ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 16,107 
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Post by ericn on Feb 8, 2023 12:52:35 GMT -6
I came to that conclusion as well comparing pricing. I'm toying between a Mac Studio with 64GB RAM and 1TB SSD or wait until next year when Intel release the i9 14th gen using 7nm silicon and full bandwidth DDR5 support and allegedly 24 cores! For the same money, I can get a pro built PC workstation using a 14th gen intel with 24 cores 64GB DDR5 and 5TB of ultra fast internal Samsung nand (M.2) ssd drives. I really like and dislike OSX and Windows 11 in equal measure, so it's not the OS that informs my decisions about a studio workstation. I really think the Mac Studio form factor is great and so space saving, but I'm attracted to the muscle a PC workstation can provide. Mmmh I''m really in two minds about this - both solutions are really attractive for very different reasons. Yeah when I work on Windows I miss OSX, when I work on OSX I sort of miss windows. So I either need to stick with the Intel Mac and Boot Camp or just use the BE powered Radar V /24! |
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M2 pro
Feb 8, 2023 19:35:10 GMT -6
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Post by kcatthedog on Feb 8, 2023 19:35:10 GMT -6
Mac pro vs mini m2pro!  |
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M2 pro
Feb 8, 2023 19:51:07 GMT -6
Post by phantom on Feb 8, 2023 19:51:07 GMT -6
Barry did a great test maxing the new Mac Mini M2 Pro on Pro Tools in 48K and 96K. Both using Rosetta and Native Silicon.
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Post by reddirt on Feb 8, 2023 23:06:12 GMT -6
Yes , I reckon that Pro tools @ 96 k vid is revealing ; if you need more than that then you are either scoring for feature films or into over kill.
Someone asked him if it was noisy and his reply was that he's never heard the fans on any of his silicon machines.
I'm going mini pro, 16 Gig / 1 terra in a few weeks. - There i've said it! Will add a 4 port USB C to 3.0 hub for bits and shits
Cheers, Ross
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M2 pro
Feb 9, 2023 3:43:36 GMT -6
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Post by kcatthedog on Feb 9, 2023 3:43:36 GMT -6
Great choice excellent performance and value, will you spring for the faster chip ?
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M2 pro
Feb 9, 2023 5:10:20 GMT -6
Post by thehightenor on Feb 9, 2023 5:10:20 GMT -6
Barry did a great test maxing the new Mac Mini M2 Pro on Pro Tools in 48K and 96K. Both using Rosetta and Native Silicon. It's an impressive test but .... It's stock plugins, which if they're anything like Cubase run on absolute minimum CPU cycles and there where no VI's (unless I missed something?) If I'm working at the tracking and writing stages then I have Ominsphere, Keyscape, SD3, Kontakt with Spitfire Audio strings and Spitfire Abbey Road 2 and a whole slew of high end high CPU cycle plugins from UAD, Fabfilter, Eventide, Soundtoys, DMG etc etc. At 96KHz in a real world session like that ..... surely that little M2 Pro box is going to fall over? |
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M2 pro
Feb 9, 2023 5:27:28 GMT -6
Post by phantom on Feb 9, 2023 5:27:28 GMT -6
Barry did a great test maxing the new Mac Mini M2 Pro on Pro Tools in 48K and 96K. Both using Rosetta and Native Silicon. It's an impressive test but .... It's stock plugins, which if they're anything like Cubase run on absolute minimum CPU cycles and there where no VI's (unless I missed something?) If I'm working at the tracking and writing stages then I have Ominsphere, Keyscape, SD3, Kontakt with Spitfire Audio strings and Spitfire Abbey Road 2 and a whole slew of high end high CPU cycle plugins from UAD, Fabfilter, Eventide, Soundtoys, DMG etc etc. At 96KHz in a real world session like that ..... surely that little M2 Pro box is going to fall over? Probably. Those plugins aren't absolute minimum CPU, but they are very optimized for Pro Tools. More in the sense that they have predictable responses, they scale progressively on the CPU meter and they don't give Pro Tools spikes. With 3rd party plugins we have to deal with all that. Nonetheless, it's a very good result. Also, it was interesting to see that Native vs Rosetta gives you roughly 25% more power. |
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M2 pro
Feb 9, 2023 5:35:13 GMT -6
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Post by kcatthedog on Feb 9, 2023 5:35:13 GMT -6
I have run 96k here on my m1, with logic and a variety of 3rd party plugs, (don't use many logic plugs) and vi’s, never a problem.
We can make any computer fall over, if you want.
The mini m2 pro would be a fair bit more powerful then my m1.
I’d like to see the session that actually causes an m2pro to fall over: wonder how typical or real world that session would seem: maybe peeps run way more complicated sessions?
I was surprised by the native rosetta apparent difference, never had the sense here that it was anywhere near that significant.
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M2 pro
Feb 9, 2023 6:06:05 GMT -6
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Post by kcatthedog on Feb 9, 2023 6:06:05 GMT -6
Will look forward to logic video and more vi, more real world test. My m1 is working fine but I do find the m2 pro mini appealing! |
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Post by reddirt on Feb 9, 2023 6:42:44 GMT -6
Great choice excellent performance and value, will you spring for the faster chip ? No kcatt - would be a waste of my hard earned ; I could probably get along fine with the non-pro actually but am taking a route where I won't be at all worried that it can't cut it and I can still readily meet the extra cost. Cheers, Ross |
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Post by thehightenor on Feb 9, 2023 6:46:34 GMT -6
Will look forward to logic video and more vi, more real world test. My m1 is working fine but I do find the m2 pro mini appealing! It is amazing to think that little box (which is essentially the size of the original Time Capsule hard drive) can run an entire modern recording set-up. I imagine pairing Mini M2 Pro with the Avid Carbon interface would make a fantastic Pro Tools set up. I could write and do MIDI in Cubase then switch to tracking and mixing in Pro Tools .... it's very, very tempting!! |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2023 6:57:00 GMT -6
I have run 96k here on my m1, with logic and a variety of 3rd party plugs, (don't use many logic plugs) and vi’s, never a problem. I’d like to see the session that actually causes an m2pro to fall over: wonder how typical or real world that session would seem: maybe peeps run way more complicated sessions? I was surprised by the native rosetta apparent difference, never had the sense here that it was anywhere near that significant. Usually it's VI's, IR based verbs or some plugin with massive amounts of oversampling / look ahead that will make a machine cave. I used my works dev machine as a stop gap before I got my new MBP (I did ask them). It's quite a fair bit more powerful than an M1 Ultra and I still managed to make it fall over.
It's not necessarily the multi-core processing power, many modern powerful CPU's are way over the top in those regards. It's single core performance, I know some modern VST's throw voices etc. over different cores but it's not a guarantee. All it takes is a background process to kick in whilst you're overdubbing a VST then it all goes to buffer underun city..
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M2 pro
Feb 9, 2023 7:02:34 GMT -6
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Post by kcatthedog on Feb 9, 2023 7:02:34 GMT -6
@ross, ya, I get the faster chip is faster but seems like overkill, I’d go for first for more ram/ssd too!
If you are a mac audio recording user the sweet spot between an. M2pro/studiom1, if you can get one, is a lot of computing power for the money.
I’m tempted not because my m1 is deficient but cus it has extended apple care plus so easier to sell, gets me bout half way down the new m2pro road.
Yesterday, I finally got some good news about my outstanding federal tax issue, another department had sent the requested documents snd my recalculation is supposed to be completed
next Friday, been negotiating a $17k debt since last March, no fun any reduction is money staying in my pocket. Cus, I owed our Crown $, it also directed another dept to reduce one of my social benefits by $350 monthly, so as a retiree I hsve also bren losing 4 grand a year: fun wow, what’s second prize. It will all work out, but haven't been spending $ on gear for awhile, actually sold stuff to pay back taxes.
When back in black, may reward myself with some new monitors!
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M2 pro
Feb 17, 2023 5:00:47 GMT -6
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Post by kcatthedog on Feb 17, 2023 5:00:47 GMT -6
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M2 pro
Feb 22, 2023 14:25:31 GMT -6
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Post by kcatthedog on Feb 22, 2023 14:25:31 GMT -6
Mark’s videos are worth watching !
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Post by EmRR on Feb 22, 2023 22:34:53 GMT -6
My M1 MBP and Studio both idle at over 20gb RAM. This RAM behaves differently, it also never really spikes high with a lot going on. Choosing 16 would make me nervous. I just closed everything visible except activity monitor and app memory is listed as roughly 12gb.
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M2 pro
Feb 23, 2023 4:06:05 GMT -6
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Post by kcatthedog on Feb 23, 2023 4:06:05 GMT -6
You are using 20 of soc ram always: wow, how: large sample libraries loaded ?
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Post by EmRR on Feb 23, 2023 7:48:52 GMT -6
You are using 20 of soc ram always: wow, how: large sample libraries loaded ? I don’t use samples, VI’s, etc. |
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M2 pro
Feb 23, 2023 8:02:00 GMT -6
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Post by kcatthedog on Feb 23, 2023 8:02:00 GMT -6
Ok, but why is the computer using up 20g of ram, doing what ?
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M2 pro
Feb 23, 2023 8:08:12 GMT -6
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Post by brenta on Feb 23, 2023 8:08:12 GMT -6
My M1 MBP also routinely shows 20GB+ being used, even when I’m not doing much. But at the same time the “memory pressure” reading is very low. My understanding is that the Mac OS preloads a bunch of stuff into the RAM to make it a faster and snappier experience.
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M2 pro
Feb 23, 2023 11:48:05 GMT -6
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Post by kcatthedog on Feb 23, 2023 11:48:05 GMT -6
Ok, so what happens if you don’t have 20 gigs?
I am just curious. My m1 has 16g, never a problem, running my logic sessions.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2023 13:03:15 GMT -6
My M1 MBP and Studio both idle at over 20gb RAM. This RAM behaves differently, it also never really spikes high with a lot going on. Choosing 16 would make me nervous. I just closed everything visible except activity monitor and app memory is listed as roughly 12gb. I would be scared shitless to have anything less than 32 gb. You need to max out the m2 mini ram and get at least a 1 tb internal ssd. On a MacBook, I’d go 2 tb. You have to eat the insane Apple markup My ancient thinkpad laptop has 12 gb and doing smaller sessions in reaper uses 6 or so when playing back small 44.1 khz sessions. I have 128 db of DDR4 in the Desktop and can use 40 gb on larger sessions at 88.2 or 96 khz. No samples or vstis ever. Plugins ranging from ancient Oxford to Tokyo Dawn. Some of these heavy sessions with U-he Satin and tons of modern fx sends really kill the cpu. Dr. Bill’s fx on every track thing would just break down with these. CPU power can only get better. Apple needs to improve single core speed. Of course I would get an maxxed out m2 mini over a mac studio. Newer chip and quieter fans. The guys spending 4-5k on Mac studios could get a top of the line daw built for them that would be way more powerful, user serviceable, and have more storage. There is no good and cheap like m1 mini. M2 mini pimped out is still 2500 dollars. Windows daw build, main savings is going one step down in cpu power to the 13700 that can cooled in a smaller case and use a less powerful powersupply but I’d still get the beefy power supply anyway to run cooler and cleaner. You only save a couple hundred bucks. |
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M2 pro
Feb 23, 2023 14:11:32 GMT -6
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Post by kcatthedog on Feb 23, 2023 14:11:32 GMT -6
The only problem I’ve had with my m1, was due to filling up the hard drive, 256g ssd, 16g soc ram, logic sessions 30 plus tracks, 3 rd party plugs and vi: never seen cpu above 30%, never heard fans, it just gets the job done.
Different horses for different courses, I guess.
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Post by EmRR on Feb 23, 2023 14:29:58 GMT -6
The only problem I’ve had with my m1, was due to filling up the hard drive, 256g ssd, 16g soc ram, logic sessions 30 plus tracks, 3 rd party plugs and vi: never seen cpu above 30%, never heard fans, it just gets the job done. Different horses for different courses, I guess. Close everything and tell us what the RAM usage is after a couple minutes sitting. In my example above, Avid Link and Dropbox were the only things running in the background I could obviously close, and they were maybe 1/2GB. |
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M2 pro
Feb 23, 2023 15:32:04 GMT -6
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Post by kcatthedog on Feb 23, 2023 15:32:04 GMT -6
Sure, thing, interested to know, as I hadn’t thought there would be significant soc ram use at idle!
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