Older Mac Pro For Home Recording

[pigoo3]

By watching an auction from start to finish I am trying to get a feel of when bids come in, like one I saw that within the last 10 sec three bids came in and pushed the price $125 higher.

I understand what you mean. By watching the auction "live"…you get a better feel for how things can get "crazy & frantic" at the end. But to be honest…I don't think that it really matters too much. In the last 10-15 seconds…just expect at least one person (but probably more) to try to slip in a bid at the last moment. And if the price is really low in the last 10-15 seconds…be prepared to make a larger bid. If the price is close to the average price…be prepared to make a smaller final bid. It really just depends how far the price is from where it usually ends (other folks bidding know this too).

It's only the "silly" folks who don't do enough research…who bid too much at the end…and end up paying to much for something.

Also…the amount of "craziness" in the last 10-15 seconds…depends on where the price is. If the price is well below what the average selling price is…there will much more action. But if the price is above (or way above) the normal selling price for an item…there may be no last second bidders.

But of course do what you feel most comfortable with.

Hey, I won't lie, the better the price the less I get killed by my wife... Well maybe she will kill me with less pain involved (weak laugh)

I totally understand. Especially since you've significantly increased your budget for this computer…from where we started.

For what it's worth. I (just last night)…purchased a Mac Pro 1,1 (quad-core 2.66ghz). The same model you were thinking of getting at the beginning of this thread. I got it for $150 bucks!

- Nick

 

[white-mountain-]

I understand what you mean. By watching the auction "live"…you get a better feel for how things can get "crazy & frantic" at the end. But to be honest…I don't think that it really matters. In the last 10-15 seconds…just expect at least one person (but probably more) to try to slip in a bid at the last moment.

Also…the amount of "craziness" in the last 10-15 seconds…depends on where the price is. If the price is well below what the average selling price is…there will much more action. But if the price is above (or way above) the normal selling price for an item…there may be no last second bidders.

But of course do what you feel most comfortable with.



I totally understand. Especially since you've significantly increased your budget for this computer…from where we started.

For what it's worth. I (just last night)…purchased a Mac Pro 1,1 (quad-core 2.66ghz). The same model you were thinking of getting at the beginning of this thread. I got it for $150 bucks!

- Nick

Nice!!!.....

To be honest, knowing what I do with my music production ( which isn't much compared to others ) I am pretty sure that a machine like the one you just bought would do the job.

However, with that said, This one that I am looking at ( You can tell I am kinda paranoid to say the exact machine since I don't know who is reading our conversations lol) Should take anything that I throw at it Plus...So, I am just prepared to duck anything that comes my way, you know, cold stares, pots, pans, knifes by raising my budget......

 

[pigoo3]

Nice!!!.....

To be honest, knowing what I do with my music production ( which isn't much compared to others ) I am pretty sure that a machine like the one you just bought would do the job.

I forgot to mention that the person I purchased it from was a person into doing music related stuff just like you.

However, with that said, This one that I am looking at ( You can tell I am kinda paranoid to say the exact machine since I don't know who is reading our conversations lol)

I understand exactly! But of course…you still have plenty of knowledgeable competition on eBay (possibly with "fat wallets").

I'm not sure I mentioned it…but I also used to own an 8-core Mac Pro 4,1 (I also used to own a Mac Pro 1,1 as well about 5 years ago). But I found I was really not using all 8-cores effectively. So I figured if I was not using the Mac Pro to it's best (all 8-cores)…I might as well sell it…and get something I would use more fully.

Good luck with the auctions you are watching. Please don't get too excited & pay too much (there will always be more auctions). Also remember to try to get a unit that is as "loaded" as possible (more ram, more HD space, better video card)…without paying much more for it. This stuff always costs more later if you want/need to upgrade.

- Nick

 

[white-mountain-]

Wow....An auction just ended on a nice 5.1 with 32GB ,1TB hard drive w/ 20" screen.......The last 2 min it went up $600.. from $925.00 to $1525.00...

 

[pigoo3]

Wow....An auction just ended on a nice 5.1 with 32GB ,1TB hard drive w/ 20" screen.......The last 2 min it went up $600.. from $925.00 to $1525.00...

I should probably explain one more thing. Back at the beginning of this thread you said that you wanted an older Mac Pro, upgrade it to 16gig of ram, and install an SSD. You also mentioned having a budget of $500-$600.

For $500-$600 here is what you would have gotten:

- Mac Pro 1,1 for $300
- 16gig of ram of new ram = $329.99
- 256gig SSD = approx. $200

Total = $829.99

Now you could save a bunch of money buying "used" ram via eBay…but your $500-$600 will still be used up.

Then you decided to increase you budget…and purchase a newer Mac Pro. The "oldest" newer Mac Pro that would be a good idea to get & not be super expensive would be a Mac Pro 3,1. But somehow Mac Pro 5,1's entered the picture.

Why am I saying all this?? You went from a 2006 Mac Pro 1,1 to a 2010 Mac Pro 5,1. What you may not realize is…after Apple released the 2010 Mac Pro 5,1…we went a long long long time before Apple released the newest Mac Pro (the black round one)…the 2013 Mac Pro 6,1.

So now by pursuing a Mac Pro 5,1…you are chasing after what 12 months ago would have been the newest Mac Pro model. Yes there have been some tweaked models from 2010 to 2013 (faster cpu's, more cores)…but they are all Mac Pro 5,1's. So if you are "chasing after" a Mac Pro 5,1…you are also competing with a lot of folks with fat wallets who want one…because technically…they're a fairly new model (just behind the newest Mac Pro 6,1's).

All of this is not a problem at all…as long as your budget can handle it. So when you mentioned above that the latest eBay auction went from $925 to $1525 in the last 2 minutes. That's because Mac Pro 5,1's (12 months ago) were the latest & greatest Mac Pro's. Now we have the newest Mac Pro's…which are Mac Pro 6,1's.

I should also mention one other thing…just to keep things in perspective. When the budget was $500-$600…an older quad-core Mac Pro 1,1 + upgrades made sense. But now that you have increased the budget significantly…it is possible that you should be considering other computer models that also have quad-core cpu's.

It may still make sense for you to get a Mac Pro…I just wanted to mention this with your much increased budget.

- Nick

 

[white-mountain-]

As usual, you bring up some great points Nick

The two areas that I as a guy who is into recording music needs to have is, lots and lots of memory, and a hard drive of at least 7200rpm.

From what I have read ,it seems that most any Mac Pro comes with 7200rpm hard drive and can be upgraded in memory.

So, a 1.1 - 5.1 can work for me and do the job.

From what has been said in this thread/forum and from what I have found in my research what has become important to me to have in the machine I buy is at least the ability to upgrade Ram to 16 if not 32 GB's and that can be upgraded to SSD.

I like the OWC Mercury PCI Express SSD I linked in an earlier post, so f I want to fully take advantage of its speed I need to have a 2009 to 2013 model.

So, I do have my eye on the 5.1 and hope to get it. However, I also have my eyes on a few 4.1 models that will work very well.

I have this site to thank for educating me to the point I am at now because I am so much more aware of what I need.

This road is about to end as I expect to buy a Mac Pro before the weekend is out

Now don't think you will rid yourself of me when I buy my Mac, I already have questions in my mind post acquisition;D

 

[pigoo3]

From what I have read ,it seems that most any Mac Pro comes with 7200rpm hard drive and can be upgraded in memory.

If you install an SSD...then the 7200rpm HD will be very slow! So no issues here.

...what has become important to me to have in the machine I buy is at least the ability to upgrade Ram to 16 if not 32 GB's and that can be upgraded to SSD.

No problems here either. The Mac Pro 1,1 maxes out at 32gig of ram...and some other Mac Pro's max. out with as much as 128gig of ram.

Since a lot of ram is important to you...make sure you price how much a ram upgrade will be. Mac Pro 1,1's for example have VERY expensive ram (but less expensive on eBay). Newer model Mac Pro ram is less expensive. We could be talking hundreds of dollars...so worth considering what upgrades will cost before you buy (so you have an idea of the actual total cost this computer will run you).

So, I do have my eye on the 5.1 and hope to get it. However, I also have my eyes on a few 4.1 models that will work very well.

Sounds great. Both would certainly work.

I just wanted to mention. If you've been looking at quad-core Mac Pro 5,1's...you might also want to look at 8-core Mac Pro 4,1's.

- CPU benchmarks for a 2010 2.8ghz quad-core Mac Pro 5,1 = 8,369
- CPU benckmarks for a 2009 2.26ghz 8-core Mac Pro 4,1 = 13,837
- CPU benckmarks for a 2009 2.66ghz 8-core Mac Pro 4,1 = 16,503

That's a BIG difference. If you have software that will use all 8 cores...the 8-core 4,1 model will be wayyyy faster!

Of course everything depends on price/budget.

This road is about to end as I expect to buy a Mac Pro before the weekend is out

Wow...didn't realize you were that committed to buying so soon. Sometimes it takes a while to find the right computer...at the right price...and be lucky enough to have the high bid at the end of the auction.

Again...good luck!

- Nick

 

[Mac Pro 11]

The 2006 Mac Pro could only officially do OS 10.7.5…and OS 10.10 is going to be out soon.

A tech in CA worked on these Macs for awhile and found that Apple had locked them up so they would not run an OS beyond Lion. But he created a code to unlock them so they can run Mavericks, Yosemite, and El Capitan. Currently, you can purchase hard drives on eBay with modified OS's already installed and configured. They're just plug and play, but due to the demands of these later OS's, you must change out the stock graphics cards for either a PC or Mac card with more RAM. I have run these Mac Pro 1,1's with an Nvidia Quadro card with only 512mb RAM just fine, but one might want more. An ASUS GT610 Silent card with 2GB RAM works great, but you don't see the Apple logo during boot. However, PC cards can be flashed to show the logo during boot. Mac cards will cost more, but do show the boot time logo, if this is important to you. RAM is cheap: about $20 for a 16GB kit of PC-5300 @ DDR2. The replacement graphics cards however run at DDR3. I buy the 1,1's and do the mentioned upgrades and then resell them, primarily to photographers on a budget, and all are happy. Not sure about recording though, but mine come with Apple Logic Pro X. I have read that the 1,1 can render batches of photos faster than some of the later models.

Another possibility is to install Linux onto the 1,1. As I understand it, Linux is the ideal environment for audio recording as the clock speed (latency?) is faster than those for either PC or Mac. Add to this that all of the recording software is free. One can get/download a free copy of Ubuntu Studio, which is the Linux OS plus all of the included recording software absolutely free. I have installed Linux Mint on the 1,1 in the past and it runs faster than the native Apple OS on the same machine. I then added hand picked recording software to the installation. The DAW software of choice seems to be Ardour, used professionally. And lastly, the most recent issue of Ubuntu Studio is supported until 2013 (Long Term Support version). One can actually have two hard drives installed, one booting El Capitan and the other booting Ubuntu Studio.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/best-gpu-choice-for-upgrading-a-1-1-macpro.1962225/

Add an SSD or cheaper SSHD, and you can double the stock speed, maybe.

- - - Updated - - -

The 2006 Mac Pro could only officially do OS 10.7.5…and OS 10.10 is going to be out soon.

A tech in CA worked on these Macs for awhile and found that Apple had locked them up so they would not run an OS beyond Lion. But he created a code to unlock them so they can run Mavericks, Yosemite, and El Capitan. Currently, you can purchase hard drives on eBay with modified OS's already installed and configured. They're just plug and play, but due to the demands of these later OS's, you must change out the stock graphics cards for either a PC or Mac card with more RAM. I have run these Mac Pro 1,1's with an Nvidia Quadro card with only 512mb RAM just fine, but one might want more. An ASUS GT610 Silent card with 2GB RAM works great, but you don't see the Apple logo during boot. However, PC cards can be flashed to show the logo during boot. Mac cards will cost more, but do show the boot time logo, if this is important to you. RAM is cheap: about $20 for a 16GB kit of PC-5300 @ DDR2. The replacement graphics cards however run at DDR3. I buy the 1,1's and do the mentioned upgrades and then resell them, primarily to photographers on a budget, and all are happy. Not sure about recording though, but mine come with Apple Logic Pro X. I have read that the 1,1 can render batches of photos faster than some of the later models.

Another possibility is to install Linux onto the 1,1. As I understand it, Linux is the ideal environment for audio recording as the clock speed (latency?) is faster than those for either PC or Mac. Add to this that all of the recording software is free. One can get/download a free copy of Ubuntu Studio, which is the Linux OS plus all of the included recording software absolutely free. I have installed Linux Mint on the 1,1 in the past and it runs faster than the native Apple OS on the same machine. I then added hand picked recording software to the installation. The DAW software of choice seems to be Ardour, used professionally. And lastly, the most recent issue of Ubuntu Studio is supported until 2013 (Long Term Support version). One can actually have two hard drives installed, one booting El Capitan and the other booting Ubuntu Studio.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/best-gpu-choice-for-upgrading-a-1-1-macpro.1962225/

Add an SSD or cheaper SSHD, and you can double the stock speed, maybe.

 

[Mac Pro 11]

He can also build a cheaper quad core PC and run Ubuntu Studio Linux on it, which would probably be more than he needs for his purposes.

http://jeffhendricks.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Guitarix3.png

http://bandshed.net/images/screenshots/AV4Ardour.png

 

[Mac Pro 11]

He can also build a cheaper quad core PC and run Ubuntu Studio Linux on it, which would probably be more than he needs for his purposes. Here is a screenshot of the Ardour DAW included with a ton of other recording software in Ubuntu Studio: