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If you are buying.
This is the computer for the next 7-10 years for me, at least.
I got 6 from the previous Mac Pro.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
You won't be able to buy them in that colour unless you buy a Mac Pro and they go for decent money on the used market, at least the black ones did before you could buy them individually.
I use a Logitech Craft keyboard and MX Master mouse- I can switch them between 3 computers.
The Mac lives in a server rack so actually the Apple devices won't even work for me, too far away.
The Logitech stuff has a USB receiver that is plugged into my monitors side USB port.
Much better solution.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
Genuinely not trying to shit on your purchase - in your position, though, I'd rather eke out a bit more from what I've got until I can see the lie of the land.
I'm aware of the move to ARM- I've not made this decision without considering all the options.
Pro studio folks generally have a different use case to a lot of other pro users.
Once I have a stable system I'll keep it on whatever OS supports Pro Tools HDX plus Logic.
If that means I buy this, keep it on Catalina for the next 7 years then that is fine.
The cost of the machine is actually £3k less than the PCI cards that it houses, so if they release a monster ARM pro machine in a few years time and there is a justification to upgrade then I will.
I doubt it would support HDX anyway.
Actually Apple don't make another machine suitable for a pro studio right now, so it was the right way to go.
Cap-ex over 5 years makes it worthwhile.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
So, stating "If that means I buy this, keep it on Catalina for the next 7 years then that is fine"
should actually read " If that means I buy this, I'll try to keep it & my non native supported hardware/software working on Catalina for as long as I'm allowed to"
I'm sure you'll be fine, Apple hardware has almost always been pretty well supported, but 7 years of software updates?
Sent from my 2012 MBP, sticking to 32 bit in order to save a bloody fortune in getting full 64 bit replacement software :-D
A proper pro level workstation would be about £6k though- less than the Mac Pro- but not that much less.
It would also mean not using Logic, which I use more than Pro Tools.
There isn't that much that is essential for my studio- Pro Tools, Logic, Max MSP and a few plugins and I am mostly happy- but I use a lot of outboard via TT patchbays and Dante.
The main thing is it is stable and decently fast.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
For what it's worth - and out of curiosity more than anything else - I specced out a machine that would perform identically to that Mac Pro (but with more RAM and faster SSDs) at around £2800. Admittedly, that's a self-build job, but I was thinking more of "What would I do here...".
That isn’t cheap.
For lots of reasons that doesn’t work for me.
The main one being Logic, but there are a host of others.
I’d have to move to a completely different audio interface, which involves more expense than the Mac itself.
Macsales have released the aftermarket ram https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/owc/apple-mac-pro/2019
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
I'm not a huge fan of their OS but as an engineer I can't help but admire the thought and design flair that goes into the hardware and how long the hardware is capable of lasting. I still have a G4 running Protools mix which we use for no latency tracking and in 20 years it's had one cmos battery change. I can't remember what I paid for the G4 but it's definitely earned it's keep.
The resale value of Apple kit constantly surprises me too, yesterday the shop I do all the electronic repairs for sold a 2012 Imac for £450 and the guy was more than happy to pay it.
Feedback
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
Just out of curiousity what kind of PCI cards do you use?
RE Hackintosh, I found it an absolute nightmare to get things like Firewire etc up and running.
Danny1969 said: Bloody hell, that's impressive.
PCIe cards are Pro Tools HDX x3, a Focusrite Rednet card and I will probably add a faster graphics card and afterburner card once I understand the workflow for video.
I'll also be wanting to put more storage in there- I'm using a TB3 array at the moment, which is fine, but would prefer to have the SSD's internal.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com