# Bying advice- Imac or Mac pro



## OleJoergensen (Jul 19, 2016)

Im a Logic user and are not ready to move to "only Pc". I dont have the strength, at the moment, to learn to use a new Daw. Im on an old 2009 iMac connected to a powerful 2014 Pc.
Anyway, I like to buy a new Mac. I will upgrade to 32 GB OWC ram later.
Which one should I choose, Imac 4 Ghz or Mac pro 3,7 Ghz?
-iMac has better benchmark and a 5K screen.
-Mac pro has total 6 thunderbolt ports and 2 Ethernet ports + 1 hdmi port.

Any inspiring input will be great 
Thank you.


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## OleJoergensen (Jul 20, 2016)

No one...?


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## holywilly (Jul 20, 2016)

I use the quad core Late 2013 Mac Pro (32GB of ram & 256GB SSD) and I'm very happy with it. 6 thunderbolt ports really help streaming samples from different SSD enclosures on different thunderbolt ports instead of daisy chaining.

Now I run everything on one machine including nearly 25GB of orchestral template, experienced no issues.


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## passsacaglia (Jul 20, 2016)

I think the conclusion from The Real time performance thread is that = Logic or any DAW will have "better performance" with higher clock speed, iMac has the i7 6700k up to 4,2Ghz. The core is not the main factor here or am I wrong?
I need to buy a new computer soon, will def aim for the iMac 
I'd buy that and pack it with 32GB+ RAM and You'll be fine

Maybe someone else can explain this better.


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## synthpunk (Jul 20, 2016)

Love them both, I have 2013 MP 6 core vader helmet, 64G, with 2 Blackmagic SSD docks, 3 monitors, and UAD Apollo. Logic X runs great with tons of samples, synths, vi's, and midi. The screen on the iMac is beautiful and if you can get the one with expandable 32G ram makes sense if you can live with the more limited connectivity, better speed spec over cores, etc.. I also like the fact that i can upgrade the MP processor down the road to more cores, faster speed. You really have to weigh the negatives and positives, budget, etc. of both and make the best decision for you.
Good luck.


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## OleJoergensen (Jul 20, 2016)

Thank you for inspiration


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## lpuser (Jul 20, 2016)

I think the iMac route is only reasonable if you are sure that 32 GB is enough. When you plan to using large orchestral libraries or other extensive samples, then having the option to go to 48 GB or even 64 GB is certainly not wrong.
Personally, I am still using a silver Mac Pro Tower with a 3.33 GHz 6-Core Xeon and 48 GB and this baby was less expensive than an iMac, can house 4 hard disks (ideal for backs, additional SSD for libraries etc.) and performs very nice with Logic. Maybe you wanna look here for a machine: https://create.pro


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## OleJoergensen (Jul 20, 2016)

Thank you Ipuser, I will look into that. 
My orchestra Pc (slave) has 64 GB Ram but I also like the Mac to have a least 32 GB Ram. I have just watch a you tube video saying that at heavy task the Imac is noisy while the Mac pro is quite, that is important to take into consideration too.


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## dcoscina (Jul 20, 2016)

Used Mac Pro tower. That's the way I've gone the last 2 times I needed a powerful Mac. At this point, I might just use my Macbook Air i7 for my DAW and connect through ethernet to my early 2009 Mac Pro 8 core to use as the sample machine since it holds more RAM. Then maybe buy a used 12 core in a year or so.


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## kclements (Jul 20, 2016)

The late 2015 retina iMacs can go up to 64Gb RAM. Check OWC for details.


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## synthpunk (Jul 20, 2016)

and just a few note of caution about older Mac Pro towers. With OSX Sierra coming in the fall and not working on certain models (pre 2009 I believe) that is something to research. Your mac will need to have 5, 1 firmware minimum for Sierra. http://osxdaily.com/2016/06/14/macos-sierra-compatibility-list/
http://osxdaily.com/2016/06/14/macos-sierra-compatibility-list/
http://vi-control.net/community/threads/will-your-mac-run-osx-sierra-fall-2016.54107/#post-3967745

Also you cannot add Thunderbolt on these and the power consumption is considerably higher in my experience over the vader helmets.


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## Soundhound (Jul 20, 2016)

Thanks for the heads up on Sierra. I'm giving it till Sept to see if a new new mac pro comes out, and if not (or if it's a bust) then I was going to look at a Create.Pro, or a 2013 nmp...


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## OleJoergensen (Jul 21, 2016)

Soundhound said:


> Thanks for the heads up on Sierra. I'm giving it till Sept to see if a new new mac pro comes out, and if not (or if it's a bust) then I was going to look at a Create.Pro, or a 2013 nmp...


September is when Apple announce new products?
Maybe I should wait. My concern is it is a lot of money to pay for the old 2013 Mac pro.
But on the other hand I really like to upgrade my system while I have vacation and time for that.
Its not easy


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## OleJoergensen (Jul 21, 2016)

Thanks for al your inputs!


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## samphony (Jul 21, 2016)

OleJoergensen said:


> Im a Logic user and are not ready to move to "only Pc". I dont have the strength, at the moment, to learn to use a new Daw. Im on an old 2009 iMac connected to a powerful 2014 Pc.
> Anyway, I like to buy a new Mac. I will upgrade to 32 GB OWC ram later.
> Which one should I choose, Imac 4 Ghz or Mac pro 3,7 Ghz?
> -iMac has better benchmark and a 5K screen.
> ...



I would say it depends. In your case you have great experience with the iMac and you have a powerful pic! If you feel good about that go with a new 27" iMac and upgrade it yourself to 32gb or 64gb.

If I were you I would choose Mac Pro over iMac because that is still the only Mac that offers 6/8/12 core Xeon processors. (as you have a pc sample playout PC you might not need that)

And don't forget even the fact that the Mac Pro is a 2013/2014 model doesn't make it old. I have mine since Jan 2014 and it's running great everyday. It's reliable, no crashes!


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## Thorsten Meyer (Jul 21, 2016)

samphony said:


> I would say it depends. In your case you have great experience with the iMac and you have a powerful pic! If you feel good about that go with a new 27" iMac and upgrade it yourself to 32gb or 64gb.



My understanding is that the iMac can be upgraded to 32gb.


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## OleJoergensen (Jul 21, 2016)

samphony said:


> I would say it depends. In your case you have great experience with the iMac and you have a powerful pic! If you feel good about that go with a new 27" iMac and upgrade it yourself to 32gb or 64gb.
> 
> If I were you I would choose Mac Pro over iMac because that is still the only Mac that offers 6/8/12 core Xeon processors. (as you have a pc sample playout PC you might not need that)
> 
> And don't forget even the fact that the Mac Pro is a 2013/2014 model doesn't make it old. I have mine since Jan 2014 and it's running great everyday. It's reliable, no crashes!



Thank you. That makes sense. The best part is "reliable" . But I remeber a thread here on Ve-pro which explains that quad core with high frekvense is better with DAW then 6-8-12 core. But I know many uses 6-8-12 core with there DAW. It would be enlightning with some feedback from those user. 
If I buy a quadcore it is possble to upgrade the cpu and I belive by time the cpu 6-8-12 core will be cheaper.
I try to convience myself he he


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## OleJoergensen (Jul 21, 2016)

Thorsten Meyer said:


> My understanding is that the iMac can be upgraded to 32gb.


OWC has tested the iMac with 64 GB ram and offers a good price...
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/1867DDR3S64S/


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## synthpunk (Jul 21, 2016)

Minimum MP I would start with is 6 core. 8 core is best from what I been told by Mac genius. Down the road you can upgrade to 10 or 12 core cpu if you need to.

That may be older theory about multicore if your using Logic X which now has much better multicore support, let alone v.i., soft synths , etc that do as well.

If you go imac just make sure your model ram can be upgraded to 32/64G. Some models cannot.


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## passsacaglia (Jul 21, 2016)

OleJoergensen said:


> OWC has tested the iMac with 64 GB ram and offers a good price...
> https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/1867DDR3S64S/


or Those ones, seems to work fine in the newest iMac 27" (only the 27" supports 64GB I think)
https://amzn.com/B018IQ439Q


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## Thorsten Meyer (Jul 21, 2016)

Would be great if my iMac 27 would support more RAM. I did not know that


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## DKeenum (Jul 21, 2016)

I am no expert, but I will tell you what I just chose and why I chose it:


27" Radius Monitor - I had to get the bigger monitor if I wanted to be able to upgrade the iMac's RAM in the future
4.0GHz QC i7 - This was recommended a number of times. I think it will help to get me more years out of the computer.
16GB 1867MHz DDR3L (2x8GB) - I can upgrade later.
3TB Fusion Drive - the 1TB drive has a very small SSD drive. The 2 and 3 TB have larger. I made this decision with cost in mind. The SSD drives were very expensive.


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## samphony (Jul 21, 2016)

I seldom use VE Pro at the moment. Logic is very efficient with this Mac Pro. LPX 10.2.4 is a blast!

But if I use VE Pro I use it as local host on the same Mac Pro with one instance per instrument or one instance for crazy stacked sounds (this method got more and more replaced with summing track stacks these days). I don't use huge templates at the moment.

But in your case you could go with a 6 core plus your powerful PC and you'll be probably fine for the next few years. You might even skip turning on your PC at all depending on projects and libraries!

But as stated by others the iMac quad 27" i7 would be fine too. 

I never had iMacs only Mac Pros since their existence. 



OleJoergensen said:


> Thank you. That makes sense. The best part is "reliable" . But I remeber a thread here on Ve-pro which explains that quad core with high frekvense is better with DAW then 6-8-12 core. But I know many uses 6-8-12 core with there DAW. It would be enlightning with some feedback from those user.
> If I buy a quadcore it is possble to upgrade the cpu and I belive by time the cpu 6-8-12 core will be cheaper.
> I try to convience myself he he


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## synthpunk (Jul 21, 2016)

This is a good point Samphony makes as well, When needed a slave a great thing but going back to a single machine for me was like taking layer off the creative process and less obtrusive, let alone less pulling the little hair left out I have with VEP templates. 




samphony said:


> I seldom use VE Pro at the moment. Logic is very efficient with this Mac Pro. LPX 10.2.4 is a blast!
> 
> But if I use VE Pro I use it as local host on the same Mac Pro with one instance per instrument or one instance for crazy stacked sounds (this method got more and more replaced with summing track stacks these days). I don't use huge templates at the moment.
> 
> ...


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## samphony (Jul 21, 2016)

It's always a pleasure when simplification is happening.



aesthete said:


> This is a good point Samphony makes as well, When needed a slave a great thing but going back to a single machine for me was like taking layer off the creative process and less obtrusive, let alone less pulling the little hair left out I have with VEP templates.


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## passsacaglia (Jul 21, 2016)

Ole, Willy said very early that he had a late 2013 Mac Pro "quad core" (Xeon), that's a 3.7Ghz quad core and 32GB of RAM with a 25GB orchestral template and no issues so far. 
Did you have an old PC too or? I mean, in that case if you like the 27" retina screen 5K model, why don't you start off with that, the Quad core i7 6700K with 4.2Ghz clock speed (remember the clock speed is crucial for DAW/Logic) and at least 32GB of RAM and start with that? And if it's not enough, buy some more RAM or go VEPro and if you have to, include your slave. 

Know many people using the latest iMac with a +20GB template without any issues or big fan noise, it's even more power efficient than the late 2014 model (i7 4790K Devil's canyon wich also is a beast). But the newest is much more cooler which makes it take more time for the mac to go crazy with the fans if you're worried about that.
A studio I visited where they do large music video rendering And using Ableton/Logic have some iMac late 2012 without any hyper fan activity, so you can be cool!
There are some great threads on "macrumours" (here, and here) about the New iMac who might come in late October this year,
speculators think that "new stuff" will be the AMD Polaris GPU, perhaps USB-C connections and some minor stuff..noone knows but I guess they still will use the Skylake and wait a little more with the Kaby lake (2017) and Cannonlake processors. 

 //D


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## OleJoergensen (Jul 21, 2016)

Hello Passacaglia. 

Thank you for inspiration. My pc is powerful, 5820 3.3 ghz 6 core (thinking about asking a friend help to overclock it to 4.4 Ghz) 5 ssd.
I ordered the Mac Pro today :- ), I like to use it with a 43" 4K screen, inspired by a thread here. I look forward to also work with Finali on a big screen.


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## samphony (Jul 21, 2016)

OleJoergensen said:


> Hello Passacaglia.
> 
> Thank you for inspiration. My pc is powerful, 5820 3.3 ghz 6 core (thinking about asking a friend help to overclock it to 4.4 Ghz) 5 ssd.
> I ordered the Mac Pro today :- ), I like to use it with a 43" 4K screen, inspired by a thread here. I look forward to also work with Finali on a big screen.



Exactly the screen size I've settled on a while ago! This will be an awesome setup!


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## OleJoergensen (Jul 21, 2016)

samphony said:


> Exactly the screen size I've settled on a while ago! This will be an awesome setup!


Thats great to get confirmed. I so look forward!


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## OleJoergensen (Jul 21, 2016)

samphony said:


> Exactly the screen size I've settled on a while ago! This will be an awesome setup!


Can I ask how did you connect the 43" screen to the mac pro?


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## synthpunk (Jul 21, 2016)

2013 mp has a HDMI out.



OleJoergensen said:


> Can I ask how did you connect the 43" screen to the mac pro?


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## samphony (Jul 21, 2016)

OleJoergensen said:


> Can I ask how did you connect the 43" screen to the mac pro?



It's connected via a good quality Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable .(1.2 standard to support 60Hz at 4K)

Don't use HDMI it is to slow with its 30Hz refresh rate when working at 4K!
It is fine if you connect a second monitor or tv as video playback at full HD.


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## OleJoergensen (Jul 21, 2016)

Thank you, yes the Mac pro only has hdmi 1.4, 4k needs Hdmi 2.....


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## Soundhound (Jul 21, 2016)

Is there a way to use my Thunderbolt Blackmagic SSD docks with a refurb 2010-2012 Mac Pro? I guess you can get adapters to USB3? but even so seems a shame...


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## RRBE Sound (Jul 28, 2016)

So I was a PC guy until I decided to go with Logic Pro X. Then I bought a late 2012 MacBook Pro, and gave it a 250 GB SSD, as boot drive and used a caddy for the old 500 GB HDD. I gave it 8 GB RAM.. 

However, as my jobs gets more, and projects bigger (samples and stuff) - I also want to upgrade. My dad, who has a pro studio here in Denmark recently upgraded from his old Mac Pro to the newest iMac 27 - mid range. 

It looks and works grate. - But as most of his projects still is on the Mac Pro, He has not used it that much yet. - Also, he is not that much into sample libraries. 

I am think to invest in the iMac 27' 5K Core i5 3.2GHz 8GB 1TB Fusion, and then max it with RAM, as this is what my budget can manage... - I will properly use some external SSD/HDD for more space.. Now does this sound?


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## babylonwaves (Aug 2, 2016)

samphony said:


> Don't use HDMI it is to slow with its 30Hz refresh rate when working at 4K!


depends. a samsung 34"@4K works if you use a decent cable. but yes, "full" 4k is only available through TB/display port. also keep in mind that those cables cannot be very long (5meters max?). so if you have a machine room you will probably need to use HDMI


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## OleJoergensen (Aug 2, 2016)

babylonwaves said:


> depends. a samsung 34"@4K works if you use a decent cable. but yes, "full" 4k is only available through TB/display port. also keep in mind that those cables cannot be very long (5meters max?). so if you have a machine room you will probably need to use HDMI


I tried use a thunderbolt/displayport with my Mac Pro 3.7 ghz and a 4k 43" Philips but it didnt show 4k resolution. Then I used a Hdmi cable and can see 4k (3840x2169 low resolution) but only 30 hz. Any special way to use the thunderbolt cable?


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## babylonwaves (Aug 2, 2016)

OleJoergensen said:


> Any special way to use the thunderbolt cable?


no, at least not here with the samsung. maybe there are minimum macOS specs like 10.10 or higher?


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## OleJoergensen (Aug 2, 2016)

Thank you for replying. I do have the newest OS..


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## mc_deli (Aug 2, 2016)

OleJoergensen said:


> I tried use a thunderbolt/displayport with my Mac Pro 3.7 ghz and a 4k 43" Philips but it didnt show 4k resolution. Then I used a Hdmi cable and can see 4k (3840x2169 low resolution) but only 30 hz. Any special way to use the thunderbolt cable?


I read earlier that there are some displayport cables that are not 4k ready: http://www.displayport.org/cables/how-to-choose-a-displayport-cable-and-not-get-a-bad-one/

To get my ASUS showing 4k / 60hz over display port/TB I had to make the selections on the monitor but it was quite straightforward.


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## OleJoergensen (Aug 2, 2016)

You are right. I just reviewed the cable I bought. It turns out it supports 4k (2560x1600).
I thought 4k was 4k . So much to learn. New cable to buy.
Thank you for helping!


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## samphony (Aug 2, 2016)

OleJoergensen said:


> You are right. I just reviewed the cable I bought. It turns out it supports 4k (2560x1600).
> I thought 4k was 4k . So much to learn. New cable to buy.
> Thank you for helping!



You need a cable that supports DisplayPort 1.2!

Where are you located?


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## OleJoergensen (Aug 3, 2016)

Im in Denmark. The new cable I just ordered supports "Mini DisplayPort 4K 4096x2160, 3D".


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## OleJoergensen (Aug 13, 2016)

passsacaglia said:


> Ole, Willy said very early that he had a late 2013 Mac Pro "quad core" (Xeon), that's a 3.7Ghz quad core and 32GB of RAM with a 25GB orchestral template and no issues so far.
> Did you have an old PC too or? I mean, in that case if you like the 27" retina screen 5K model, why don't you start off with that, the Quad core i7 6700K with 4.2Ghz clock speed (remember the clock speed is crucial for DAW/Logic) and at least 32GB of RAM and start with that? And if it's not enough, buy some more RAM or go VEPro and if you have to, include your slave.
> 
> Know many people using the latest iMac with a +20GB template without any issues or big fan noise, it's even more power efficient than the late 2014 model (i7 4790K Devil's canyon wich also is a beast). But the newest is much more cooler which makes it take more time for the mac to go crazy with the fans if you're worried about that.
> ...


I have been busy updating hardware and software. I bought the 3.7 Ghz Mac pro and updated to 32 GB ram. Im enjoying a lot so silent it is! And the load speed of a Logic project compared to on my old Imac 2009, it is so fast!
I also upgrade to Windows 10 pro and installed a Noctua NH-D cooler and 3 Noctua Fan for the cabinet on my pc, so its also silent now. And then Ve-pro 6, the connection between the Mac and Pc are so smoothe and quick. I also bought a 43" Philips 4K screen. I really ebjoy 1 big screen. Its just a little annoing with Mac OS that many windows open in the top left corner :-/.

SO THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR INSPIRATION


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## PaulBrimstone (Jun 27, 2017)

OleJoergensen said:


> Its just a little annoing with Mac OS that many windows open in the top left corner :-/.



A little late to the party, Ole, but try this for window management on the Mac: 

http://magnet.crowdcafe.com/?utm_source=help

It is very nimble and useful.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Jun 27, 2017)

samphony wrote:



> I seldom use VE Pro at the moment. Logic is very efficient with this Mac Pro. LPX 10.2.4 is a blast!



They're now on 10.3.1, and in my opinion it's worth updating. Each version has fixed some bugs.

And the reason I'm moving more and more of my big template over to VE Pro is to avoid processor spikes. Logic still does that sometimes unless you select a No Output track.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Jun 27, 2017)

Olej.. wrote:



> Thank you, yes the Mac pro only has hdmi 1.4, 4k needs Hdmi 2.....



macOS won't do 4K @ 60Hz over HDMI, only DisplayPort (or MiniDisplayPort). The cable may or may not be the problem. It could also be the graphics card or chips in your computer.

I went through a big experiment in 4K/60Hz that resulted in my deciding that a 40" monitor is too big, returning the video card I bought to run it, and going back to my 30" Cinema Display.


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