Only buy as much SSD as you need, probably around 128gb. SSDs cost more and typically have a smaller amount of storage.įor a specific amount of storage you can expect a SSD to cost about 2x-3x the price of a HDD. In almost every instance it's a better idea to choose a solid state hard drive over a traditional spinning disc hard drive. SSDs still aren't as fast as RAM but they're significantly faster than HDDs. If HDDs were like the books on a library shelf from the analogy we used earlier, then SSDs were like having Usain Bolt as your librarian running back and forth to retrieve the information. When solid state hard drives (SSDs) came along they brought a huge speed increase. You'll inevitably want to expand your setup later on and you'll find yourself restricted if you didn't plan ahead and build that extra capability into your machine from the get go. If you have 4 USB devices right now, don't buy a computer with only 4 USB ports. Every studio setup is different and in the same way that you'd future proof your desktop by adding more RAM or a faster processor, you should choose a motherboard with connectivity options that will meet your needs in the future. If you have specific needs for your studio like firewire or eSATA, make sure you find a motherboard that has those ports. Most desktop builds on the market have at least 8 USB ports, 2-4 video ports (usually a combination of HDMI and Displayport), 1 ethernet port, and mic and line out ports. Laptops are designed to be small so manufacturers have to make trade offs like limiting the number of ports for USB devices or audio inputs/outputs.ĭesktops are much larger and the motherboards on the market have a huge range of options for what ports they offer. One of the areas where desktop computers have the biggest advantage over laptops is in the connection options. The more plugins you have, the more RAM you need to keep your computer from slowing down.Īvid recommends a minimum of 8GB of RAM but you should shoot for at least 12GB or 16GB since it will only cost about $15-$25 more and you'll see a huge performance increase.
#Audiobox compatible with protools 12 pro#
One area of Pro Tools where RAM really helps is with plugins. This allows the processor to go back quickly to the RAM and grab that data instead of going to the hard drive and waiting much longer to return the information. RAM works the same way by storing frequently used programs or recent data in memory. You can easily choose from any of the books they have there and quickly switch between them. RAM is like the shelf at the front desk that shows the featured books or new releases. But if you want to find an individual book you have to walk all the way to the back shelf and look for that book. It can hold a ton of data just like a library can hold a ton of books. Your hard drive is like the shelves in a library. RAM ( Random Access Memory) is the fastest type of storage that a computer has. But RAM is one of the components where you should buy as much as you can fit in your budget. You can't really add more processors or more graphics cards. This isn't usually true with computer parts. The best way to think about RAM is that the more the better. If you want to read more in depth about CPUs, check out this article learn more about the processors that are out there and which ones work best with Pro Tools. Don't spend too much time trying to understand exactly what each one means but just know that they'll make your computer faster and more pleasurable to use. They sound like marketing gimmicks but they are real features that have real world performance boosts. Since an i7 is only slightly more expensive than an i5 processor we strongly recommend you spend the extra money on a more powerful processor.Īlso look for all those smart technologies in the processor like Hyper Threading, Smart Cache Memory, Turbo Boost and others. If you work on larger sessions then having an i7 will provide a noticeable benefit. If you ever start to work with mid-sized to large sessions you will definitely need at least an i5 processor. Some plug-ins consume little resources while other consume a lot - reverb plug-ins are a good example of ones which consume a lot CPU power.