2020 Mac Mini for Film/TV Sound Post?

[Mosandi]

Hey All!

Computer upgrade question for you!

My current home iMac (27-inch Late 2015 Quad-Core 4Ghz i7, 32 GB RAM) is starting to show signs of aging, I'm getting the dreaded CPU spikes that leave my system on it's knees and unable to do - well - anything. For the life of me I can't figure out what's wrong, believe me, I've tried everything, and it might just be time for a new machine. I'm wasting hours troubleshooting, and I never know when the issue is going to pop up. Not sustainable any more.

The iMac drives my home 7.1 sound suite in which I frequently edit AND mix. I'm looking for a replacement now that doesn't break the bank, but will be at least as powerful, if not more powerful, than my current iMac.

Has anyone had any luck with the 2020 Mac Mini for Post Production TV/Film sound? I work on a few Network TV shows, and a bunch of Indie films through the course of the year. My typical mixing templates can go to around 300/350 tracks, so I need a machine that can handle a high track count, maxed out voices (384, maybe more if I add voice packs in the future), and lots of reverbs and delays on sends, etc.. etc.. Ideally it would be able to handle Atmos as well. I read the Pro Tools Expert article about substituting a 2009 Cheese Grater with a 2020 Mac Mini, and I'm wondering if I might find a similar boost in performance compared to my current iMac.

Basically I'd max out the new Mac Mini, but I'd get it with only 8GB of RAM install my own OWC Ram in an effort to save some dough.

In terms of peripherals, I'm running an Emotiva XMC-1 as my audio output, which is fed via HDMI out from my iMac. I think this workflow would stay exactly the same with the Mac Mini. Focusrite 18i20 Scarlett for when I need to record stuff. One HDMI monitor, might add a second since I'll be losing a screen when I get rid of the iMac. An Avid Dock and an Artist Mix. Lots of external drives. Nothing too crazy, but it's also not a simple setup either. Obviously the Mac Mini would have to drive all of this. An additional USB Hub is probably a must-get if I went this route.

What do you all think? Am I going to see performance gains? Will it at least be the same, but hopefully without the crazy CPU spikes because it, you know, a new computer?

Thanks in advance, everyone!

-Isaac Derfel

[LDS]

I think it is a bit ambiguous for a Mac Mini. They are powerful machines, and will probably be a noticeable improvement against your iMac, but as the Pro Tools Expert article points out, they fall a bit short against the higher end Mac Pros of the last decade as a result of their thermal constraints. The Mac mini only did 80% of what the decade old Mac Pro did in their tests, and it did it running temperatures 25+ degrees higher, and with fans spinning 5 or 6 times faster.

If you are planning on rolling Dolby Atmos Production or Mastering Suite in on the same system, I think you'll be in strife with sessions that big. DAPS and DAMS can easily chew up 25-45% of the CPU on my 2013 10-core Mac Pro. On the 12-core 2019 Mac Pro I am working on now, it is using 26% of the CPU.

[Ben Jenssen]

I've not the time to go into details, but beware that recent mac minis have serious issues with bluetooth range/performance. Once I googled, I found that people are discussing it all over the web, and after weeks and months of research and experiments I have yet to find a real solution. I get acceptable functionality by using as few of the ports as I can.

[quadraphonics]

I find myself in a similar situation as the OP. I have an old iMac that I am replacing at home. At work we are on monster Mac Pros, but that is really doesn't make sense for what I do at home. What would be a suitable replacement for the OP and myself?

Randall

Originally Posted by Ben Jenssen

I've not the time to go into details, but beware that recent mac minis have serious issues with bluetooth range/performance. Once I googled, I found that people are discussing it all over the web, and after weeks and months of research and experiments I have yet to find a real solution. I get acceptable functionality by using as few of the ports as I can.

[smurfyou]

I had the same question a while back and got some replies from other users:

http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=408248

Since then I've been pretty happily using mine. I've only done one feature but a lot of short form work and it has chugged along. Sessions that ran at 75% on my old 12-core Mac Pro cheesegrater run at 30% on the Mini.

It does run hot. I was considering a Sonnet rack enclosure to put it in but I worry about the heat. It uses it's case as a heat sink since there isn't much room for airflow inside. I keep an eye on temps and it is usually 75-85C while working and up to 93 when bouncing. So much hotter than we're used to but within Apple and Intel's parameters for what it's worth.

I keep Bluetooth and Wifi turned off so I can't comment on that. The main drag is all the damn cables and hubs for external doodads.

[Norad155]

Top Spec mac mini with 3rd party 64gb ram kit runs about $1500 USD and it's the best bang for your buck in the mac world. Have been using mine hard for 18 months with no issues doing large Film and TV session.

[Ben Jenssen]

Originally Posted by quadraphonics

I find myself in a similar situation as the OP. I have an old iMac that I am replacing at home. At work we are on monster Mac Pros, but that is really doesn't make sense for what I do at home. What would be a suitable replacement for the OP and myself?
Randall

Like Norad115 said; the minis are the most mac bang for the buck ever. I agree with that.

Two things to consider; The bluetooth problems, which can be easily solved by not using it, and another; the lack of a dedicated graphics processor. I'm certainly no expert, but as I understand it the minis use main processor to do the job.
I have no problems with my two monitors and PT, but working in Adobe Lightroom, there is definitely poor performance scrolling lots of image files. And I have a pretty low resolution on those displays.

What's the right choice for you, only you can tell.

25 page thread over at macrumors.com about bluetooth problems on 2018 mac minis (I read most of it):
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads...ssues.2157086/

My thread over there, with details on my bluetooth problems:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads...#post-28940811

[ChrisMac]

Ive been using one at my home studio for about a year now. Beats my trash can in my mix room hands down. Handles all of my episodic work and features without a hiccup, 32gig ram and the 6 core i7

[Ayush Ahuja]

Using a top spec Mac mini 2018, on feature and episodic work, running Dolby Atmos Production Suite. I have offloaded Video Playback duties via videoslave to my good old Mac mini i7 server and have just added an eGPU to the Mac mini 2018 which does help PT when on heavier sessions.

[pablovius]

Ayush, I am wondering if your eGPU setup has helped mitigate the Mini fan noise. Otherwise, I have the same rig which I'm very pleased with it's performance -- but the fan noise is a problem.