Korey Pereira whose Dolby Atmos upgrade we featured had to replace his Pro Tools computer in a hurry when his cheese-grater failed unexpectedly. This is the story of what he chose to replace it with so that he could continue working in audio post-production and Dolby Atmos.

The Story Of My Trusty 2009 Mac Pro

The 2009-2012 Mac Pro cheese-graters are true workhorses for post professionals. I picked up a 4,1 8-core Mac Pro almost a decade ago and through incremental hardware upgrades was able to keep it working with even the latest version of Pro Tools Ultimate and the Dolby Atmos Production Suite.

By early 2020, I had flashed the logic board from a 4,1 to a 5,1 and upgraded the processors from 8-core to 12-core, added 128GB of RAM, installed a Samsung SSD system drive and added a USB 3.0 PCIe card. The only weak link was the graphics card, the ATI Radeon HD 5770.

I had started spec-ing out an upgraded graphics car from macvidcards.com when the unthinkable happened: I sat down to work one day, pressed the power button on the Mac Pro, entered my password and it promptly shut down.

I spent the better part of the day trying everything to get it working again. I swapped an older system drive build, swapped the RAM, graphics card and even the power supply with no luck. It was down to either the logic board or processor tray. At this point, I needed to decide between fixing a decade-old computer or looking for a new system. I opted for the latter.

What To Replace My 2009 Mac Pro With?

While a brand new 2019 Mac Pro 7,1 would have been a logical replacement for my old cheese-grater, it was completely out of my budget for this unexpected upgrade, especially with the uncertainty 2020 has brought to our industry.

I could have picked up a “Trashcan” Mac Pro in my budget but I really wanted to go with a new system with 3 years of worry-free coverage from Apple via AppleCare+. This really left one choice: A 2020 Mac mini.

I also needed a system that would run Pro Tools Ultimate plus the Dolby Atmos Production Suite, so opted for the top-of-the-line 3.2GHz 6-core Intel Core i7 and with the 2020 refresh came with a 512GB SSD. Unlike the previous generation of Mac minis, the 2020 (and 2018) allow for the RAM to be un-officially user upgraded. So, to save spending $1000 to upgrade to 64GB of RAM from Apple, instead, I ordered 64GB of comparable RAM from Samsung on Amazon for around $250!

Where Do I Put Everything?

By far the biggest limitation when migrating from the Mac Pro to the Mac mini was expansion. In my Mac Pro, I had an Avid HD Native and Blackmagic Intensity Pro PCIe cards as well as four internal hard drives. Initially, I was looking at going with a Sonnet xMac Mini Server rack, which would allow me to mount the Mac Mini and both PCIe cards in a 1RU rack enclosure!

While conceptually this seemed like the perfect solution, reading Jamey Scott’s Mac Mini Meltdown article here on Pro Tools Expert, I started to be more than a little concerned about the system overheating in the rack.

So, I traded in my Avid HD Native and Blackmagic Intensity Pro PCIe Cards for an Avid HD Native Thunderbolt and Blackmagic Mini Monitor along with a USB-C to HDMI dongle for my second monitor and a USB hub for connecting hard drives and iLoks.

Once the Mac mini came in, I set it up on my desk and was really surprised by how quiet it was, especially compared to my 2009 Mac Pro! With the concerns about overheating, I was going to just leave it on my desk or potentially mount it under the desk. But, it is pretty small with 2x Avid S1s, an Avid Dock and the JBL Intonato Desktop Remote, so I made the decision to move the Mac mini from inside the AV cabinet as originally planned to the countertop above the cabinets. Luckily my Thunderbolt cable was plenty long enough to reach the Avid HD Native Thunderbolt and Blackmagic Mini Monitor in the AV Cabinet.

What About Data Storage

The only minor complication with this new configuration is data storage. Under my previous system, I used a combination of internal 3.5 hard drives and an OWC Rack Pro for data storage. These all make a good bit of noise when not in an AV cabinet. With project drives now being in the open, I made the decision to upgrade my storage from centralized drives to a series of portable (and quiet) Western Digital NVMe drives mounted in OWC Envoy Pro EX USB-C enclosures. These things are FAST!

The only thing I needed to keep on a spinning drive was my sound library, which is stored on a 4TB HGST hard drive mounted in a Caldigit AV Pro 2 blade, which makes for easy transport when I move between rooms and studios. A one-meter USB3 cable was long enough to reach the Pro AV 2 in the cabinet. The drive has two USB ports on the reach, which was a perfect spot to plug in my two iLoks.

Eventually, when 4TB SSDs or NVMe hard drives come down in price enough, I will move my sound effects library to one of these.

How Is It All Working?

The simple answer is GREAT! I have done a handful of mixes on the new system, including an Atmos session with 300+ voices and the Atmos Production Suite running on the same system. The CPU usage percentages in Pro Tools and the Atmos Production Suite are consistently equal or lower than with my old system.

What About Catalina?

While I probably would not have upgraded to Catalina without this enforced computer upgrade, it has not been all that difficult. Luckily Pro Tools and all the plugins I use regularly are supported. The only MINOR inconvenience is being unable to import guide audio when bringing in a reference video. I now ask for a .wav guide track from editors, or when needed just create one using either ffWorks or Pro Tools on my laptop, which is still running Mojave.

I have not had any problems with video codecs. I typically prefer DNxHD36 files but have also been able to playback a session with both H.264 files as well as ProRes as another studio I work at, Soundcrafter prefers ProRes for the remote mixing workflow we are using there.

Final Thoughts

Only time will tell if my Mac mini sees the same fate as Jamey Scott (or my wife’s 2012 Mac mini that has also died since I made the switch). This concern was one of the main reasons I decided to go with a new system with AppleCare+.

It seems like a small expense to guarantee I have a working system for the next three years. At that point or whenever the Mac mini gives out, I may be looking to move up to a new Mac Pro. For now, I am happy with my choice and would recommend others looking to replace a late-model “cheese-grater” Mac Pro to consider going mini as well!