Mac mini help (music production)

C

Chingy Di

Logician
hi, Chingy Di here..

I'm new to this mac thing and i really need help with some stuff. I have been looking at the Mac Mini lately and this is also the version of Mac that is affordable for me(only 16 years though.. need to pay out of own pocket)

I am plannig on using the Mac Mini for my music production (i rap, going to start making my own beats).. The software i was planning to use is Logic ofc and probably garageband.

I was thinking about the 2.3GHz Mac mini that has these specs:
2.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
2GB memory
500GB hard drive1
Intel HD Graphics 3000
OS X Lion

Will i be able to run logic pro?
Is there anything i should know?

Thanks in Advance!

Chingy Di
 
Hi,
You will definitely be able to run Logic Pro on that system. Ofcourse it depends on how much software instruments and audio-tracks you will need to run, but any new Mac nowadays is pretty fast.

I would either use a separate harddrive for your Logic projects or partition the internal harddrive into 2 partitions: 1 for the system and 1 for your Logic projects. This way your Logic projects won't get defragmented easily.

Good luck!

Mark
 
Thanks for the answer, helped me alot!

I think ill buy an external HDD to store all my files and to keep my pc clean..

I have some additional questions to:

Will i need to upgrade the ram to 4gb, or will i do fine with only 2gb?

And how will i install Logic if i don't have the cd drive? do i need to buy an external?
 
Chingy Di said:
Will i need to upgrade the ram to 4gb, or will i do fine with only 2gb?
Click to expand...

2 GB of RAM can be quite restrictive for working with Logic. I would usggest 4 as an absolute minimum. More if possible.

Chingy Di said:
And how will i install Logic if i don't have the cd drive? do i need to buy an external?
Click to expand...

Yes, or you may be able to network the Mac to a computer whose drive can be shared.

kind regards

Mark
 
Thanks for the information!

I think I'll buy the 2,3GHz mac mini, and later upgrade the ram(thight budget)

So how many ram slots does the mini have?

Thanks,

Chingy Di
 
I bought the MacMini Server because it has two 7200rpm 500GB hard drives and it's a 2GHz Intel Core i7, plus I maxed it to 8GB of RAM.
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/mac_mini/select

So far it's running like a champ, not just with Logic but for work stuff I use VMWare Fusion.

I actually found this software
http://www.audiofile-engineering.com/rax/
and use it to control the music software on the MacMini since I can only run Logic 9 once.

The only issue (but not for me) is RAX isn't 64bit, but just to offload to another computer is great plus any software I have that's not fully 64bit, I can still run when using RAX on my MacMini.
Or I can have my MacMini as a host and slave my iMac with RAX.

Another plus is if I ever need it (or can afford it), the MacMinis do have Thunderbolt as well.
 
Digidesign Mbox2 mini

Hi

I was wondering if their could be other options for my problem.

My Mbox still doesnt work after downloading and installing Digidesign core Audio drives in to my iMac ( OS 10.7 Lion ) :brkwl:

But its working fine with my Macbook (OS 10.5)

What else can i do with this?

I can´t find any other drives. Please help me

Regards Kimtina
 
kimtina79 said:
Hi

I was wondering if their could be other options for my problem.

My Mbox still doesnt work after downloading and installing Digidesign core Audio drives in to my iMac ( OS 10.7 Lion ) :brkwl:

But its working fine with my Macbook (OS 10.5)

What else can i do with this?

I can´t find any other drives. Please help me

Regards Kimtina
Click to expand...

Read carefully on AVID's website.

http://avid.custkb.com/avid/app/sel...chOperator=0&ssdFilterCommunity3=1450&Hilite=

Only 3rd Generation MBOX's have drivers for LION.
 
Digidesign Mbox mini reply to Bruno

Hi,

Thanx for your reply.

So there´s basicaly not much to do then to either buy a new Audio utility or return my iMac to the store(bought it about a week ago), i bought it for this reason only so that the Protools thats inbuilt into the Mbox could work better then in my Macbook, there´s not enough CPU-power in the Macbook, gets overloaded, the temperture gets up to 86 degrees celcius:angryfire:. I dont think thats to good:confused:

Since we´re talking maybe i can ask you how i can increase the CPU-power in the Macbook? I´ve checked the storage and there´s still enough.

Thanx Regards Kimtina :hippy:
 
kimtina79 said:
Hi,

Thanx for your reply.

So there´s basicaly not much to do then to either buy a new Audio utility or return my iMac to the store(bought it about a week ago), i bought it for this reason only so that the Protools thats inbuilt into the Mbox could work better then in my Macbook, there´s not enough CPU-power in the Macbook, gets overloaded, the temperture gets up to 86 degrees celcius:angryfire:. I dont think thats to good:confused:

Since we´re talking maybe i can ask you how i can increase the CPU-power in the Macbook? I´ve checked the storage and there´s still enough.

Thanx Regards Kimtina :hippy:
Click to expand...

Don't reply on this thread but create a new thread or search for help on this since this has nothing to do with the original OP. :thmbup:
 
hey

if i buy the cheapest version of the mac mini, and upgrade to 8Gb for ram, will i be able to run logic smooth? i will be making beats using a midi with sampled instruments and stuff i find good in logic, aswell record my rap and mix it.. so basically record and produce.

I know i asked the same question over, but then i wasn't planning on upgrading the ram..

Thanks in advance
Chingy Di
 
I am currently running Logic Pro 9 on my mid 2011 Mac Mini 2.5Ghz i5 with no problems. I upgraded the RAM to 8GB pretty much as soon as I got the machine. You can do this for less than $50.00 US (crucial.com) I have the 500GB 5400RPM drive and it seem to run fine, though can be a bit slow to load from startup for my taste. Am planning on upgrading to a SSD and keep the 500GB as a secondary drive for storing other files (iTunes, Movies, etc). I currently store my Logic Project files in two places, typically, one being on an external FireWire drive and the other on my internal drive. As I said I haven't had any problems with this arrangement thus far, however I have not had more than 16 tracks going simultaneously so far. I use plugins pretty heavily though and could possibly see some hesitation if I were to really get down on a HUGE project, but that is unlikely for my little bedroom studio.
Sorry for the long reply, just though you might like to hear from someone who is currently using a Mac Mini with Logic.
Have you purchased your Mini yet? and if so how do you like it? I love mine!
 
I actually got the mac mini a while ago, its just fantastic. I run logic pro 9 and reason on it, and it runs very well. I make beats, write and record my own lyrics and produce them myself. I haven´t upgraded the ram from 2-8 GB, but will do it as soon as possible though. And i also need to buy an external HDD.. my budget is thight. But anyway, the mini is great.. i love it so much.
 
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