New "Mac Studio" from Apple

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by diamondschwin

M1 Ultra 64gb, PT 2022.4 ULTIMATE, HD Native Thunderbolt

Netflix Sol Levante at 32ms buffer running off internal SSD

Another solid report for the Ultimate.

Would you mind checking Activity Monitor? That stills seems to be the most reliable metric for how these machines are performing, with PT's System Usage drifting all over the place.

[Eric Lambert]

I did finally order a Studio Ultra. Mid-June arrival (so far).

[James67]

Originally Posted by Eric Lambert

Another solid report for the Ultimate.

Would you mind checking Activity Monitor? That stills seems to be the most reliable metric for how these machines are performing, with PT's System Usage drifting all over the place.

You weren't talking to me, but still - here ya go:

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Michael Carnes

I'm not sure that's what's going on. I think it's more likely that MacOS tries things on the efficiency cores first and then moves to the performance cores when needed. I can see something like that in Activity Monitor. The performance cores seem to take on some of the load when the playback gets more needy. Besides, given that both Dolby Atmos Renderer and Pro Tools are currently coded only for Intel, I can't expect them to have any knowledge of core management on Apple silicon.

It's not clear how much more Avid would do specifically for Apple silicon wrt CPU core optimization, given how much Apple eschews low level dinking around and wants folks to use stuff like Quality of Service settings. And if Pro Tools is currently setting QoS high those it should map over to running on P cores as much as possible even with Rosetta 2. As for Pro Tools hiding the E cores in it's CPU meters, I suspect the Intel executable is just using sysctlbyname(sysctl.proc_translated) and then lopping off half the fake Intel CPU cores that Rosetta2 reports. IIRC the E cores get enumerated first then P cores. Don't have an Apple Silicon Mac anymore to test with. I just can't wait to see a native Pro Tools port and what Apple do with the Mac Pro and M2 and M3 silicon. Yee ha.

To other folks a reminder I'm going to keep repeating, this is not about moving an app to Apple silicon, it's about moving a large ecosystem to Apple silicon. Pro Tools, related Avid apps like EUCON, plugins, third party apps, Avid and third party drivers (some of those might be going through major changes not just a simple port to Apple silicon) etc. There are going to be problems, especially with third party plugin issues including some third party plugins just not ever getting ported over, and there is typically a long tail of issues with these sorts of things, corner cases that affect a few plugins or a few users that take a long time to get fixed. And that includes cases of performance issues not just functional bugs, but overall I expect Apple silicon with native code when we get that in Pro Tools to be impressive. But be paranoid and test for yourself-- as good folks here are now. And when something doesn't work well for you please troubleshoot and try to identify what the cause might be (esp. plugin compatibility).

[mattrixx]

Originally Posted by Eric Lambert

Another solid report for the Ultimate.

Would you mind checking Activity Monitor? That stills seems to be the most reliable metric for how these machines are performing, with PT's System Usage drifting all over the place.

Yes, in the bottom right of this screenshot... Looks like the activity is right up there, but the fans didn't come up after 20 minutes of mucking about with this session.
Remember, this is with Tools and DAPS running under Rosetta2.

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by mattrixx

Yes, in the bottom right of this screenshot... Looks like the activity is right up there, but the fans didn't come up after 20 minutes of mucking about with this session.
Remember, this is with Tools and DAPS running under Rosetta2.

Thanks! That session is pretty far beyond what I'd typically ask of PT, and you still have room to spare.

As an aside, from where is everyone downloading the Sol Levante session? I saw a link a couple weeks ago but tried clicking a few times and it never did allow me to download the file.

[mattrixx]

Originally Posted by Eric Lambert

Thanks! That session is pretty far beyond what I'd typically ask of PT, and you still have room to spare.

As an aside, from where is everyone downloading the Sol Levante session? I saw a link a couple weeks ago but tried clicking a few times and it never did allow me to download the file.

You can find the open source stuff from Netflix here..

https://opencontent.netflix.com

[bz lewis]

[QUOTE=mattrixx;2635254]Yes, in the bottom right of this screenshot... Looks like the activity is right up there, but the fans didn't come up after 20 minutes of mucking about with this session.
Remember, this is with Tools and DAPS running under Rosetta2.

Is DAPS working in Monterey/M1!? I thought Dolby was saying "No". This is a pleasant surprise!

[mattrixx]

[QUOTE=bz lewis;2635265]

Originally Posted by mattrixx

Yes, in the bottom right of this screenshot... Looks like the activity is right up there, but the fans didn't come up after 20 minutes of mucking about with this session.
Remember, this is with Tools and DAPS running under Rosetta2.

Is DAPS working in Monterey/M1!? I thought Dolby was saying "No". This is a pleasant surprise!

Yes, haven't encountered any issues.

[kings79]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

To other folks a reminder I'm going to keep repeating, this is not about moving an app to Apple silicon, it's about moving a large ecosystem to Apple silicon. Pro Tools, related Avid apps like EUCON, plugins, third party apps, Avid and third party drivers (some of those might be going through major changes not just a simple port to Apple silicon) etc. There are going to be problems, especially with third party plugin issues including some third party plugins just not ever getting ported over, and there is typically a long tail of issues with these sorts of things, corner cases that affect a few plugins or a few users that take a long time to get fixed. And that includes cases of performance issues not just functional bugs, but overall I expect Apple silicon with native code when we get that in Pro Tools to be impressive. But be paranoid and test for yourself-- as good folks here are now. And when something doesn't work well for you please troubleshoot and try to identify what the cause might be (esp. plugin compatibility).

I agree with this.



Its really pointless for us to keep looking at the PT Activity Monitor. We've already confirmed this. You need to compare how the machine runs with tasks you know compared with how your old machine performs. Lets stop posting this.

BUT again. remember what Darryl has said above. Once the power of Apple Silicone is properly harnessed we can ACTUALLY compare things.

As for the constant complainer saying Apple has screwed us. I fail to see how one of the biggest advancements in computer silicone tech. The progression of the industry at large.. How this can be viewed as us all being screwed boggles the mind.


I've had my machine for a week. It's still in the box as I've been booked in another studio so I've not had time to set it up but when I do I will be posting my comparisons between this machine and my Maxed out 5,1 cMP using medium to large 5.1 TV mixes.