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1.7 GHz Intel Core i5
memory:
4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics:
Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MB
Is that really not powerful enough, or am I doing something wrong? I've just downloaded Reaper, but concerned that my Mac isn't up to it.
If it's no good, what is the most cost-effective solution? I use the MacBook for work, so do I upgrade that, or do I buy a separate machine purely for music?
Cheers,
Jon
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Comments
What OS version, what version of Garageband?
When was the last time you rebuilt your OS?
Do you have any other plugins installed?
Ar you trying to work in GB whilst you have other apps open?
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
For comparison: I had few problems running Reaper on an old Dell laptop with an i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and a spinning rust disk - other than occasional glitches which I think were likely to be the audio interface drivers.
I recently upgraded the same machine to 8GB RAM and an SSD, and now it's very quick (although reinstalling Windows always helps in that respect anyway)
Assuming your disk isn't full it's gonna be software related
All good points.
A few OSX revisions ago, everything went 64-bit. Even after doubling the RAM capacity, your 1.7GHz i5 processor chip would be close to its limit.
GB is now far more complex than you may imagine. Firstly, it runs in 64-bit. Older OSX revisions cannot support it. Secondly, Apple re-engineered GB to become something akin to Logic Lite as a way of luring in new customers. Thirdly, as soon as you ask GB to support a bunch of instrument and/or amp simulation plug-ins, it makes huge demands on the CPU.
It is far smarter to use auxes and bus individual tracks to a single reverb plugin than put a different reverb on each track.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
Nothing else running at the time. What does 'rebuilding' mean?
I'm not sure if this is what you mean, but there's 120gb on there, and currently 25gb spare.
It opens it fine and I have a few tracks in a project laid out before I get the warning messages.
________________________________________________
Telecaster American Deluxe, Cornell Romany amp, without the talent to use them properly
I do this yearly, at a minimum.
You didn't answer my other questions.
What version of Mac OS?
What version of Garageband?
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
________________________________________________
Telecaster American Deluxe, Cornell Romany amp, without the talent to use them properly
That said, over time an Operating System gets slower and less efficient, because you have a lot of legacy files, or old drivers that are being called and using processing power.
The way to work out if this is an issue with the OS is to do a clean install.
Do you have someone who can do this for you?
If not then you might need to take it to someone who can (for money).
Updating the OS over one that is possibly already inefficient is not the way forward.
No, I am not talking about Time Machine backups, although having a backup is always good.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
25GB should be enough- if there is 4GB of RAM then the swap file might be 4GB and the session might be a maximum of 4GB unless he is doing something huge (which he has said he isn't).
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
And no, I'm definitely not doing anything huge. Just recording layers of guitar.
________________________________________________
Telecaster American Deluxe, Cornell Romany amp, without the talent to use them properly
Ignoring that you have Time Machine backups (which are good to have) I would back up all the data to another volume that can be removed from the computer, ie an external hard drive.
I use Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) to do this.
BTW CCC is better than Time Machine for backing up your Mac.
Then, once you are certain you have two backups of your data (Time Machine and CCC) you then format your disk and reinstall Mac OSX.
Then manually reinstall all applications and put your data back where it should be (using CCC or a manual drag to folders).
If you encounter a problem then you can actually boot into the CCC volume and work out what is going wrong.
You cannot do that with Time Machine.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
For example, using Garageband with no other apps open, and not many tracks in a song, I get the warning of "disk is too slow or system overload".
Also I get plenty of spinning beach ball.
As a reminder, this is the spec:
Processor:
1.7 GHz Intel Core i5
memory:
4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics:
Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MB
I've decided it's time for a new laptop (or rather upgrade by buying one secondhand).
Any advice on what spec I should go for so it will work nice and smooth whatever I throw at it? And I realise some will tell me I shouldn't be using Garageband, but I've not tried Reaper yet.
Cheers,
Jon
________________________________________________
Telecaster American Deluxe, Cornell Romany amp, without the talent to use them properly
I'm running (and loving) reaper on a similar spec laptop, i7, 4g ram, But its running on ssd, which maybe the macbook is too? no problems with 50 tracks and lots of plugins on master bus.( I was surprised)
and I'm running Logic, pro-tools and reaper on my other machine, a 2012 macbook pro which has 16 g ram and an i5 processor-also running off ssd, but i put a 2tb disc in there instead of the superdrive.
I think that was the last year Apple made a product that we can use.
the years after-things get a bit messy-soldered ram, smaller ssd drives, lack of USB ports ,etc etc.
I'd be looking for something like the 2012 now , for about £400, which can be upgraded, but if you need Pro gear, you are going to have to be spending a lot, for a second hand Mac dustbin, which i understand is the best machine out there for music production.
For now, I'm sticking with my laptop, that can record 8 tracks simultaneusly through usb, into reaper via a Zoom r16, ( again, I was surprised it worked so well)
YMMV
Cheers
andy k
(Basically these are a big list of everything on the computer and everything in Mail)
It did help a lot with the speed thing.Try it before shelling out for anything (OnyX is free). Make sure you download the version for your OS version.
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Telecaster American Deluxe, Cornell Romany amp, without the talent to use them properly