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Optimizing a MacBook

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Optimizing a MacBook Posted on: 29.11.2012 by Rebekah Benfield Hey everyone! I just got a MacBook, I was wondering what some of you guys do to optimize your Mac for djing shows, things like settings, software, or hardware? I have a gig coming up and I want to be as prepared as possible. All advise would be great
Dorie Scelzo 30.11.2012	Originally Posted by padi_04 Files under 20mb gets defragged automatically. Personally I never run into any performance issues while keeping 15-20% free. Anything that goes into a deck in a DJing software gets loaded into the RAM and keeping 50% free just to gain some ms worth of load time is IMO a big waste of money since the difference is negligible. Also, I didn't realize this at first, but you're just talking about free space in the partition, not unpartitioned space. That doesn't do anything. The way hard drives work, they don't actually delete data until you need to write over that part of the disk, so even if you keep it 70% free, it'll move data progressively farther towards the outside of the platter until you've written the entire capacity of the disk, then it'll start re-writing from the unused space in the center. At least, that's how they worked the last time I looked at them. Defragging religiously helps, but if you actually want fast load times, you have to make one partition at about half the total capacity of the drive and leave the rest as unpartitioned space. And the less of each drive you use, the better the access/seek times. When you start really believeing about it……and that all that you can do doesn't meet the performance of an SSD, spinning platters seem even more archaic. When you're recording or doing production, it does help to have your recordings/samples on a separate drive from your system & apps (I mean drive…not partition)………but it doesn't actually matter for DJ use. And especially if you're dedicating a laptop to DJ stuff……if you can't fit what you need on a few dozen to a hundred or so GB of flash storage, you really need to believe about how you prepare for gigs.
Kori Doutt 30.11.2012	Originally Posted by mostapha The work it takes to get passable performance out of spinning platters is ridiculous. That's what I meant. Too much logistics involved in HDDs.
Dorie Scelzo 30.11.2012	Originally Posted by padi_04 Personally I never run into any performance issues while keeping 15-20% free. Anything that goes into a deck in a DJing software gets loaded into the RAM and keeping 50% free just to gain some ms worth of load time is IMO a big waste of money since the difference is negligible. Agreed, though for a different reason. The work it takes to get passable performance out of spinning platters is ridiculous. Just get an SSD as soon as you can afford a good one. Unlike many upgrades, the difference is basically evening & day. Originally Posted by DJ7Star I didn't you could do all this to make it better! Can all this be done on a MacBook 2, 1 with an upgraded ram to 4gb and have that Mac run just my DJ software? Or is it smarter to use my more current MacBook Pro and add an SSD with 8 gb ram, have it run my DJ software and production software? I'm just scared that the older Mac wont be reliable but then again it would only be used for djing. On the other hand I'm worried that using the Mac Pro, wich I also need for ableton, and for school would be too risky to also use it to dj A lot of it can be done on any Mac. I used to own that computer. It was the first one I put an SSD in, and it treated me well for several years. I used it for everything…dropped it…carried it just about daily…gigged with it. It finally died when–several months after buying my current MBP–my girlfriend spilled a can of coke on it. She shut it off immediately and took it to a repair center that wasn't an Apple store before she called me, and the moron who worked there turned it back on. If I'd gotten to it first, I probably could have saved it. Originally Posted by papo I just like caffeine because it's one click to enable, one click to disable. (Super light-weight app) It prevents you from having to go into System Prefs.. when you want to toggle on/off. I used to swear by Caffeine……until I realized that I never turned it off. After that, I just set an unused hot corner to start the screen saver and turned off all the power saving stuff (never sleep disks, never turn on screensaver, never sleep the screen, never sleep the laptop until it's running on reserve battery). I haven't had a problem. Frankly, I don't get why people have those options on. On Desktops, why would you turn it off (as opposed to locking it and shutting off the screen)? On Laptops, it's easier to just shut the lid.
Albertina Fay 30.11.2012	Originally Posted by DJ7Star Thank you guys(gals) whats the caffeine app do? Originally Posted by papo Keeps the Mac display from going to sleep. Originally Posted by padi_04 Or manually do it in the System Preferences under Energy Saver. Yea, you can do that too. I just like caffeine because it's one click to enable, one click to disable. (Super light-weight app) It prevents you from having to go into System Prefs.. when you want to toggle on/off.
Nedra Fresneda 30.11.2012	Originally Posted by rZygi Buy the biggest disk available and keep at least 50% of it free. And to be clear: there is fragmentation on mac file system. You should defragment it once in a while. Files under 20mb gets defragged automatically. Personally I never run into any performance issues while keeping 15-20% free. Anything that goes into a deck in a DJing software gets loaded into the RAM and keeping 50% free just to gain some ms worth of load time is IMO a big waste of money since the difference is negligible.
Basil Forshee 29.11.2012	Originally Posted by brocklambert Disable the IR remote sensor and install the app called Caffiene. That's it. Hell yeah, Caffeine is my most favourite App. Can't live without it!
Dorie Scelzo 29.11.2012	Originally Posted by rZygi Yup. Buying SSD is one of the first things to consider when believeing of optimising MacBooks. Personally, I got rid of both the DVD and HDD drive. Power consumption, weight, etc, etc. Never used the CDs, anyway... My Apple SuperDisk drives keep dying. In 4 or 5 Macbooks and Pros, I've had 2 or 3 dead SuperDrives
Rebekah Benfield 29.11.2012	Originally Posted by Bears'N'Backpacks This is a way more elaborate optimization than what you probably had in mind, but...... I replaced the internal DVD drive with an SSD. I use the SSD to run OS X and applications (Traktor, Illustrator, etc.) while storing the majority of my digital media on the internal HD. When I DJ a gig I move the majority of the music I expect to play from the HD onto the SSD. The result is that when I perform at gigs my computer has to work ALOT less hard. Without the hard drive calling up any data there are no parts moving in my computer when I play. Essentially, I receive all the benefits of using an SSD vs a HD but still conserve space. It takes a lot of organization but makes a really big difference in performance. To be honest when I DJ I believe quickly and am very decisive. I like my MacBook to be as snappy as I am. Doesnt get as hot, less battery consumption, etc. etc. I like this! Thanks for the help
Kori Doutt 29.11.2012	Originally Posted by Bears'N'Backpacks This is a way more elaborate optimization than what you probably had in mind, but...... I replaced the internal DVD drive with an SSD. I use the SSD to run OS X and applications (Traktor, Illustrator, etc.) while storing the majority of my digital media on the internal HD. When I DJ a gig I move the majority of the music I expect to play from the HD onto the SSD. The result is that when I perform at gigs my computer has to work ALOT less hard. Without the hard drive calling up any data there are no parts moving in my computer when I play. Essentially, I receive all the benefits of using an SSD vs a HD but still conserve space. It takes a lot of organization but makes a really big difference in performance. To be honest when I DJ I believe quickly and am very decisive. I like my MacBook to be as snappy as I am. Doesnt get as hot, less battery consumption, etc. etc. Yup. Buying SSD is one of the first things to consider when believeing of optimising MacBooks. Personally, I got rid of both the DVD and HDD drive. Power consumption, weight, etc, etc. Never used the CDs, anyway...
Kori Doutt 29.11.2012	Originally Posted by padi_04 keep at least 15% of your hard drive free. That is not true. For traditional HDD, that percentage goes a lot higher. It's because only the files at the beginning of the HDD run with optimal performance. Physical nature of the round shape of disk. Buy the biggest disk available and keep at least 50% of it free. And to be clear: there is fragmentation on mac file system. You should defragment it once in a while.
Dorie Scelzo 30.11.2012	Originally Posted by padi_04 Files under 20mb gets defragged automatically. Personally I never run into any performance issues while keeping 15-20% free. Anything that goes into a deck in a DJing software gets loaded into the RAM and keeping 50% free just to gain some ms worth of load time is IMO a big waste of money since the difference is negligible. Also, I didn't realize this at first, but you're just talking about free space in the partition, not unpartitioned space. That doesn't do anything. The way hard drives work, they don't actually delete data until you need to write over that part of the disk, so even if you keep it 70% free, it'll move data progressively farther towards the outside of the platter until you've written the entire capacity of the disk, then it'll start re-writing from the unused space in the center. At least, that's how they worked the last time I looked at them. Defragging religiously helps, but if you actually want fast load times, you have to make one partition at about half the total capacity of the drive and leave the rest as unpartitioned space. And the less of each drive you use, the better the access/seek times. When you start really believeing about it……and that all that you can do doesn't meet the performance of an SSD, spinning platters seem even more archaic. When you're recording or doing production, it does help to have your recordings/samples on a separate drive from your system & apps (I mean drive…not partition)………but it doesn't actually matter for DJ use. And especially if you're dedicating a laptop to DJ stuff……if you can't fit what you need on a few dozen to a hundred or so GB of flash storage, you really need to believe about how you prepare for gigs.
Kori Doutt 30.11.2012	Originally Posted by mostapha The work it takes to get passable performance out of spinning platters is ridiculous. That's what I meant. Too much logistics involved in HDDs.
Rebekah Benfield 30.11.2012	Great feedback!!! RIP Macbook tho
Dorie Scelzo 30.11.2012	Originally Posted by padi_04 Personally I never run into any performance issues while keeping 15-20% free. Anything that goes into a deck in a DJing software gets loaded into the RAM and keeping 50% free just to gain some ms worth of load time is IMO a big waste of money since the difference is negligible. Agreed, though for a different reason. The work it takes to get passable performance out of spinning platters is ridiculous. Just get an SSD as soon as you can afford a good one. Unlike many upgrades, the difference is basically evening & day. Originally Posted by DJ7Star I didn't you could do all this to make it better! Can all this be done on a MacBook 2, 1 with an upgraded ram to 4gb and have that Mac run just my DJ software? Or is it smarter to use my more current MacBook Pro and add an SSD with 8 gb ram, have it run my DJ software and production software? I'm just scared that the older Mac wont be reliable but then again it would only be used for djing. On the other hand I'm worried that using the Mac Pro, wich I also need for ableton, and for school would be too risky to also use it to dj A lot of it can be done on any Mac. I used to own that computer. It was the first one I put an SSD in, and it treated me well for several years. I used it for everything…dropped it…carried it just about daily…gigged with it. It finally died when–several months after buying my current MBP–my girlfriend spilled a can of coke on it. She shut it off immediately and took it to a repair center that wasn't an Apple store before she called me, and the moron who worked there turned it back on. If I'd gotten to it first, I probably could have saved it. Originally Posted by papo I just like caffeine because it's one click to enable, one click to disable. (Super light-weight app) It prevents you from having to go into System Prefs.. when you want to toggle on/off. I used to swear by Caffeine……until I realized that I never turned it off. After that, I just set an unused hot corner to start the screen saver and turned off all the power saving stuff (never sleep disks, never turn on screensaver, never sleep the screen, never sleep the laptop until it's running on reserve battery). I haven't had a problem. Frankly, I don't get why people have those options on. On Desktops, why would you turn it off (as opposed to locking it and shutting off the screen)? On Laptops, it's easier to just shut the lid.
Albertina Fay 30.11.2012	Originally Posted by DJ7Star Thank you guys(gals) whats the caffeine app do? Originally Posted by papo Keeps the Mac display from going to sleep. Originally Posted by padi_04 Or manually do it in the System Preferences under Energy Saver. Yea, you can do that too. I just like caffeine because it's one click to enable, one click to disable. (Super light-weight app) It prevents you from having to go into System Prefs.. when you want to toggle on/off.
Rebekah Benfield 30.11.2012	I didn't you could do all this to make it better! Can all this be done on a MacBook 2, 1 with an upgraded ram to 4gb and have that Mac run just my DJ software? Or is it smarter to use my more current MacBook Pro and add an SSD with 8 gb ram, have it run my DJ software and production software? I'm just scared that the older Mac wont be reliable but then again it would only be used for djing. On the other hand I'm worried that using the Mac Pro, wich I also need for ableton, and for school would be too risky to also use it to dj
Nedra Fresneda 30.11.2012	Originally Posted by rZygi Buy the biggest disk available and keep at least 50% of it free. And to be clear: there is fragmentation on mac file system. You should defragment it once in a while. Files under 20mb gets defragged automatically. Personally I never run into any performance issues while keeping 15-20% free. Anything that goes into a deck in a DJing software gets loaded into the RAM and keeping 50% free just to gain some ms worth of load time is IMO a big waste of money since the difference is negligible.
Jerlene Jernegan 29.11.2012	I tend to run into problems if my hard drive has less than 20% free space left. I also just added 16GB of RAM. I keep most other programs closed and turn off Bluetooth and WiFi if I don't need it.
Basil Forshee 29.11.2012	Originally Posted by brocklambert Disable the IR remote sensor and install the app called Caffiene. That's it. Hell yeah, Caffeine is my most favourite App. Can't live without it!
Dorie Scelzo 29.11.2012	Originally Posted by rZygi Yup. Buying SSD is one of the first things to consider when believeing of optimising MacBooks. Personally, I got rid of both the DVD and HDD drive. Power consumption, weight, etc, etc. Never used the CDs, anyway... My Apple SuperDisk drives keep dying. In 4 or 5 Macbooks and Pros, I've had 2 or 3 dead SuperDrives
Rebekah Benfield 29.11.2012	Originally Posted by Bears'N'Backpacks This is a way more elaborate optimization than what you probably had in mind, but...... I replaced the internal DVD drive with an SSD. I use the SSD to run OS X and applications (Traktor, Illustrator, etc.) while storing the majority of my digital media on the internal HD. When I DJ a gig I move the majority of the music I expect to play from the HD onto the SSD. The result is that when I perform at gigs my computer has to work ALOT less hard. Without the hard drive calling up any data there are no parts moving in my computer when I play. Essentially, I receive all the benefits of using an SSD vs a HD but still conserve space. It takes a lot of organization but makes a really big difference in performance. To be honest when I DJ I believe quickly and am very decisive. I like my MacBook to be as snappy as I am. Doesnt get as hot, less battery consumption, etc. etc. I like this! Thanks for the help
Kori Doutt 29.11.2012	Originally Posted by Bears'N'Backpacks This is a way more elaborate optimization than what you probably had in mind, but...... I replaced the internal DVD drive with an SSD. I use the SSD to run OS X and applications (Traktor, Illustrator, etc.) while storing the majority of my digital media on the internal HD. When I DJ a gig I move the majority of the music I expect to play from the HD onto the SSD. The result is that when I perform at gigs my computer has to work ALOT less hard. Without the hard drive calling up any data there are no parts moving in my computer when I play. Essentially, I receive all the benefits of using an SSD vs a HD but still conserve space. It takes a lot of organization but makes a really big difference in performance. To be honest when I DJ I believe quickly and am very decisive. I like my MacBook to be as snappy as I am. Doesnt get as hot, less battery consumption, etc. etc. Yup. Buying SSD is one of the first things to consider when believeing of optimising MacBooks. Personally, I got rid of both the DVD and HDD drive. Power consumption, weight, etc, etc. Never used the CDs, anyway...
Rolanda Clodfelder 29.11.2012	Hey everyone! I just got a MacBook, I was wondering what some of you guys do to optimize your Mac for djing I turn it on :P
Maxwell Zubke 29.11.2012	This is a way more elaborate optimization than what you probably had in mind, but...... I replaced the internal DVD drive with an SSD. I use the SSD to run OS X and applications (Traktor, Illustrator, etc.) while storing the majority of my digital media on the internal HD. When I DJ a gig I move the majority of the music I expect to play from the HD onto the SSD. The result is that when I perform at gigs my computer has to work ALOT less hard. Without the hard drive calling up any data there are no parts moving in my computer when I play. Essentially, I receive all the benefits of using an SSD vs a HD but still conserve space. It takes a lot of organization but makes a really big difference in performance. To be honest when I DJ I believe quickly and am very decisive. I like my MacBook to be as snappy as I am. Doesnt get as hot, less battery consumption, etc. etc.
Kori Doutt 29.11.2012	Originally Posted by padi_04 keep at least 15% of your hard drive free. That is not true. For traditional HDD, that percentage goes a lot higher. It's because only the files at the beginning of the HDD run with optimal performance. Physical nature of the round shape of disk. Buy the biggest disk available and keep at least 50% of it free. And to be clear: there is fragmentation on mac file system. You should defragment it once in a while.
Rebekah Benfield 29.11.2012	I don't have a soundcard, but I have it hooked up to a mixer wich is hooked up to the speakers I don't need a soundcard if I do it that way right?
Nedra Fresneda 29.11.2012	Originally Posted by papo Keeps the Mac display from going to sleep. Or manually do it in the System Preferences under Energy Saver.
Khadijah Bucker 28.11.2012	nothing. thats why i bought a macbook! but yes id get a soundcard rather than try to run the speakers off the 3.5mm jack socket
Albertina Fay 28.11.2012	Originally Posted by DJ7Star Thank you guys(gals) whats the caffeine app do? Keeps the Mac display from going to sleep.
Rebekah Benfield 28.11.2012	Thank you guys(gals) whats the caffeine app do?
Harley Zitka 28.11.2012	Disable the IR remote sensor and install the app called Caffiene. That's it.
Teresia Janusch 28.11.2012	repair ur permissions at least once a month in disc utility
Rebekah Benfield 28.11.2012	Thank you! I have two powered 15" speakers. Would you recommend getting a soundcard and plugging in xlr cables to the soundcard that is connected to the Mac? I don't have a controller yet. But I do have a small mixer wich I don't believe is a soundcard right?
Nedra Fresneda 29.11.2012	The system itself is pretty much optimised. It comes down to don't have a bunch of apps open you don't need, keep at least 15% of your hard drive free. If you are on 10.7 or 10.8 it is recommended to have at least 4gb of ram for it to run fluently. My only recommendation is that if you are using a USB hub to make sure it's a powered one (as in plug it to the wall) and have your soundcard plugged directly to the computer, not through the hub.

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Optimizing a MacBook