New Mac - M1 vs Mac Pro 2019

[Darryl Ramm]

For me it would be Big Sur running 2021.12 but you need to check all your apps and plugins for any compatibility issues.

Hopefully you have enough fast internal SSD for you audio sessions and plugins (just put them all on the boot drive if they will fit)

Especially with a new mac with APFS and T2 security, make sure you have a backup/recovery plan. And especially if running carbon copy cloner that you understand the new boot/recovery restrictions. Been mentioned before on DUC

[dominicperry]

Personally I think Catalina (10.15.7) is the best for that model. Don't think you can use Mojave and I didn't like Big Sur on mine.

Dominic

[dominicperry]

Just in response to Darryl's comment about backup plans - one of the reasons I like Catalina on the 7.1 is that you can boot from an external drive, even if the internal is completely hosed. Not so with Big Sur or Monterey.

Internal drive is ~2500MB/s provided it's 1TB or more, so plenty fast enough for everything.

Dominic

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by dominicperry

Just in response to Darryl's comment about backup plans - one of the reasons I like Catalina on the 7.1 is that you can boot from an external drive, even if the internal is completely hosed. Not so with Big Sur or Monterey.

Internal drive is ~2500MB/s provided it's 1TB or more, so plenty fast enough for everything.

Dominic

And that is an important point, I should have been clearer the issue is with Big Sur and Monterey. It's often things like third party apps needing a newer release that will drive moving into the latest macOS release. With a new Mac I would generally want to be on the latest stable release that I can, the external backup boot is a reason to think carefully here.

Whatever you do, do not use the system migration utility to move apps and drivers from your existing mac to the new one, do full new installs.

[stargazer]

Thanks!

Got to read up on APFS and T2.
Listening to your advice, I think I’ll start with Catalina, and upgrade later when I find the need for it.

There’s a 1TB system drive and a 2TB M.2 on a PCIe card coming with the used Mac.
I’ve ordered a SONNET Fusion SSD M.2 4x4 PCIe Card, new Generation with 4 x SAMSUNG 2TB M.2, 970 EVO Plus SSDs.
I’m going to try them in a Raid-0 setup for sample streaming, so backups will be very important.
I’m using ChronoSync for my backups, (for bootable disks, too) and I’ve also ordered a SONNET Fusion Flex J3i for HDD Backup drives and extra storage.
Hope and guess I’ll be good for a few years.

[dominicperry]

Originally Posted by stargazer

Thanks!

Got to read up on APFS and T2.
Listening to your advice, I think I’ll start with Catalina, and upgrade later when I find the need for it.

There’s a 1TB system drive and a 2TB M.2 on a PCIe card coming with the used Mac.
I’ve ordered a SONNET Fusion SSD M.2 4x4 PCIe Card, new Generation with 4 x SAMSUNG 2TB M.2, 970 EVO Plus SSDs.
I’m going to try them in a Raid-0 setup for sample streaming, so backups will be very important.
I’m using ChronoSync for my backups, (for bootable disks, too) and I’ve also ordered a SONNET Fusion Flex J3i for HDD Backup drives and extra storage.
Hope and guess I’ll be good for a few years.

All good choices. My only personal choice is Carbon Copy Cloner rather than ChronoSync, but if you can make ChronoSync work for you, that's good.
You can probably partition an internal drive to act as a backup boot drive, but I always like an external Samsung T5 or similar for that job.

Totally agree with Darryl about Migration Assistant - avoid at all costs. It used to work when things were simpler but it's just unreliable now.

Dominic

[Ben Jenssen]

The main clue with Big Sur and later versions of MacOS is called "Signed System Volume" and it's Apple's latest move in "protecting" us.

Bombich, which makes CCC explaines it in detail here:

Creating legacy bootable backups of macOS Big Sur (and ...

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by stargazer

Thanks!

Got to read up on APFS and T2.
Listening to your advice, I think I’ll start with Catalina, and upgrade later when I find the need for it.

There’s a 1TB system drive and a 2TB M.2 on a PCIe card coming with the used Mac.
I’ve ordered a SONNET Fusion SSD M.2 4x4 PCIe Card, new Generation with 4 x SAMSUNG 2TB M.2, 970 EVO Plus SSDs.
I’m going to try them in a Raid-0 setup for sample streaming, so backups will be very important.
I’m using ChronoSync for my backups, (for bootable disks, too) and I’ve also ordered a SONNET Fusion Flex J3i for HDD Backup drives and extra storage.
Hope and guess I’ll be good for a few years.

I would not bother with RAID 0, the storage is so fast RAID is not going to help you with sample steaming performance. And RAID increases complexity and gives lower reliability (due in part to folks making mistakes in RAID setup). I know looking at 4 x 2TB M.2 drives and working out on which one to put particular libraries might seem like more work, but it's usually not bad, and any mistakes are not fatal.

[off the wall]

Originally Posted by stargazer

I’ve decided to get a MP7,1 16-core.
Got a good price from a dealer on a used Mac with AppleCare until June 2023.
What’s the consensus around here regarding macOS versions, Pro Tools and that generation of Macs?

What would you recommend for a reliable system running the latest version of PT?
macOS 10.14 Mojave, 10.15 Catalina or maybe even Big Sur?

I’d go Big Sur. We have it running on everything from 2010 MP’s to 2019 MP’s. All HDX systems.

[Marsdy]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

I would not bother with RAID 0, the storage is so fast RAID is not going to help you with sample steaming performance. And RAID increases complexity and gives lower reliability (due in part to folks making mistakes in RAID setup). I know looking at 4 x 2TB M.2 drives and working out on which one to put particular libraries might seem like more work, but it's usually not bad, and any mistakes are not fatal.

Daryl
I was in the position of deciding wether to RAID 4 x2TB M.2 drives for sample libraries or keep the drives separate. Obviously the cumulative speed of four separate drives is a bit faster and theoretically more reliable.

In the end I went with Apple’s built RAID. It was just far too complicated deciding how to allocate space and split up multiple, huge libraries across four drives. And you never know what’s round the corner in terms of new libraries with whatever space/bandwidth requirements they may have.

It’s not just allocation of space. There’s also the issue of allocating bandwidth. Polyphony counts for modern libraries can get huge very quickly, especially loading multiple microphone positions. I found it impossible to reliably predict how load would be spread across four drives. You never know what you’re going to compose next.