New M2 Macs Out Today

[685]

Originally Posted by noiseboyuk

That's the thing - there aren't any good alternatives to Clarity VX.

My CPU is an overclocked 7820X - not cutting edge admittedly. I do all my music VI work in Cubase, and am typically on a 256 buffer working with VE Pro and a very large template. That's sometimes not enough and I have to go to 512 when there's a lot of thirsty VIs too. But you know, I get by playing stuff in, I can live with the latency.

For mixing with Clarity, it's only 1024 that makes it stable (there is a new lighter algorithm but it's not very good). And it doesn't actually matter at all with a buffer size that high when mixing.

Anyway, just pointing out that for many of us, a 64 buffer is wildly unrealistic.

I completely understand where you are coming from, I truly do, but on in my world I could never recorded anything with the buffer higher than 128(native systems). Even in the pre-production stages and especially with more experienced musicians and/or artists. It would kill their vibe and that's not something you want to happen, ever. I did get a chance to play with that Waves Clarity again and it's cool. It's one of those noise reduction units I would only use as an audiosuite plugin like I do with the Izotope RX units. I normally dub the playlist and then process the audio so if I need to go back to the original audio file I can get to it quickly.

After the session I had some free time so I created a new 64 track test session then inserted Clarity on each of the tracks. It would not play at all. I could only enable 5 tracks (yes only five) before Protools would playback without errors. Buffer at 64 on 2022.12 Ultimate. If I enabled the sixth track with Clarity I would get a CPU error and it didn't matter what buffer setting I selected. Apple's Activity Monitor showed 144% for Protools CPU usage. How many can you insert and get playback without errors on your computer?

Now...I opened that same session in 2022.12 Silicon Beta, enable all 64 tracks, and got playback without any errors at all. I also created similar sessions in UA Luna and Logic Pro and both programs were able to playback all 64 tracks with Clarity inserted without errors. (Shrug).
Overall, I feel the newer computers (like the M1 or M2) can just do more at lower buffers settings and that's a beautiful thing. I hope that the reviewers could try using lower buffers when benchmarking these new systems. Show us what those CPUs are really made of LOL. It's pretty well known that you can mix at higher buffer settings.

[JFreak]

It depends on your interface roundtrip latency, but even 002R from 2002 is fine with 256 buffer (and unusable at 512 buffer).

[noiseboyuk]

685 - that’s great that Clarity plays back like that on Silicon.

I just did a TV series with Clarity, grouped all the mics recorded in a fairly noisy environment into a single instance and automated the amount as required. Saved about 3-4 hours of graft per show I reckon.

[685]

Originally Posted by DontLetMeDrown

People who mix use a higher buffer. Plugins like Soothe2 and SplitEQ use more CPU when using a low buffer.

You may have misread or misunderstood my question. I was asking about recording at a high buffer or 1024, not mixing at a high buffer. But anyway, I just inserted both Soothe2 and SplitEQ on 64 tracks all at the same time(128 plugins). Protools plays without issue. Buffer at 64 and Activity Monitor shows 387% for Protools CPU usage. It drops to 244% running that test in Protools Silicon beta. I can only imagine what the M4 or newer Intel chips will do in 2-3 years.

Originally Posted by JFreak

It depends on your interface roundtrip latency, but even 002R from 2002 is fine with 256 buffer (and unusable at 512 buffer).

I guess it would depend on the person as well. It might not bother some folks. Funny thing, I had to move my 002R(original box) in the attic to restore the Christmas decorations. It's been up there for maybe 12-13years. I actually wish I had kept my 001.

Originally Posted by noiseboyuk

685 - that’s great that Clarity plays back like that on Silicon.

I just did a TV series with Clarity, grouped all the mics recorded in a fairly noisy environment into a single instance and automated the amount as required. Saved about 3-4 hours of graft per show I reckon.

Nice!
I'm not sure why 2022.12 only allowed 5 tracks to playback with Clarity. I even restarted the computer. But it ran fine in 2022.12 silicon beta, Luna, and Logic. It shows as Version: 14.11.15.303

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by 685

I guess it would depend on the person as well.

Yes! Hundred out of hundred said okay now after I did nothing albeit saying I fixed the problem. Perceiving latency is very psychological. Even the most diehard jazz guitarist I have recorded was fine with 256 setting.

So the buffer is not the only defining factor. If your system has excess latency somewhere else it all adds up.

[685]

Originally Posted by JFreak

Yes! Hundred out of hundred said okay now after I did nothing albeit saying I fixed the problem. Perceiving latency is very psychological. Even the most diehard jazz guitarist I have recorded was fine with 256 setting.

So the buffer is not the only defining factor. If your system has excess latency somewhere else it all adds up.

Well, I have never and will never spend a lot of time wondering if 256 will work for this or that person. I would rather not find out the hard way. LOL
Far too many picky people especially in today's times. Low buffers or an HDX system for recording.

[Sardi]

Originally Posted by HowHoffman

Not true. It shipped with 13.1. I made a 13.1 bootable USB recovery drive and the Mac refused it. It only accepted 13.2 since it upgraded when I unboxed and launched it. I accomplished that in Recovery mode.

SHIFT-ALT-COMMAND-R should have at least installed SOME version of Ventura, but using that just did nothing but boot into a normal start.

Trust me. I spent three hours trying.

Again, it can be done. Somewhere along the line, you’ve made a mistake.

Note that booting into recovery modes and ext. drives differs on Apple Silicon machines and Intel machines. Also, as I mentioned in a previous post, you may need another Mac and use the Configurator app.

But hey, you can ignore me but maybe don’t ignore the countless articles and videos online showing how to do it. I’m not the only person saying it’s possible.


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[Sardi]

Originally Posted by Eric Lambert

Have you done so personally? I've heard from several people who have tried this themselves who say that the Apple tech is correct, and now there's an additional first-hand report just above my post.

Yes.

Not Ventura to Monterey, but later version of Monterey to earlier version of Monterey.

I don’t see anything stating that anything has changed in this regard. I do however see a plethora of info describing how to do it. Heck, there’s even an Apple knowledge base article about it.


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[Sugarnutz]

I’m looking to MAYBE upgrade to a newer ARM Mac Mini to make it easier to carry with me. I’m on an i9 Win 10 PC with 64Gb of ram running 2022.10 and happy with that here at home, along with 2015 i7 rMBP to travel. I’m at the point where I prefer Macs but not opposed to PCs, heck I even have an old i5 PC with a HD4 running HD 8.1.1 which you can’t crash with a sledge hammer. I currently have several $20 USB3 to NVMe adapters with 1Tb & 512Gb NVMe drives that work perfectly with my sample libraries on the MacBook Pro, just seeing the MacBook Pro becoming a little long in the tooth. So far the new Macs are a little rich for my blood and wondering if Apple is in a race with the processors to the point that a $5-$6K investment will be worth less than $1K in a year or so. I saw an article tonight that said a maxed out 2019 Mac Pro that was $50K+ when new is now only worth a thousand dollar trade-in at Apple, how much of that is true I have no clue. I’m an old fart and basically fixed income at this point so I gotta pay attention to what I spend so I don’t end up adding alimony to my monthly nut.

[JFreak]

How much memory you need? On my testing this maxed out M2 Air has been great, and it does not have a fan! Disclaimer: this is a rosetta-free (arm native only) setup so cannot test all plugins yet.