Mac Pro 2012 Specs For Recording
I have already asked this question on a recording studio forum, but I wanted to see what you guys thought. Here is the original post on the other forum. I am going to be upgrading my main studio desktop soon and I have two options. A friend is selling their Mac Pro 2006 model with two 2.66 Ghz dual core processors, but I could go out and buy a new Mac Mini for about the same price and it has a dual core i5 at 2.5 Ghz. Anyone out there got either machine in their studio, let me know how well they handle a reasonable work load. Its main uses will be working in Final cut pro doing reasonable sized edits, aswell as Logic Pro with the same size projects and some light HTML and C Max/Msp, programming.
Im using a USB interface for Logic and any video work will come directly from an SD card or from my external drive. Thanks for any replies. I have a 2012 Mac mini and a 2010 Mac Pro. The Mac Pro is to be prefered for its expandability, by far. Though the Mac mini has Thunderbolt, there are as yet no TB > USB3/eSATA adapters, which severely reduces its usefulness IMO.
Mac Pro 2012 Specs
Buying a TB hub would add US$199. On the other hand, you can get USB3.0 and eSATA cards for the Mac Pro once you've used up all your bays. The extra bays of the Mac Pro will come into their own for Time Machine, a Scratch disk, a Windows 7 drive (if you need it).
You can add a second internal drive to the Mac mini, but: it's a difficult and risky process; it invalidates your warranty (though if you remove it before sending it in, you might be fine); and you have to provide some components to make it work (cable and screws, I believe). The Mac Pro doesn't officially support Mountain Lion, which is a negative. If your friend is willing, you could try the hack reviewed here before purchase:. If it's successful that extends the shelf-life of the machine considerably. Ace stream media player for mac. The Mac Pro doesn't have an SD slot, but you can pick up a USB reader for peanuts.