# IMac Pro Configuration Help



## Joe Hartnett (Jan 7, 2018)

Hey everyone,

I was hoping to get some of your advice for the best bang for your buck configuration of an iMac Pro for composing and mixing. Examples of some instruments I use include: Spitfire, Hollywood Orchestra, Cinematic Studio Strings, Orchestral Tools, Embertone, Heavocity etc. Main question will have to do with the amount of cores and their speeds, and if the Radeon Pro Vega memory is important for what we do? For example I'm choosing between 10-core (3GHz turbo to 4.5GHz) and 14-core (2.5GHz and turbo to 4.3GHz), and between the 8 and 16GB of Radeon Pro Vega memory. I will be maxing out the RAM at 128GB. Thanks for any advice you can offer. I already know that anything will beat my current setup of a Macbook Pro dual core with 16GB RAM


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## Ashermusic (Jan 7, 2018)

I think that the iMac Pro is overkill for what we need to accomplish and that unless you need the tax write off, you would be better of with a top of the line regular iMac.


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## agarner32 (Jan 7, 2018)

Ashermusic said:


> I think that the iMac Pro is overkill for what we need to accomplish and that unless you need the tax write off, you would be better of with a top of the line regular iMac.


I agree. You could get an iMac and a PC slave with money left over.


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## Nils Neumann (Jan 7, 2018)

I only use apple, but the truth is the new iMac Pro is the most overpriced computer on the market right now.


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## Joe Hartnett (Jan 7, 2018)

Thanks for your feedback everyone. Let’s say a PC slave is out, and I’m just going to buy a new Mac. What specs should I look for if I want to have the ability to have 100-200 tracks in a session, and then be able to mix it without plugins causing a system overload? Also does the Vega memory have any relation to enhancing performance of virtual instruments or anything else we’d need? Thanks again!


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## TheKRock (Jan 7, 2018)

Hey Joe I have an iMac I7 retina 5k bought this year, 4Ghz, 64G RAM, that can easily run my template which is somewhere around 150 tracks (usually ends up more depending on cues, adding more synth tracks or more string tracks as I need them), I have done some massive cues that have had tempo changes included and my imac handles it with zero difficulty (using logic proX on high sierra). Hope that helps.


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## synthpunk (Jan 7, 2018)

Good advice, iMac Pro is for video editing houses and college labs that can write big P.O.'s.


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## Silence-is-Golden (Jan 7, 2018)

for my knowledge: I do think that what you are using on the many tracks is what will determine what the spes for your Mac Pro or iMac pro need to be doesn't it?

I mean if you do a lot of synth stuff and are fond of DIVA and use them on several tracks, along side OMNI with some hefty multi's (and more of the synth beasts like the new Repro (in HD mode ) or Vengeance's Avenger which can also quickly rise my CPU meter once I start playing, and so on..) and then some reverb plugins on tracks, fx, etc..... then some extra cores on the iMac Pro will help you a great deal I assume.

But is it mostly Kontakt libs then a surplus of RAM and SSD's will get you furthest.

And the GPU will be helpful if you make use of more (4K ) monitors, or like synthpunk says do jobs like a lot of high end video editing.
And.... lets not forget that for EW's new choir there is a virtual/augmented reality mode isn't it?

Isn't that the main choices one has to decide upon?


Funny note: I do recall that some time ago there was a thread where the common note was why there excisted as yet no Pro iMac with more choices to expand other then 4 cores. Now it seems not many seem to need one with a lot of internal "real estate". 

btw: if I could afford it I would get the most maxed out iMac Pro..... and pray the cooling fans will not spoil the fun when using it to its full capacities......


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## Joe Hartnett (Jan 7, 2018)

Once again, great advice guys and I appreciate the time. There will be a lot of synth usage as well including Omnisphere 2. This will be helpful when making my decision.


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## rlw (Jan 7, 2018)

Silence-is-Golden said:


> for my knowledge: I do think that what you are using on the many tracks is what will determine what the spes for your Mac Pro or iMac pro need to be doesn't it?
> 
> I mean if you do a lot of synth stuff and are fond of DIVA and use them on several tracks, along side OMNI with some hefty multi's (and more of the synth beasts like the new Repro (in HD mode ) or Vengeance's Avenger which can also quickly rise my CPU meter once I start playing, and so on..) and then some reverb plugins on tracks, fx, etc..... then some extra cores on the iMac Pro will help you a great deal I assume.
> 
> ...


I have the iMac Pro, 10 cores and 128gb of ram. I run with 64 k buffer with no issues and I have yet had zero noise from the machine. Absolutely no fan noise. I only got 1tb hardDrive with USB c - external external 2tb ssd. Love the quite performance and I have had No issues once t reformatted external hard drive to ASDF. iMac is ok with ExFat but kontakt doesn’t like exfat on High Sierra.


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## Mike Marino (Jan 7, 2018)

rlw said:


> Absolutely no fan noise.


This report says they used dual fans giving it 80% more cooling capacity than the existing 5k iMacs.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/201...veals-what-you-can-upgrade-and-what-you-cant/


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## iobaaboi (Jan 9, 2018)

I am also very interested in this topic, upgrading from a 2012 i5 iMac soon. I am pretty set on Mac and would like to keep it to one machine without slaves. 

I was dead set on the new iMac Pro as 128gb would be a dream but am concerned that the lower clock speed is less desirable for audio work. I suppose a lot of pros are on machines (trash can Mac pros) that have similar clock speeds. 

I would love to hear from anyone that has one and is running Cubase about real time performance.


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## Morning Coffee (Jan 9, 2018)

Most powerful Mac ever, yet the user still cannot do a very basic thing like access the hard drive! I hope these computers at least come with a long warranty.


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## Geoff Grace (Jan 9, 2018)

Morning Coffee said:


> Most powerful Mac ever, yet the user still cannot do a very basic thing like access the hard drive! I hope these computers at least come with a long warranty.


If you can afford an iMac Pro, then this is a no-brainer:

AppleCare+ for Mac

Best,

Geoff


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## Nachivnik (Jan 26, 2018)

Geoff Grace said:


> If you can afford an iMac Pro, then this is a no-brainer:
> 
> AppleCare+ for Mac
> 
> ...


The link for iMac Pro takes you to AppleCare for iMac for $169. Is that correct? That is a no-brainer for a $5000 + up machine!


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## Jeremy Spencer (Jan 26, 2018)

Nachivnik said:


> The link for iMac Pro takes you to AppleCare for iMac for $169. Is that correct? That is a no-brainer for a $5000 + up machine!



That's a crazy deal...I paid like $279 cdn for my MacBook Pro a few years ago!


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## Symfoniq (Jan 26, 2018)

I agree the iMac Pro is probably overkill in the horsepower department, however, it probably _isn't_ overkill in the cooling department. I've heard numerous complaints over the years about the noise of i7-based iMacs due to less-than-stellar cooling capability. Early reports are that the iMac Pro runs quieter.


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## Nachivnik (Jan 26, 2018)

If you could have scored one of those at Micro Center for $4000, it wasn't much more than a similarly configured regular iMac. If you put in the highest end 4-core CPU, a 1 TB SSD, 32 GB RAM , a regular iMac costs $3700 (reduce by $600 if you choose 8 GB standard option for RAM, then add $335 for 32GB of Crucial RAM - so $3435). At the Micro Center deal iMac Pro price, it costs an extra $300 to get an 8-core Xeon with the iMac Pro (or $565 more if you were to buy Crucial RAM to reach 32GB in a regular iMac). The only other differences then being the iMac has a Radeon Pro 580 with 8GB video memory versus the iMac Pro having a Radeon Pro 56 with 8GB of HBM2 memory (I don't what know the difference is), and 2400mhz vs 2666mhz ECC RAM. Upgrading RAM to 64 GB is $800 for the iMac Pro through Apple versus $600 for the regular iMac or an additional 32 GB of Crucial RAM for $335. For the lowest cost regular iMac, if you go with a lowest end 27" iMac for $1799, bump it up $100 to get a 256GB SSD, 32GB Crucial RAM from Amazon for $335 (add another $335 if you want 64GB of RAM), plus another $260 for a 1 TB Crucial MX500 SSD, you're at $2494. This is for a 4-core i5, and more of your storage is external. My current iMac is a late 2013 27" with a mechanical drive, so my OS is on an external SSD via USB3. I feel like my iMac is an Ood, with its brain on the outside. Not my favorite setup, which is why getting an internal SSD is essential, IMO. It's too troublesome to crack into one of those things on your own, and I do a lot of work on my other computers. It puts me off to the all-in-one design of the iMac, but if you plan ahead for your needs, I think it can work. I do wish the RAM were more easily user upgradeable. The price of the iMac Pro gets you if you want more than 32GB RAM (no Micro Center deals for anything other than a base iMac Pro). If the base model is perfect for you (and you get a $1000 knocked off like that Micro Center deal), they're close. If RAM is more important than processor, the lowest-end 27" regular iMac with an SSD may remain the best. It depends how low you can go on processor speed versus what is available in the iMac Pro.


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