Required Spec for Recording Audio

Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Your Mac's Specs
Don't have one yet!
Hi

I'm trying to plan what spec MacBook Pro I would need to record and edit audio.

Does anyone know what minimum spec I would need to record 8 tracks of audio simultaneously?

Would a 5400 speed drive cut it? Would a 7200?

Ta
 
Joined
Sep 9, 2009
Messages
5,473
Reaction score
201
Points
63
Location
Down Under :D
Your Mac's Specs
Back to my old 2.2GHz C2D MB after selling my MBP and wondering what my next Mac will be :)
Welcome to Mac Forums.
It is depending on the app you use as to how intensive it will be on your CPU.
Other than that, as long as you have a firewire interface for your inputs, pretty much the minimum spec MB or MBP would have no problem handling it, but may get a tiny bit of lagging, which if you find is the case, you may want to upgrade the amount of RAM you have. I would upgrade RAM after your purchase from OWC or Crucial, as you will find it cheaper than you will from Apple.
As for the Hard Drive, after market with OWC or Newegg once again is the way to go.
The faster HD may be a little noisier (not noisy, just noisier), but that shouldn't effect your recordings as you wouldn't be positioning your microphone over the HD :p
I used a 2.2GHz Macbook with 2GB of RAM before I got this 2.4GHz i5 MBP for single and multi track recordings, and never had a problem. On the MB I had a tiny bit of lagging, but not noticeable enough for the untrained ear.
Using Logic and any MBP you will no doubt be happy with the quality, but as I would recommend to anyone, the faster the processor your budget will allow, is the MBP to go for. :)

Edit:
As much as I would recommend a faster HD, I would also recommend a large HD (min 500GB with plenty of space), and an external firewire HD for mass storage.
 
OP
westicle
Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Your Mac's Specs
Don't have one yet!
Cool, thanks for the welcome and the answers 6string.

I'll probably be using Logic I reckon. Is that less processor intensive than some?

In terms of interface I'll most likely go for a Phonic Firefly 808 so I'd be recording 8 tracks at a time or the Helix Board 24 to get up to 16 tracks (wouldn't use more than 12 at a time though).

I'd totally forgotten about getting memory from Crucial - I was speccing up some MBPs and they were getting pricey with lots of ram.

I had no idea you could change the hard drive as well. Is that an easy thing to do and does it void the warrenty?
 
Joined
Sep 9, 2009
Messages
5,473
Reaction score
201
Points
63
Location
Down Under :D
Your Mac's Specs
Back to my old 2.2GHz C2D MB after selling my MBP and wondering what my next Mac will be :)
OP
westicle
Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Your Mac's Specs
Don't have one yet!
184 eareste

Nice one, I'll check the videos out.

I'll have to find a UK supplier for the HD.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top