus firebox (firewire), not sure if it is compatible with Mountain Lion but works fine in Lion.

Andrew.
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Old 09-06-2012, 09:02 AM   #3
kristen
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I looked at the specs on it. It is also a 1,1

Processors: 2x Dual Core Intex Xeon 3.0Ghz = 4 Core Processing
RAM: 4GB 6674MHz RAM (Expandable to 32GB)
Hard Drive: 1x 750GB 7200RPM (Expandable with 4 HDD bays)
Optical Drives: 2x Super Drives (CD/DVD/DVD-DL)
Video Card: ATI Radeon X1900 XT (512MB)
OS: Mac OSX 10.7 (Lion)
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Old 09-06-2012, 09:10 AM   #4
serr
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kristen View Post
I am going to soon get an older mac pro (can't afford a new one!!!!!), and was wondering what type of setups you guys use. Will be Quad core (two 3.0Ghz dual core processors)with 4 gig ram.

Currently I run mac-Reaper on a small macbook in OS mode (and bootcamp xp mode) as well as on a desktop with windoze xp. My delta 1010lt card cannot be used with the mac pro so it will stay in the xp machine.

So looking for suggestions on :
How you hook your Mac Pro up...
What soundcards (if any) usb firewire do you use???
RAM - I know you can never have enough. Any good sources?

And any other tips.
My signature tells the story.
Firewire is always preferred over USB for audio.

Whenever the occasional Windows app comes along that I decide I need to try I just run it right in OSX with Wine. There's no need to actually boot up windows itself for anything. Most audio apps are OSX (some are only OSX).

I'd really be surprised if you manage to use more than 6GB of RAM. Unless you have a ton of instrument plugins and that style of production is your thing. Activity monitor is your friend.
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Old 10-16-2012, 06:41 PM   #5
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I have a 2011 MBP 15" with the Intel i5. Pretty much the standard one they were selling in April 2010. 1st of all, Thuderbolt is useless. I've seen performance issues when I get above about 20 tracks with (1-3 vst, or AU) effects on them. It starts popping/pausing all over the place. Its 'workaroundable'- if you really want a mobile studio with a laptop (my preference), but I'd custom build a PC if you've got a stationary studio
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Old 10-16-2012, 08:25 PM   #6
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For ram, see OWC (macsales.com). I only paid $45 for my 8gb upgrade, giving my 12gb with no problems.

Be SURE to get more drives. Every daw needs a dedicated sample library drive and a dedicated projects drive for maximum performance no matter what OS.

If you are asking what setup tweaks, there are none. Plug it in, install your soundcard and software and go to it.

My setup is below. I run Win7 and Ubuntu Linux via Parallels. Audio, video, 3d... no problems
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Old 10-29-2012, 03:33 PM   #7
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Hey! (friendly, not threatening)

Bring up preferences: turn off Time Machine; Software Updates; Energy Saver (Battery and Power Adapter, default to 3 hours), and Sound>Sound Effects>uncheck Play User Interface Sound Effects and Play Feedback when Volume is Changed. You can get an external Hard Drive for under $100 - definitely do this!; For the firewire I would suggest a mixer: Behringer is cheap and lasts accordingly, Mackie have excellent A/D converters and self installs. I'd guess Yamaha has quality stuff, and unless you rob banks or take over multinational corporations that sorta limits the available options. I didn't have any good luck with Phonic.

I also had problems with Bose speakers while recording, but so far it is an isolated incident.

It's a brave new world. Have fun!

Cal
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Old 06-21-2018, 06:21 AM   #8
citizenkeith
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I think now is the right time to buy a cheap Mac Pro 1,1 from 2006. Who knew that 12 years on these computers, with some work, can be such great machines. They are so well designed and easy to work on.

I picked up one on Craigslist for $100. It came with 5GB RAM and a 320GB hard drive. The processors are dual-core 266GHz Xeon.

Not long ago you couldn't upgrade these processors to the Xeon quad-core without spending $400. Yesterday I bought two used processors, with a warranty, for $19.

32GB of RAM will cost about $80 on the used market.

I picked up a used GeForce GT 630 2GB video card for $35.

I already had an extra SSD drive, so that's the main drive now. I had a USB Bluetooth adapter and USB wireless adapter, but if I want to install an Airport Extreme card, it's only $25.

So for about $260, I'll have a pretty nice machine.

The Apple hacking community has been able to create bootloaders allowing for these machines to run any OS up to El Capitan, so I'll be able to install plugins that are not compatible with Lion.

I'm pretty stoked. It's been a fun project. If you find these projects fun, I recommend it. But I'll be sure to post here and let you know how it turns out.
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Old 06-21-2018, 07:10 AM   #9
serr
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Necro thread...

Start with the 2009 Mac Pro 4,1. (The 2010 & 2011 machines are good too.)
That's when the Mac Pro really became the "Mac Pro". These are dual 4 core i7 or dual 6 core i7 machines. The earlier models are C2D machines and cannot be CPU upgraded.

If you're interested, these machines can be upgraded with newer i7 4.something GHz CPUs (dual 6 core for a 12 core machine). You can end up with a faster machine than that 2012 cylinder model and you get the heavy duty case, p/s, and all the drive bays and ports.

They support 128GB ram if you want to go wild. These were aimed at video production and are wildly overpowered for audio. Just how I like.

The only catch is they do not have thunderbolt ports (if you crossed that line with some accessory). Some folks claim TB expansion cards will never run with full or stable performance.

These machines are actually still holding a high price but cheaper than buying new. (And buying new is not possible since Apple stopped making them and no one else has filled the gap.)
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Old 06-21-2018, 02:53 PM   #10
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Quote:
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Necro thread...
Yeah, I couldn't resist talking about my 2006 Mac Pro 1,1 project with SOMEBODY.
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Old 06-21-2018, 03:36 PM   #11
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I just upgraded to a 6.1 2013 cylinder - 64g ram, 8 core.

I wanted a totally silent machine to run nearby me, and not have recording issues with noisy fans, plus 6 lightpipe ports is insane + USB3.0.


The 4.1 and 5.1 are rockin machines when modded, but on this upgrade I skipped the big noisy towers after 10 or more years of cheesegraters

Very happy - set for many years to come
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Old 06-22-2018, 04:33 AM   #12
Vasily
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my recent investment into my studio is a Thunderbolt card and it's expensive, but worth it. you will have no firewire in any recent Mac (and there are chances a firewire card won't work well with a recent OS), USB is... slow and affordable, as it's always been.

RAM: 8GB will be likely okay.

I have two computers, one is 1.7GHz, other one is 2.9. I would not say, this is a huge difference though.
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