Is this Imac good enough for Reason 9

[Tom_Har]

Hello there first of HELLO everybody im new in this forum.

I need help choosing PC for Reason 9 i was thinking about Imac because i want use Logic X with Reason so this is configurations.

Processor
2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor
Memory
8GB (two 4GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 memory
Storage
1TB (5400-rpm) hard drive

Imac late 2013.

Thank you so much.

[TheMiles]

It depends... If you stick to stock devices this config is sufficient. Some REs however such as eXpanse and the like require a lot of CPU power. I have 2 computers, one 1012 MacBook Pro and a 2016 6700k Windows PC. I use the Macbook for sketches mostly as I can't run more then 1 or 2 instances of eXpanse on it. Thus I develop small ideas on my mac and complete them on my PC.
However, before I started using those CPU hogs, I made music on my MacBook alone for many years.

Yes, you can use reason with that config, but dont be surprised when you hit the limits quickly with REs...

[Tom_Har]

Thanks for response ! Can you suggest some PC that i will not have any problems with CPU or RAM.

[TheMiles]

Hmm id say at least 16 GB of Ram, more if you intend to use a lot of Audio (Its more then enough for me), And a fast processor. I choose the i7 6700K because it is reasonably fast and not too expensive. Remember however that you can't run logic on a windows PC.
I don't know much about the current generation of iMacs but they are certainly not as fast as my i7 6700k.

Thats the bad thing about macs, if you want a really fast one, you have to spend a LOT of money. I went for Windows because i needed lots of processing power for a low price. I dearly love OSX and macs, but for me they don't give enough bang for the buck. If I had have the money , I would have been going for a Mac Pro, but thats clearly not an option for a limited budget...

[Tom_Har]

I know prices are sick for Macbooks or New Imacs

[TheMiles]

Well... how much money do you have to burn...? I think for around 2000 EUR you can get a Quad Core i7 processor in a new iMac. Its a beautiful computer with an awesome OS, but for my budget waaay to expensive...

[Tom_Har]

Man also for my budget I will tell you sincerely im new in all this but i have so big will for this especially for House music that i think i will never give up on this, so i think i will get money from somewere i just need some good advice from someone who is in this long time

[4filegate]

...wait for the new desktop CPU new 7th Gen Intel® Core™ in the first quarter in 2017 the 6th generation Skylake will be also cheaper

[TheMiles]

Well... I now think I gave the impression, REs need a lot of CPU in general. Thats not true. There are a lot of REs that will run on your 2013 iMac. I have used REs for a long time now, and mostly on my MacBook Pro. Its just a few REs that require so much CPU. EXpanse is a monster CPU hog, The FM4 is not as bad, but still requires a lot of CPU. There's a bunch of them.
Best is to trial them before you buy to see how them work with your system, a LOT of REs will run on your config without troubles. Remember, I am on a 2-Core i7 mobile processor from 2012, you have a quad-Core i5 desktop CPU from 2013, I guess your mentioned iMac is about twice as fast as my MacBook Pro. You don't need the latest and greatest Equipment to make good House Music. A lot of stuff you can do with stock devices. Stock devices are great in terms of CPU usage, You can easily run like 20 subtractors on your mentioned config and then some and then some again.

Antidote will run with a few instances as well and thats a killer synth, KHS One will work easily, Red Rocks Ivocs and RED70 will work and the list goes on and on. Same is true for effects, most of them will work fine even with multiple instances running.

The trick is, to use those REs everywhere you NEED it because of the specific sound or their features. For everything else use stock devices. With that strategy you can run 20-40 devices with no trouble

[kuhliloach]

Freezing tracks can make all the difference if your PC/Mac gets stuck, plus it's what engineers do anyways as the projects get closer to completion. The resulting audio incorporates your effects / instruments, but without needing to do the processing.

I recently bought Cubasis2 for iOS since Propellerhead still doesn't have an iOS version of Reason. Freezing capabilities are right up front in that program -- they are basically whispering into your ear: freeze these tracks.

[Tom_Har]

Thanks Guys for Help Im just getting started in this so i think for now is enough, maybe later on something better

[TheGuyNotNamedBob]

Next time I buy a new PC, provided I don't choose to come back to Mac (Gonna be hard with GarageBand) I'll customise a PC from somewhere like IBuyPower. A little over a grand for a seriously powerful PC. Something to look at.

[Vince-Noir-99]

1TB (5400-rpm) hard drive

This bit seems the weak point in my opinion. I'd get at least 7200rpm if not an SSD. A good compromise would be a smallish SSD to run the OS + programs + current projects & media, and external storage on a larger disk.

I recently put my hands on a late 2012 iMac 2.7GHz quad core with 16GB ram and a 7200rpm hard disk, and I must say it was very smooth. I hardly noticed the difference, being used to SSDs. In case you're planning on upgrading the iMac I warn to be exxxtra careful with the monitor. They die very easily upon dis- and re-assembly.

[Marco Raaphorst]

Hard to say. If you need super low latency, not sure, but my late 2013 MacBook Pro Retina is not capable of this. And with low latency I mean: 128 samples or less. For guitar that is needed.

Not sure how good Logic runs on iMac. You want to run in Rewire mode? Can be tricky because all audio runs in low res. Something I hate about Rewire but something I sometimes need when doing music for video because Reason can't be a Rewire master. So I slave to Ableton Live. Live is a super smooth running DAW by the way. Runs more efficient at the moment than Reason.