Pro Tools 2022.4 on Mac Studio M1 Ultra

[huzzam]

Originally Posted by StudioTalk

That's not how they advertise it. You seem to only be looking at Single Core benchmark scores, which I can confirm do not mean as much as everyone says.

The Single Core scores on the M1 Pro and the M1 Ultra are almost neck-in-neck with each other, the Multi Core is much different. If single core were the dominating measurement, then I should have not seen any improvement over the M1 Pro as they are literally almost identical in Single Core Scores, so there is more to it. In some of my testing I have used Audio only tracks, where memory is a non issue, hardly used at all.

Now as to the multiplier, sorry, but Apple absolutely advertise the M1 Max as twice that of the Pro as all they did was double the processor. The Ultra is advertised as twice the Max. You were seemingly taking a single thing to compare to and that is not what I was talking about.

You're confusing graphics cores with cpu cores. The Max & the (10-core) Pro are identical in terms of CPU, which is what matters to us. The Max has extra GPU cores, and the possibility of extra RAM. It's the Ultra which has double the CPU cores of either the Max or the Pro (i.e. 20 cpu cores), because it is two M1 Max processors together, and should theoretically be ~2x as fast as the Pro/Max.

[Brettster]

Originally Posted by Selle Sellink

Last week I received my Mac Studio M1 Ultra.

After installing Pro Tools 2022.4, all the plug-ins I use and opening the session I am currently working in, I was a bit disappointed with the GUI Lag. The Mac Studio does not feel significantly faster or snappier than my previous setup. A Mac mini intel based from 2018 with a eGPU Vega 56.

What can I do to make this GUI lag a thing of the past.

I've tried the classics.

Buffer size to 1024 Samples
Reserve a large amount (100GB) of ram for pro tools to use.

I did some trouble shooting and discovered the following.

• I experience Lag in specific actions. Zooming in and playback works fine(ish) but control, option arrow keys up and down is pretty slow. Also using D, F & G to make fades is not snappy.

• When I experience lag in Pro Tools I can easily run Logic next to it working as smooth as butter on a warm day. I used the demo sessions to test this. Because of this it seems to me this is not an issue which has to do with to little compute power.

• When opening a new session and using a single track there is 0 issue.

• When making 1000 empty mono tracks without any plugins their is a clear lag.



I would love for Pro Tools to run as smooth as Logic Pro X does. How to achieve this I would love to know.

Current Mac:
Mac Studio (2022)
Chip M1 Ultra
Memory 128 GB
Built in GPU 48 cores

Previous Mac:
Mac Mini (2018)
Intel 3,2 Ghz 6-core Intel Core i7
Memory 32 GB
eGPU Vega 56 8GB

Displays:
LG Ultra HD — 3840x2160
Samsung S24H85x — 2560x1440
Optoma UHD — 3840x2160

Audio Interface:
Focusrite Clarette

Eucon:
AVID S1
AVID Dock

Hey I’m digging this thread back up because I’ve been interested in upgrading my M1 Mac Mini to either a M1 Mac Studio Ultra or an M2 Mac Mini Pro and I am having a lot of trouble finding concrete guidance. I have a feeling I’d be in your boat, because Pro Tools has simply never worked as smoothly for me as it apparently does for some benchmark testers out there.

Now that Pro Tools native exists, are you still having this issue?? Or have you fixed it in other ways? Hopefully you see this.

[climber]

good comparison of Mini M2 and Studio Max M1

https://youtu.be/xkIgs1hXQro

[Darryl Ramm]

^^ nice video, great to see reviews like this targeted at the community.

[MARVINBASS]

Originally Posted by PhilSchroeder

I'm running a new Mac Studio with the M1 Max chip, PT 2022.4 on Monterey and I gotta say, there's absolutely NO significant speed or performance increase over my 2013 trashcan. And a LOT of the same problems I'd hoped would be improved by a bump up on processing power. Very disappointed. Waiting for M1 qualified, or, as usual, looking at alternative DAWs.

Wow, thanks for the review. I was thinking of trashing the Trashcan and get the Mac Studio.

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by MARVINBASS

I was thinking of trashing the Trashcan and get the Mac Studio.

This was one of the best moves I've made in many years.

[daeron80]

Originally Posted by MARVINBASS

Wow, thanks for the review. I was thinking of trashing the Trashcan and get the Mac Studio.

My experience is the opposite of his. Everything is astonishingly faster on my M1 Max MBP than it was on my 2013 Trashcan (both with 64 GB RAM). Operations on long files in iZotope RX, in particular, finish in about 1/5 the time.

Now, PT is loaded with tons of ancient, kludgy code. So, it's never going to be as snappy as other DAWs, regardless of what machine you run it on. MIDI automation lanes open while editing notes is still a show-stopper. But PT launches much faster, heavy plugins open almost instantly, editing audio during playback is butter-smooth, and bounces are faster and more reliable.

I'm so delighted with my M1 Max that I have no plans to get an Ultra or M2 or M3, for that matter. It will do everything I need for a long time.

[MARVINBASS]

Originally Posted by daeron80

My experience is the opposite of his. Everything is astonishingly faster on my M1 Max MBP than it was on my 2013 Trashcan (both with 64 GB RAM). Operations on long files in iZotope RX, in particular, finish in about 1/5 the time.

Now, PT is loaded with tons of ancient, kludgy code. So, it's never going to be as snappy as other DAWs, regardless of what machine you run it on. MIDI automation lanes open while editing notes is still a show-stopper. But PT launches much faster, heavy plugins open almost instantly, editing audio during playback is butter-smooth, and bounces are faster and more reliable.

I'm so delighted with my M1 Max that I have no plans to get an Ultra or M2 or M3, for that matter. It will do everything I need for a long time.

Hmm… but I see you are on a MacBook Pro not a Mac Studio. Correct??

[Marsdy]

Originally Posted by Eric Lambert

This was one of the best moves I've made in many years.

Yes me too. I upgraded from a 2019 16 core Mac Pro. The Studio Ultra is noticeably faster and a LOT more stable. I’m running 100% AS native. 6 weeks now of heavy use with barely any CPU overloads and not one single crash. This at a buffer of 64. On the 7,1 16 core I was at 256, often 512 and had a lot more CPU overs. The CPU overs have mostly been in NI Starlight and when messing with Cherry Audio VIs at the highest quality setting.

Strong rumours that the Studio will get speed bumped on Monday at WWDC.

[MARVINBASS]

Originally Posted by Marsdy

Yes me too. I upgraded from a 2019 16 core Mac Pro. The Studio Ultra is noticeably faster and a LOT more stable. I’m running 100% AS native. 6 weeks now of heavy use with barely any CPU overloads and not one single crash. This at a buffer of 64. On the 7,1 16 core I was at 256, often 512 and had a lot more CPU overs. The CPU overs have mostly been in NI Starlight and when messing with Cherry Audio VIs at the highest quality setting.

Strong rumours that the Studio will get speed bumped on Monday at WWDC.

Wow! Really? I would never have thought that the current Mac Pro would be slower than a Mac Studio. What config on the Mac Studio?? I know you can spend up to $7k to max it out.