Intel Mac Mini and ProTools OK?

[brobson]

My son has an older intel mac mini. It has 4 ports. Its been a fine machine but I removed the wireless capability and we havent been able to fix it yet. Hope to tackle it this break.
He would like ProTools for Christmas. Is the student version ok?
Hes 20 and performs hip hop and has a minor in Audio Engineering. Obviously I'd ask him but it would spoil the surprise.
So if we get it up and running is 10 the version to buy? Any and all suggestions appreciated.

 

[MGGSound]

exactly how old is the mini?

Avid Pro Tools 10 Requirements
Mac OS X 10.6.8 or Mac OS X Lion
Pro Tools: 2 GB of RAM (4 GB recommended); Pro Tools HD: 4 GB of RAM (8 GB recommended)
Minimum 15 GB free hard disk space for installation
USB port for iLok authorization

if you buy Pro Tools 10 you need an iLok which is I think roughly 30 dollars? maybe more, it has to be in the computer the entire time pro tools is running, I havent had any experience with 10 yet sticking with 9 for a while, until my projects are all finished to make the switch. Good Luck!

 

[brobson]

exactly how old is the mini?

Avid Pro Tools 10 Requirements
Mac OS X 10.6.8 or Mac OS X Lion
Pro Tools: 2 GB of RAM (4 GB recommended); Pro Tools HD: 4 GB of RAM (8 GB recommended)
Minimum 15 GB free hard disk space for installation
USB port for iLok authorization

if you buy Pro Tools 10 you need an iLok which is I think roughly 30 dollars? maybe more, it has to be in the computer the entire time pro tools is running, I havent had any experience with 10 yet sticking with 9 for a while, until my projects are all finished to make the switch. Good Luck!

I think 2006. It was right before duo and it has 4 ports.
Now I am thinking about logic 9 app. Any opinion?

http://www.appleinsider.com/article...lusively_available_through_mac_app_store.html

 

[brendan_biele]

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I am curious as to the specs on that Mini as well.  When you say it has "4 ports" do you mean 4 USB ports?  That would mean that it was released in 2006 or 2007.  Those models could be the 2006 Core Solo, Core Duo models, or the 2007 Core 2 Duo models.  

MGGSound is correct in saying that PT 10 will run on OS 10.6.8 but if he owns a (year 2006) Core Solo or Duo running 10.6.8 he will find it painful  (it's not recommended by Avid).  He might be able to install PT 10 and launch it but he would have to set the Playback Buffer so high that it would make latency during recording unbearable.  If he lowered the Playback Buffer to reduce latency he wouldn't be able to run any plugins or even a typical track-count without it popping up an error message.  

If it is a (year 2007) Core 2 Duo he is probably good-to-go.  It won't really scream with certain rendering tasks, it won't be able to run the max voice count for PT 10, and he might not be able to run a RTAS (Real-Time Audio-Suite) plugin on every track.  In-other-words, PT 10 should work on the 2007 machine.  http://avid.custkb.com/avid/app/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=422311

To put things in perspective, I am running PT 8 on a 2006 Core Duo (1.66 GHz) Mac Mini with a Digi 003 interface.  It isn't ideal, but it works.  If it starts to bog-down I just render stems and import the data into a leaner session.  I won't ever try to install PT 10 on it...

MGGSound is also correct that he will need an iLok.  PT 10 won't even launch without a valid authorization code on an iLok.  The other thing needed for a Pro Tools (or any DAW) system is a 7200rpm FireWire (400 or 800) hard drive.  He should not try to run his sessions off the internal drive and external USB 2 drives are not recommended.

The student version is the same as the "full" version.  It's a good deal.  Don't even worry about Pro Tools HD since you can only run that on a tower with PCI slots.  However, you can gain some of the functionality of an HD system with the Complete Production Toolkit for *cough* $1,999.99.... this gives you features like VCA Master Tracks, higher track counts, 7.1 surround, advanced automation, and not much more.  It's really not worth it for a project studio. http://www.avid.com/US/products/Complete-Production-Toolkit

Good luck!

 

[brendan_biele]

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Oops, brobdon, I didn't see your earlier reply. Yeah. Avid does not recommend that machine with Pro Tools 10. Logic would definatly be a better choice for a Hip Hop artist anyway (they just dropped the price of the "full" version to $200 but only as a Mac App Store Download). You should also check out Abelton. I know a lot of Hip Hop composers/engineers that use a combination of Abilton Live and PT. Though I'm not sure how well the latest versions of either of those platforms, Abelton or Logic, will perform on a 2006 Mac Mini. Especially if it's a Core Solo.

 

[brendan_biele]

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I'm thinking you should look into getting him the new "Base" model Mac Mini. It's $579 in the Education Store and would be a ten-fold+ increase in power and productivity for him. I know you said you were just looking into the $250 student version of Pro Tools but that Core Solo is not worth investing in for a Digital Audio Workstation. He already owns a monitor, a keyboard and a mouse. I'm in an Audio Engineering program right now and my next financial aid check is going towards a new i7 server Mini. But that base model is plenty capable.

 

[brobson]

THanks so much for the well thought out and helpful advice. I need a little more now that I've ruled out Pro Tools:

So I am getting his 2006 mac mini looked at right now.
$75 to fix the airport card problem that I created by removing it

Hes suggesting:
adding new 120GB 5400 HD for $150

OS upgrade to snow leopard 10.6 for $40

2GB Ram (the machine's max) $50

Then we'd add the logic app for $200

Total $465 (The $75 is already spent)

Anybody have an opinion on if I should go for this or not? I know the new machine is prob $650 with tax but then it's $850 for total and we just were not prepared to spend that much but I don't want to be stupid about this either and regret it down the road.

 

[ibri]

Get the new one. Much faster CPU, 500GB Hard drive standard, 8GB RAM upgrade for less than $50 last I checked, and 16GB is possible.

Sell the old Mini. They have surprisingly strong resale value.

Also, the 2011 Mini base model is $570 shipped on Amazon.

 

[Error Type -43]

Get the new Mini...

But if you choose to stick with the current one, get the oldest version of PT you can find - there's not much difference between them - that will run with the version of OSX you plan to use. This might save you some $$ also.

 

[brobson]

Get the new one. Much faster CPU, 500GB Hard drive standard, 8GB RAM upgrade for less than $50 last I checked, and 16GB is possible.

Sell the old Mini. They have surprisingly strong resale value.

Also, the 2011 Mini base model is $570 shipped on Amazon.

Thanks everyone!
Got him a new one and will get the new logic pro App download for $200

You guys and gals are great!

 

[useme2305]

a very wise decision. the new logic app store deal is just an insane deal. plus, no hassle getting a dongle ilock thingy to work or whatever.

 

[CrAkD]

Protools would be painfully slow on it. It was slow on my 2006 macbook when it was pt6 back in 2006. I can't imagine PT10 on the same machine now.