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Music Studio Build I: Core i7 4790 - GA-Z87X-UD5H - GeForce GTX760

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Joined
Jul 10, 2014
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55
Motherboard
Asus Prime Z370-A
CPU
i7-8700
Graphics
RX 580
Mac
  1. MacBook Air
Mobile Phone
  1. Android
  2. iOS
Music Studio Build I:
Core i7 4790 - GA-Z87X-UD5H - 32GB RAM - GTX760

21326_0__geck_175_1g.jpg
Components
  • GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-UD5H LGA 1150 ATX Intel Motherboard
  • Intel Core i7 4790 - 3.6 GHz
  • Palit Nvidia GTX760 2GB PCIe
  • 4x Crucial DDR3 RAM 8GB 1600
  • Seagate 4TB HDD SATA3 ST4000DM000
  • Be quiet Power Supply 600W
  • TP-Link WLAN PCIe TL-WDN4800 Dual
  • Samsung SSD EVO 840 250 GB
  • Lian Li PC-7HA, Silver (Aluminum), isulated
Comments

I decided to build this Custom-Mac, because i needed an up-to-date Mac Pro with the option to customize/upgrade it. The actual Mac Pro by Apple (known as "The Bin" :lol: :crazy:) wasn't an option. I am using it in my music studio to record, edit and mix/master audio. The equipped graphic card above is optional. I equipped it to be sure not to have problems working in a movie-audio-workflow (--> film score / soundtrack). iCloud and iMessage directly worked without problems for me. Before i finished and tested my build i was really skeptical concerning the stability and successful operation of the audio software/hardware with an hackintosh. For people, building an audio-custom-mac too, i created a short list of equipment and software i tested with my new system.

Tested Software/Equipment:
  • Focusrite Scarlett USB audio interfaces
  • Logic Studio/Logic Pro 9 and Logic X
  • Avid Pro Tools 10/11
  • iLok and the iLok License Manager
  • eLicenser Control Center
  • Gobbler & Dropbox
  • Adobe Cloud
  • Several MIDI Controller like MIDI Masterkeyboards and AKAI Drum-Controller
  • Audio Plug-Ins - tested AU and AAX (from Slate Digital, Plugin Alliance, Sonnox Oxford, Celemony, Antares and Waves)
  • Software Instruments by Applied Accoustics Systems, reFX, LennarDigital, Rob Papen, ...
  • Universal Audio UAD-2 Quad PCIe (with Software/Plug-Ins)
Conclusion: Everything works stable and fine! Wonderful! :headbang::angel:

Geekbench Result.png


Optimizing your CustoMac to be an audio workstation: http://www.tonymacx86.com/music/892...timizing-your-customac-audio-workstation.html



IMPORTANT NOTES:

  • If you choose the same CPU as me, you have to upgrade the BIOS of the motherboard! My motherboard came with BIOS version F5, the listed CPU with version F9. I updated the motherboard BIOS with a Windows 7-USB-Stick. To be able to update the motherboard BIOS, you need a CPU with the same BIOS version as the motherboard (in my case it was F5 before the update!) If you don't update the BIOS, you won't be able to start the computer and setup your system! You can choose the Intel i7 4770k to skip this update-procedure and have the "plug & play" feeling --> easier ;):idea:
  • To prevent system freezes produced by the RAM sticks (if you use all 4 RAM Slots with the listed motherboard), you need to increase their the power supply. You can easily do it in the BIOS under the "power settings" menu. Just change the standard setting "1.500 V" to "1.550 V" (added 0.05 V) and save the settings.
  • The listed motherboard only has USB 3.0 Ports - my Mac OS Installation always failed at about 21% and freezed. I had an USB 3.0 8 GB Stick prepared with UniBeast and MultiBeast. I plugged in an USB 2.0 adapter to complete the Mac OS setup error-free.
  • After a full finished installation, I got the known "shutdown-bug", that i wasn't able to shut down my system. It always rebooted a few seconds after it was shut down. I fixed the problem going into the BIOS and set "WAKE ON LAN" (in the "Power Management" section) to "DISABLE".
  • Using an old USB 2.0 Hub (powered) causes full system freezes:beachball:. After disconnecting, the system works 100% fine! I had plugged my USB Apple Keyboard (listed above) into the USB 2.0 Hub and found out, that i couldn't enter the BIOS Setup holding the F12 key. My two sound interfaces Scarlett 2i2 and Scarlett 18i20 by Focusrite had problems too while plugged into it. Not using the old USB 2.0 Hub won't cause problems:clap::thumbup:
  • Can you listen to the computer-working-noise (for example: moving a window in OS) through your speakers/studio monitors? :banghead: If you can‘t fix the electronic circuit at your (home-) studio (this is the first thing you should try!), you can eliminate these annoying "working-noises" with an HUM DESTROYER like the Micro HD 400 by Behringer. (http://www.amazon.de/Behringer-HD400-Microhd-Channel-Destroyer/dp/B000KUD2G4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412939033&sr=8-1&keywords=behringer+hd400) It's not perfect to have more stuff in your information flow at your studio, but it's better than listening these annoying noises all the time! ;)

MultiBeast Configuration for Mavericks

Bildschirmfoto 2014-09-07 um 16.52.59.png

MultiBeast Preset: View attachment Mac Custom Pro Audio.mb
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Edit - Update 2018 (Post#10):
I recently updated my system to Mac OS High Sierra (10.13.5). After several try and errors, my system is running again like a charm. I attached the actual multibeast file and a screenshot of my settings. Some of the described issues in the original post are fixed by the OS and Multibeast/bootloader updates.

View attachment 338396
 
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Hi KingBfire,

what USB 2.0 adapter you used to complete the installation process?

​Thank you!


 
Thank you!!

i will soon make a build for my video editing needs. The same setup inspired by yours except that i will use a 4790K and a GTX 770. I bought the adapter already to prevent the freeze during the install.
 
I have this same build, with the 4790K processor. Ran into the same problems as you, and fixed them the same way.

One thing that seems to persist are my mouse problems. When I single click on something, sometimes it will double click. Another example would be trying to resize a column in the finder window. Clicking the column edge acts as a double click and beings the column to max size. Very annoying.

I have my RAM set at 1333 and not on Profile1(1600). Have you or any other users experienced any super sessitive mouse clicking problems?
 
My Build is mainly for VFX and Animation but I've been a producer for years and decided to install all my audio software onto my new Hackintosh. Now I didn't by a great sound card out the door because I'm going to run it into an Apogee Ensemble. But the Audio driver that came with it is a realtek and it has the nastiest hum coming out of the speakers. Not so big a deal because I'm going to by pass but wouldn't mind figuring that out. My question is regarding my elicensor. I can use it on one computer and it's fine but when I plug it into my new machine with the Control Center on this is what happens. I can't find help or support from any of the plug-ins installed on the elicensor and the elicensor website doesn't have any options other than downloading the latest verison. And the control center doesn't show that it see's dongle. Thanks
Screen Shot 2015-04-27 at 6.11.13 PM.png
 
Quite difficult to search an unknown "???" error code .... :crazy: I don't know this error and my research concerning that wasn't successful, too. :roll2: I hope you could fix it on your own... I think it's a 100% software problem - not your build.
 
I recently updated my system to Mac OS High Sierra (10.13.5). After several tries and errors, my system is running again like a charm. I attached the actual multibeast file and a screenshot of my settings. Some of the described issues in the original post are fixed by the OS and Multibeast/bootloader updates.

Multibeast High Sierra Setup.png
 

Attachments

  • iMac AP Studio High Sierra Setup Final.mb
    5.1 KB · Views: 219
Last edited:
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