Since the release of the new iPad Pros; both 12.9” & the 10.5” models have 4GB RAM (a lot for iOS and its ability to control/compress memory). I have both 12.9” models and the second, along with my 10.5” models are perfect. I’ve had just a couple issues with the older 12.9” - possibly more to do with the A series chips used as the latest models are damn near twice as fast as their predecessors. LTE/cellular model’s mandatory IMO, & we now solely use them for ceremonies and as a second source for main wedding. Clubs, I use my 15”MacBook Pro, but it’s only four pounds and I switched from Serato to dJay about a year ago for good. The ability to use the same software on all my devices, sync them, & the integration of Spotify on the fly’s invaluable.
I’m also going to try the latest MacBooks - the two pound little guys. They’re in their third or fourth iteration and people who own em speak highly. The internal speeds (PCIe SSDs) of the MacBook and MacBook Pros has gone crazy the last 5 years. I have a 2012 original 15” retina MBP that still flies and works great. A 2015 15” that’s, IMO, the last great all encompassing I/O Mac we’ll see and while read/write speeds on the ‘12 are fast (650/600), My 2015 easily doubles the write and triples nearly, read speed. The 2017 is very very fast. Accessing, analyzing, & song input is almost immediate. The iPad is quick if you’ve downloaded the playlists but if you’re streaming, you’ll be slave to your speeds.
IMO, a 2 pound MacBook w/16GB RAM & 512 SSD, with a 12.9” 512GB iPad. Yes, it’s a bit spendy, and I’d buy the iPad second hand or wait’ll the new release. That said. Crap in. Crap out. You’re discussing your ‘source’, inarguably the most important piece of equipment in your chain. You need reliability, speed, efficiency, and possibly support. Algoriddim mskes dJay, supports mapping and several off the shelf controllers out of the box, is intuitive and easy to teach my new guys/gals and, again, works on my iPhone iPad MacBooks and iPod Touch (I don’t have the latter, but do carry a 160GB iPod Classic). The first couple iterations were great, #2 ready for live performances. The latest release of dJay Pro’s taken it to a new level and is a great example of why spending a bit extra (amongst plenty of others) on a Mac isn’t the price difference heard often on forums & the net. The Mac tax. I spent $35 to get dJay Pro on all devices. Bought Logic X for 200 saving hundreds I’d have to spend (in Windows world, if not thousands) to equal their abilities. The other cool option w/Apple is iTunes Match. $25/year and it’ll store 100,000 of your songs/slices of audio (iTunes purchases don’t count against your cap).
iTunes Match is a GodSend as it matches what it can and the replaces yours (if a lower bit rate) @ 256 AAC, & if it’s a unique track, audio or any ‘song’ it doesn’t get it just uploads your audio to your digital CD rack. Allowing you to easily access your library from any device any time. I’m also subscribing to Apple Music & Spotify, the latter with amazing integration w/dJay, Apple Music for its ability to interact with my music and bands that don’t stream - BMI/ASCAP is easily paid using purchased (owned) tracks or through the streaming services and the integration/aggregation between macOS iOS tvOS (Apple TV can make for some awesome visuals through a relatively cheap projector) and even watchOS (you’re able to control dJay from your watch if it’s taking longer than anticipated to relieve yourself
MacBook core i7/512GB/16GB (RAM) + 12.9” iPad Pro = 4 pounds of muscle. Certain to work for ya for plenty of years with, get this, resale value when it’s time to upgrade!
I’m still carrying 15” MacBook Pro and 12.9” iPad Pro but looking forward to delivery of the new MacBook and testing it - as they’re finally fitted with some grunt hopefully capable of peace of mind @ the gig. The biggest pro to using said gear. Peace. Of. Mind. I just don’t see them fail. Period.
PS: the percipitous drop in solid state drive prices is amazing. While a T3 or WD portable SSD’s a sweet investment, you can save yourself a 50 or 100 dollar bill buying an internal SSD w/external enclosure. I just put a TB SSD together for less than 200 bucks. Storing high quality music and videos along side @ 1080p in quantity has arrived! (& we’re talking 6-8oz to hold a 100,000 songs!)
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