KVR Audio

memyselfandus · Post by **memyselfandus** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 3:19 pm

In the market for a new computer soon. I'm on a PC quadcore blah blah.

Can you run cpu intensive projects on a macbook pro laptop without any dropouts/crackles?

what about latency? how low can you set it before you notice?

how does the macbook pro compare to the mac pro as far as performance for audio/midi work?

anyone switched from a i9 type PC setup to a macbook pro? what did you notice?

I would love to see something that rivals the mac pro but in the ipad with a bigger screen...

Jim Roseberry · Post by **Jim Roseberry** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 3:53 pm

If you're used to a well-configured (current generation) i7 Tower/Rack with the CPU running at 4.4+GHz, absolutely no laptop will offer that level of performance. Doesn't matter if you're talking Mac or PC.

Think about it logically.
A laptop is a very tight space. Heat is very much a concern.
To keep heat in check, performance compromises have to be made.
Again, doesn't matter if you're talking Mac or PC.
Both use Intel processors... and Intel chipset motherboards.
Notice that clock speeds on laptop CPUs haven't gotten much faster the last ~5 years.
This is exactly why...

Long story short:
As long as you have reasonable performance expectations, you won't be disappointed in a MacBook Pro (or nice PC laptop).
If you expect identical performance to the best Tower/Rack machines, you will not be satisfied with any laptop (Mac or custom build PC using Clevo shell).

rod_zero · Post by **rod_zero** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 4:56 pm

The 15" MBP with quadcore i7 is good, about 20% better that the old i7 920 and probably 10-15% behind a desktop i7. But you can't overclock.

Xenakios · Post by **Xenakios** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 9:59 pm

An i7 quad core Macbook Pro is a very nice piece of tech...

However, if you don't actually need the portability and possibly not even OS-X, why bother? (Remember that none of the abundant Windows free/cheap software will run natively on OS-X. Obviously many of those things are free or cheap for a reason but well...)

You mentioned iPad. The Macbooks don't have a touch screen, so they are not an alternative to iPad in that sense.

memyselfandus · Post by **memyselfandus** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 1:29 am

Thanks a ton guys. good to hear some solid info.

Nightpolymath · Post by **Nightpolymath** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 12:54 pm

I would say that the best PC you can buy is still a MacBook Pro running Bootcamp.

jancivil · Post by **jancivil** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 6:08 pm

I'm not up on the current models. I bought a MacPro and a MacBookPro at the same time, same vintage.
While there can be no specific comparison the way I loaded up the former, the general comparison is that the former is almost on an order of magnitude more robust a computer.

If the MBP has the same number of cores and maxing out the RAM is the same, the differences fade away and moreso if you're looking at SSD.
I don't know, I'm not in the market. The laptop gets really hot as it is, so the points above regarding the limitation of CPU vs a tower do not seem to vanish. Enough RAM for me would tend to amount to overheating issues...

Sjefke · Post by **Sjefke** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:30 pm

There is one thing keeping me away from going to PC, and thats mainstage 3, there is no single host comming close to what mainstage can do for me in a live situation..

And windows has nothing that comes even close in offering me the same verstillity in configuration my sound and interface in one program...

damoog · Post by **damoog** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 7:22 pm

Maybe this is just my own personal experience but no way would i go back to a pc/windows rig after switching to my macbook pro...no trouble with drivers anymore and more importantly no audio latency when recording my external hardware synths,

Tbh im not even overkeen on apples marketing strategies but for music making i reckon you cant go wrong with a MBP

Jim Roseberry · Post by **Jim Roseberry** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 7:56 pm

Nightpolymath wrote:I would say that the best PC you can buy is still a MacBook Pro running Bootcamp.

Based on what?
A well-configured Tower/Rack will smoke the fastest MBP.

If you're using BootCamp to run Windows, keep in mind that companies like Cakewalk don't officially support running Sonar under BootCamp.

If you'll be running PC DAW apps, it makes sense to get a nice PC.
If you'll be running Mac DAW apps, it makes sense to get a Mac.

spaceman · Post by **spaceman** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 9:30 pm

Macbook Pro.. Logic.. simples.

Next!

Phorous · Post by **Phorous** » Mon Mar 30, 2015 12:54 am

While the 15" i7 quad core MBP is fast, its not as fast as a PC tower running the equivalent desktop i7.

I would say unless you seriously abuse your CPU the Macbook will be fine. I have the dual core Haswell i5 Macbook and I am happy enough with it using it for production on the go, though I do have to be careful with plugins like Diva, Kaleidoscope and B2.

Macbook Pro DAW?