Laptop for Pyramix Native

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Paulo M
Posts: 1445
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2005 16:19
Location: Portugal

Laptop for Pyramix Native

Postby Paulo M » Fri Jun 27, 2008 14:05

Hi all,

I have a friend that is using Pyramix Native and wants to buy a laptop to install it. Does anyone have any suggestions regarding brands/models or specs like cpu, processor, ram etc? He wants to use it with a Firewire external converter.
All recomendations and user experiences, welcome. Thanks a lot,

Paulo
Best regards,

Paulo M

Pyramix 7.1 Masscore
VCube XE 3.1
MB5 Dual & X50 MADI
Win XP SP3
Intel Q9600/Gigabyte X48 DS5 Motherboard/ASUS 4350 Graphic card

Larry Elliott
Posts: 537
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 00:18
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Contact:

Re: Laptop for Pyramix Native

Postby Larry Elliott » Fri Jun 27, 2008 23:58

Hi Paulo

I am using a MacBook Pro running XP under Boot Camp and it works well with an RME FF400.

However, I have heard that some of the newer MacBooks can have firewire problems

Best regards

Larry

Thomas Grubb
Posts: 275
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2006 02:20
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Contact:

Re: Laptop for Pyramix Native

Postby Thomas Grubb » Sat Jun 28, 2008 09:19

Hi Paulo,

You have to be careful with the newer MBPs (I got one to use with a Lynx Aurora 8), though I seem to have mine working now after killing all the network processes and especially the Apple keyboard manager. It is the quietest notebook I've seen, and is well built.

I can report more at the end of the week as I have the first sessions with it (using Sequoia, but with Logic on OS X as a backup in case there are problems). In OS X you can use the FW400 for the interface and FW800 for the hard disc, but not in Windows. You should also check out the WD Studio II drives - 2x500GB or 2x1000GB drives that are running as RAID 1 (mirrored) and quiet - beats dragging around 2 separate drives and they have eSATA.

Cheers,
Tom

Thomas Grubb
Posts: 275
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2006 02:20
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Contact:

Re: Laptop for Pyramix Native

Postby Thomas Grubb » Wed Jul 02, 2008 15:54

Hi Paulo,

Just an update. Bootcamp still hasn't been reliable here with random clicks, but that said, the MBP has been totally quiet and the fans and drive are never audible.

It looks like at the moment a hardware/software combination is still a bit hit and miss under Bootcamp, but perhaps Pyramix is better behaved.

Cheers,
Tom
Thomas Grubb
manomusica.com
Melbourne

echols85
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 10:09
Location: Baltimore, MD

Re: Laptop for Pyramix Native

Postby echols85 » Tue Nov 25, 2008 05:05

Hi Tom,

I am just getting my Pyramix Native rig setup with a MBP and have endured the same pops/clicks others have been complaining of. I tried a variety of hotfixes from Microsoft and tried the Unibrain FireWire drivers. You are the first person I have seen to actually say that it is not possible to run a FW400 interface and FW800 hard drive simultaneously in Windows. I've had mixed results with that setup and I was curious as to your reasons. Do you use eSATA now for storage and reserve FW for interfaces? By the way, the interface I am using is the RME FireFace 800, typically plugging it in 400 and leaving the 800 port for drives. Suggestions?
~Eric

Larry Elliott
Posts: 537
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 00:18
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Contact:

Re: Laptop for Pyramix Native

Postby Larry Elliott » Tue Nov 25, 2008 05:15

From what I understand, both the FW400 and FW800 connectors on a MBP are connected to the same chip. The only way to get two independent FW busses is to use an express card. I do this all the time under OSX as I have decided to use Boom Recorder as my on location app.

Regards

Larry

tim
Posts: 292
Joined: Fri May 17, 2002 05:10
Location: Glen Rock, New Jersey USA
Contact:

Re: Laptop for Pyramix Native

Postby tim » Tue Nov 25, 2008 16:35

Here we are using two identical Asus M70 VM B-1 notebooks with Pyramix Native and RME MadiFace express cards. 17" screens (big enough to see a 24-track mixer without stacking), dual internal drives, very quiet, very reliable.

Tim Martyn
Tim Martyn
Phoenix Audio
Glen Rock, NJ
www.phoenixaudiollc.com