Need more power/speed

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by JoeLouis

Is it worth the effort to buy an Apple Silicon Mac?
Would the most basic be enough? What would I need to change?
Apple M1 Max with 10-core CPU, 24-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
32GB unified memory 512GB SSD storage
As interface is it OK Focusrite Scarlett 616?
Thanks again for your valuable help.

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/m...duct-MJMV3LL/A

I don't think any of us can say for sure if it's worth your effort.

The M1 Mac Studio are very nice computers. In many ways the whole Studio range is really nice for many serious Pro Tools users. You will need to provide a display/monitor to use with it. Unlike your iMac you cannot upgrade memory on the Mac Studio so I'd err on the side of maxing out memory as much as I could afford. The internal pluggable SSDs might end up being upgradeable from third parties but today they are not, so again I'd err on maxing out whatever I can afford there, and planning on putting all sessions and samples etc. on the internal drive if they will fit/I can afford that Apple SSD tax (you can add external drives, but there is nothing faster you can add than that blindingly fast internal PCIe/NVMe SSD Apple is using).

But I want to separate what problems you are trying to solve vs. upgrading. e.g. if you are not actually having CPU errors and the thought was you just needed to get off of the i5 because it was not recommended then jumping to a Mac Studio right now might not be needed.

What is the right idea for you is hard for others to say. We don't have the full info on what problem you have and we don't know your budget etc. I would be leaning towards upgrading if you had Pro Tools CPU errors and had tried a little troubleshooting. And I'd sure be leaning towards upgrading to Apple silicon vs. you trying to replace the CPU in your iMac. In that case you might want to try to sell the iMac afterwards. Or it could well be you sort out a few things and the iMac lasts you for another year or two.. .and in the meantime Apple will have bumped up their Apple silicon systems again. Apple are clearly currently fighting supply chain issues, being creative with their products, like why the Mac Studio is still on M1 processors, why the apple silicon Mac Pro did not get launched when expected, why the M2 Mac Air overlaps so much with the 13" MacBook Pro etc. etc. And yet the mac Studios are just very nice, if you have the money burning a hole in your pocket now it might be a great purchase.

[JoeLouis]

Thanks so much Brad. Then you think the basic M1 could be enough for me?

[JoeLouis]

Thanks Carl I understood. What do you think I have to work with, 24 bits or 32 bits? Thanks

[JoeLouis]

Thanks so much to everyone.
I'm sorry to bother you. As I told you technical issues are so hard to me. Your recommendations are very valuable to me. I really appreciate them a lot though I am still trying to understand some of your posts.
- I got update PT to 2022.10
- I understand my confusion about 64 bits and 24 bits. And I think that is better for me stay in 24 bit instead to go to 32 bits.
- About VST, AAX can serve me in a similar way?
- Take a look at this and give me your recommendations please.
- PT Playback Engine.pdf
- Finally, some of you recommend me to stay in my current setup (iMac). Others think that it may be better for me to switch to M1 Max.
I'm a little more excited to go with the M1 thinking about what the near future is. In this case, the basic version would be enough? (10-core CPU, 24-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine 32GB unified memory 512GB SSD storage). And what type of monitor would be fine? (not very expensive) (Can I use my 27" iMac display)?
Thanks again. God bless you!

[Ben Jenssen]

Originally Posted by JoeLouis

Thanks so much to everyone.
I'm sorry to bother you. As I told you technical issues are so hard to me. Your recommendations are very valuable to me. I really appreciate them a lot though I am still trying to understand some of your posts.
- I got update PT to 2022.10
- I understand my confusion about 64 bits and 24 bits. And I think that is better for me stay in 24 bit instead to go to 32 bits.
- About VST, AAX can serve me in a similar way?
- Take a look at this and give me your recommendations please.
- Attachment 16711
- Finally, some of you recommend me to stay in my current setup (iMac). Others think that it may be better for me to switch to M1 Max.
I'm a little more excited to go with the M1 thinking about what the near future is. In this case, the basic version would be enough? (10-core CPU, 24-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine 32GB unified memory 512GB SSD storage). And what type of monitor would be fine? (not very expensive) (Can I use my 27" iMac display)?
Thanks again. God bless you!

In short:

Session bit depth, 24 or 32 floating point?
Forget about it. We made perfectly good stuff in 16 bits some years ago. Go with 24, no point doing 32 unless you're into something scientific. You're not losing anything with 24.

VST, VST3, AU (Apple only), and AAX are plugin formats. Some DAWs use one or more, Pro Tools uses AAX only. The plugins themselves behave the same, it's only the programming format. Just check before buying a plugin that it is available in AAX format if you plan to use it in PT. Most plugins come in all formats.

Your attached file shows your playback engine settings, and nothing wrong there. Your H/W buffer size is big and that's OK, but it will create latency, delay, if you're recording and listening to what's being recorded. To avoid that, bring it down to 64 or 128 if your pc can handle it. If you're not recording, 1024 is fine. (Read about this in the Reference Guide.)

Mac upgrade? It's a big topic.
All I can say is the M1 Mini in my signature is mighty fine.

[JoeLouis]

Thanks so much Ben
Just to be sure
- Is M1 basic enough for me? (I really work just with PT and I don't use heavy sessions)
(Apple M1 Max with 10-core CPU, 24-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine 32GB unified memory 512GB SSD storage)
Maybe more memory?
- Any recommendations for the monitor?
That's it. Thanks

[Ben Jenssen]

Originally Posted by JoeLouis

various clarinets, trumpets, flutes, plucky stringy thingies
What plug in?

You'd better create a new thread for this in the 'Plugins' category, that's the rules.

Originally Posted by JoeLouis

Thanks so much Ben
Just to be sure
- Is M1 basic enough for me? (I really work just with PT and I don't use heavy sessions)
(Apple M1 Max with 10-core CPU, 24-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine 32GB unified memory 512GB SSD storage)
- Any recommendations for the monitor?
That's it. Thanks

Which mac model are you thinking of? There is no mac mini with M1 max, only laptops and imac.

Any way, no question about it, it will be multiple times faster than your i5 imac, with those specs.

You say "M1 basic", that's what I have, and it is much more powerful than my 2018 i7 mac mini. And half the price of macs with M1 Max processors.

[JoeLouis]

Got it. Thanks one more time Ben. Happy Holidays!

[bradch00]

Originally Posted by JoeLouis

Thanks so much Brad. Then you think the basic M1 could be enough for me?

I think the basic Mac Studio would be fine for you, if you're not really running into memory issues with your current system and just want to upgrade to Apple Silicon technology. If it were me, I would want to upgrade the internal drive to 1TB. That being said there's lots of options for external M.2 storage that are quite fast if you wanted to expand that way instead.
Here's an article on configuring an iMac as a display using target mode, however I believe this is not an option anymore as Apple has dropped support for target mode.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204592