Audio Engineering Comp..

[diamondd]

Hi guys, need help with a new computer for my little bro, he's just about to start up a two year sound engineering course and needs a computer that he can do all his work on.

I've already had a mate who completed the same course a while back HIGHLY recommend getting a Mac to interface with all the hardware he'll be using, but obviously the question that remains is which one?

The obvious answer in my eyes is a 15" MacBook Pro but the problem lies in what specifically to get. What kind of options are worth getting? eg SSD drive, more RAM, etc or is it worth waiting for the brand new MacBooks with the retina displays and everything?

I'm just a bit out of the loop on Macs so I'm not sure what the best way to go would be. Any thoughts? Thanks

[steve_rogers42]

A mate of mine and a co-worker both use MAC's with abelton live and a whole host of other stuff. I know ones about 3-4 years on now and still lets him do his 'thang with it.

if your interested in the new models, there is some news about the place, first off get your budget and then once you have that worked out, look to see what you can afford.

Get everything on the first hit, you dont want to be looking to upgrade a mac, unless its a mac pro. I would highly recommend a MBP, a few times i have nearly been temped to pick one up, and now that the 15" is nearly as thin as the air its raised its head again...

if its just for music, i wouldnt worry too much about the screen panel, if he can afford it tho, its always an option, an SSD would be preferable tho.

[diamondd]

A mate of mine and a co-worker both use MAC's with abelton live and a whole host of other stuff. I know ones about 3-4 years on now and still lets him do his 'thang with it.

if your interested in the new models, there is some news about the place, first off get your budget and then once you have that worked out, look to see what you can afford.

Get everything on the first hit, you dont want to be looking to upgrade a mac, unless its a mac pro. I would highly recommend a MBP, a few times i have nearly been temped to pick one up, and now that the 15" is nearly as thin as the air its raised its head again...

if its just for music, i wouldnt worry too much about the screen panel, if he can afford it tho, its always an option, an SSD would be preferable tho.

yep, pretty much my thinking. I mean its kind of like there's no "wrong" choice with a MBP but at the same time its incredibly difficult to work out what the "best" choice is. From what I've gathered from other places as well he's probably just going to be best off picking up the best new MBP he can afford and leave it at that. The tough call is which one to get, the non-retina MBP's have more I/O options but if you add an SSD they're more expensive than the retina models anyway.

with the retina display I was thinking that would actually give you tonnes more real estate for virtual mixers and everything too.

the other consideration is that apparently the early 2012 models are 15% off at Dick Smith so that could be a good option as well. It's too hard

[Hawker45]

Came here expecting a sound engineering competition...I'm an idiot.

Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191 using Tapatalk 2

[steve_rogers42]

I've touched on the SSD speed bump already, and I've talked about how Apple is handling DPI scaling in Lion. To recap, Retina Display MBP owners now get a slider under OS X's Display Preferences that allow you to specify desktop resolutions other than 1440 x 900. At 1440 x 900 you don't get any increase in usable desktop resolution compared to a standard 15-inch MacBook Pro, but everything is ridiculously crisp. If you're like me however and opted for the 1680 x 1050 "high-res" upgrade last generation, this won't do. Thankfully Apple offers 1680 x 1050 and 1920 x 1200 scaling options that trade a bit of image quality and performance for added real estate. The gallery below gives you a look at the five settings.

Article HERE


I'd get an SSD over retina. early 2012 model on the cheap wouldnt be so bad, these will last a few more years than you expect. Just make sure the software works on the OS version.

[Ninja Catfish]

You can upgrade some Macs. My MacBook allows me to upgrade both the HDD and RAM. Of you can upgrade the RAM, it'll be almost certainly cheaper to buy some more RAM elsewhere than to get Apple to install it. Make sure you research whether you can upgrade whatever model you end up going for, as things may have changed since I got my MBP (late-2008).

[Chucky]

Came here expecting a sound engineering competition

Me too

Sent from my laptop using a keyboard, a browser and my fingers!

[diamondd]

You can upgrade some Macs. My MacBook allows me to upgrade both the HDD and RAM. Of you can upgrade the RAM, it'll be almost certainly cheaper to buy some more RAM elsewhere than to get Apple to install it. Make sure you research whether you can upgrade whatever model you end up going for, as things may have changed since I got my MBP (late-2008).

yeah, e.g. the RAM on the new retina MBP's is soldered on...

[Hawker45]

Sent from my laptop using a keyboard, a browser and my fingers!

Soooooo 20th century...
I should remove that signature. Either that or put my phone hardware specs in my sig..