Custom Mac Pro for audio work station, please advice

[Karruba]

Honestly if your building a pro audio system, build it into a rack mount chassis and stick it in your rack with your audio gear. Also go with Windows 10, since it's natively supported. OSX updates are going to screw your system up bad. Build a separate hackintosh for web browsing, internet, Netflix, and whatever else. Both my systems are i7 3770 and fly, no issues.

to be honest I'm actually using a windows machine with same i7 as your 32 gb ram and 250 ssd samsung bla bla bla, and when you process lods of audio at the same time all that little windows bullishit like drivers and programs issues and conflicts got me super tired, mac os is simply more stable for audio processing and even if I always was a full supporter of windows machines for my job I have sadly admit that is time to change my mind.
That's why I do want hackintosh with mac os instead of imac or apple trash bucket pro
I don't trust apple anymore, I just think that their arrogant policy of unapgradable devices is affecting all pros and I don't think they don't know that, it's just that they are more focused to make a new iphone and mac book with no usb3 every year to make more money, rip steve jobs

 

[Karruba]

How to run Logic Pro X on Windows ? Maybe Karruba wants to avoid Windows because he simply dislikes using it and prefers macOS. If MS forbid installing Windows on specific hardware how many people would go to as much trouble as we do here to get it working on that unsupported hardware ? Not very many. Also Windows updates can bork your system quite easily and the updates are a PITA due to the length of time it takes to download and install them. Some things to consider.

read my mind almost, plus long talk about antivirus and mini virus who sneak in always so easy on windows that run background processes or try to find a way to install themselves that make your cpu go on flame and you need to stop working and see why the hell your speakers are cracking artefacts out etc etc etc etc etc and long list of I've got enough to write a bible
hehehe

 

[Stork]

@Karruba, See @BoomR's Golden Builds. He's a audio recording engineer.

BoomR's “Power UP” for 360/VR Production Build: GA-Z370 AORUS UG - i7 8700K - GA AORUS RX580

BoomR's “Power UP” for 360/VR Production Build: Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming - i7 8700K - Gigabyte AORUS RX580 new components_web by BoomR posted Feb 8, 2018 at 10:01 PMNZXT S340 BB by BoomR posted Feb 8, 2018 at 10:01 PM Components Gigabyte GA-Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming (rev 1.0) ATX Motherboard...

www.tonymacx86.com

He also hangs out in the tonymacx86 Music forum section >

Music

www.tonymacx86.com

BTW, you don't need Firewire on the motherboard. I use a Sybra PCIe card on my builds.

SYBA Low Profile PCI-Express 1394B/A Firewire Card Model SD-PEX30009
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002S53IG8/?tag=tonymacx86com-20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815124072

 

[scottkendall]

Honestly if your building a pro audio system, build it into a rack mount chassis and stick it in your rack with your audio gear. Also go with Windows 10, since it's natively supported. OSX updates are going to screw your system up bad. Build a separate hackintosh for web browsing, internet, Netflix, and whatever else. Both my systems are i7 3770 and fly, no issues.

Protools does not work right on windows 10 either. What you should have instead been suggesting is that they not use Mojave, since at this point Protools works on 10.13.6. However, as my friend and I were discussing last night the problems only come when using low bit rates. In addition I do not know one not one Auto engineer that uses windows.

Advice I really need
1: The audio card I use is an RME Firewire 800 so it is mandatory for me to have Firewire port
2: Silence is also mandatory for a recording studio, so no noisy fun, etc., etc.
4 : I need lots of USB as most of the hardware I use for recording needs to be connected not to an hub to avoid communication problems.
3: Do I miss something in the list to have a full hackintosh?
4: Which case? In the guide I've read (CustoMac Pro) gives me only one but I will like something solid like and maybe also look like a apple one.

Thanks in advance.

1. If you have thunderbolt you can use a dongle to get the required fire wire support.
2. You need a more powerful power supply; one that the fan never thinks about turning on.
3. Usb is limited to 15 ports on each controller.
4. Looks like a Mac case:

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This guid and board are a good choice.

[SUCCESS] Gigabyte Designare Z390 (Thunderbolt 3) + i7-9700K + AMD RX 580

CaseySJ's Coffee Lake in Phanteks Evolv X ATX Case: Gigabyte Designare Z390 - i7-9700K - UHD 630 - AMD RX 580 (Please do not quote this build guide in its entirely. Post a link instead.) (See this post for how to refer to a Guide or Mini-Guide.) URGENT: Please avoid Clover 5123 and newer for...

www.tonymacx86.com

 

[castlev]

I hadn't seen that the OP wanted to run Logic. Also if he's doing music production for work, the last thing he needs is to have an update bring everything down, where Windows 10 is natively supported on Intel with hardware drivers readily available. I'm only saying this as a newbie to Hackintosh, but a veteran support tech. I am afraid to run anything I depend on, on a system I know little about. Overtime that will change as I become familiar with my hackintosh, but if the OP is in the same boat as me, it's something to consider.

 

[wilcopshot]

Howdy! I've been running logic on Hackintosh for about 8 years now, and honestly I've never had an update ruin anything (Except Clover boot order). I came here also on the hunt for finding a compatible PCIe firewire card for my preamps, and thought I'd chip in.

A couple of thoughts on your build.

- I have a fractal case and stock intel fan and it's completely silent. Noctua are great though if you want to be sure, or the CPU doesn't come with a stock fan. I built 2 noctua fans in to my acoustic booth for ventilation and they kick out a lot of air for very little noise. Water cooled is much more tricky to put in, and in my experience, no quieter (they still have fans).

- If you use any samplers, go for a bigger SSD. Also consider building a standard HDD (very cheap) in to run time machine to as a first back up. Then you can have a USB 3 external drive for second back up that you can keep in a different location. Do consider backups seriously.

- Due to an early motherboard failure, just outside warranty, I've been running my entire hackintosh off of a single USB 3 powered hub for years now. iLok, cd burner, mouse, keyboard, external ssd, charging cables. I've never had one problem, so you should be fine for all your small periphery to run from a hub if needs be, leaving ports open for high bandwidth audio devices (though you might need to read up on the motherboard to see if any are sharing resources internally, which can still cause clashes).

Cheers,
Wilcopshot

 

[Karruba]

Guys the idea is the following:
Make a more recent machine possible to have it work for years

I will be more specific on my studio set up, so maybe an audio hackintosher will give me best advice:

I use external synthesizer, drum machines and stuff all recording 26 separate tracks via
RME FIREFACE 800 + FERROFISH PULSE 16
into
Ableton Live 10 suite, where I also use lots of plugins like waves, Fabfilter, Soundtoys and some synth software and lot and lot and lot of other stuff

My way is to record long long jams and I work on a buffer of 64 of playing around between ableton, midi controllers and machines, I want something able to manage all this infos together without no more be thinking about it

the worse thing can happen on a creative process that your machine get stucked and you go on nerve so...

From your recent answers I suppose this will be my setup even if I will still wait a bit for more advice to finally get the final choice, can't allow myself to make wrong buy spend money and then have same troubles, so please have a look

Motherboard: Asus Maximus XI Hero
CPU: Intel Core i9-9900K
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15
Ram: 64GB Ballistix Sport LT BLS4C16G4D240FSC/BLS4K16G4D240FSC
Ssd: 500GB Samsung 860 evo
Power Supply: Corsair RM650X
Graphic card: Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 570 8GB GDDR5
Case: Corsair Carbide 300R
Fireface: ????????????????? please advice ????????????????????????????????
Operative system: Mojave
Tools and stuff: ??????????????????????????????????????????????

thanks in advance

P.s. if you have any mod you will do to this setup please copy paste mine and correct with components you will use in my case, so is more clear to me and also to people who didn't follow this thread since beginning so it can be super usefull for people in my same situation

Thanks again

 

[Karruba]

1. If you have thunderbolt you can use a dongle to get the required fire wire support.
2. You need a more powerful power supply; one that the fan never thinks about turning on.
3. Usb is limited to 15 ports on each controller.
4. Looks like a Mac case:

1.Sorry but dongle doesn't make sense, cause that audiocard is firewire for a reason if I go trough thunderbolt with a dongle it will loose will work but not the same as a direct firewire connection

2.which one? I've got that model from the Customac pro guide, coplitelly unexpert on this

3. fine usb
4. the mac like case looks amazing but also wow expensive, maybe is the case to invest that in better internal then in design

He also hangs out in the tonymacx86 Music forum section >

Sorry, didn't know of a dedicated section about music, very new, can you maybe move this in the music section and maybe give it an up? so I can talk with people who already have experience without doing a new post?
Thanks

 

[Karruba]

Howdy! I've been running logic on Hackintosh for about 8 years now, and honestly I've never had an update ruin anything (Except Clover boot order). I came here also on the hunt for finding a compatible PCIe firewire card for my preamps, and thought I'd chip in.

Nice to hear it, please have a check on my previous answer

Guys the idea is the following:
Make a more recent machine possible to have it work for years

I will be more specific on my studio set up, so maybe an audio hackintosher will give me best advice:

I use external synthesizer, drum machines and stuff all recording 26 separate tracks via
RME FIREFACE 800 + FERROFISH PULSE 16
into
Ableton Live 10 suite, where I also use lots of plugins like waves, Fabfilter, Soundtoys and some synth software and lot and lot and lot of other stuff

My way is to record long long jams and I work on a buffer of 64 of playing around between ableton, midi controllers and machines, I want something able to manage all this infos together without no more be thinking about it

the worse thing can happen on a creative process that your machine get stucked and you go on nerve so...

From your recent answers I suppose this will be my setup even if I will still wait a bit for more advice to finally get the final choice, can't allow myself to make wrong buy spend money and then have same troubles, so please have a look

Motherboard: Asus Maximus XI Hero
CPU: Intel Core i9-9900K
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15
Ram: 64GB Ballistix Sport LT BLS4C16G4D240FSC/BLS4K16G4D240FSC
Ssd: 500GB Samsung 860 evo
Power Supply: Corsair RM650X
Graphic card: Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 570 8GB GDDR5
Case: Corsair Carbide 300R
Fireface: ????????????????? please advice ????????????????????????????????
Operative system: Mojave
Tools and stuff: ??????????????????????????????????????????????

thanks in advance

P.s. if you have any mod you will do to this setup please copy paste mine and correct with components you will use in my case, so is more clear to me and also to people who didn't follow this thread since beginning so it can be super usefull for people in my same situation

Thanks again

 

[Stork]

...
Sorry, didn't know of a dedicated section about music, very new, can you maybe move this in the music section and maybe give it an up? so I can talk with people who already have experience without doing a new post?
Thanks

Done!