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Post by sirthought on Jun 7, 2023 19:47:24 GMT -6
Apple seems to have no plans to bring back the 27" iMac, which is what I used to use.
If you bought an Apple Studio Display and combine it with a Mac Mini you'd basically have a modern iMac, but you could use the display for much longer when the computer is upgraded. This actually seems reasonable. Fancy camera on there for face time. There's a silicon chip powering the display that can help with spacial audio. Three mic array and six speakers. And because the display has multiple USB/Thunderbolt ports, you don't miss as much with the Mini having fewer ports than the Mac Studio.
And Amazon currently has the 27" 5K Retina Studio Display for $1349, which is a couple hundred less than Apple's site, and way cheaper than Sweetwater. Get a Mini M2 Pro for $1175. $2524 for your new fangled iMac.
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Jun 7, 2023 19:55:30 GMT -6
Everyone needs to thank their phone and tablet for Apples amazing discovery that they could use memory more efficiently. The DNA of the IPad and iPhone M series chips is what lead to this, you can’t fit a gig of ram in a small phone.
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Post by gmichael on Jun 7, 2023 20:01:58 GMT -6
Apple seems to have no plans to bring back the 27" iMac, which is what I used to use. If you bought an Apple Studio Display and combine it with a Mac Mini you'd basically have a modern iMac, but you could use the display for much longer when the computer is upgraded. This actually seems reasonable. Fancy camera on there for face time. There's a silicon chip powering the display that can help with spacial audio. Three mic array and six speakers. And because the display has multiple USB/Thunderbolt ports, you don't miss as much with the Mini having fewer ports than the Mac Studio. And Amazon currently has the 27" 5K Retina Studio Display for $1349, which is a couple hundred less than Apple's site, and way cheaper than Sweetwater. Get a Mini M2 Pro for $1175. $2524 for your new fangled iMac. I really like the way you think! Thanks Sir! |
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Post by ericn on Jun 7, 2023 20:07:03 GMT -6
Apple seems to have no plans to bring back the 27" iMac, which is what I used to use. If you bought an Apple Studio Display and combine it with a Mac Mini you'd basically have a modern iMac, but you could use the display for much longer when the computer is upgraded. This actually seems reasonable. Fancy camera on there for face time. There's a silicon chip powering the display that can help with spacial audio. Three mic array and six speakers. And because the display has multiple USB/Thunderbolt ports, you don't miss as much with the Mini having fewer ports than the Mac Studio. And Amazon currently has the 27" 5K Retina Studio Display for $1349, which is a couple hundred less than Apple's site, and way cheaper than Sweetwater. Get a Mini M2 Pro for $1175. $2524 for your new fangled iMac. I really like the way you think! Thanks Sir! Let’s not forget the fact that remote mounting the Mini can really de- tangle your desktop top. I know video guys who love how much cleaner a Mini based desktop can be. |
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Post by the other mark williams on Jun 7, 2023 20:36:03 GMT -6
I need to buy a new machine for my wife. Probably looking at the Mac Studio M2 Max with 38 GPU cores, upgrade to 64GB RAM, upgrade to 1TB system drive. And a Studio Display. And then I need to buy myself a new machine, too. Wifey needs some muscle! What's she working on? Full time photographer and videographer/filmmaker. Though I do all the grading, so I actually need an even more powerful machine than she does. With her current Intel iMac, I have to transcode proxies for some of the footage I shoot with one of my cameras. With a new machine, I won’t have to make proxies anymore, so a nice timesaver for me. Last weekend, I was working on a two hour long play that I had filmed about a month prior. It took well over an hour to render everything each time I needed to do a new export. Which I had to do three times. Ughhhh. I need a new machine, too. I’ll note, however, that if I were only doing audio, my M1 Mini would still be totally fine. It’s the GPU that’s killing me. |
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Post by the other mark williams on Jun 7, 2023 20:44:32 GMT -6
Wifey needs some muscle! What's she working on? She’s analyzing Mark’s roi on equipment purchases!  Oh lordy, I hope not! I just bought a Zeiss Otus 28mm f1.4 today and haven’t told her yet. I’m not sure I had any business getting it, but I found out this morning that Zeiss is about to announce they’re entirely exiting the photographic market, so they won’t be making any more camera lenses. And the Otus line is their crowning achievement - the best lenses they’ve ever made. I found a killer deal on a used 28mm and just couldn’t pass it up. I’ll tell her eventually, and she’ll actually be glad I got it. I just have to find the most opportune time. |
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Post by ericn on Jun 7, 2023 21:01:11 GMT -6
She’s analyzing Mark’s roi on equipment purchases! Oh lordy, I hope not! I just bought a Zeiss Otus 28mm f1.4 today and haven’t told her yet. I’m not sure I had any business getting it, but I found out this morning that Zeiss is about to announce they’re entirely exiting the photographic market, so they won’t be making any more camera lenses. And the Otus line is their crowning achievement - the best lenses they’ve ever made. I found a killer deal on a used 28mm and just couldn’t pass it up. I’ll tell her eventually, and she’ll actually be glad I got it. I just have to find the most opportune time. On that Note; a friend was just over and was admiring the Revox A77 he kept saying “ I can’t believe you have a reel to reel!” As I walked him to the elevators I had to tell him “ No I own 4 tape machines 3 are in storage, not sure how many the wife knows about!” |
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Post by the other mark williams on Jun 7, 2023 22:05:36 GMT -6
Oh lordy, I hope not! I just bought a Zeiss Otus 28mm f1.4 today and haven’t told her yet. I’m not sure I had any business getting it, but I found out this morning that Zeiss is about to announce they’re entirely exiting the photographic market, so they won’t be making any more camera lenses. And the Otus line is their crowning achievement - the best lenses they’ve ever made. I found a killer deal on a used 28mm and just couldn’t pass it up. I’ll tell her eventually, and she’ll actually be glad I got it. I just have to find the most opportune time. On that Note; a friend was just over and was admiring the Revox A77 he kept saying “ I can’t believe you have a reel to reel!” As I walked him to the elevators I had to tell him “ No I own 4 tape machines 3 are in storage, not sure how many the wife knows about!” I love it, Eric! |
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Post by plinker on Jun 7, 2023 22:07:55 GMT -6
I’ll tell her eventually, and she’ll actually be glad I got it. I just have to find the most opportune time. Sure she will...of course, she will...Now, you just rest and don't worry about a thing...  |
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Post by the other mark williams on Jun 7, 2023 22:12:17 GMT -6
I’ll tell her eventually, and she’ll actually be glad I got it. I just have to find the most opportune time. Sure she will...of course, she will...Now, you just rest and don't worry about a thing... View AttachmentHahaha! She’ll end up fighting me to use the lens herself, actually. She loves the images she’s seen from the Otus line. I told her about Zeiss stopping all production of camera lenses this morning via text, and she immediately texted back and said “oh my gosh! What do you want to do?” |
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Post by recordingengineer on Jun 7, 2023 23:52:15 GMT -6
I have a 2013 Intel iMac (bought new in 2015) that’s been pretty-much completely unusable the past couple of years (due to all the OS processes always going-on in the background, even just sitting there, using pretty-much all the CPU power) and was extremely-slow the couple of years before that. If I’m lucky, I can edit in PT a bit; sometimes not.
I’ve been waiting the last couple years for the suspected new iMac release, but after so many “should be soon” and the lastest “possibly not until end of 2024”, I probably should just bite the bullet. I’ve thought just the 16” laptop, but I don’t need a laptop. I’d imagine I’ll be spending $3-$4k for something?
This is for my home computer where I do PT editing and occasional (not much at all) in-the-box mixing. Obviously, I don’t replace my computer very often. Would be nice to get into a little video-editing. Don’t know if I have time to get into that though… Maybe my kids will. I’m sure one of them would love to put Windows on it to play video games. I know absolutely nothing about that.
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Post by the other mark williams on Jun 8, 2023 6:41:13 GMT -6
I have a 2013 Intel iMac (bought new in 2015) that’s been pretty-much completely unusable the past couple of years (due to all the OS processes always going-on in the background, even just sitting there, using pretty-much all the CPU power) and was extremely-slow the couple of years before that. If I’m lucky, I can edit in PT a bit; sometimes not. I’ve been waiting the last couple years for the suspected new iMac release, but after so many “should be soon” and the lastest “possibly not until end of 2024”, I probably should just bite the bullet. I’ve thought just the 16” laptop, but I don’t need a laptop. I’d imagine I’ll be spending $3-$4k for something? This is for my home computer where I do PT editing and occasional (not much at all) in-the-box mixing. Obviously, I don’t replace my computer very often. Would be nice to get into a little video-editing. Don’t know if I have time to get into that though… Maybe my kids will. I’m sure one of them would love to put Windows on it to play video games. I know absolutely nothing about that. The regular Mac Mini is a great machine for what you're describing, and quite affordable. I use it for video (and audio) editing most days of the week. Even though I’m planning to upgrade ASAP, it’s only because of my video editing needs. |
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Jun 8, 2023 9:16:20 GMT -6
I have a 2013 Intel iMac (bought new in 2015) that’s been pretty-much completely unusable the past couple of years (due to all the OS processes always going-on in the background, even just sitting there, using pretty-much all the CPU power) and was extremely-slow the couple of years before that. If I’m lucky, I can edit in PT a bit; sometimes not. I’ve been waiting the last couple years for the suspected new iMac release, but after so many “should be soon” and the lastest “possibly not until end of 2024”, I probably should just bite the bullet. I’ve thought just the 16” laptop, but I don’t need a laptop. I’d imagine I’ll be spending $3-$4k for something? This is for my home computer where I do PT editing and occasional (not much at all) in-the-box mixing. Obviously, I don’t replace my computer very often. Would be nice to get into a little video-editing. Don’t know if I have time to get into that though… Maybe my kids will. I’m sure one of them would love to put Windows on it to play video games. I know absolutely nothing about that. The regular Mac Mini is a great machine for what you're describing, and quite affordable. I use it for video (and audio) editing most days of the week. Even though I’m planning to upgrade ASAP, it’s only because of my video editing needs. Yeah video is really the Acid test of computer power, all those pixels. |
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Post by recordingengineer on Jun 8, 2023 10:37:52 GMT -6
Thanks guys. For the little bit I do at home, I’m sure you’re right… I just want to make sure it’s enough for years to come since I only upgrade every 7-10 years.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2023 11:09:43 GMT -6
I have a 2013 Intel iMac (bought new in 2015) that’s been pretty-much completely unusable the past couple of years (due to all the OS processes always going-on in the background, even just sitting there, using pretty-much all the CPU power) and was extremely-slow the couple of years before that. If I’m lucky, I can edit in PT a bit; sometimes not. I’ve been waiting the last couple years for the suspected new iMac release, but after so many “should be soon” and the lastest “possibly not until end of 2024”, I probably should just bite the bullet. I’ve thought just the 16” laptop, but I don’t need a laptop. I’d imagine I’ll be spending $3-$4k for something? This is for my home computer where I do PT editing and occasional (not much at all) in-the-box mixing. Obviously, I don’t replace my computer very often. Would be nice to get into a little video-editing. Don’t know if I have time to get into that though… Maybe my kids will. I’m sure one of them would love to put Windows on it to play video games. I know absolutely nothing about that. Get rid of slow tools on that thing. Use ancient plugs, older os versions, modern plugins that support them, and accept the sound quality or lack of it. Use efficient daws. Reaper can run on a toaster. Sonnox Oxford Elite, McDSP older versions not weighted down by pretty guis and drm, and Waves Renaissance are from the 90s and early 2000s. A 2013 computer is overkill for them. Be creative. Use the internet or contact developers to get older installers. At worst AV Linux on it and use Reaper and U-he plugins. Protoverb isn’t that bad. Presswerk is pretty good and you can definitely run an instance of Satin on the two bus or freeze it on everything like I used to do on my 2014 laptop. |
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Post by recordingengineer on Jun 8, 2023 11:32:09 GMT -6
Thanks, but it runs out of CPU (PT stops playing and throws an error) without even a single plugin and only a couple tracks. My wife won’t even browse the internet with it, it’s that slow! I’m sure if I wiped it and somehow put an old OS on it, it’d be fine, but I at least need to be able to take PT sessions back and forth between the home computer and studio without a single step. It’s far past time for a new one.
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Post by ericn on Jun 8, 2023 11:44:59 GMT -6
Thanks, but it runs out of CPU (PT stops playing and throws an error) without even a single plugin and only a couple tracks. My wife won’t even browse the internet with it, it’s that slow! I’m sure if I wiped it and somehow put an old OS on it, it’d be fine, but I at least need to be able to take PT sessions back and forth between the home computer and studio without a single step. It’s far past time for a new one. Yeah, it’s time to retire that machine! |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2023 12:54:44 GMT -6
Thanks, but it runs out of CPU (PT stops playing and throws an error) without even a single plugin and only a couple tracks. My wife won’t even browse the internet with it, it’s that slow! I’m sure if I wiped it and somehow put an old OS on it, it’d be fine, but I at least need to be able to take PT sessions back and forth between the home computer and studio without a single step. It’s far past time for a new one. Don’t trash it. Put av Linux and reaper on it, get some generic driver interface like the Neve 88m, get some Uhe plugs to use with the stock ones, and dragonfly reverb. Render out tracks and stems between work and home. It’s pretty easy man. I used to write down plugin and hardware settings in a composition book but now you can just render and have usb drives. You can also use an old version of OS X if you want to use some older ilok plugs but it won’t be as secure online. It’s a perfectly serviceable machine. If guys can make hits on Alesis and Tascam hardware, you can do serious work with a 2013 computer. I did earlier mixes of what I am working on now (recorded in 2015) with the old variety of sound and Sonnox Oxford plugins. The main difference was a browner and grittier timbre and harder transients vs what I am using now but it was still serviceable and more flexible than the live sound and prosumer gear that 90s artists used to become legends. Nobody monitoring off of junk or listening in a car or on Bluetooth ear buds used to modern digital pop really would care. |
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Post by drsax on Jun 8, 2023 16:11:53 GMT -6
I’ve read most of this thread, and was on PC for the last 25 years. Just switched to the new M1 Mac Studio ultra, and also the new M2 MacBook Pro as my back up computer. Both have 64 gigs of RAM. These computers are absolutely incredible. if you’re just doing audio, they are overkill, but for virtual instruments, these things pay off in spades. Absolutely incredible, they run very cool, I’ve not heard the fan once on either computer. They have been completely solid, and the performance is staggering. I can even do video capture on the same computer while I am running Cubase with low latency, and fairly intensive virtual instruments like keyscape, Omnisphere, and others. To get into the higher end with 64 gigs or more, the price point is definitely high. And you will spend money on external drives or upgrading the internal drive, but it has been one of the best investments I ever made in my studio and I didn’t realize how much power and speed I was missing on my previous pc setup until I used these computers.
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Post by lowlou on Jun 8, 2023 16:26:00 GMT -6
Buy incredible windows 11 workstation at scan pro audio dot com, you'll thank me later. The Intel I9 13900k is a beast. Amd is good too.
yooops and here I leave. I'm gone. can't hear you. Nor can you throw rotten apples at me.
ps : actually just do what you want. The latest macs look super solid. I just find the latest CPU generation from Intel and AMD very good. It's getting better all across the board.
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Post by thehightenor on Jun 8, 2023 17:02:07 GMT -6
Thanks guys. For the little bit I do at home, I’m sure you’re right… I just want to make sure it’s enough for years to come since I only upgrade every 7-10 years. Snap. Same here. I spend a decent amount once every 7 to 10 years. My current pc is a shade under 9 years old, and I’m about to invest in a new system, not sure which Mac or PC, |
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Post by thehightenor on Jun 8, 2023 17:10:02 GMT -6
I’ve read most of this thread, and was on PC for the last 25 years. Just switched to the new M1 Mac Studio ultra, and also the new M2 MacBook Pro as my back up computer. Both have 64 gigs of RAM. These computers are absolutely incredible. if you’re just doing audio, they are overkill, but for virtual instruments, these things pay off in spades. Absolutely incredible, they run very cool, I’ve not heard the fan once on either computer. They have been completely solid, and the performance is staggering. I can even do video capture on the same computer while I am running Cubase with low latency, and fairly intensive virtual instruments like keyscape, Omnisphere, and others. To get into the higher end with 64 gigs or more, the price point is definitely high. And you will spend money on external drives or upgrading the internal drive, but it has been one of the best investments I ever made in my studio and I didn’t realize how much power and speed I was missing on my previous pc setup until I used these computers. I hear you, but those Scan 3XS pro built workstation with 64gb ram, 24 core i9 13th gen workstations are also crazy powerful. For the same money as a Mac Studio Ultra with similar specs I can also get 10TB of SSD’s inc. There’s a lot to consider. I’m currently torn between a Max M2 Ultra and external drives or a Windows Scan 3XS system with 5 internal SSD’s. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2023 17:14:57 GMT -6
I’ve read most of this thread, and was on PC for the last 25 years. Just switched to the new M1 Mac Studio ultra, and also the new M2 MacBook Pro as my back up computer. Both have 64 gigs of RAM. These computers are absolutely incredible. if you’re just doing audio, they are overkill, but for virtual instruments, these things pay off in spades. Absolutely incredible, they run very cool, I’ve not heard the fan once on either computer. They have been completely solid, and the performance is staggering. I can even do video capture on the same computer while I am running Cubase with low latency, and fairly intensive virtual instruments like keyscape, Omnisphere, and others. To get into the higher end with 64 gigs or more, the price point is definitely high. And you will spend money on external drives or upgrading the internal drive, but it has been one of the best investments I ever made in my studio and I didn’t realize how much power and speed I was missing on my previous pc setup until I used these computers. I hear you, but those Scan 3XS pro built workstation with 64gb ram, 24 core i9 13th gen workstations are also crazy powerful. For the same money as a Mac Studio Ultra with similar specs I can also get 10TB of SSD’s inc. There’s a lot to consider. I’m currently torn between a Max M2 Ultra and external drives or a Windows Scan 3XS system with 5 internal SSD’s. 12900k daw builder built pc here. 2x 1 tb m2 drives as work disks. Windows and executables on another 1 tb ssd. Hard drives for backup, one for audio file storage and playback. I need a windows pc for other intensive things not gaming and the non removable storage in a Mac mini is a buzz kill. The Mac studio and Mac Pro are now focused on video. For audio… you only the gain the ability to run the lowest latency rme and Lynx pcie interface cards. Dante pcie cards dried up. And unnecessary avid and UAD dsp cards. There’s a new dante pcie coming out soon. Supposedly. That could be cool but isn’t worth a Mac Pro’s price increase. You know windows PCs will make it look stupid in a short while and Apple will have it on the market for far too long. |
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Post by sirthought on Jun 9, 2023 1:02:01 GMT -6
Even with advances in the chipsets on the PC side. I haven't heard anyone brag about them being silent the way the silicon chips are in the new gen Macs. Speed is great and I'm confident they'd perform well. But to work with audio and not have to hear a fan, ever, is really a step in the right direction. If there's something else out there with that, then go for it.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2023 1:33:49 GMT -6
Even with advances in the chipsets on the PC side. I haven't heard anyone brag about them being silent the way the silicon chips are in the new gen Macs. Speed is great and I'm confident they'd perform well. But to work with audio and not have to hear a fan, ever, is really a step in the right direction. If there's something else out there with that, then go for it. Noctuas are quieter than what's in Macs. The only reason the Mac Mini doesn't make a lot of noise because their cpus are massively underpowered for a desktop computer. The Mac Studios use more watts and make more noise. PC BIOS let you control the fan speed versus the temperature thus the noise. |
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