macbook pro 17" for pro tools?

[coosebeezy]

I've been playing guitar for about 5 years and recorded but I've never done recording myself however it's something I really want to get into. I've decided I want to go the Pro Tools route and was curious if my old 17" Macbook Pro could handle it. It's got a 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2 GB of SDRAM. I'm also considering building a machine to run this system. If anyone could give me any advice on the best way to set up a Pro Tools rig without buying a new Mac Pro I would love to know.

 

[dgatwood]

I've been playing guitar for about 5 years and recorded but I've never done recording myself however it's something I really want to get into. I've decided I want to go the Pro Tools route and was curious if my old 17" Macbook Pro could handle it. It's got a 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2 GB of SDRAM. I'm also considering building a machine to run this system. If anyone could give me any advice on the best way to set up a Pro Tools rig without buying a new Mac Pro I would love to know.

I'd probably double the RAM, but otherwise, I don't see why not. The only concern I'd have with doing audio on a laptop is fan noise. If the laptop is in the same room as your mics, you'd probably be better off using a desktop (even an iMac).

 

[BRX rad]

I'd probably double the RAM, but otherwise, I don't see why not. The only concern I'd have with doing audio on a laptop is fan noise. If the laptop is in the same room as your mics, you'd probably be better off using a desktop (even an iMac).

You can hardly hear the fans in a Macbook Pro. The ones in mine are very faint, and I've never picked up any noise from them in my recordings.

And yes to the OP, you're laptop should be fine. I would also recommend upgrading the RAM though.

 

[hueseph]

Ram will only be an issue if you use a lot of synths or sampler plugins. That means things like Superior Drummer and BFD since these load directly to RAM.

If you plan on going to ProTools, you might want to try a temp install of ProTools 8.01 since it is the stable version of PT8. You may however find that it is a very resource hungry DAW. There are workarounds that will allow you to use the new Digirack Plugins with 7.4. Search the Digi User Confrence for that info.

In the end you may find that PT7.4 might run better on the MacBook.

 

[jonslaten]

I run protools 8.0.1 on my macbook pro 2.4 ghz with 4 gigs of ram and it runs very smooth. On one song I had something like 30 or so tracks going and all had some sort of plug-in installed. Make sure you have the highest buffer sample rate loaded or it will hiccup with that many tracks. Otherwise, when you first start adding tracks in the beginning you can have the rate at the lowest with hardly any noticeable latency. Enjoy.