Ableton Forum

Hi all,

I currently run a 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo mac mini with 2GB of 1067 DDR3 ram and it seems to be handling Live 9 fine as long as I don't use too many 3rd party plugs. I'm looking to downsize my setup to a macbook pro so I can use while I'm away and it doesn't have to be a new model (happy to pick 2nd hand one up) but it has to be powerful enough to run Live 9 with the odd instance of Omnisphere (rarely tbh) and Massive. Other than that, most of what I use is audio samples and the built in synths / plugs. So, I have a few questions and if anyone has any advice or opinions then that would be much appreciated:

1. Which is more important RAM or processor speed?
2. What is the minimum speed / RAM size I should be looking at?
3. Hard drive - should I put my sample bank on the internal or opt for a small internal and get an external one for my samples and if so which speed / type?
4. Screen size - How do people with 13" find working with Live? At the moment I'm leaning toward 15" as I won't be carrying around much.

Lot of questions I know but it's a big investment. Thanks in advance.

1. Processor speed... because ram is cheaper/easier to upgrade Get the fastest cpu you can afford, then, when you hit your ram limit, upgrade with cheap (non-Apple) RAM. It's a lot cheaper and easier to slot out some memory sticks than tear down your laptop to replace the cpu, or more likely pay out the ass to have a professional do it for you.

chillsbeats wrote: 4. Screen size - How do people with 13" find working with Live? At the moment I'm leaning toward 15" as I won't be carrying around much.

This was posted in here last month with a photo of what it looks like on a 13".

antarktika wrote:1. Processor speed... because ram is cheaper/easier to upgrade

Makes sense, thanks.

@ csuke that looks feasible, thanks.

processing speed over RAM get the fastest best you can afford. RAM can be upgraded pretty easily later(and a whole lot cheaper than what apple charges for it)
so best processor you can afford, least amount of RAM upgrade that later. (if you want)
samples on the internal.....i use my laptop just for music stuff, i don't have an itunes library or a bunch of pictures etc. so i store all my samples on my internal. i don't have a lot of samples though, maybe a few GB at most??? externals are pretty cheap, you can probably make that decision later...unless you are going to overload the hard drive right out of the gate.
screen size-i have a 13" and it works fine, it's compact.....not too bulky. but sometimes, i wish i had purchased the 15".
it all comes down to money really
im running 9 standard (64 bit) (with all of the suite instruments) a few 3rd party plugs (reacktor and zebra2 being the most CPU hungry) on pretty much the cheapest macbook pro (all i could afford at the time) a 2.4GHz intel core i5.... i bought the least amount of RAM (from apple) and upgraded it later i got the 500GB 5400 rpm HARD DRIVE (which i would like to upgrade to a ssd or at least a 7200 rpm when i need to) everything is running fine. of course i don't have omnisphere. i do have massive....for me it doesn't cause too many troubles.
have fun buying a new computer!!! yeah!!

csuke wrote:

chillsbeats wrote: 4. Screen size - How do people with 13" find working with Live? At the moment I'm leaning toward 15" as I won't be carrying around much.

This was posted in here last month with a photo of what it looks like on a 13".

and they have all their tracks spread out....i can usually get 9 or 10 tracks comfortably on a 13" without having to change the size of the track. (with the browser put away and no return tracks) of course with the browser out most of the tracks get pushed underneath the master/return tracks. 13" is do able. but 15" if you can afford it. would probably be nicer.

Know that if you go for the Retina MacBook Pro, that you cannot Upgrade later on!

I went With the 15inch MacBook Pro Retina and went all out With max CPU, 8GB of RAM and 512GB SSD.

Just so you know.

Yeah probably won't go for the new retina as I don't need it and it will give the upgrade option at a later date. Will make a trip to the apple store and have a proper fondle to see which size unit I prefer.

Thanks for the pointers so far, anyone got any thoughts on Q3 please?

3. Hard drive - should I put my sample bank on the internal or opt for a small internal and get an external one for my samples and if so which speed / type?