MacBook Air's - Plenty of grunt it seems

[jimbob5000]

Just got my 11'' i5 air. 4gig RAM, 64gig SSD. Didn't get it for DJing, wanna keep my c2d 13'' macbook for that.
Couldn't resist trying though

In a first quick test, traktor running two vinyl-controlled decks with one advanced effect (Delay) and three normal ones (flanger, LFO filter and something else, can't remember), channel filter and keylock on, plus four samples running in one sample deck playing, it didn't even get warm enough for the fan to kick in. It wasn't an extensive test though. I only installed the traktor demo and let it run until it shut down after 30 minutes. Didn't mess with latency so far, so it was on the standard setting, whatever that is for the Audio4.
I took a look at my menu meters, which actually displayed four CPUs. Must be because of hyperthreading. None of them ever exceeded 50%, regularly there was one hovering around the 45% mark, another around 25, two others around and mostly below 10. So CPU-power wise, it seems to be more than sufficient. It clearly outperforms my 2,4GHz C2D macbook by far.

I gotta say I even think that the display would be big enough. Yes, everything is a bit smaller, but as the resolution is in fact better (at least vertically) than my macbook's, it does not really feel too small. Might be a bit cramped for four full-sized decks, but I rarely use more than two, and if I do, it's usually sample decks.

[DJ SB]

For the record, I have the 13" MBA with an i7, it's a beast. I can run everything in Traktor with 4 decks for a long period of time in high ambient temps with other programs open and it doesn't even stumble. I'm in love.

[groovemixer]

Went to the apple store to check out the MBA and they are very nice!!

Thinking about it this morning I’m now leaning toward the 13” MBP. Reason is some of the times I have DJ’ed I was given a CD to play music from. Doesn’t happen that often but it would be nice to have that if it ever comes up.

Your thoughts?

[djproben]

Went to the apple store to check out the MBA and they are very nice!!

Thinking about it this morning I’m now leaning toward the 13” MBP. Reason is some of the times I have DJ’ed I was given a CD to play music from. Doesn’t happen that often but it would be nice to have that if it ever comes up.

Your thoughts?

True but sometimes it's even nicer to have the excuse "sorry, I don't have a CD player"

[nem0nic]

It's never been about processing power. An iPad2 has enough processing oomph now to run a compelling DJ app. The problem is the lack of I/O and the draconian power management. And unlike other computer manufacturers, Apple refuses to supply products like docks, port replicators, etc to make the situation more tolerable.

[jimbob5000]

Yeah, the lack of more than 2 usb ports is quite a bugger. On the other hand, I've been rocking my trusty macbook c2d with just two USB ports without any problems for a couple of years now. Soundcard on one usb, controller on the other. If I need more than one controller (which happens), I use a USB hub for the midi devices. Didn't even need a powered one for my standard controller setup: DN-SC 2000 and Faderfox DJ1. As soon as a mate shows up with an x1, I just add that to a powered hub. More cables, but still works just fine.

It would be easier with some extra USB ports, I admit.

I also have high hopes about thunderbolt, because I'm pretty confident someone will built something like a port replicator for it. It will probably be kind of expensive though.