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With respect to neutral headphones for mixing, I thought open backed headphones were generally preferable for mixing (and the DT-770 and MDR7506 are closed back), whereas closed back was preferred for tracking (to minimize bleed into the mic)? Is that true or something that only really applies once you get into super expensive phones? I know mixing on headphones isn't ideal, but I'm in a situation now where I can only use my actual monitors ~10% of the time, so I have to do most of my mixing/production via headphones before doing a final round on the monitors. I had been looking at the DT 880 and Sennheiser HD560S as neutral open back options for mixing that aren't like $500+ (sounds like the DT 990 isn't as flat as the 880, despite being more open), but I still need to do some more research.
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Aug 23, 2021 23:32
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So I don't have monitors at home for most of the things I do and only get to use them occasionally at other people's spaces. So to me open back headphones is kind of something I've used for most of my recording in the last 5 years. They are really nice just because they are lighter (usually) and less pressure on your ears so I find I can mix longer with them without getting as much ear fatigue and having to take as frequent breaks (though this is still really important and the times I don't take breaks I get more frustrated). My ATH-R70X's have done me good for a while now. I still check my mixes on multiple things so I do a lot of heavy lifting with the R70X's then use my Shure SHR-440 to check, my ATH-M50BT's if I've mixed it down and then my car/other people's monitors. But yeah, either of the ones you are looking at would be a good choice. The Beyerdynamic's are incredibly comfy but might get a little warmer based on the material the earpads look to be made from? They are also a rounder earpad too so your ear may fit it differently from the more oval Sennheisers? Sennheiser is also nice though I haven't tried a 560S before.
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Aug 27, 2021 15:00
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I want to record a short audio drama, and am looking for some kind of software that let's me change my voice, so I can do all parts myself. Obviously this doesn't need to be some hi-end tool, but it should be good enough to output "different" sounding voices. Back when I recorded music I remember something called Melodyne could manipulate voice tracks while still sounding natural, but there's probably lots of other stuff available now.
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Aug 30, 2021 11:13
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busalover posted:I want to record a short audio drama, and am looking for some kind of software that let's me change my voice, so I can do all parts myself. Obviously this doesn't need to be some hi-end tool, but it should be good enough to output "different" sounding voices. Back when I recorded music I remember something called Melodyne could manipulate voice tracks while still sounding natural, but there's probably lots of other stuff available now. I don't know if this is what you mean, but you can use a plugin with a formant shifter to make your voice deeper/higher. I use them in pretty extreme ways but I think if you just use a little it could potentially sound natural. I use LittleAlterBoy which I like but is not free. Graillon 2 has a free version and formant shifting although I haven't really used it much myself. MAutoPitch is apparently good and free, haven't used it at all though
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Aug 30, 2021 11:53
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busalover posted:I want to record a short audio drama, and am looking for some kind of software that let's me change my voice, so I can do all parts myself. Obviously this doesn't need to be some hi-end tool, but it should be good enough to output "different" sounding voices. Back when I recorded music I remember something called Melodyne could manipulate voice tracks while still sounding natural, but there's probably lots of other stuff available now. Not trying to tell you how to captain your ship but wouldn’t it be better to spend time learning how to/practicing doing different voices? In the context of audio dramas/audiobooks/etc I find manipulated voices like that pretty distracting (unless they’re meant to be like fully robotic or inhuman) and natural voice manipulation is almost always going to be better. You wouldn’t need too much to be different either, just enough to differentiate characters in a unique way and help the listener shift from person to person. Just my opinion though! Good luck with the audio drama 
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Aug 30, 2021 17:34
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for a third opinion, i frequently combine the other two suggested approaches in situations like this! if you create different voices that you act out yourself and keep your formant shifting to only 2-3 semitones (anything more than that starts sounding obviously treated imo), you get some nice differentiation that makes it less obvious it's all one person while still sounding pretty natural
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Aug 30, 2021 18:10
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Yeah, my plan was too use voice acting guidelines in combination with software, in case my voice talent doesn't cut it. But I'll be checking out those formant shifters.
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Aug 30, 2021 20:56
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Hey! I just picked up a set of Mackie CR3-X's, and I thought I had RCA outputs on my interface, a Steinberg UR22 MKii, but I don't. It looks like I should be able to connect the two with two 1/4" TRS cables, but I'm really not sure. Would something like this work?
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Sep 2, 2021 04:58
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nitsuga posted:Hey! I just picked up a set of Mackie CR3-X's, and I thought I had RCA outputs on my interface, a Steinberg UR22 MKii, but I don't. It looks like I should be able to connect the two with two 1/4" TRS cables, but I'm really not sure. Would something like this work? Yeah that should work, and that should give you a balanced connection (as opposed to RCA, which you could do via 1/4" TS > RCA cable, but would be unbalanced). Essentially you just need 2 1/4" TRS > 1/4" TRS cables (whether you get something like you linked with 2 cables advertised as stereo, or if you just got 2 separate 1/4" TRS cables). The R in TRS (as opposed to just TS) is essential for making it a balanced connection.
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Sep 2, 2021 05:52
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Alright! I’ll spring for those at some point here. Also, any suggestions for recording vinyl records? My turntable does not have a USB out, but I’ve got headphone and RCA outputs on the receiver. I was hoping to run one of those two into the interface, but I’m not quite sure how.
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Sep 2, 2021 06:21
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RCA will convert to TS 1/4" if you need to do something like that. might need to crank it if you're going direct from the turntable, some don't have preamps on them. RCA out from the receiver to 1/4" on the soundcard is fine
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Sep 2, 2021 06:57
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If the turntable doesn't have a built in preamp, you may need to get a phono preamp to run in-between the turntable and interface inputs even if you're able to boost the input level enough. IIRC phono preamps don't just boost the signal, they also are have an EQ filter curve (RIAA curve?) that needs to be applied to get the record to actually sound like the master recording. There may be some plugins that could emulate the filter, but at that point it'd probably be less of a head ache to just get a preamp.
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Sep 2, 2021 07:56
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Splinter posted:If the turntable doesn't have a built in preamp, you may need to get a phono preamp to run in-between the turntable and interface inputs even if you're able to boost the input level enough. IIRC phono preamps don't just boost the signal, they also are have an EQ filter curve (RIAA curve?) that needs to be applied to get the record to actually sound like it did was recorded. There may be some plugins that could emulate the filter, but at that point it'd probably be less of a head ache to just get a preamp. OP was gonna run it through a receiver with a phono pre, which is what I would do. If the receiver has a pre-out or line-out, or possibly the tape-out, consider using that as it might be less noisy (but it might also be harder to dial in gain the way you can if you retain volume control). Using the standard RCA outs to 1/4” is fine. Don’t use the headphone out, it’ll probably give you the worst sound quality by far.
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Sep 2, 2021 07:59
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Cool! Doesn't look like, my interface has stereo inputs, so I think running something like this from the tape out will do. C/D? I've got level controls on the interface at least, so if the cable's right I'll give it a try in a bit here. I've got plenty of records to hone my technique on.
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Sep 2, 2021 14:25
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Going to crosspost this here from the laptop thread in SH/SC, since I'll probably get a better response for my needs from actual musicians instead of the more general tech side of things. I’m looking at getting back into music production for myself, so I’m looking for something with a good CPU, a lot of RAM, and a good amount of ports to plug interfaces and the like into. HDMI Out for a second screen would also be nice. Gaming is not a concern for this at all; I already have a desktop I built specifically for that. Price range I’m looking at is flexible, but topping off at around $2500 at most. Windows or Mac is fine; I used a MacBook Pro back when I was in college a decade ago, so I wouldn’t mind being able to use Logic again (unless it’s gotten dramatically worse since Logic Pro 9 lol).
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Sep 4, 2021 02:36
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NuclearPotato posted:Going to crosspost this here from the laptop thread in SH/SC, since I'll probably get a better response for my needs from actual musicians instead of the more general tech side of things. I’m looking at getting back into music production for myself, so I’m looking for something with a good CPU, a lot of RAM, and a good amount of ports to plug interfaces and the like into. HDMI Out for a second screen would also be nice. Gaming is not a concern for this at all; I already have a desktop I built specifically for that. Price range I’m looking at is flexible, but topping off at around $2500 at most. Windows or Mac is fine; I used a MacBook Pro back when I was in college a decade ago, so I wouldn’t mind being able to use Logic again (unless it’s gotten dramatically worse since Logic Pro 9 lol). If I was you and had that budget I would get a MacBook Pro. Don’t overthink or spend too much though, I do all my stuff on a new m1 MacBook Air and it handles whatever I throw at it. I’m not sad at all about not going for a Pro. Logic is in a very good place by the way. It runs so smooth and efficiently on these modern Macs. Only issue I guess would be the lack of ports but just suck it up and grab a dongle, it’s not the worst.
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Sep 4, 2021 02:50
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NuclearPotato posted:Going to crosspost this here from the laptop thread in SH/SC, since I'll probably get a better response for my needs from actual musicians instead of the more general tech side of things. I’m looking at getting back into music production for myself, so I’m looking for something with a good CPU, a lot of RAM, and a good amount of ports to plug interfaces and the like into. HDMI Out for a second screen would also be nice. Gaming is not a concern for this at all; I already have a desktop I built specifically for that. Price range I’m looking at is flexible, but topping off at around $2500 at most. Windows or Mac is fine; I used a MacBook Pro back when I was in college a decade ago, so I wouldn’t mind being able to use Logic again (unless it’s gotten dramatically worse since Logic Pro 9 lol). DO NOT GET A MACBOOK PRO RIGHT NOW unless it’s the M1 13” model, in which case you’re also better off saving your money and getting an M1 MacBook Air instead. And maybe an M1 Mac Mini (with a $2500 budget, it’s an option if you’re feeling spendy  and you could always share a display with the PC). Although I assume that if you’re only getting one it’s preferably a notebook.You really don’t need more than that, you could wait for the higher end Apple Silicon Macs that haven’t come out yet (14”/16” MacBook Pro, higher end Mini, big iMac, Mac Pro) but I wouldn’t bother for music. The M1 blows a lot of the recent 4/6/8-core Intel poo poo out of the water
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Sep 4, 2021 03:25
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I am nervous about compatibility with M1, seems like a lot of developers even some high end ones are still insisting on Intel silicon for mac plugins. But I don't know first hand, I record on PC.
Agreed fucked around with this message at 21:45 on Sep 8, 2021 |
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Sep 8, 2021 21:32
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Agreed posted:I am nervous about compatibility with M1, seems like a lot of developers even some high end ones are still insisting on Intel silicon for mac plugins. But I don't know first hand, I record on PC. worst case scenario, you could try it, try all of your plugins (keep in mind that some plugins that aren’t compatible yet will probably work a treat with CrossOver or whatever if you’re ok with that), and if it doesn’t work for you you’ve got 14 days to return it and swap it for an Intel Mac if you purchase direct from Apple With all that being said, Apple Silicon is indisputably the (immediate) future of the Mac, and Windows’ audio driver and compatibility and latency bullshit is still bad enough in 2021 compared to MacOS that plenty of music makers who otherwise hate Apple and despise using Apple systems will nevertheless grit their teeth and produce on MacOS rather than spend hours fruitlessly trying to make their mixer/interface play nice. This is a long, roundabout way of saying that if you can make your workflow function on M1 right now, even if it isn’t perfect, you’ll probably have a much better time in the future if your plan is to hold onto this computer for the next ~5+ years trilobite terror fucked around with this message at 22:20 on Sep 8, 2021 |
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Sep 8, 2021 22:08
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My biggest issue with windows compatibility is that older hardware tends to be hard to make work well, but as long as I've used stuff with current generation driver support it has been a great experience recording audio into Reaper on Windows for me. All the way back to Windows Vista if I remember right. I updated my OS pretty frequently, too, used a variety of manufacturers' hardware - I guess I got lucky if it is supposed to be a shitshow. Always heard Macs are good for audio work, though.
Agreed fucked around with this message at 05:36 on Sep 9, 2021 |
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Sep 9, 2021 05:34
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Is the windows audio trouble stuff still even a thing? Sure seems like just buying a common interface from a reputable manufacturer is the easiest way to avoid basically all trouble. I've had no issues with the few I've had (KA-6, Focusrite 8i6) over the years.
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Sep 9, 2021 17:42
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My second gen focusrite bluescreened every PC I've used it on like 1-3 times after downloading the drivers, or if I accidentally unplugged it while the PC was on it would cause issues I'm only a fan of Apples tablets but I have an old beater Mac mini for music stuff cause it's so much less hassle, and also let me keep my music stuff in a different area from my PC
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Sep 9, 2021 17:53
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Ok, given it like a week of thought, and I'm settling on a M1 MacBook Air. Might have gotten a little too pricey on it though (not like that's anything new for Apple :v ), so here are the specs I'm looking at if any of y'all want to give me a sanity check: I figure I want plenty of RAM for working with samples and the like, and the 2TB of SSD space hurts the wallet, but ensures I should have plenty of room to record things without having to rely on an external drive. That being said, looking at external stuff hasn't been something I've looked at much, admittedly, so if anyone has any recommendations towards that end, I'd give it a listen. I'm not opposed to the suggestion of grabbing the Mac Mini, as suggested earlier, but wouldn't likely be able to use it until I get my new computer desk and get my living space all sorted out, so I'm not worried about getting that just yet. As far as plugins go, I'm planning on pairing Logic with Komplete 13 and Arturia's V Collection, and most likely will upgrade my old Reason purchase to the latest version. Hopefully those shouldn't be wonky with the M1, but I'm not planning on getting them until I have the laptop and am set up, so plenty of time to do my research and figure things out.
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Sep 9, 2021 20:29
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NuclearPotato posted:Ok, given it like a week of thought, and I'm settling on a M1 MacBook Air. Might have gotten a little too pricey on it though (not like that's anything new for Apple :v ), so here are the specs I'm looking at if any of y'all want to give me a sanity check: That really looks like a powerhouse. I don't have that laptop, but just knowing the king's ransom that Apple charges for SSD capacity, I would recommend spending a little time looking into how it would work if, say, you got just 1TB internal from apple and used the savings to buy a big external SSD. You'd lose out on the true simplicity of having everything in the laptop form factor, but if you didn't mind having a small external attached, I would imagine that an external SSD would run fast enough to be perfectly fine for saving projects, samples, sound libraries, etc. And I bet you could get a lot more than 1 TB worth of external for the savings from going from 2tb to 1tb internally. Anyway, not based on my personal experience with that machine, but could be worth looking into further.
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Sep 9, 2021 21:19
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Only downside to the laptops right now is only two thunderbolt ports and nothing else. Mac mini is a little nice because it adds HDMI and two USB 3 ports on top of it. Having the larger internal drive on the laptop means one less port being clogged up all the time.
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Sep 9, 2021 22:25
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2TB seems possibly overkill unless you're really recording massive amounts of music. It's nice to have all that space, but maybe not necessary? I've been working with a 256GB laptop for years and all my music projects still don't nearly amount to that
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Sep 10, 2021 07:17
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Paperhouse posted:2TB seems possibly overkill unless you're really recording massive amounts of music. It's nice to have all that space, but maybe not necessary? I've been working with a 256GB laptop for years and all my music projects still don't nearly amount to that This is a fair enough point, and between this and McCoy's post above, I decided to downgrade to the 1TB hard drive for the final order. I'll hold off on grabbing the external drive for now; I plan on doing a little more research and see how I'm doing with the 1TB before I shell out for one. Speaking of research, it seems that of the plugin packages I've been looking at, Reason just launched 12, which appears to run natively, and V Collection appears to run fine through Rosetta. Komplete is the big question mark right now, since much of it isn't supported even through the compatibility layer, and I haven't seen a lot of talk about how the various programs are running. Fortunately for me, it seems like Driver, which is a plugin I've used a lot in the past, is supported under the compatibility layer, so I'll probably make due with the various Player versions of Kontact and Reaktor and the other bits and bobs I have and see how those run before I shell out for any more NI programs.
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Sep 10, 2021 18:13
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Having a 2 TB SSD would be completely awesome. I have a 1 TB SSD, three 256s and a 512 in this thing, older tech because apart from the 1TB it's all from like 2013-2015 but baby I am hooked I'll put SSDs wherever I can fit them now and in as big of capacity as I can afford at the time of building. I support a big-assed SSD if you can swing it, or if it turns out putting one in aftermarket doesn't cause Apple hit men to descend from helicopters around your login point the next time you go online That said, while I did have big dreams of filling it all up with sample libraries and projects that I'm getting paid $10,000 for, in reality that never happened so it's mainly games from three different distribution services that my son asked me to put on (for like 15 minutes of trying them each), annnnd I have most of my music stuff sitting contentedly alongside my OS on the 512GB drive. Turned out I don't even use sample packs that much anyway. If you also don't actually have expansive storage needs, that 1TB is probably going to be more than enough. Agreed fucked around with this message at 06:08 on Sep 13, 2021 |
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Sep 10, 2021 20:10
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I started making music a few weeks ago and I've already used 2.2 TB. Of course I'm doing orchestrated stuff so sample libraries are massive. Be aware that for the M1 laptops the SSD, like the RAM, is soldered in. There is no upgrade path for the storage capacity. You have to buy a new one to do that.
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Sep 13, 2021 12:35
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That definitely sucks to hear about the SSD; I still remember having my old MacBook Pro's hard drive break on me, and being able to swap in a new one from Best Buy, so this definitely bites for reparability (but then, this isn't anything new for Apple). Still, I can always rely on grabbing an external if I ever go sample crazy and need the hard drive space for it (to say nothing about just getting one of the desktop offerings and loading that up with SSD space); it certainly isn't a major factor in the music I'm looking at making currently. My current plan for VSTs right now, incidentally, is to just pick up the Reason 12 upgrade for now once I get the Air in, and otherwise just wait on grabbing V Collection and some NI stuff until Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales; seems particularly important to do that with NI, since much of their catalog still isn't officially supported through Rosetta 2 yet. I'm tempted to pick up Kontact 6 at its current sales price, but I've got no way of testing if it will work alright yet, since the Air doesn't come in until well after the sale ends, so probably better just to hold off until November and see if the various Player versions work alright with M1 in the meantime.
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Sep 13, 2021 15:32
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NuclearPotato posted:That definitely sucks to hear about the SSD; I still remember having my old MacBook Pro's hard drive break on me, and being able to swap in a new one from Best Buy, so this definitely bites for reparability (but then, this isn't anything new for Apple). Still, I can always rely on grabbing an external if I ever go sample crazy and need the hard drive space for it (to say nothing about just getting one of the desktop offerings and loading that up with SSD space); it certainly isn't a major factor in the music I'm looking at making currently. My current plan for VSTs right now, incidentally, is to just pick up the Reason 12 upgrade for now once I get the Air in, and otherwise just wait on grabbing V Collection and some NI stuff until Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales; seems particularly important to do that with NI, since much of their catalog still isn't officially supported through Rosetta 2 yet. I'm tempted to pick up Kontact 6 at its current sales price, but I've got no way of testing if it will work alright yet, since the Air doesn't come in until well after the sale ends, so probably better just to hold off until November and see if the various Player versions work alright with M1 in the meantime. Pick up a (relatively) inexpensive external drive as a Time Machine backup as well.
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Sep 13, 2021 15:36
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Yeah if you can't stomach the cost for the ssd upgrades then external is definitely the way to go. You can get enclosures for M.2 drives that are cheap. something like https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Type-C-Tool-Free-Enclosure-EC-SNVE/dp/B08RVC6F9Y/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=m2 enclosure&sr=8-3 Then you can put whatever you want in it, and even swap it out for backups etc. RAM is another big thing. I've already managed to hit the 40 gb limit in my laptop.
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Sep 14, 2021 02:24
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How reliable are USB dongles nowadays? The lack of ports on the M1 MacBooks is the biggest hangup I have about buying one. Two ports would otherwise be fine were it not for needing to give one up every time I wanted to plug in the power supply. I've had issues with both A-to-C USB adapters and some things not working through a 3-in-1 dongle in the past. I know the Mini is a good option, but I would really miss the convenience of portability.
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Sep 14, 2021 02:25
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kidfresca posted:How reliable are USB dongles nowadays? The lack of ports on the M1 MacBooks is the biggest hangup I have about buying one. Two ports would otherwise be fine were it not for needing to give one up every time I wanted to plug in the power supply. I've had issues with both A-to-C USB adapters and some things not working through a 3-in-1 dongle in the past. I know the Mini is a good option, but I would really miss the convenience of portability. get both?
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Sep 14, 2021 02:32
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Also keep in mind like.. this week or next the new macbook pros are going to be released that will have a stronger M1 and 14" apparently. I went with what I did because I wanted a 4 tb ssd in it, but it's also 14" and I find it just as portable as my 13" macbook air. Feels pretty much exactly the same size. edit: also I wanted more ram... high quality orchestra samples eat memory like crazy. I can easily hit 30-40 GB.
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Sep 14, 2021 02:45
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Minnesota Mixup posted:this week or next the new macbook pros are going to be released that will have a stronger M1 and 14" apparently. "... the updated machines will also address complaints that users have had with the MacBook Pro for years by bringing back older features that include MagSafe, more ports, and physical function keys." Thank you for the heads up! My 2012 MacBook (last unibody model, being able to replace and upgrade things on the fly went a long way in making it last) wouldn't boot today. Could be as simple as a $20 fix, but it had me thinking it's probably time to move on. I was itching to make a hasty purchase, but I think I'll chill until these next ones are out.
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Sep 14, 2021 03:08
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Minnesota Mixup posted:Also keep in mind like.. this week or next the new macbook pros are going to be released that will have a stronger M1 and 14" apparently. You mean next month or the one after, right?
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Sep 14, 2021 07:50
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Ok Comboomer posted:You mean next month or the one after, right? Oh yes, you're right, sorry. I forgot that they were split in to two announcements for phone and then macs. So yeah October or November. Still probably worth waiting if you're in the market...
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Sep 14, 2021 12:45
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Oh sure, NOW you all announce the larger MacBook Pro with the other features I was looking for, just a day after my Air gets shipped out. :vee: I was not aware that charging the Air would require taking up one of the other USB ports; that really bites. I’ll probably grab a cheap 1 TB drive for Time Machine; I imagine a HDD should be perfectly suitable for backup purposes. NuclearPotato fucked around with this message at 21:37 on Sep 14, 2021 |
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Sep 14, 2021 21:35
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NuclearPotato posted:Oh sure, NOW you all announce the larger MacBook Pro with the other features I was looking for, just a day after my Air gets shipped out. :vee: I was not aware that charging the Air would require taking up one of the other USB ports; that really bites. I mean, it's from Apple, so you can easily return it with no issues. You'll still have to wait for the new ones but considering how long laptops last these days, maybe not a bad idea.
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Sep 14, 2021 21:46
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