I'm in the same boat as you. Need to be thinking about what machine is next.

I'm gonna try to keep my mid 2012 alive and kicking until Serato has supported USB 3.0 / 3.1 hardware.

2015 is my pick also due to fact you're still pre Touch Bar and USB-C.

That being said, even with a used maxed out 2015 I'd have to finally go external for my library. I don't think 4TB were offered yet and finding a used one with even 1TB internal SSD was in a much higher price range than most people were buying.

+1. We officially have one piece of hardware, the Prime 4 controller that was announced. Its obviously geared towards Engine Prime software but I believe it's Serato ready pending an upcoming SDJ Pro update.

Maybe there will be more announcements to come which include Serato supported products with 3.0/3.1 USB ports...

This.

Probably the best IMO because it's pre touch bar and usb c. 2015 ftw.

so with these, if im reading correctly, this is the last one you can upgrade the hd on?

Early 2015 13" MacBook Pro

yes, but it's not that "cheap"- check OWC

OR you could maybe find a model with 1TB in it but those aren't necessarily popular. You generally see 256-512 models around

whoa - 2tb 850$usd -- 1tb 400$usd

well sht

Yep! I run on a 256 and I'm fine, but I also dont have music I won't dj on my computer. Also have a 1tb thunderbolt external with other music, but hardly ever use it. and it's also only my dj computer. 512 is the sweet spot tho.

I have a mac mini and another laptop at home for other shit.

This is what I upgraded to...

www.bhphotovideo.com

yeah buy you can only do that with a non retina 2012 or before. We were talking about a 2015 retina.

yeah, the newer ones have diff hds

Damn. I didn't know that Apple had changed the specs for the HDs on 2015 & above. Wow thats a tuff call especially knowing that you can get a good condition used 2012 MBP for $500-$700 used on Ebay. Im gonna to need to eventually upgrade myself. Please let me know what you end up doing.

Maybe just buy another maxed out 2012 MBP instead as a backup? Its def a cheaper solution!

It started in 2012 with the first retina. Mostly due to the thickness of the laptop but also all computers use the card chip style ssds anyway.

As far as apple goes that’s when it started

As much of a pain in the ass as it is now, Apple's SSD benchmarks usually blow off the shelf stuff away. The price point is painful though :(

OS internal and library external is the Retina way of life.

Pretty much

My advice is go with thunderbolt instead of usb so you keep those USB ports open/available

Even external ssds are that pricey these days

i hate externals, not for any performance reason, but i know i would lose one, and then lose my mind trying to find it.

so if you use external, you put only apps on the computer, then put and songs, in my case, logic/ableton projects on a external. ugh

Could put a whole external boot drive on a ssd, boot from an external, and get good performance from serato or ableton/logic?

My dream external boot drive on a ssd from another life if I were rich. Damn I would be curious to see how it handles logic/ ableton projects plus videos projects from final cut. Plus serato video

www.bhphotovideo.com

timely: news.djcity.com

MBP's are out pricing themselves. I have a 2013 maxed out MBP 15" that runs great but I would like to upgrade. These prices are cray. Mojaxx made a video about switching to a PC.

I felt the same way, not for speed reasons (any good external USB 3.1 or Thunderbolt SSD will be just fine) but just always weary of extra stuff hanging off my setup.

the 13" quad core..provided all the issues with the new mbp's get ironed out. I'm gonna wait a few years.

anybody using a 2012 15''? ive have the 13'' but after researching, they have a quad core processor and are(from one article) 39% more powerful.

I use a mid 2017 MBP with the Touchbar + 4tb SSD external + running High Sierra.

The dongle life is where it's at...

Y'all have to make the move to Touchbar USB C at some point....stop fighting it 😋

Regarding the touch bar freezes/Hot unplugging

If all your audio devices are class compliant e.g. Rane 72, Denon X1800...then you have zero issues

If you have audio devices with its drivers e.g. S9, Roland DJ 808, SR2 then get a thunderbolt dock

Or

just remember not to pull out your USB cable prior to exiting Serato DJ

I have used the mid 2012 15" non retina since the they the Apple Store started carrying them and have had no issues with the i7. It's probably why I've been able to ride it so long, that extra little oomph.

I saw some good Mac deals in the refurbished section. From $2000-$2500, depending on SSD size.

if you have do the data doubler, how do you use that?

put a main, smaller drive, like maybe 256/512 gb, then add another 1-2tb drive with music and daw projects on that?

how difficult is it to transfer info from an existing drive into those separate drives?

I have that setup right now. It's not too bad. Install the OSX on the SSD and then set the drive on the DataDoubler as the home drive.

www.idownloadblog.com

Something similar to this here.

I have the same dilema like you guys .
Have the maxed out 2012 with 16gig ram and 8tb internal ssd ( one 4tb ssd and the second one in it's normal place ) .
Wanted to purchase a new one this year but when read about the known issues with these new Macbook pro's with touch bar i decided to wait .
Prehaps apple will surprise us with something more "upgradedable " in the near future , if not i will have to put the existing ssd's in external usb rack ( there are on ebay several models witch let you install two hhd/ssd in one external usb3.1 enclosure leaving you the option tu use it as RAID or as one " big " drive )
Prehaps this will be our future

The majority of us stick to the mid 2012 or the early 2015. That's what I've seen the most in the field.

The thing is you do really see the processing power when you move to a retina model, especially an i7. Like when I would shoot a vid with a GoPro then try to edit it. Things render way faster in my later (2014 retina) model vs the 2012 maxed out non retina with ssd one. But if you’re not doing that it may not matter. Although Serato DJ I think runs better on my newer one.

is your 2014 a 13 or 15 inch ?

It’s a 13

Go 15" if it's not the latest. The 13's can't handle the lowest latency settings. It's snap, crackle, and pop on anything lower then 8 buffer on the dual cores. Plus quads can analyze 16 tracks while duals will only do 8 at a time.

your running the M2 SSD's + the upgraded processors so its definitely a huge upgrade. The issue is the cost of upgrading your 2012 vs the 2015 is astronomical.

if your a production company or well known wedding dj making 2k/5k per gig (which is definitely still going on) you should have 10 of these 2015 macbook pro's. If your a hobby club dj playing out a few times a month stick with the 2012.

Look at a used 15” late 2013 / 2014
Most come with 16gb as standard plus nothing less than a 512gb HD

Quad core. Bags of power and should get you plenty low latency

They come up fairly cheap often in the UK

Agreed

Bite the bullet and get the 2017 or newer. I say this because I mix video and the 4GB dedicated graphics RAM alone was enough reason to upgrade. Especially with newer 4k content becoming the new standard. Just my 2 pennies worth...

Guys, I don’t think he mentioned anything about video. That was me. Lol

Apple needs to be taught a lesson.
Stop buying their ridiculously expensive hardware.
Just build/install a Hackintosh!

bit.ly

Nah we’re good. Our computers last years and years though.

😭 taught a lesson..
good one

To be honest my first beastmode osx was a hacontosh Alienware 15" laptop. As soon as I got the Nvidia m9750 to work it was flying. I just didn't have WiFi working. It's possible for the people who like to be challenged but if you just want a bullet proof solution just get a Mac.

Hackintosh is great, but you REALLY need to research your chipsets, especially the video and WIFI (like you mentioned). But you can def find a laptop for 30-50% less than a macbook pro.

Highly recommend anyone interested to hang out on www.tonymacx86.com and /r/Hackintosh for a few weeks before attempting it blindly.

I think a hackintosh can be great for desktop use, e.g. like your production/DAW machine. but for dj/mobile use i get a bit concerned here. Especially dealing with software updates and such. 2012-2015 MBP aren't going for that much.

Yah no doubt your limiting yourself immensly but in all honesty if your just djing and video mixing it's definitely doable. If you need this Apple laptop to be your work horse I advise against it.

I still rock Yosemite on the majority of my laptops. The only laptop I have updated to latest osx is my wife's

I suppose that's fair. It is an intimidating prospect for those that do not enjoy tinkering w' hardware/software.

I too continue to rock a maxed-out, mid-2012 on Yosemite for DJing. I mean, I am moving away from DVS....have been for a while now. But I am currently putting together (piece by piece) a behemoth Hackintosh desktop for production. I have a friend who has had great success DJing on his Dell XPS 15 9570 running High Sierra. The thing has a Hexacore CPU & 32GB of RAM.....that's bonkers for a laptop! He can run Traktor & Ableton at the same time w' ease!

Hackintoshing has never been easier than it is today. Apple need to drop their ego (incidentally, so do Pioneer, lol) and focus on better hardware. The PC world is waaay beyond where they are at and cheaper too. When did "pros" ask for thinner and thinner hardware? When did "pros" ask for no legacy ports or the necessity to use dongles? I get that they are all about innovating, but FFS, leave a couple USB 3.0 ports and an SD Card reader on the damn thing!! Naw, I'm sticking to my original statement.......they need to be taught a lesson!! Use OSX, I mean that's what we all actually love about Apple anyway, but stop buying their hardware until' they get a clue and start building machines that bear the title "Pro", for "Professionals" again!!

Honest questions in reference to these PC hackintosh's...How much money are you really saving, and will these PCs last as long as macs?

Let's say you wanna buy a new PC. give me an example of which one you'd go for please.

All my macs, even from 2006 still work. Not saying I use my old ones, but I'm able to power them on and use them with no issues other than they've reached their max OS.

I was put in a corner. I bought my Alienware when the first version of Video-SL dropped. I had bought it for other things like gaming and work, but I also had in mind that I would do video mixing. I was, and tons others, were absolutely floored when we couldnt get it to work, and serato had basically turned their backs on us. It's harsh to say it like that, but its the dead truth. To this day its still bad, but back then we didn't know, literally they didnt let alot of us beta test it and fine tune it. There was a video from DJ Steel showing how awesome it was, then it was dropped, then then basically moved on. Then Mix Emergency dropped, and it was mac only, another kick in the balls.

I had no choice but to move forward with a hackintosh computer. I was a die hard windows user then. That's my sob story. We didn't have any idea then, but thats why most of us just tell the newer guys to go mac.

"then they" meaning "then serato"

You’re talking about Video SL, that was eons ago

I’m talking about right now. Show me a PC with matching MacBook Pro specs that’s new, because I’d like to see the price differences and savings. Looking for PC takes forever, each brand has like 40-50 diff modes.

I found a dell XPS 13 and when I did a comparison the savings was like 200-300. Imo, the me, that’s not worth having the pc. But maybe you guys know something I don’t or not seeing, so I’d like to see examples, and as far as I can recall aren’t Alienware computers expensive?

Those days of Macs having superior hardware reliability are over. PCs have caught up. Incidentally, Macs have fallen behind a bit. Regardless, for $1.5K less than a similarly spec'd Mac you can get the laptop my friend bought - Dell XPS 15 9570. Then you can actually upgrade the RAM to 32GB and the PCIE SSD to 2TB for an additional $600 (aftermarket). So, you're still saving $1.1K over getting a base model MBP. Try pricing out a Macbook Pro w' 32GB of ram and a 2TB PCIe SSD....that 'ish is laughable w' how expensive it is. It's $4.4K!! Content creators all over Youtube are dropping Apple in droves. Apple have priced and spec'd themselves out of the reach of average creators' (even consumers') pocketbooks. Their stock price reflects this.

But, again, you would have to be confident enough to delve into the world of Hackintosh. It's not impossibly hard, but it's not plug & play either. When it comes to laptops, specifically, I imagine for the majority of users out there it would be better to just deal w' Apple's ridiculous pricing and abysmal hardware design. I mean, even I don't necessarily want to go w' a Hackintosh laptop. But, I know peeps that have had success doing it, so it's definitely an option.

You had mentioned computers from 2006 so that's why I had stated my story. Sorry didn't know you were just referring to recently.

And yes I had purchased an Alienware because if you compared even back then macbook pros the same configuration was around 3k vs 1500 for what I had paid

The point of me saying that was to say that the macs last a very long time. It wasn't to say that I use them of prefer old computers. From what I've seen PCs tend to have a 3/4 year life span tops. Again, from what I've seen.

But for what though? Why would i NEED 32gb of ram for djing? That's the point I'm trying to make. Sure you can have it but does it even serve a purpose for djing, it doesn't. I'm able to dj perfectly fine with 256-512GB ssd. I used to dj with two installed before but I found that I was just hoarding music for "just in case moment", but in reality there was no reason for me to have a lot of stuff I had.



That's the thing. Not having to deal with the OS hiccups or potential issues. I do agree that you get a better bargain with PC, but the cost for your average user is not worth the hassle. Also I did notice that this only becomes an issue when these machines are spec'd out to unnecessary specs, for an average dj. I'm not talking about someone doing video and video editing and all that on one computer.

I think if your just mixing audio, both platforms are still efficient enough to use. It only becomes a real issue when you need to video mix, which is a really small portion of users who are hardcore into video mixing. Then the problems arise, if you want to purchase an apple computer to just mix audio, its like buying a mercedes to drive 5 minutes to work everyday, when you only need a honda i guess.

Massive exaggeration here. Don't give apple that much credit. lol

In fact, when I compared base DJ friendly (almost impossible in the clusterfuck of options) models of dells, lenovos, and what have you, the prices aren't that far apart.

Now, if you're getting into where you being supe'd up, that's where the prices will REALLY differ.

Do these pc have the aluminum casing and boast the same long battery lives?

You can save about 1500-2000 bucks.

The Dell XPS15 with an i7 is $1400.

Plus $500 for a 2tb M.2 SSD drive.

Plus $240 for 32gb of RAM

Total $2140.

Same specs at Apple is $4200.

^ that was my point ^

Again with the 32GB of ram and 2TB SSD LOL

which one of you needs this to mix songs?

I've bought my macbook pro in 2009 and to this day I've never had any problems with it being damaged, getting viruses or unable to play serato, ableton, logic pro, photoshop etc..

Macs, yes they are expensive, but thier reliability, dependability and durability is in a class by itself, I'll be dammed if I ever buy a PC again

Yes I did say 2009, it's now 2019 and my macbook pro hasn't missed a beat, during this time I did upgraded yo a Samsung ssd, more ram and a battery pack..

The more I play with the smaller XPS13s at work, the more I love them. I would def go with a 15 as you mentioned, but since I do video that would mean I defect to VDJ at that point with neither RB nor SDJ in Win10 doing what my Mac does with videos.

You dont. I currently spin on a 2013 i5 Macbook Air with 4gb of RAM and it works fine on Mojave. However the RAM is useful if you are doing production with lots of VSTs on the same machine.

Someone asked how much you can save by building a hackintosh. I think the issue is people think you need a monster machine for SDJ.

More power = Less Problems no? lol This is why you see dudes saying "oh you need the i7, your machine is underpowered". No it aint.

Pretty much any current Macbook Pro is fine for SDJ, the issues come along when you want a lot of storage without using an external, you cant upgrade it yourself and the larger drives are stupid expensive. They couldve easily put in a removable drive, i think the Dell is 1mm thicker than the macbook so the Slimness argument is moot. People have gotten used to having large internal storage, and to replicate that with current models is too expensive.

I have no issues using an external so i use the cheapest macbook i can.

lol That was me, but I was trying to compare the basic models. Like stuff that's suitable for SDJ. Not gaming or production beast.


This is usually non apple users or people that have had extreme poor performance machines. I personally have never had this issue, and if I did, it had to do with the earlier versions of serato dj and not my computer.



LMAO BIG FACTS!



I hear you on all of that, and I don't disagree at all.

I just think that sending average users in the "just build a hackintosh" road can be real tricky and not the best advice unless you're really techy.

agreed i would never tell someone with no computer building experience to go this route. I would say if they got an old laptop around to give it a go if there is a site with some clear instructions. But to buy a brand new computer to use a hackintosh for djing is not a sound plan.

Agree if you arent a techy person dont even attempt hackintosh.

Plus theres always 1 friggin thing you cant get working on a hackintosh that would drive me nuts.

On one machine it was wifi, on another i couldnt get the keyboard lights or shortcut buttons for power/brightness working.

Im not going the Hackintosh route, but i am looking at this heavily for when my production machine needs replacing.

motherboard.vice.com

Back on topic, to summarize...

2012-2015 is the sweet spot for both 13’ & 15’
Fine print:
*Retina MPBs do not have upgradable memory so look for 16gb
*Retina MPBs HDs can be upgrade but must be the OWCs where it’s $400 for 1TB SSD
True or I missed something?

If the above is true, it sounds like the major decision is the cost effective 2012 v more expensive 2015 (but waaay cheaper than newer ones)?

Looking to upgrade to 15 inch...
I had to go to my back up ‘13in non Retina 2012 MBP since last November cause my main MPB (unlucky late 2011 ‘15in) finally died due to the display issue. I live right next to an apple authorized store that always has used MPBs. With patience I can get the exact one I want.

Those are the sweet spots for sure. With that said, The retinas, PRE 2016 aren’t expensive at all actually. 2012 non retina is a great customizable computer, but you really do benefit on the newer processors.

it would of been dope if some of these macbook pro's would of been built with dual NVME support

Robbie O, you will be happy with either. I would look for the latest laptop that last supported OSX Yosemite and you will be gold

this is what ive gathered about the 2012

dont go later than 2012

2012 15 inch have quad core processors instead of dual core processors

2012 2.6 have an extra graphics card, 2.3 dont nor do the 13'' models

the 15'' 2.3 v 2.6 isnt that much differernce in performance

the glossy(or rare matte) screen are easily and cheaply upgradeable - the retina are upgradeable but more expensive - the retina are much easier to find.

the glossy are in some benchmark tests close to as fast as the retina, in some tests they are noticeably slower

fair price for the 15s is under 1000$ but some will be close to that point.

any retina 2012 to 2015 is upgradeable but costs more money, 2tbs sometimes than the computer.

2012 15 inch has an in and out for the soundcard and more i/os than the newer retina models


www.macworld.com

the 2012 15inch should be between $700-$1000 usd depending on condition, processor and ram/storage

dammit, dont go earlier than 2012

I dunno man, 2012 is great if you already own one, but I personally wouldn’t seek after a 2012 today unless it was brand new, which is highly unlikely.

www.microcenter.com

Micro Center has sweet refurbished deals. I have purchased all of my macbook pro's from here and they have been in like new condition.

after like after 2012? i just meant dont really go much before 2012. I should probably get a 2015 but i think im gonna go after a 2012 i7 2.6 15 inch

Are you only going to use it for DJing and light productivity tasks? If so, then you should absolutely go for the 2012. Take out the superdrive and replace it w' a drive caddy, then put in matching 1TB SSDs in RAID 0. Further, max out the RAM w' 1600mhz Corsair Vengeance.

I have the 2012 2.6ghz Mac w' this same configuration and it's solid for DJing and up to Ableton Live 9.....it's starting to struggle w' Live 10 though.

That's a good idea. You can easily buy two or more 2012s for the price of a new MBP.

i use logic so its a little lighter that ableton on mac os if you use native plugs and bounce/freeze tracks. i use ableton 9 to make mixes now and then but never went to 10.

Apple need to get their shit together. Can't plug headphones into their phone. Nobody Can afford the phones or laptops. Can't plug anything into the laptops.

Hey man can I borrow your dongle?

Honestly don't buy any and just go laptop less get yourself a Denon Setup 5000m's and go with out a laptop honestly i wish i would've done that before spending over $3k on a macbook Pro just to run Serato.

This.

why would anyone buy a 3k macbook pro to only run serato? that was your bad.

No it wasn't because i actually wanted a MBP that i wouldn't have to trade or switch anytime soon I had a 2012 before that went to sh*t

We are not here to criticize you, but were going to give you some solid advice and you can accept it how you want.

Those 2012 macbook pro's are not hard to fix. You could of purchased a refurbished 2015 for half or less that price that would of met or exceeded your expectations. All that was needed was a little research. If you wanted an excuse to buy a brand new macboook pro for 3k, that was your decision.

well you still coulda got a 2015 for about 1-1200$ usd. There are plenty of new macbook pros that arent 3k to run serato.

good point i guess i just wanted a brand new one....i think i wanted the points on my Apple credit card LOL....but yeah ya right i could've went that route....But my point was that in reality we at a time now where a computer is not really needed to DJ. and if i could go back and redo it i would do that.

thats true, id rather not have to use a computer but it is easier right now. i have pioneer 900 nxs but its kinda of a process to get going with rekordbox and im still working on that.

i have a few longer, 4-5hr, solo bar/lounge gigs that make it easier if i have my whole bloated library with me.

I’m definitely trying to go without a laptop this year I actually had Serato crashed on me 3 times this weekend just by me trying to delete a track that was no longer in my library

there are internal ssd that are 4gb that’ll fit in the 2015 but it’ll cost you A LOT

use scratch live

Pretty soon Mixers, Controllers will run serato without a computer anyway. Then all of you can tinker with hackintoshes for shits & giggles at home.

if its a newer laptop he cant unless he implements rootless protection.

implements -> disables, edit button please :(

Nah I’m using the RAne 72 and a pair of Twelves that ain’t gonna work with scratch live

sl234

can you use Serato DJ 2.0.5? downgrade and share your experience please

serato.com

Or for production towers. That's what I am building mine for.

Closed Loop Water Cooling
5.1ghz i7 9900K (no thermal throttling)
64GB 3200 (14 cas) RAM
Radeon RX Vega 64 8GB
970 Pro Series 1TB PCIe NVMe - M.2 (OSX)
970 Pro Series 512GB PCIe NVMe - M.2 (Win10)
(3) x 1TB 860 EVO SSDs
40TB (7200rpm) Thunderbolt 3 NAS

Show me a Mac that will compete w' that rig for $5K.....oh, that's right, it doesn't exist.

^^^^
The irony is I’ve built one of those rigs at my job as a 3D render farm, and we’re an all Mac based company so I’m not sure why you’re sending me this lol. Of course you’ll never get all those specs in a Mac for that price!!! lol I never argued that you get more bang for your buck building a pc. In fact, I’m building a second one pretty soon. Neither are running Mac OS though. It’s just to run the graphics cards.

My thing was all about having a laptop to run serato, and telling people that are not techs to simply build a Hackintosh laptop to go gig with wasn’t the best advice.

Definitely nothing earlier than 2012 if you ever intend to get support from Apple. I just found out that Apple won't even look at a 2011 model. I have a friend that took his 2011 in to the Apple store and they told him it's against their policy to work on a laptop that old. They wouldn't even help diagnose the issue. If I upgrade my 2013 MBP anytime soon it will be for a 2015 model.

Yeah I'm leaning heavily to 2015 for these reasons and for future OSs that will outdate my current 2012 MBP

That's what I was trying to get at. You want to future proof your stuff a but. 2012 is great, but it will reach it's limitations very soon as far as the OS goes.

For those who want to upgrade as bad as me here is something I found out with a friend last night.

If you use the Seagate slim 2tb, the cheap ones on Amazon, they use usb 3.1. you will get random burst speeds and pauses and sometimes crashing. I guess that would be expected with a 5400 rpms drive at a price level like that.

Well, my friend who is not a genius at working on computers decided to use his old Seagate free agent go flex with FireWire 800 to thunderbolt drive and he had zero issues.

Ok, so now I'm thinking I can use this drive since I have a few spares at the pad and just try and buy an old thunderbolt enclosure to throw one in, but if you search on the internet nothing exist, which sucks!

You would think an old thunderbolt 2 enclosure for sata drives would be easy to find, nope! Anyways I don't understand why the old Seagate goflex drives work without issues but these new Seagate slim backup drives stall on me using Serato. That includes SSL and SDJ before anyone ask.

Anyone using these cheap drives successfully?

I also have taken out the hard drive from these enclosures and put them in optibays in my 2012 13" and 15" laptops and the performance is about 50/50. You will load a song and some songs load quick and other times the song takes a few seconds to load, or while your playing the song will cut out.

www.seagate.com

Yep which is why I am even begrudgingly upgrading to El Cap or higher once I upgrade my OS SSD to 1TB. I can't update Final Cut Pro X anymore on Yosemite, but yet I don't want macOS to add more overhead than needed.

Go back to my second comment. I merely stated that it was a viable option. I even said it would probably be better to just deal w' the hardware limitations and inflated pricing of a Mac laptop because it would probably be easier.

I’m with you on all of that.


It was the show me a Mac that can do that. Felt you were directing it at me. But we’re on the same page.

Buy the cheapest but capable mac you can, ie 2014. In <5yrs everything is going to become all-in-one and using a laptop will be permanently moved to the old school genre

That's what I was saying too

ive been actually stocking up on the refurbished ones when they pop up at local best buys and micro centers

found what i wanted for 650$, its a gamble but i think i use it for at least 3 years.

i think in a few years, things will have changed and hopefully i wont be djing anymore.

at least to the point (playing open format garbage) where i actually need a laptop and not a flash drive or actual records.

im really starting to hate djing(open format garbage gigs and commercial rap) tbh

haha nice!

I feel you man, i hear that. I've pretty much limited my gigs these days. Good thing I have a job.

for sure.

With the All in ones, wont you still need a machine to load music and setup and manage the crates?

Would it just plugin as a USB drive to the machine?

How would you search? On a touchscreen? Is that something that works well on any units now?

How would you handle loading in a song you dont have while DJing?


Not trying to be a dick, seriously dont understand the song management workflow for an all in one.



Also would the ideal all in one unit run MacOS or Windows via tiny PC like the Thud Rumble mixer, or would it be its own "DJOS" that gets built from the ground up?

not sure if you use cdjs much, but they already have search on the touch screen of the newer xdj/cdjs.

Id think it was a flash drive that was set up on a computer management system like rekordbox. also seems like you could have 2 or more ports on a system or even be able to use a usb hub.

seems like it could be in a controller like the xdj series with a small screen. The xdj
rx2 is nice.

might wanna stock up on those 2015 mbps

www.macrumors.com

btw this 2012 15 inch is NOT gonna flex, thing is like '78 lincoln continental!

What u get? Specs an dat

Lol

Anyone else running Mac OS on a Hackintosh?

I own a few Macs, but my favorite Mac is a Hackintosh Dell XPS 9360. I just like being able to drag tracks around. I was hoping Apple would put a touch screen on a Macbook, but until then I am going to keep running Mac OS X Mojave on a touchscreen Dell XPS 9360 with a 1TB SSD. Having standard USB ports is also important to me so thing checks all the boxes.

Just curious
Why are so many still holding on to old laptops
Yes I know older macs still "work amazing"
But did you ever think of how many hours may be on your laptop.
I just upgraded my 2012 last October ( just before my Holiday parties )
That old machine had over 19000 hours of use --
If you are on a Mac type 'ac' into terminal and it will let you know how many hours your laptop has been up.

Yes the new Mac book pro was expensive - over $3000 :(
but I know it'll be good for 5 years - so kind of an investment in my DJ business
In this day - the laptop is the workhorse and you should invest. Back in the day it was having a pair of 1200's - and lots of people complained how pricy they were ( and still are )

Also - with usb-c there are no dongles - just spend a few $$ and pick up a couple of chroma cables - I also upgraded my external to usb-c.

what you should do is do what you want to do. what we will do is do what we want for whatever reason we want to.

650$ - 2012 i7 quad core 2.6

I'm upgrading the ram and hd but have gift cards to pay for all that, i actually was only looking for the glossy screen and 2.6 processor (retina more expensive upgrades, 2.6 also has an extra video card).

I have a 2012 13, so its not a huge upgrade but with the ssd and extra ram, plus bigger screen, it will be nice for logic. The screen resolution is higher too for logic(compared to 2012 13 inch), some plug ins are massive and hard to fit on a 13 inch screen with low resolution.

after researching i can see how the newer drives in the newer models 2012-15 retina (pci nvme) are about 5-7x faster and about 40-60% more expensive.

i think in 3 years ill get a 2015 MBP and the storage will be cheaper. Personally i like to use older technology, because its cheaper(obviously) but more than anything people have had a few years to figure out what is wrong with different models and you can compare bench mark tests, reviews, etc. Since you can't upgrade your system anymore, what you get is what you get and the price doesn't make sense in my case. for 3 k, id prob get this mbp and a used iMac for home use.


Macbook pros are like tech 1200s because even older ones work and are still serviceable years after their original production date. Ive actually never bought a pair of 1200s new in the box either, never had a problem with the 10 I've bought(9 sold down to 1) over the last 20 years.

Actually 2012 is on its way to be considered “vintage” by Apple, if it isn’t already. Meaning any logic board or graphics issue they won’t fix. This is one of the reasons why you wanna be closer to the current models as possible.

Amen!


Haha, just send it to Louis Rossmann, he always fixes shit that Apple says is unrepairable!
www.youtube.com

The early retinas have screens that were delaminating.

I think the Apple replacement program ended December 2018 or 4 years post manufacturing date.

I had a 2014 which luckily was covered by the program.

Just something else to be wary off when purchasing a classic 12-15 MBP with the Retina screen.

2015s also have the nice screen coating issue now too.

^ I haven't heard of this issue. What is it? I like to stay informed in case I ever need to buy another MBP.

Sounds like the coating on the display peels, perhaps. I have that issue on mine.

www.macrumors.com

The scenario I've read about is because the lid closes so nice and flush, that oils from our hands and fingers sometimes sits and marinates on the screen causing that coating to fail.

One guy claims he walked out with a 2018 due to it.

Well there’s always the lucky ones that get to walk out with a newish refurb, but they don’t always do that for people. Usually it’s when the issue turns into 2-3 visits for the same issue after replacements.

I have a 2009 MBP and i'm gonna bite the bullet and get a new one. I've looked through some threads but haven't seen anything recent about which ones (if any) to stay away from? I remember reading something a while back that the touch bars were an issue? Any new information? If there's a better thread to answer this, please point me in the right direction. Thanks!

Mid 2012 to mid 2015 if you don't want issues and stay away from touchbars

What Serato hardware do you have?

If by chance you plan to use class compliant devices you should have no touch bar issues...I dont with class compliant devices.

But if you have any hardware that requires a driver on mac I.e non class compliant then you will have the now well documented touch bar issue. The issue is you cant hot unplug.

Or just avoid a touch bar MacBook pro?

im going 2015 next. i have friends that seem to be doing fine with 2018s though.

the basic read im getting on the new ones is that they are fine, just are really thin and sometimes have issues with heat or build quality and they keyboard isnt great for serious typing and can get dirty and have random triggering issues.. Im just too cheap to buy new ones to dj with. 2012 15'''s are still fine for me. I found 1 at 650$ with the bigger processor and one at 350$ with glossy screen and smaller processor.

I have a mid 2012 MacBook Pro with Mojave. It has a relatively small drive, and I mainly keep my music on a portable drive anyway. My music is catalogued through iTunes, but I notice that I can only see my songs in iTunes that are actually saved onto the computer itself when I'm using Serato DJ Pro. Is this an issue with Mojave, or is it just a Serato DJ Pro thing that would require me to install a larger onboard hard drive instead of using a portable hard drive?

no, this is an itunes limitation. You have to consolidate your files into one itunes database. Most DJ Software does not handle multiple itunes databases

Seriously Bro? :D

If your handy with computers hackintosh can save you money, anyone doubting like the above wouldn't know where to start with a hackintosh

The problem with a Hackintosh is you -really- have to be careful about updates. It will jack your shit up and put you back at square one. You also have quirks with certain GPUs (*coughNVIDIAcough*) that won't accelerate at all. It is definitely cheaper, but it's going to a take a lot of your time.

Time = money

Not worth it to me, but if I was 16 and bored it might be of value.

I been using a (Hackintosh) Dell XPS 13 9630 with a touch screen. It's mainly been stable and fun to use with the touch screen but, I am very technical so I don't recommend it for the average person.

Yeah, I was serious ;-)


Yup, I have built two so far. My desktop will blow away an iMac Pro handily, and at a fraction of the price!!


As DJs/Producers aren't we already careful about our updates? Hell, on my real Macbook Pro I just updated to Mojave last month. Moot point.

You're not the norm.

I think in every city there is a few go to guys. There is the computer/dj guy, the sound/dj guy, the turntable repair/dj guy, and the lighting/dj guy.

If were strictly talking club scene, These guys are homies everyone knows to go to when they cant figure something out or need assistance.

I am sure tons of us connected here wear tons of hats, but also know its not really worth wearing all the hats if your super busy with family and another job.

so yeah, the norm possibly wouldn't apply to us here on the forums because in the wild when you talk to other dj associates they never visit the serato website or forums and look for help to be honest.

some can wear a lot of hats

imgur.com

Bahah!! Chevy Chase!

I have been each of those guys for several DJs in my area.

I thought about Hackintosh, but I personally when it comes to DJ'ing now I just want to plug and play.

I went with Apple on the DJ side so I didn't have to F around anymore trying tweak extensively, etc. Windows worked previously but when I switched to Serato...no go...

I do enough tech stuff on the daily that I just want my sh** to work.

It's one of the reason's I'm upgrading to the Rane 70. The 62 drives haven't and won't be updated. Rane 70 will have class compliant drivers. The 62 driver has issues on anything past 10.9.5 in my findings.

Upgraded to 10.13.6 because 10.11 support is being dropped for SoundSwitch, etc...

I just want to discover music, mix/scratch/practice/record, do midi mapping, and do light programming now.

SDJ Pro + ME + SS is a great package.

I'm pissed off at what they did with the newer Macbooks, so I'm sticking with the 2011/2012 models for as long as I possibly can.

The i7 models have great power and nothing more is needed. I have two drives in both, 16gb of ram. Bam!

... get music, process the music, make music, go DJ. Done...

Serato DJ has a ton of features with great add-ons now and the hardware to back it up.

I enjoy helping others same way.

Yeah, that's probably why I rarely have issues with any of the software (DJ or Production) I run. I wait til' each version OS has been through the wringer and is stable AF, then I update to it. That's usually at the end of it's cycle before they move on to the next version.


That's fair. Initially a Hackintosh can be quite frustrating until' you lock down all of it's issues. I built a Dell XPS 9550 Hackintosh for a friend, and yes, I did have to mess with KEXT files for about a week until I got everything right. But, now it's solid AF! I'm kinda' jealous. I need to build one for myself eventually.


Same here. But Hackintoshing is kinda' a hobby for me. But, it's Serato DJ's issues and lack of support for my hardware of choice that drove me away from it. I'm mostly on CDJs (Rekordbox Flashdrives), Traktor and Ableton when I'm at home, and I've reverted back to buying and mixing on real vinyl again.

My test bed originally just to get the process down was on a Dell GX860 tower. It was cool but there were some issues back then. It was cool to learn but then I decided if I'm going to run MacOS it's going to have to be the native hardware it's on.



I switched from Traktor Pro 2 to Scratch Live back in 2011 and never looked back. In 2003 I switched from vinyl to Final Scratch (Stanton, Never Worked on my System) -> Traktor Final Scratch -> Traktor DJ Studio -> Final Scratch 2 -> Traktor DJ Studio 3 -> Traktor Scratch -> Traktor DJ Studio 3.3 -> Traktor Scratch Pro -> Traktor Pro -> Traktor Pro 2

Note: I switched to DVS in 2003 from Vinyl to preserve my vinyl, start to travel and to expand my service offerings. But I still buy vinyl and use vinyl to this day.

There were so many iterations of the software it was ridiculous. I was testing Traktor Pro Duo as well in the later versions.

I started off with a Shuttle XPC -> HP Pavillion 8100 Series (Great Laptop, miss that thing) -> Dell Studio 1737

The Studio 1737 has dpc issues that I was able to overcome with a utility and ran that for a long time.

In 2009, I got the NS7FX after trying it at Namm. That's when I began to get a taste of the Serato platform with Itch.

NI didn't want to support the NS7 and I really liked how it worked. Some people know about the midi project with Traktor that I was doing and got access to build that supported the motors. I midi mapped all the functions of the NS7 plus more because the all the controls weren't mapped in this build. The NS7 worked really well with that build but it wasn't public and newer versions of Traktor never worked with it.

Then Itch 2.0 came out and it was dope and I thought hey if they make Scratch Live 3 and it supports DVS and Controllers, I'm switching immediately.

I switched to Scratch Live on this platform (2011) and it didn't have the same issues that Traktor did with that laptop. Also, I was able to test a 57SL for a week and I was sold. No more external box, etc... Note: The Z2 wasn't available to me for testing.

It just made sense...

The problem is I wanted to expand to Video-SL and on Windows it just didn't run right. Plus the issues with large libraries on Windows and just overall performance wasn't great. Video-SL struggled horribly on that thing. Also Traktor did not have a video option.

I actually took a usb stick to Best Buy to test different Windows laptops because I was really trying to stay with Windows. None of them worked properly.

Then I found that Video-SL was a bit limited at the time so I wanted to switch to MixEmergency since everyone was saying it will do what I wanted to accomplish. Guess what, MacOS only....I wrote Inklen to find out if he was going to port it to Windows, the answer was No.

There was another reason to switch to a Mac...

So I switched to a Macbook in 2013 and never looked back. It was a night and day difference. I did the second drive mod immediately because I had two drives in my HP and Dell. The only system that had a single drive since switching to DVS was my Shuttle XPC.

One drive as the system/applications drive, the second drive is only music data (cover art, audio files, video files and now soundswitch files)

Scratch Live just ran without issue, Video-SL ran without issue. Then I upgraded to MixEmergency a short while later and I'm cool.

ME worked with SSL and it worked with Itch... But I was getting tired of managing two different applications just because of hardware.

I was waiting for SSL 3 and crossing my fingers that they would support both DVS and controllers. This was the one thing the Traktor platform had over Scratch Live but once again no video option and they still don't.

Then Serato DJ surfaced and I was like Ahhhhh, finally they listened and get it and I also upgraded to Serato Video to test it out but stuck with ME because the feature set was much greater still.

So I've been using the Serato DJ + ME platform ever since. I recently bought SoundSwitch and that solidified my setup with Serato even further.

The problem I ran into is Soundswitch did not support 10.9.5. Serato DJ does and MixEmergency up to 3.1.1 did as well.

Also Serato Video will not run on anything below 10.10 now either.

Soundswitch would install but crashed soon as you would launch it. I contacted support and there was no resolve for this. So I had to upgrade.

I upgraded to 10.11 and then decided to upgrade to 10.13 because the current SS version is the last build to support 10.11. I figured get it over with now.

The one problem is when I upgraded to 10.11 and higher, the Rane 62 drivers to not play nicely.

Long story short, I have two Macbooks, a late 2011 model and a mid 2012 model.

I got the 2011 to work with the 62 and that will be my performance machine. The 2012 works but kinda.

I get the random audio drop out/distortion issue and I haven't been able to fix the issue yet.

However, I'm upgrading to a Rane 70 when available and it will have class compliant drivers and support. The 62 is discontinued and no further development will happen for it.

Which is fine because I've been patiently waiting for the 62mk2 which is the 70 now. I tried the 72 in January at Long and McQuade and I found I didn't like the screen setup. But I did like the pads and I love the Rane faders.

I checked out the S9 and I didn't like the build quality of it at all. Felt really cheap to me and the fader is plastic feeling.

Shortly after that the rumors came out about the 'new' 62 and then it was announced because it was mid January when I tried the 72 and S9.

So the bulletproof setup for me has been Macbook Pro + SDJ + ME since 2011 until 2020. Now it will be Macbook Pro + R70 + SDJ + ME + SS it will be the perfect storm.

It's the setup I've been yearning for since 2003.

I found the best Hackintosh laptops review article. Mackbook Pro is popular nowadays. But Hackintosh is the best solution for using different operating systems.
These are the best under the budget laptop for Hackintosh laptops.
Here is the link: reviewslists.com

62 on a mac past 10.9.5? im on 10.12.6 on a 2012 mbp and its fine

On my late 2011 it's working on 10.13.6 but not on the mid 2012.