New "Mac Studio" from Apple

[kings79]

Originally Posted by Eric Lambert

It's not about money for me, it's almost exclusively about processing power. I wouldn't mind paying for a MacPro but much of that computer is geared toward video, which means nothing to me. It's more about spending money smartly.

Mrocessing Power/Money. Its the same thing.

I would hazard a guess that you wouldn't buy the 28 Core 2019 Mac Pro

[reichman]

Originally Posted by Eric Lambert

How is EuCon buggy? What is it doing (or not doing)?

It’s not a huge deal. After the first week, on my S3/Dock surface, Avid Control on the iPad would occasionally crash (like once a day), and once or twice the S3 locked up. Eddie Jones is on the case though, and is working on it. Opening Eucon in Rosetta mode makes it run perfectly, but that’s not a long-term solution.

[thebeatless]

I don't know that paying more made sense even a couple of years ago. I replaced my 16 core 2019 Mac Pro with a 2020 10 core i9 iMac. The iMac was much better using pro tools. The Mac Pro just didn't have the single core power and couldn't playback sessions with heavy processing on single tracks/the master.

The Studio Ultra is definitely stronger than the Mac Pro, and maybe just very slightly stronger than the iMac, sometimes. I am finally finding some things that are making improvements and some plugins are getting updates that seem to help.

Also, As I said in another thread, running eucon in rosetta fixed my eucon crashes, and it's also seemed to open up a bit more CPU power in pro tools. I get much fewer CPU playback errors, and I'm not having to freeze tracks as frequently. I don't know why there's a connection, but it definitely seems to me like there is.

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by reichman

Opening Eucon in Rosetta mode makes it run perfectly, but that’s not a long-term solution.

Glad to hear that.

EuCon shouldn't be a needy app so running it in the background, even if via Rosetta, oughta be fine for now.

[Brandonx1]

So to recap. I am an audio post re-recording mixer. I use an s6, soundflow, all the reconfirming tools, cedar dns one, iZotope. Normal Atmos session is 400 tracks and the RMU on the same machine. 4k video with AVE and Video slave. I also use OBS to stream to a video rmpt server. All at once. This can be done on a m1 max? I am testing the limits of Mac pros 16 core. I can keep this workflow with a MacBook pro max or studio max?

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by Brandonx1

So to recap. I am an audio post re-recording mixer. I use an s6, soundflow, all the reconfirming tools, cedar dns one, iZotope. Normal Atmos session is 400 tracks and the RMU on the same machine. 4k video with AVE and Video slave. I also use OBS to stream to a video rmpt server. All at once. This can be done on a m1 max? I am testing the limits of Mac pros 16 core. I can keep this workflow with a MacBook pro max or studio max?

You might want to check Michael Carnes' recent posts in this thread (and others). He's running large Atmos sessions on a similar laptop and has offered great comments about the experience.

[Michael Carnes]

Originally Posted by Eric Lambert

You might want to check Michael Carnes' recent posts in this thread (and others). He's running large Atmos sessions on a similar laptop and has offered great comments about the experience.

I can update that a little. As I've mentioned earlier, I'm on a MacBook Pro M1-Max. That's equivalent to the Studio Max except the Studio version has more ports. I can't speak to doing humongous post sessions--a couple hundred tracks is about tops for me. More normally for live recording it's just 6-8 tracks or so. No problem there. Even with an Atmos session that size, the fans don't bother making any noise. The only time I've ever even heard the fans was when I ran a system test that spun them up.

Where my experience may come closer to some of you is in use of VIs. Long before going into tech I was a composer, so I'm back to my old tricks. Because I write for the concert stage, rather than film/TV, I probably use VIs in different ways. But I can still use lots of instruments. I had a an 18-year-old orchestra piece that was incomplete until I finally finished it last year. I decided to give it my best go with VIs. Think of an enlarged classical orchestra with extended percussion. In the real world it would be 80-90 players. I'm not going to mention the names of the VIs here: but they're instruments many of you use every day. I won't mention the name of the DAW either other than to mention I can run it as a native app or under Rosetta. I'm still waiting for iZotope to complete the port of the Exponential 'verbs, so I'm using another well-regarded verb than many of you use.

The thing that becomes immediately clear is that integrated memory (remember when we called it DRAM?) is the resource that I have to manage most. All sample libraries have a certain amount of every instrument that is pre-fetched so that notes can play immediately. The rest is streamed off of your storage as needed. I used about 3/4 of that memory for this project. That leaves me enough for the needs of the Atmos renderer and some safety margin. But (and this is important) I make sure not to load mic positions I don't need. If your templates don't take steps to eliminate those unnecessary positions, then you're very possibly going to run out of memory on the Max.

As far as streaming the samples from external storage, that didn't make a dent in CPU usage. I've got all that on external T-Bolt enclosures with M.2 chips configured as RAID-0. I could probably quadruple the size of my virtual orchestra before I even noticed. I used less than half of the CPU power on board (for the whole thing). I should point out that I hardly use any plugins at all. A few 'verbs, some compression/limiting here and there, and perhaps some corrective EQ. Compared to many of you, that's nothing.

What I think this means for any of us is that we have to identify the critical resource for our own needs. That's probably going to be different for everybody. For me it's integrated memory. There is one general carry-forward. I think it's critically important to keep an eye on the 'Memory' tab in Apple's Activity Monitor. The areas of interest are Memory Used , Swap Used and Memory Pressure. It's not my intent to write a paper on virtual memory, but as soon as that Swap Used number is non-zero, you're going to have problems with real time audio. The system gets very busy moving stuff back and forth between your SSD and your integrated memory. I suspect this may be what's going on for a lot of people bumping into so-called "CPU spikes".

There have always been ways that we must learn to work around the limitations of our computers. Over the last 20 years or so, that's become baked-in and we don't know we're doing it. The equation is a little different with Apple Silicon (it will be true enough on Windows machines in a few more years) but we'll all learn what we need to do so that we get our work done.

[kings79]

Very thorough write up Michael. Lots to consider

Brandon, I do similar stuff to you. I would say get the Max if you're just using PT, Soundflow, SFX App, Eucon. But seeing as you're using those other apps you mentioned too, you may want to future proof yourself and get the Ultra. More for memory than anything else like Michael says.

[Eric Lambert]

Thanks Michael! It's funny... I used to think that keeping a computer and its associated hardware/software optimized was a job all its own and that, today, most of that has hit the wayside. Things like setting IRQs and tending to system extensions and installing software in the proper order. Having 3.5" floppies of the latest versions (before downloading was practical). Things that could be showstoppers if not done correctly. I'm talking 90's and early 00's. Install that QuickTime update before or after associated software and it's broken if you got it wrong. The IAC Bus gets reset by an installation and suddenly your audio app won't talk to your MIDI app and the culprit is tough to spot. And I won't even go into hardware (blackburst, SMPTE, digital cabling).

Thankfully, most of those concerns are gone and Macs generally stay healthy on their own and ready for a marathon, but when you bring audio/video, DAWs and plugins into the picture those complications are right back on your doorstep, in the same form but also new ones. The difference this time around is that the average musician isn't aware of the housekeeping steps for optimization and so forums like this fill up with these questions. How to run smoothly... this is broken... etc.

Our engineers spent time each day keeping up-to-date with those things. Not just performing the upkeep but learning what that upkeep was. What was effective and what was a waste of time. The need to stay on top of things still exists, it's just not as evident because it's buried in software menus, and that's assuming that you even realize that data is NOT flowing fluently across all your software and that all that sludge could be fixed with a simple tweak.

I'd think that someone good at DAW optimization could even find steady work strictly via providing consultations.

[kings79]

New Pro Tools Expert article is very encouraging.

By Roger Guérin

"Reviews and YouTube to the rescue. After some serious thought and consideration, I went for a M1 Max (64G of Ram & 2T HD). The M1 Ultra, although an amazing machine, is expensive, and geared more towards the video side of our industry."

"Conclusion
This computer is blazing fast, stable, and it boots up and shuts down in less than 30 seconds. My previous Mac Pro was no slouch, but this new one! Maybe that’s why I can’t get $1000 for my old Mac Pro. That doesn’t matter though, it has served me well. I’ve mixed and edited dozens of features and television shows without many headaches. I’ve changed interface twice, I went from 5.1 to Dolby Atmos. All in all it has served me well. Armed with this new computer, I can quote a certain Space Ranger “To infinity… and beyond!”"