- Yo guys Jonathan here.
Welcome to the perfect MacBook Pro setup.
This is the 5k ultrawide music edition.
(upbeat music)
(music continues)
♪ I try my best to shake it ♪
♪ You must be contagious ♪
♪ Your love's like that ♪
♪ Oh there's no masquerading ♪
♪ It's not complicated ♪
♪ Your love's like that ♪
♪ Wrestling as I go ♪
♪ Slipping down this slope ♪
♪ I try my best to shake it ♪
♪ You must be contagious ♪
So meet Jacob and Sita.
Two of my favorite human beings
but also two of my favorite artists.
I've used countless tracks of theirs in my videos.
You guys can too if you want to check them out
on Musicbed which I will link to down below.
But yeah, Jacob is a super gifted mixer, producer
and Sita is this crazy talented song writer
with an amazing voice.
So the heart of the setup really comes down
to two main elements.
One, a 15 inch MacBook Pro.
This is the Vega update that happened late last year.
Then, of course we have this giant but also beautiful
34 inch UltraWide 5k monitor from LG, which is bananas.
So a huge reason I chose and wanted
to highlight a MacBook Pro for this setup
is the flexibility that it gives you.
Not only can you create in a desktop-like environment
but essentially anywhere, which is huge
for Jacob and his creative process.
- A lot of times when I'm mixing or I'm producing a beat
I like to go to many different places.
I feel like if I stay in one place all the time
I start to not know what I'm hearing
because I'm just seeing one thing over and over again.
So I like to take my laptop, go upstairs
and then go from there I'll go outside
or go to a coffee shop or just go anywhere,
because I can take it anywhere I want to go.
- So yeah, its perfect for the road or on the couch
but I also wanted to compliment that with the 5k UltraWide
so you get the best of both worlds
and that big, immersive desktop experience.
This is packing a ridiculous resolution of 5120 by 2160
and especially for music production when you have plugins
and multiple windows, that extra screen real estate
is essential.
- It's been great, when you get the wide monitor
you're just looking really far like
"Oh I didn't know I had those muscles in my neck."
(laughs)
It's beautiful, I love all the hub.
Like the hub on the back, you can just put everything
in there, you can hide your wires.
God knows my desk just looks so terrible most of the time
but this makes it very easy and seamless.
- [Jonathan] Rounding out the setup,
I added a wireless keyboard and mouse from Logitech.
This is my favorite pair.
And of course, gotta add a splash of Phillips Hue
to really bring some cool vibes to the entire setup.
Now, in order to get music into the MacBook you need
an interface and Jacobs weapon of choice
for this setup is the Apogee Duet.
Which is really awesome, especially for those looking
to step up their quality but don't really necessarily want
to break the bank.
- I just love how portable it is,
it doesn't require a power supply, it sounds amazing.
I've had the Symphony, I've used the Symphony
for a long time and I think its comparable.
It's amazing how much they packed into such a small device.
- [Jonathan] That is then connected
to these monster audio monitors the Focal Twin6 Be's
which oh my goodness, these things sound amazing.
- I got these because Drake mixes all of his records on them
and helps me (laughs loudly) sound as good as drake.
No, I actually did consider that when buying these monitors
but they're just very accurate,
they give you a very balanced mix coming out of the monitors
so you know exactly what you're hearing.
You don't want the monitors to be too close to you
and also not too close to the wall.
So you want them to be equidistant from the wall
and also equidistant from your two ears.
And the two tweeters which are the little
things at the top.
They should be hitting your ears like this,
when you're really trying to mix things right.
And of course, the most important thing
aside from monitors is having a treated room.
So you want bass traps in the corners
and the thing I didn't do until I moved to Nashville
was I have the cloud straight up above my head
and that's really important because
you don't want the bass to be bouncing off
right on top of your head and coming down
and hyping the bass so you don't mix it properly.
Now, the secret sauce to Jacob and Sita's tracks
besides a ton of talent, is the microphone preamp combos
they use which consist of a FLEA C12.
That is then paired with a D.W. Fearn preamp
which adds a ton of warmth and it just sounds beautiful.
- [Jacob] It basically emulates to the T
what a brand new C12 Telefunken microphone
would sound like from the 1960s but it's much more reliable.
And with those old microphones they all sound different
because there's a different wear and tear on the parts
but this is a brand new, old microphone.
And it just sounds incredible,
the build quality is fantastic.
FLEA microphones, hands down,
I think they're the best microphone company, in my opinion.
And then with that we use the D.W. Fearn Pre
which is just butter.
That with the mike and you just have a beautiful, clear
three-dimensional 2B warm sound
and it's not hyped and you can just
go to town on your plugins and it just sounds amazing.
♪ People don't you know, don't you ♪
♪ Know, don't you know ♪
♪ You gotta move like me, move like me ♪
♪ People don't you know ♪ - So yeah that is some
really pro-level, amazing gear
but what I love about Jacob is his open-mindedness
to create essentially with whatever you have.
Which is really encouraging
for anyone looking to get started.
- Yeah there's really no need for me to have
any outboard gear whatsoever because there's a plugin
for just about any piece of outboard gear
that you can possibly imagine.
With companies like Splice and Noise
the possibilities are limitless.
There are no boundaries for music,
you can create any sound that you hear.
And in the beginning, what I would hear in my head
I couldn't actually translate into a beat
but now I feel like I can actually do that freely.
And because I had to wait for so long,
I appreciate it so much more and I'm so happy for it.
- [Jonathan] So huge thumbs up to Jacob and Sita
for being awesome humans
for letting me hang and putting that TLD splash
on their setup.
And also making awesome music
which you guys can check out on Spotify
and also even use in your own videos through Musicbed
which I will link to down below.
Hopefully you enjoyed the video.
If you did and you want to see more like this
make sure you guys smash that like button.
This is Jonathan and I will catch you guys later.