Ableton Forum

Considering upgrading to a Mac laptop, but really don't know anything about how Live 5 runs on them as my mates use Logic. Does anyone have any good info to guide me in the right direction regarding OS versions, HD/memory reqs,compatability issues ?

malxwal wrote:Considering upgrading to a Mac laptop, but really don't know anything about how Live 5 runs on them as my mates use Logic. Does anyone have any good info to guide me in the right direction regarding OS versions, HD/memory reqs,compatability issues ?

your mate uses Logic so you should follow his recommendations no doubt as live and logic are both audio apps and the specs etc on a system would be pretty similar.

We could talk about it here but you would need to give us a few more bits of info on what exactly you are intending to do with live? are u DJing ? using alot of softsynths with heaps of tracks ? what sort of outboard gear do you intend to use ? I use live 5 currently with some plugins and some outboard hardware (Motif ES7 Stnth) and a Tascam fireiwre mixer
I only have a powerbook with 1 gig of ram and it does the job fine.. not blazingly fast. I am going to buy a Macmini and pop 1 gig of ram in it when the new ones come out hopefully in about 5-6 weeks I am assuming they will have a cpu upgrade. all the intel macs are fast need 1 gig of ram for audio really or more if you are a total nut for softsynths and tons of effects. Check to see what plugins you might use and see if they are Universal Binary yet.. alot are now and by the end of the year I am sure all of them will be. Live comes with alot already and live 6 will use both cores of a core duo chip in all new macs so the speed is going to be blazingly fast on even a macbook
as far as hard drives go the bigger the better always and the 60 gig I would think would be too small though depends if audio is all you are going to use it for or fill it will gigs pof photos and itunes stuff etc.
I have a 100 gig in mine and lots of other stuff as i use it for everything and it is sufficent. Alot of people like the idea of an external firewire of usb drive to record their audio to. This is a great idea but I have not found it a problem and the Macbook or pros will handle it way better than my older powerbook thats for sure.

Cheers man. I will be using soft synths such as Absynth, Battery and others, along with audio samples and recording guitar. Don't really run loads of stuff at one go. As for an audio interface, I'm completely unsure as I'm used to working in windows with an Audiophile2496 and an Echo indigo i/o fedding guitar from a processor. I really know zilch about Macs, But really fancy the basic MacBook with a gig of ram, though I'm picking up that it might be prudent to wait for Live 6 ? I need a laptop that is truly mobile as I will be taking it offshore with me half my life, but I am restricted as to what I can spend, so the above Mac seemed a good option, but maybe I'm as well looking at a decent secondhand G4 powerbook ? Is panther suitable as an OS, or is it advisable to go for Tiger ?

DON'T get a second hand G4 powerbook to run Live!!!

The latest versions of Live are SOOOOO much more comfortable on either a G5 tower (not portable) or an Intel processor. Live doesn't use Altivec/Velocity Engine (the G4's big selling point) to any advantage. You will get SOOOOO much better performance from the MacBook.

With Live 6 being optimised for multiple (duo) processors, you would really be shooting yourself in the foot to make your entry into Mac/Live world a G4. (Hey, look at my sig, I have 2 of 'em, and will be updating to a Macbook Pro as soon as my RME audio interface becomes compatible.)

Please, don't get a G4, it would be utterly "false economy".

cheers,
p

malxwal wrote:Cheers man. I will be using soft synths such as Absynth, Battery and others, along with audio samples and recording guitar. Don't really run loads of stuff at one go. As for an audio interface, I'm completely unsure as I'm used to working in windows with an Audiophile2496 and an Echo indigo i/o fedding guitar from a processor. I really know zilch about Macs, But really fancy the basic MacBook with a gig of ram, though I'm picking up that it might be prudent to wait for Live 6 ? I need a laptop that is truly mobile as I will be taking it offshore with me half my life, but I am restricted as to what I can spend, so the above Mac seemed a good option, but maybe I'm as well looking at a decent secondhand G4 powerbook ? Is panther suitable as an OS, or is it advisable to go for Tiger ?

Pitvh Black is right the mac book is way way better.. no need to wait for live 6 if u buy 5 now i believe the upgarde to 6 is free and live 5 is fast on a macbook way fatser than my slow powerbook
as for interfaces there is no pcmcia slot on either the macbook or the pro.. you would be best with either a usb or way better a firewire unit
There are plenty of recommendations. Also in the next month the new intel core2 duo chips are out so you may end up with a better faster chip in at least the macbook pros but maybe also the macbook's so hang around for a month and see what happens not that they need any more speed. there is not a ton of speed difference between the book and book pros just extra screen and slots and the like.. check the specs out carefully. also panther is ok but has less audio features and is notably slower. go to your apple store and download the live demo and have a play and read the ton of threads here about the various macbook and macbook pro pros and cons.. sounds to me the macbook with at least a gig of ram and a decent size harddrive hooked to some sort of external firewire box such as a presonus or one of the new echo models look nice check out there site..

Thanks again guys!! I'll not be jumping off my old dell laptop just yet, so waiting for the new duo chips is a good option, although cost of the basic 13" macbook with a gig of ram (and maybe the bigger hard drive) still looks good. I'll have a look through the forum as to what interfaces are good (any recomendations folks ??). Interesting that you reckon the update from 5 to 6 will be free, I'm running 5.03 just now but don't really push it (not that experienced), so haven't had too many probs, but I am concerned about the plug-ins issue with the universal binary thing, so waiting is a good option, although that shiny new macbook is calling mee......

malxwal wrote:Thanks again guys!! I'll not be jumping off my old dell laptop just yet, so waiting for the new duo chips is a good option, although cost of the basic 13" macbook with a gig of ram (and maybe the bigger hard drive) still looks good. I'll have a look through the forum as to what interfaces are good (any recomendations folks ??). Interesting that you reckon the update from 5 to 6 will be free, I'm running 5.03 just now but don't really push it (not that experienced), so haven't had too many probs, but I am concerned about the plug-ins issue with the universal binary thing, so waiting is a good option, although that shiny new macbook is calling mee......

check the pricing pages if you already own 5 then it is not a free upgrade unless you only bought 5 very recently
there are alot of universal Binary's now 2900 from last look.
one that just happened was izotopes ozone .. there are plenty to choose from depends on what you use.
as for interfaces seems like a few people like the echo audio's and they are about to release 2 new ones the audiofire 2 and 4 model
also presonus firebox and inspire are nice units. It really depends on what you need give us some ideas of what you need or dont as the case maybe