seanmccoy Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Hey all. I have a client for whom I set up a studio years back who is ready to retire his ancient G5 and finally upgrade from Logic 7 to Logic X, but with the particular gear in his studio it will work better to go with a pre-2013 Mac Pro. He'll want something with some juice, at least an 8-core, and at least 32 GB of RAM. I've been out of touch with that market for awhile. Are there any 4,1 or 5,1 models that were particularly better or worse with Logic X? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Cardenas Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 I would recommend the latest iMac instead. Get the beefiest one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanmccoy Posted February 11, 2016 Author Share Posted February 11, 2016 There are a number of logistical reasons why an iMac won't work in his room. Otherwise it would be a perfect choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triplets Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 The best old mac pro you can find is the 8-core 2.93 from 2009, IF you can find it. Otherwise make sure it's 2009 or newer. No quad-cores. 6-cores from 2010 are also great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanmccoy Posted February 12, 2016 Author Share Posted February 12, 2016 Thanks, that's very helpful. Actually lots of both models available via Ebay and Mac refurbishers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triplets Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 Thanks, that's very helpful. Actually lots of both models available via Ebay and Mac refurbishers. There are a lot of 2009 towers out there that had their CPU upgraded to 6 and 12 cores, but are not originals from 2010. Make sure you can identify those. They have been "flashed" like they say in PC world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelonyc Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 Last October my Mac Pro 2008 died.. Apple would not repair and did not carry parts for 2008 Mac Pros.. I assume they will continue the same policy into the future.. So buying an old computer has that dis-advantage Also software and hardware will become incompatible at some point. so you will at some point have to stay with same set-up (but you could still continue to create music). I wanted to buy HGST 6 TB helium drives. but HGST advised against putting them inside the 2008 computer. Several people had issues.. I did buy a new mac pro and RAID with the helium drives, they work great.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanmccoy Posted February 15, 2016 Author Share Posted February 15, 2016 Understood. There is a risk with previous generation technology. This client is still making good music with his G5 and is only reluctantly upgrading because most of the new VI's from the past several years require an Intel-based system, and he has already bought several that are gathering dust. From a power standpoint, a high-end 4,1 or 5,1 should last him a long time. I'm just happy because I won't have to try to help him with Logic 7 issues anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie2112 Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 I would recommend the latest iMac instead.Get the beefiest one. Exactly, or a new Mac Pro. I never understand why people are willing to spend a ton of money on systems that are several years old, especially considering the older Mac Pro's are only USB 2, SATA II, and lack Thunderbolt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanmccoy Posted February 16, 2016 Author Share Posted February 16, 2016 Because the Apple landscape changes radically, obsoleting lots of very good peripheral gear. In this case, due to connectivity, furniture and other considerations, going with an iMac or new Mac Pro would necessitate a very expensive overhaul of other gear that is still perfectly viable (not to mention the high cost of the Mac Pro). Lots of folks get by just fine with the best of the previous generation, and for this client it makes sense on many levels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelonyc Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Yeah, I went with a 6 core mac pro, 1 TB SSD, 64 gig of memory from Other World Computing.. Two RAIDS.. (still have 20 internal hard drives floating around.. It ending costing over $8K.. This mac pro was a real PIA.. I got one of the 2% macs, where the Thunderbolt momentarily shuts off (3 times in one second), which of course would be catastrophic if you were writing to the RAID.. Apple has received a fair amount of this complaint. They replaced my computer,, and then two weeks later wanted and replaced my RAID system and all cables, to try to track down the problem.. Time machine to newr mac pro, broke all my copy protected devices, (except iLock) When I replaced the RAID, same issue all over again.. re-register, re validate most plug-ins.. Sampletank 3 and Philharmonik 2 just don't work the same anymore. I have to repoint, their data folder and re-scan in library each time I boot up.. Didn't happen on first Mac. iK Multimedia has been extremely poor in their customer service.. They keep closing the case, telling me it's solved.. At 67, and retired, I was looking forward to some really serious composing time.. Been with Logic 27 years, so I REALLY do not want to learn another DAW, or switch to a PC.. But the situation is this has wasted vast amounts of time and frustration for 3 months.. I was shocked to discover no support for older macs, (although I understand it).. an apple programmer told me, Apple constantly updates and pushes technologies on us, They want us to buy a new machine every 3 years.. I create large productions (lots of 3rd party plug-ins, and like to leave lit all in real time MIDI, until piece is finished. Granted some of these plug-ins (U-he, KV331 Synthmaster are real CPU hogs).. They would bring 2008 mac pro to a stop.. Work fine on new Mac Pro I'm finding the 6 core with 64 GIG of memory falling short.. Playback is fine.. But when too many virtual plug-ins, instances of KONTATK t, Samp-le Tank, and various others (30-40 plug-ins).. Logic bogs down.. Counter and time line pointer stop/start.. Takes 30 seconds to do a process which should take 1/2 second.. I made channel strips of all plug-ins.. Turned tracks to audio, and reset Channel strips to off.. Logic is back to working normally. For $8K I find that discouraging.. My buddy, not wanting to risk these problems, went and bought full blown out Mac Pro ($10K) I need to find some app, to discover if the problem lies in trying to read too many sample libraries.. But I don't think so, I think it's the computer.. Certainly Spotlilght uses two processes which really hog the CPUS.. I write Logic song audio to SSD, (lots of space).. When finished with piece, I condense down, and copy project to two different RAIDS for storage.. My advice is that if an iMac fills you current needs, and projected go with that.. I was hoping to hold off for next version for MacPro, (which should be coming 'anywaynow' ((don't hold your breath)).. In the Apple store.. They only display 2 mac pros.. And when I call Apple with a problem (which is a LOT).. I have to repeat to them 2 or 3 times I have a Mac Pro, not a MacPro Laptop... And a few times, their phone people didn't even know what Logic Pro was It's obvious, a lot of Apple salesmen know little/nothing of their top of the line computer.. When I was pricing the machine.. No one at Apple could tell me what configuration to buy after telling them my requirements using Logic Pro. I got everything form a minimac was sufficient to having to get a 12 core with 128 GIG of memory... In the end, I got three responses from this site.. 6 core, 64 gig, Went with 1TB SSD.. Surprisingly it is one of the fastest SSD's available.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie2112 Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 angelonyc, are you running all of your VI libraries from an external drive? If you are trying to run them all from the system drive (the 1TB SSD), you will have issues. I can run a ton of VI's on my MacBook Pro no problem, all samples streaming from an external 7200rpm drive (powered Lacie) connected to USB3. I can also run over 250 tracks from the MacBook when I run the bigger libraries from a slave PC (via VEPro). I hope you get this sorted. Also, what are you using for an audio interface? Just curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelonyc Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 I'm using an external 24TB OWC Thunderbay 4 for samples (Thunderbolt connection). I don't think it's the RAID system, I think it's Logic.. I use a RME Fireface 800.. Other than this issue, and the fact I got a defective mac the first time.. I do like the new mac pro a lot.. To their credit, Apple with prodding from SOFTRIAD and Other World Computing (OWC covered the cost of a new RAID for me).. They are quite anxious to resolve this issue or Thunderbolt momentarily shutting off.. New Mac Pro has no issues with Thunderbolt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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