Avid Pro Audio Community

Avid Pro Audio Community

How to Join & Post  •  Community Terms of Use  •  Help Us Help You

Knowledge Base Search  •  Community Search  •  Learn & Support


Avid Home Page

Go Back   Avid Pro Audio Community > Pro Tools Software > macOS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #51  
Old 11-19-2020, 05:59 PM
TimothyJohn TimothyJohn is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Baltimore, United States
Posts: 257
Default Re: 2020 Mac Mini or wait for ARM?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm View Post
You rang?

No money to be "saved" by users upgrading stuff, that cost is already sunk.

I think Apple is killing it so far with their Arm migration. The amount of impressive stuff they were already doing on iPhone and iPad set a great foundation. And the product points they have started this migration in make a lot of sense. Apple is on fire. And Intel has been and is just struggling in so many places and ways.

...

I do wish Avid would act more like a leader not a laggard and get out _any_ roadmap/commitment/guidance. But as I said elsewhere the 16GB limit helps dampen demand right now, which is give Avid more time to sort stuff out and I hope they do try to get ahead of the communications curve here.

But as for the hardware memory is memory and 16GB is just not interesting for many of our workloads where we want to run memory hungry VIs, large disk cache etc. And no being Arm based is not going to make a huge difference here --and if anything the unified graphics memory and Rosetta 2 may increase memory demands, and pixie dust like memory compression... current Macs already do that, and do it very impressively, that's not the answer to more memory either.

And you don't know how well Pro Tools will run for you until you load it up with your sessions and your plugins. The plugins are going to be interesting, lots of smaller companies that will need to port stuff to Arm... to run in an eventual arm version of Pro Tools.. and I do have questions about legacy compatibility issues like ongoing reliance on OpenGL in Pro Tools. And more of a hard barrier initially than plugins is going to be interface drivers.. they do need to be ported to Arm to run at all, for many Pro Tool users that many be the first thing to worry about.

...

I have lots of geek things I'd be curious about in playing with these systems like looking at overhead of Rosetta 2. But maybe I'm glad I don't have one or I'd waste time doing that. As for just running Pro Tools on it as a user... well I'd be curious how it runs but again limited memory would make it less interesting.

For now I'm not getting an Arm box to play with, I've tested out Pro Tools 2020.11 enough on Big Sur to flip my daily driver MBP to Big Sur. I wanted to play with other stuff there, and the old Mojave disk image on that MBP was having bad problems. That 2020.11 runs at all on the M2 based Macs is great. I could see myself upgrading my 2019 MBP no sooner than around the end of 2021. Just no reason to do anything sooner. (the 32GB on that MBP will likely be its undoing, but not for Pro Tools).

...

As for "M1". I'm going to guess that's M for Mac. And I'm expecting "M2" is going to cause lots of confusion with M.2 SSDs.
I found this gentleman on Gearslutz. He is using the M1 Air, 16gb RAM, 2TB Drive. He was running ProTools, and wanted to demonstrate a real session, and then added plugins. He is genuinely impressed. He also has more videos on his facebook page. He mentions that UAD isn't working at all. But his Waves plugins seem to be doing fine. Worth a look, just to see a grown man display childlike surprise and enthusiasm. This video has me considering the Air, as opposed to the Pro. Enjoy!! https://www.facebook.com/wisdomandpo...58072415354983
Reply With Quote
  #52  
Old 11-19-2020, 06:21 PM
musicman691 musicman691 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: The Sopranos State (NJ)
Posts: 19,136
Default Re: 2020 Mac Mini or wait for ARM?

Quote:
Originally Posted by TimothyJohn View Post
I found this gentleman on Gearslutz. He is using the M1 Air, 16gb RAM, 2TB Drive. He was running ProTools, and wanted to demonstrate a real session, and then added plugins. He is genuinely impressed. He also has more videos on his facebook page. He mentions that UAD isn't working at all. But his Waves plugins seem to be doing fine. Worth a look, just to see a grown man display childlike surprise and enthusiasm. This video has me considering the Air, as opposed to the Pro. Enjoy!! https://www.facebook.com/wisdomandpo...58072415354983
Can you post a link for those of us that don't do Fakebook?
__________________
Jack
See profile for system details
iMac dead & retired as of 11/4/17

QAPLA!
Reply With Quote
  #53  
Old 11-19-2020, 06:48 PM
TimothyJohn TimothyJohn is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Baltimore, United States
Posts: 257
Default Re: 2020 Mac Mini or wait for ARM?

Quote:
Originally Posted by musicman691 View Post
Can you post a link for those of us that don't do Fakebook?
It's from his FB page. But here's the Gearslutz page, his is post #157. Maybe you can check his profile? Send him a PM?

Also scroll down to post #163. There's a 15 sec clip of a running session. Check the comments too...

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/new-...20-11-a-6.html

Last edited by TimothyJohn; 11-19-2020 at 06:48 PM. Reason: sp.
Reply With Quote
  #54  
Old 11-20-2020, 05:06 AM
musicman691 musicman691 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: The Sopranos State (NJ)
Posts: 19,136
Default Re: 2020 Mac Mini or wait for ARM?

Quote:
Originally Posted by TimothyJohn View Post
It's from his FB page. But here's the Gearslutz page, his is post #157. Maybe you can check his profile? Send him a PM?

Also scroll down to post #163. There's a 15 sec clip of a running session. Check the comments too...

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/new-...20-11-a-6.html
Thanks for the GS link. For reasons not germane to this discussion I haven't done FB in years because I got tired of their malarkey.
__________________
Jack
See profile for system details
iMac dead & retired as of 11/4/17

QAPLA!
Reply With Quote
  #55  
Old 11-20-2020, 05:04 PM
GoButtonGuy GoButtonGuy is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 120
Default Re: 2020 Mac Mini or wait for ARM?

UA is actively working universal binary Mac software. No Intel only Big Sur yet either.

https://help.uaudio.com/hc/en-us/art...atibility-Info
__________________
What happens in Vegas, we make happen...
Reply With Quote
  #56  
Old 02-02-2021, 07:09 AM
Grey Grey is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 301
Default Re: 2020 Mac Mini or wait for ARM?

Considering a Mac mini also.

Anyone see this article over at PT Expert?

https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/pro...-mac-mini-2018
Reply With Quote
  #57  
Old 02-02-2021, 08:17 AM
musicman691 musicman691 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: The Sopranos State (NJ)
Posts: 19,136
Default Re: 2020 Mac Mini or wait for ARM?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Grey View Post
Considering a Mac mini also.

Anyone see this article over at PT Expert?

https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/pro...-mac-mini-2018
That's NOT a 2020 Mini so has no real consequence here. Also don't understand why the system drive was not in a sata slot (at least that's what I get from the article).
__________________
Jack
See profile for system details
iMac dead & retired as of 11/4/17

QAPLA!
Reply With Quote
  #58  
Old 02-03-2021, 09:45 AM
ArKay99 ArKay99 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Cape Coral, FL
Posts: 810
Default Re: 2020 Mac Mini or wait for ARM?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Obsidian Dragon View Post
I started back in the days of the Apple IIe adding the 64KB Extended 80-Column Card to the 64KB on the base system for a whopping 128KB RAM. Any one still remember notching 5.25" single sided floppy disks to double the capacity by using the flip side? I still remember using a composite RCA video cable to connect to a TV monitor.

Sorry for going off topic. I'd wait to see how the M1 (ARM) processors work for Protools before jumping in. It doesn't take a lot of foresight to see that there should be more powerful processors with more memory planned down the line for pro users.
I had a Franklin, and afterwards a Jackintosh... ;-)
__________________
Mac Pro 6.1, E5-2690 V2 10 core 3.0G, 32gig 1866 memory, 512G PCIe system drive, 4 480G OWC 3G SSD data drives in Thunderbolt 2 enclosure, macOS 10.15.7, Pro Tools Ultimate 2020.9.1, Twin Raven MTi's, Apollo 8 TB, 2 UAD2 Satellite Octo Thunderbolt, RME ADI-4 DD, Neve 5012, 5043, Bricasti M7, 2 PCM 92's, M350, DynAudio BM6 MK 3, BM14S, a bunch of cool mics...1 damned iLok2.
Reply With Quote
  #59  
Old 02-15-2021, 02:41 PM
GoButtonGuy GoButtonGuy is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 120
Default Re: 2020 Mac Mini or wait for ARM?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Grey View Post
Considering a Mac mini also.

Anyone see this article over at PT Expert?

https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/pro...-mac-mini-2018
There was an Intel 2020 Mini released near the beginning of the year but it's a refresh. The change was in configuration not hardware. They gave the base models larger drives. It's still a 2018 Mini. I've got one. I got it at the top of the pandemic to keep in practice while the show was closed. Later into the summer it became a production machine. The new Mini (M1, Late 2020) is Apple Silicon.

If you're interested in an Intel Mini it's a fine Pro Tools system with some limitations. Mine's using native processing, a Waves Sound Grid, on a Dante network using an Allen & Heath console with a USB interface. It's part of a Tricaster video production system. For the streaming gigs I don't get more than 15-20 tracks and most of the plugs are restoration or dialog tools. I haven't tracked more than half a dozen inputs at a time. Most if it is voice and playback. I've loaded it up with some Pure Mix and midi tracks to keep my chops up for when shows return. It starts to stress it at 30-40 tracks loaded with plugs and VIs but no issues with playback or editing.

Depending on what you need a current Intel Mini would work well. An M1 Mini is going to be a while though Logic and Final Cut work natively on them now. Other packages are coming out every week or two. I'm working out of studio that's got an M1 Mini but it hasn't been integrated into the workflow for that reason. Not everything is native and there is no reason to run anything in Rosetta when Intel Macs run them fine now.
__________________
What happens in Vegas, we make happen...
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
New 2020 Macs. Mini or MBP?? Dale144 Pro Tools 2020 22 06-20-2021 09:44 PM
Mbox 2 Mini 2 on Win10 in 2020 GraphicJon 003, Mbox 2, Digi 002, original Mbox, Digi 001 (Win) 6 05-05-2021 06:15 AM
Will Pro Tools 2020 run on Mac Mini 6,2 Sadie Tango Pro Tools 2020 1 10-28-2020 07:59 PM
2020 Mac Mini for Film/TV Sound Post? Mosandi Post - Surround - Video 9 10-19-2020 09:13 AM
Pro Tools 2020.5 won't launch on Mac mini mac90501 Pro Tools 2020 27 09-12-2020 08:28 PM


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 02:21 AM.


Powered by: vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Limited. Forum Hosted By: URLJet.com