The only thing missing is the discussion about the 3rd party plugins that run inside your DAW. A lot of them are compatible now but there are also a lot that are not and that requires you run your DAW with Rosetta otherwise they will not work. Or they just don't work at all. I am currently a pc user but would like to switch to a mac book pro M1X as soon as it comes out
Yup I have a few plugins that don't work on an m1... I wouldn't recommend an m1 for a serious producer as there will be some products that are incompatible
It really does depend on which plugins one uses. Most of the ones I use are supported, but Waves have not updated their stuff (!!!). I’m guessing they’re waiting so they can charge folks for an upgrade.
@@DavidHilowitzMusic Waves V12 have been updated to run with Intel based Big Sur a few months back and work fine via Rosetta 2 with Ableton Live though. My main gripe right now is with NI's Massive X's lack of compatibility due to lack of AVX compatibility by the M1 chip.
I’m also waiting for the M1X, I’m slightly concerned about some of my mixing plugins not working but I saw a post on Reddit assuring me that it won’t be as hard as it was when the M1 came out
I am a mastering engineer and just recently upgraded to a new MacMini M1 from a 2015 MacBook Pro. As of right now I haven’t seen any performance increase and a large amount of the plugins I use are not compatible at the moment so I have had to change my workflow. Next week I am going back to my MBP which is a beast. Eventually the plug-in mfgr’s will catch up and the mini will get recommissioned. For the record I use all Steinberg software which runs great. Well…the same as on the MBP.
You could try to run Cubase in Rosetta (right click in applications /info/ and check the box) then your plugins will not need to translate. I saw somewhere a user video on this. My Cubase is running great but most my stuff is just softsynth and VSTi playing, nothing like mastering.
No need to upgrade from a 2015 mbp beast. M1 is just marginally better than these old powerhouses on music production. But with plugins, as described, it won’t work at all atm. So use the old book as long as it works🙏👌
@@jimi272 I’m using a 2015 MBP that I got from the Los Angeles Recording school, as well as a 2012 Mac mini that’s been upgraded with more Storage and RAM
I bought an M1 Mac Mini a few months ago and didn't *really* start to have the M1 experience until just recently when Valhalla, Bitwig and u-he plugins _finally_ nailed down native Apple Silicon support. I'm really enjoying it now, so if you're willing to wait for updates and tolerate some Rosetta emulations during this awkward transition, you should be fine.
I upgraded to a Mac Mini M1 in January. I have approximately 1500 instrument, reverb, delay and FX plugins. It took me two weeks, eight hours a day to upgrade, update, troubleshoot, reinstall etc. Now everything works like a dream in Rosetta. I’m not going to go full Silicon until the majority of developers upgrade. I do projects with a lot of tracks and all good:)
I’m happy to hear the performance has improved dramatically overall. I came from a 2011 Mac mini and boy was I blown away when I got my M1 Mac mini so the effects of the upgrade were substantial for me, to say the least.
M1 MacBook Air 16 GB ram has been an absolute powerhouse for me. Cubase 10.5 runs no problem with Kontakt, Slate Drums, Helix Native. Best impulse buy (certified refurbed) I’ve done in years.
I just came across your channel while contemplating if I can start getting into the Sample Packs/Kontakt Instruments game. Your videos are very helpful - and being a person with a background in software development myself, your videos totally make sense! Thank you David, and keep up the great work :)
I just bought an M1 MBP 16Gb with 2Tb ssd. I was waiting for the M1X, but it was takng too long. I came from a Dell XPS 15. This New mac is very fast. Never heard the fan and it does not get warm. One thing you missed and I forgot about was, you can only plug one external display. For those like me with multi display home studio setups, it could be worth waiting for the M1X processors that I believe will support up to 4 external displays. I am now shopping for ultra-wide display. I plan to get M1X Mac Mini when released so no a big deal. BitWig Studio and Cubase are my main DAW's. Bitwig is now M1 Native and Cubase works perfectly. All my pluggins are working with exception to Massive X soft synth. I am very happy with my switch.
@@DaveSchulze Bigger SSD. The M1 MBP is a dream for running many vst. With todays newer models I would go with 4tb SSD and 32 Gigs of Ram, the Ram not because you need it, but to future proof it. I am more than happy with my current system but the SSD soon gets full with todays larger libraries.
@@troycarpenter4355 Thanks so much for the reply. Agree for all those reasons. I want 32GB/4TB but I also don’t want the premium although I can justify the expense over time. Mostly I don’t want to wait 4-6 wks for delivery. Ha!
I've been blown away at how transparent Rosetta 2 is. Some Intel applications like Camtasia run smoother and are more stable under emulation on my Mac M1 Air than they run on my 2015 Intel MacBook Pro!
@@DavidHilowitzMusic It's been much smoother than the transition from Power PC than Intel, and infinitely smoother than from 68000 to PowerPC. (I remember my dad bought one of the early PowerPC Macs and then returned it a week later because none of his software would run!)
I'm a PC guy for the past 25 years, and just got a Mac for Multimedia Production.. I would go M1 13" all the way, Air or Pro.. I think it's the cheapest time to buy this Apple product beast.. I've installed Rosetta 2 but I'm not sure how to use it, but anyways Cubase and Live are running smoothly with Native Instruments and East West cloud.. Battery life is insane, Sleeping/waking up is instant.. I went with the 16GB just for future proof's sake..
I will definitelly get myself a new Arm-CPU Mac (to replace my i7-6700K Dell XPS 8900 PC from 2016)... It's not even a question "would I, should I go for Mac instead of PC", for me it's just a question of "should I wait for M1X/M2 CPU release, is it worth waiting or... not?". I do have doubts on "which Mac should I get, Mini, or Air or MBP?" but that comes after the question "Should I wait for M1X/M2"... few months, you say.... I'm already waiting few months, and I am getting Itchy Trigger Finger on the "Buy" button
Damn I didn't know Ableton needs double the CPU on the M1 chip. Ableton need to provide M1 native. Even Bitwig is native now and Ableton is (probably?) the most used DAW and costs a big chunk of money too. On the other hand, Reaper is the best 60€ I've spent.
The fact that Reaper is so reliable and inexpensive should not be dismissed outright. I know people find it ugly and cumbersome, but honestly, once you start using its advantages, it becomes a reliable music environment.
@@joetowers4804 Reaper has its pros for sure, but also cons. As an Ableton user, I find Reaper is lightyears behind in terms of MIDI plug ins, sampler, effects, etc. It is also problematic (on my HighSierra MacPro anyway) for sending clock to MIDI hardware, applying offset delays and staying in sync when looping sections and it loops back to the beginning...everything goes off. But that has to do with me using lots of hardware MIDI sequencers and synths. When I am mixing other people's music or mastering, Reaper is my go to and its amazing how CPU efficient it is.
@@valdir7426 I just read from Avids website that Protools are already compatible with M1 (unless I'm misinterpreting it). I'm actually surprised Live isn't compatible with M1. Edit: It doesn't run natively unfortunately but Rosetta, the 2021.6 ver does allow 256 mono/stereo tracks
thanks for the video! I appreciate it. If the M1X is a “more pro” version, that’s what I’m gonna go for. I imagine having use for extra graphics performance and more memory for my editing multi layered 4K videos all the time.
@@DavidHilowitzMusic I’m using it sometimes. But mostly Final Cut Pro. But with real-time performance I’m curious to try Resolve more. In terms of speed and flow it’s hard to beat FCPX though, in my opinion.
hey, wouldn't recommend waiting for m1x. I personally don't think it's going to be a lot better. Remember, the m1 chip couldn't host more than 16 gb memory due to chip limitations. that may be fixed but maybe there will have to be some more years to even be able to do that.
Wait for M1X, if you like it, buy it, if not, don't. They shouldn't be too far away, a few months tops, so waiting doesn't hurt. Leaked specs have shown that the M1X will have 2 more CPU cores, and the GPU cores will jump up to 16/32 (you can upgrade even more to 32 but this might only be for the 16 inch, we'll have to see). The M1X chip will allow up to 32GB of RAM and you can connect multiple external displays to the M1X too. Additionally, the new Macbook pros are expected to have more ports, mini-LED display, 1080p webcam. All of these are leaks and obviously haven't been confirmed, but as they are from the most reliable sources currently out there (such as Mark Gurman), I do recommend waiting a few more months to see the reveal of the M1X and then continue deciding which Macbook is best for you, especially since the Macbooks are expected to come by the end of this year (September-November).
Great video. Was about to purchase an M1 recently, but I figured it would be best to wait for the m1x/m2 since they're on the horizon. Sucks that ableton isn't updated yet but I was considering giving logic pro a chance since I'm not 100% sure if I want to upgrade to live 11.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the M1X/M2 would only be an upgrade option, so more $$$ for a faster CPU. I recently got my first MBP M1 and for me the system seems fast enough. With the configuration I have I wouldn’t want to pay more for a faster CPU.
I use a 2020 i7 hexacore Mac mini with 16 gb as my desktop machine. My school (audio school) provided us a MacBook pro M1 Pro Tools is my primary DAW. As many are aware, avid is painfully slow with updates and only recently has pro tools been updated with official support for Big Sur. No, it does not yet officially support M1 Yet, I've been using both machines side by side. Installed programs are identical, here is my observation: On M1 pro tools 2021.7 runs very smoothly. On this machine running one particularly large project, and it is a smoother user experience than pro tools on my Intel Mac mini. However, pro tools crashes occasionally on my M1 laptop. The experience is much smoother, but it is simply not as reliable as my Intel Machine at this time It's also worth mentioning that running the exact same project on my desktop results in a rocket engine like heat production and fan noise, where my M1 laptop runs smoothly, quietly, and cooler Final thing worth mentioning is that as of version 2021.7, M1 machines will not work with video. 2021.4 (.3 maybe) however did work with video on my M1 MacBook
Hi, David. Great advice. I'm amazed how quickly my go-to software is being updated for native ARM support. I expected it to go as slowly as the move to Intel went. I'm glad to see that Digital Performer 11 fully supports M1! I hope my third-party plugins catch up. Have a great weekend, and congrats on the M1 MBP.
Running Bitwig 4.0 on my brand new Macbook Air on M1. Never thought I'd feel ever again that my computer is actually a piece of music hardware, let alone that I'd be so excited about it.
Regarding hardware compatibility, I'm running an RME Fireface 800 which came out in 2004. RME is still making updated drivers for it, including native M1 support! It's a bit of a mess of dongles -- Firewire to Thunderbolt 2, Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 -- but it works. It's not as perfectly rock solid stable as it was on my 2015 and earlier MacBooks, but it's pretty good. On very rare occasions, a chunk of audio will just start looping on playback, and I have to reboot, and every once in a while the Mac won't see the interface or vice-versa when I plug it in and I have to just try random things, but it's still less problematic than the Digidesign Audio Engine ever was, on anything, with anything. :) Also on very rare occasion, my MacBook would hang give be a pink screen and reboot when I unplugged the interface (it is supposed to be hot pluggable with non-Firewire power devices), but this problem seems to disappear if I remember to switch the sound input/out from the Fireface 800 to the laptop's build in mic and speaker first.
Wow, that’s amazing that they’re still releasing drivers for it. I had an M-Audio ProFire 2626 and M-Audio unceremoniously stopped updating the drivers like five years ago (presumably in order to encourage people to upgrade).
Thanks for the review! It's quite a daunting task to go check every bit of software and hardware that makes your studio tick, since things even break for lesser causes. Upgrading is probably inevitable at some point... 😉
It's funny because my everyday laptop is a MacBookPro 13" from...2009 !! So, 12 years of touring around the planet using both Logic or Ableton without any problems. I just put an SSD and change the battery twice, that's all. So in terms of obsolescence, Apple is pretty much ok for me ;-) By the way thanx for your videos David!
Haha same here, I have a late-2008 unibody macbook, I replaced the battery and put a SSD. I use Skype everyday for work and logic still runs on it. It's from the time we could upgrade them easily and give them a second life. I was waiting for the new macbook pro to get release but the price difference with the air is not worth it for me (1000€). Going for the M1 air 16gb/1tb.
The one downside is that my Emagic AMT 8 midi interface no longer works, but that's a 20 year old interface whose drivers were last updated in 2010, so I can't ask for much.
@@StephenTallamyMusic Yup, 20 years later it still works fine with my Intel Mac running Catalina... but indeed, it's time to move on. Although, when I'm honest with myself, I confess I almost never turn on my old pre-USB MIDI synths anymore anyway... I can't bring myself to sell them, though.
@@Lantertronics yeh I’ve been playing with my pre USB synths recently (see my channel) and so the AMT8 has had it’s second coming. Seems like a Motu MIDI interface might be the way forward as they support M1.
Nice synopsis, David. I think one additional point to consider for a certain percentage of composers might be the RAM limit of 16gb in this first iteration of Apple silicon. Probably not an issue for most people, but definitely might be for some.
@@DavidHilowitzMusic I definitely fall into that category. Most of my orchestral templates (even single library ones) are designed for systems with at least 32GB of RAM, minimum. Some are designed for systems with 56GB and up. Even just templates that use a lot of Acustica Audio effects eat up RAM pretty quickly. The M1 systems are a non-starter for those using large libraries until they can use more RAM.
@Илья Соловьев What size are you referring to? What's the memory usage when you load the same libraries on an Intel Mac or Intel/AMD PC? EDIT: The VI-Control forums show many users reporting issues with M1 in regards to RAM and especially large orchestral library templates. By many accounts, one of the primary benefits to the M1 memory approach over the Intel one has to do with their respective virtual memory approaches. In other words, they are accommodating larger templates by using virtual memory - not by being able to fit more into the RAM itself. Unless the M1 processors have been married to SSDs that equal the speed of the RAM (which by all accounts I've seen, they are not) a virtual memory approach results in a performance decrease. It would be great to see some more concrete apples to apples comparisons that addressed both the size of the templates and the respective performance when loading identical patches on both.
The M1's max ram is 16gb. That's why I just went with a Pc. I got a computer with way better specs than any mac without xeon processors for over half the price. My computer is only a couple hundred more than a fully spec'd M1 Imac and I have twice the hhd space, 4xs the ram and my 2070super kills out the M1 gpu and my I10900k is a beast. Apples computers are great but they're way too overpriced, with minium uprgadability.
This is the problem I ran into . My MacBook Air m1 is nice for travel production but it tops out fairly quick for what I do . I’m grabbing the iMac and upgrading it to 64 ram.
I went with an M1 Mini and the big issue for me is plugins using Rosetta which guzzle the CPU - had this with Amplitube 5 and (more disappointingly) Line 6 Helix Native. They're working on it but I'd have expected a subsidiary of Yamaha to have been a but more on the ball with Apple Silicon 🤷♀️
Switched to Windows for now...After 10- Years of Apple Experience and Logic....Now using Presounus Studio One 5 ... Amazingly Great and far ahead of Logic...and of course Windows Experience is great...
S1 5 user here too. I use both Windows PC and Macbook Air 1, both with S1. Obviously my main production computer is my desktop PC, but it's fans are loud and I find it very annoying when I am mixing. I use my Macbook M1 Air usually when I'm kicking back on my recliner chair or laying in bed. This is where I create most of my melodys and loops. I run a lot of automation too. I produce electronic music (industrial, synthpop, futurepop, trance, etc) and I've hadn't had any problems with my M1. Once I get a nice loop going, I send it over to my PC for further production. Studio One seems to run very nicely with m1 macs.
@@timetravelvictim following you for a lot of time...have learnt alot from you....I too have sampled one indian instrument bubultarang , got it recoded in my studio from one of the instrument player...thanks for your hard work...
Nice video. I'd personally recommend people look at the MPC models as well, I have had no negative feedback on stems created in the MPC X standalone. Great tip re dual boot, Reaper is always a good option if midi is not too important to you.
I think Apple's roadmap is to have all product range updated before upgrading the M1 Airbook, Macbook Pro 13" and Imac 24". Just my guess of course but it fits what they have promised having all of the computer range running on Apple Silicone before the end of 2021. I'm most exciting about the Mac Pro but I also think that one will turn up late unfortunately.
Great advise David. I purchased the M1 Mini late last year and love it for my needs. I would like a new macbook and will certainly wait for the next launch to see what happens. My 2015 15 inch macbook fans are so noisy and make using it live on site recording annoying.
So many plugins and VI are still not working natively, so no. And what about VI using a lot of memory, the Ample Sound or the Stipfire Audio ones for example? (16 GB of RAM is still 16 GB of RAM)
@Kajin Most of them work non natively. but the problem is that if you want to have them working fine it is better if you set your host application (DAW) to work under Rosetta 2 (even if the application is Silicon native) - so you will lose a big part of the M1 advantages. But many plugins still don't work NATIVELY. Use a good search engine to find which ones ;)
Great video and advice, thanks so much! So the new M1's come with a max of 16GB of RAM... whereas the intel based 27' imac's can be configured with 16, 32, 64 or even 128 GB of RAM (64 and 128 very very expensive tho!!) Would you say that the new M1 with 16GB of RAM is as efficient or even more so than the intel processor with 64 or 128 GB RAM? My Logic music projects sometimes mount up to 30 tracks or more with third party plugins (quite a few of them are Waves plugins, also Softube etc...) Thanks again! :)
Yes, but not now !!! I did my homework and I know that most of my 3rf Party Plugins won’t work for now… This may take a year to get them correctly updated and running 💡✨
@@DavidHilowitzMusic I finally purchased a mac mini 16Gb/2Tb last week 😄 Took me a few days to install all my plugins (with Logic + Rosetta) and configure it. So far I didn’t have a single issue, everything is running fast and smooth. I just checked first on every site what I was about to install to make sure it was supported to avoid hickups and uninstall. I just had to skip Izotope products as they are not yet M1 ready. I spare you my list but it was the only products I didn’t install and i can easily wait until they are compliant. Last version of Logic - that I could not run on my old iMac - is just amazing. I’m a happy user✨
Is it compatible with a usb 2.0 Tascam soundcard? The Tascam has old drivers and is not class compliant so wondering if my US144 mark 2 will work with the M1?
Do you notice a change in round trip latency? for ableton or the M1 compatible DAWs? Also I think we may finally be able to run Ableton on an Ipad soon.
Don't take this the wrong way but what are Adobe Premier or being able to run Windows doing in a video titled "Should you buy an M1 Mac for music production?"? It would have perhaps been more relevant if you'd have mentioned for example that Avid still doesn't quite have a native version of Pro Tools or that Bitwig is fully native now or that U-he just released almost their entire product suite (synthesizers, effects etc) for the M1 platform last week. Avid dragging their feet on native versions of Pro Tools is far more pertinent to your story than anything Adobe or Microsoft related. Just some constructive criticism mate. That said, performance wise, the M1 eclipses anything Intel has to offer right now and in my experience it is the top choice for low latency recording. Outside of things like Carbon or HDX etc. But that's my limited experience. I have a 2020 i7 Imac that's full maxed out and it kind of just shits itself whenever you drop the buffer and want to do anything other than recording audio.
A very important thing to consider buying a M1 for music production is the RAM limitation of the M1 processor (Max 16Go). It is far from enough to compose music using big libraries like orchestral libraries.
its been shown clearly by quite a few reviewers that 16gb does not equate to the intels with 16gb yes seems strange but its like having more than the 16gb. still these m1 units out are the very base model. who would run an macbook air intel for music production .. no one so that where you have to keep things in proportion. if you want a cheap machine and are not running a massive studio then the M1s are worth getting I have been very surprised comparing it to my macbook pro intell 32gb
@@williamshaneblyth I've been producing on Macbook Air 1.6 GHz (Turbo Mode 2.7 GHz with a controller), 8 GB RAM and it's been okay with the odd audio engine crash. Never more than 20 tracks and it was nice. Just upgraded to M1 so 16 GB should be a lot better. M1 uses the SSD as a RAM buffer, due to the fast read/write speeds. I think M1 16 GB should be good for most people - there may be an orchestral test on youtube! If I find one I'll link the stress test here guys 💻 🎧 🎹🔊
@@trapbeatproducer mine is older so not even 8gb of ram I switched to a 3012 macmini it was upgraded to 16gb and a fast ssd the air wasn't up to anything but light stuff.
Hey David, just noticed the keyboard in the background. Is it a Sequential Circuits prophet by chance? I have a Pro-1 and the outline looks similar to mine. Thanks for the M1 update.
Thank you for your honesty, it's appreciated. The M1 is cool, but to be honest, I don't see the point of it. I produce music and videos, so last year I bought a Corsair One computer for 4000$. It blows the M1 and 95% of all the computers out of the water. So unless you really want to stick to macOS, I really don't see the point of buying an M1-based computer if you're looking for the best performances. Intel is still making the most powerful CPUs in the market, and when they're not, it's AMD CPUs that are the best (which I think is the case right now).
You are right on the M1; there are more powerful chips available in x86 land. But the Intel architecture is drowning in technical debt, in the sense that no one at Intel would design a chip with that architecture now, and they (and AMD) are hitting diminishing returns in trying to improve it. I expect in 10 years even "Windows boxes" will be running ARM. But for right now, yeah, you can put together an x86-based Windows box with an Intel or AMD chip vastly more powerful than any ARM-based machine Apple is offering (and that's not even getting into the 16 GB memory limit on the current crop of M1 machines). I'm looking forward to seeing what the M1X brings to the table. I was going to wait to upgrade, hoping to hold out for an M1X device, but my 2015 was dying so I had to go ahead and go for the M1. The main thing for me is that my M1 MacBook Air has zero noise, since it doesn't even have a fan. But that's only important for recording; for editing, yeah, let that fan rip. :)
One of my greatest life lessons, was when I missed the boat, by not seeing the future. Stuck in old ideas and new technology, when the world had moved on. The start of the M1 empire may be slow, but its picking up quickly, and this is only the beginning. For the vast majority of users, the basic M1 chips are already more than adequate. Its only a matter of time, within the next 3 years, who do you want to bet on - Intel/AMD or M1 for CPU's., and even the most demanding workloads will run adequately on the higher performance versions of the current M1 CPU's. I'm a Windows die hard, and if I was not already so invested in Intel, if I was starting again, I would bet on the M1 architecture, its design is simply ahead of Intel/AMD, consumes much less power, on some of the most efficient CPU's for general purpose computing. If the software and device drivers I run, have native versions that run on Apple Silicon, I think that's the way to go. What's the cost of this risk, the cost of an M1 based computer or an M1X based computer which will be released sometime in the next year. This would suit the vast majority of creatives. Of course there will be exceptions, such as those running large sample libraries, such as highly detailed piano samples and orchestral libraries, which need aspects of them to for whom the current maximum of 16GB RAM on M1 based computers is definitely inadequate, and the only option is to either get an Intel Mac or an AMD or Intel Windows PC, to access 32 GB or more RAM. examples would be people like Hans Zimmer, for whom it makes no sense to run in small RAM like 16GB computers. So for such exceptions, which is the minority, then please get a nice beefy Windows desktop (not a laptop with mobile Intel/AMD CPU) but a proper desktop with lots of RAM/ability to configure/and add/remove peripherals. For such use cases - yes - a highly specced Windows computer is the best choice at this time. But most people are not likely to be in this category of users. One of the interesting twists in the Apple Silicon landscape is the possible elimination of the need to buy separate GPU 's. That would be an interesting gamechanger.
4000 dollar desktop vs 1000 dollar laptop is not really a fair comparison. a 500 dollar DIY desktop is probably already enough to take lead. Power consumption and heat are things that matter more for this use case.
@@ReasonanceHead I agree, but my point is not to compare price/performance between different computers (it would be endless, especially if you consider the used market), but to point out that they are way better processors and computers on the market. Musicians are hyped with Apple because the marketing at Apple targets them. It's not because it's the best option for musicians, far from it! So you have tons of videos talking about the M1 chip, but way less talking about much better computers like the Corsair One.
I just ordered and got delivery of a NEW M3 MBP 14 core, with 96 GB RAM! WOWOWOW what a total let down!!!!! Compared to my 2018 Intel i7 with 16gb ram, I notice 0% difference in sped of loading, opening, playing back DAW productions. Totally disappointed with it... SO Am I paying £4000+ JUST for the extra RAM (which of course is useful).??
I have the 16gb/1 TB BTO. BTO...nice little letters that say 'we're your only choice, hahaha, if you want more than the bargain model.' It works fine with Logic Pro, better, actually, than my 27" i7 late 2015 iMac 4ghz, 32gb RAM. It worked fine on a basic model as well, but better the 16 gb RAM in my mind. I'm not composing symphonies or soundtracks. I hope IK optimises their software soon. Their tape emulations are excellent, but CPU ravenous.
@@DaveSchulze yep. Given my use as described above, I see no need for more. Also, most of my 3rd party plugins have been updated to Apple Silicon. Not all, but most. The M2 chips are reported to have a different chip structure that makes it not as efficient as the M1, and the SSD is slower. There are reports of throttling on the M2. Hope that helps.
@@PreacherAtArrakeen Thanks. I’m going to pickup a 16” Pro/16GB/1TB for Ableton, NI, Arturia, but I’m a bedroom guy so I think I’ll be okay. Just use externals for liberators, samples. Appreciate the feedback!
Sadly the Pro Tools on the M1 won't run the video engine which is pretty disappointing at the moment so I am hoping that by the end of the year that we might see the video engine working on M1 by the end of the year, but that's my optimistic outlook, I could be wrong to be honest. I have not had any issues with the M1 Mac other than the Pro Tools M1 video engine which is a suck but that means I am still rocking my Acer Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop Intel 11th generation for anything I am working in terms of the video side of things.
It’s solid, but ableton doesn’t run properly at all, drop outs on renders for no reason happens all the time. Another few years before it’s going to be all native
@@DavidHilowitzMusic they’ve had over a year already! Even if they released it today, all the third party plugs need doing too! Even so, I’m happy I’ve got the M1 as it’s the future!
I just purchased M1 Macbook Pro and it won't recognize my Akai MPK 261. Akai's website states "All Akai Pro Hardware and Software should be considered not supported for use with new M1 processors" I think they're working on it. Any suggestions on compatible controllers?
As usual very clear info David Thanls. Now, why do you use Live Abelton 11 as your main DAW? would you care maybe making a video about it? Against Logic and others? I'm a low to mid level Logic user, trying to move -if it would be a better thing to do- to a different DAW, and well, Ableton is very much a favourite. I'd love to know your reasons. -unless you already did that? cheers
Hi David, thanks for the tips. Just got a question about Plugins. What about Plugins, say you’re running Logic with a bunch of third party Plugins. Will they be slower in logic if they’re not M1 modified or does it not make a difference?
any advice on how to hook up my Boss and Vox amps to those 2 ports on the back? struggling to find a solution here in Australia at the moment...but i do love how fast my Garageband is running on my new M1 Mac
Wait, shouldn’t ANY class compliant audio interface work fine? does one need drivers for audio interfaces on Mac? I am contemplating to switch to Macbook Air 2020 FANLESS for home/hobby production, mostly with Maschine. What I always have missed in Windoze was native STACKING of audio interfaces , e..g. some synths have USB interfaces or even Guitar pedals like HX Stomp. Stacking those with your main one is impossible on Windows (in a performant way). Plus, what’s the state with plugins working natively on M1 these days? I use Plugin Alliance, Roland, Audiothing and Overloud, mainly
Yes, class compliant interfaces work really well, although a lot of folks are using devices with custom drivers (such as a the UAD Apollo series). It is possible to "stack" interfaces on Mac by creating composite devices in the Audio Midi Setup app, although I suspect one's mileage may vary. :)
David please help I have the Mac 💻 M1 and I have my mbox pro with m audio monitors. How do I get it to work. I had the iMac 🖥 2011 previously. Logic Pro is what I used to record.
I just checked the other day, and most of the third party software I use still hasn’t been released for M1. Including UAD and Waves, probably the two biggest names in the market. I bought a new Intel Mac last year because I knew this was going to happen, and wanted to be able to ride it out. I’m still surprised how slow it’s been.
The only thing missing is the discussion about the 3rd party plugins that run inside your DAW. A lot of them are compatible now but there are also a lot that are not and that requires you run your DAW with Rosetta otherwise they will not work. Or they just don't work at all. I am currently a pc user but would like to switch to a mac book pro M1X as soon as it comes out
Yup I have a few plugins that don't work on an m1... I wouldn't recommend an m1 for a serious producer as there will be some products that are incompatible
It really does depend on which plugins one uses. Most of the ones I use are supported, but Waves have not updated their stuff (!!!). I’m guessing they’re waiting so they can charge folks for an upgrade.
@@DavidHilowitzMusic Waves V12 have been updated to run with Intel based Big Sur a few months back and work fine via Rosetta 2 with Ableton Live though.
My main gripe right now is with NI's Massive X's lack of compatibility due to lack of AVX compatibility by the M1 chip.
I’m also waiting for the M1X, I’m slightly concerned about some of my mixing plugins not working but I saw a post on Reddit assuring me that it won’t be as hard as it was when the M1 came out
I use a lot CLA-Bass plugin and it was not compatible since Catalina!!! (At least when I tried it one month ago, I don't know if it works now)
I am a mastering engineer and just recently upgraded to a new MacMini M1 from a 2015 MacBook Pro. As of right now I haven’t seen any performance increase and a large amount of the plugins I use are not compatible at the moment so I have had to change my workflow. Next week I am going back to my MBP which is a beast. Eventually the plug-in mfgr’s will catch up and the mini will get recommissioned. For the record I use all Steinberg software which runs great. Well…the same as on the MBP.
You could try to run Cubase in Rosetta (right click in applications /info/ and check the box) then your plugins will not need to translate. I saw somewhere a user video on this. My Cubase is running great but most my stuff is just softsynth and VSTi playing, nothing like mastering.
No need to upgrade from a 2015 mbp beast. M1 is just marginally better than these old powerhouses on music production. But with plugins, as described, it won’t work at all atm. So use the old book as long as it works🙏👌
@@jimi272 I’m using a 2015 MBP that I got from the Los Angeles Recording school, as well as a 2012 Mac mini that’s been upgraded with more Storage and RAM
You are not a mastering engineer. Because you are using mac
Using a M1 Macbook Air 8gb ram on Ableton, +40 tracks, lots, lots of plugins, no issues at all
which vst do you use? confirm that you have no problems, how much ram do you see in the monitoring? Thank you
Logic Pro has ocean eyes as a demo. Lots of effects. A ton. And virtual instruments. Used about 25% of CPU. Peaked at 30%.
its a demo; it's designed to run good
@@sleeptalkenthusiast Logic is running best on M1. Period. Better than on a $3000 Intel MBP.
Ocean eyes takes about 20% CPU on my i7 mac mini. never crossed 25%
Logic is crap
What??!?!?! Please explain?
I bought an M1 Mac Mini a few months ago and didn't *really* start to have the M1 experience until just recently when Valhalla, Bitwig and u-he plugins _finally_ nailed down native Apple Silicon support. I'm really enjoying it now, so if you're willing to wait for updates and tolerate some Rosetta emulations during this awkward transition, you should be fine.
Basically, Rosetta is the bridge till all other 3rd party plugins come to the party, yeah?
@@davidolufemipopoola2182 Yap.
I upgraded to a Mac Mini M1 in January. I have approximately 1500 instrument, reverb, delay and FX plugins. It took me two weeks, eight hours a day to upgrade, update, troubleshoot, reinstall etc. Now everything works like a dream in Rosetta. I’m not going to go full Silicon until the majority of developers upgrade. I do projects with a lot of tracks and all good:)
I’m happy to hear the performance has improved dramatically overall. I came from a 2011 Mac mini and boy was I blown away when I got my M1 Mac mini so the effects of the upgrade were substantial for me, to say the least.
Same here! I went from the last white MacBook to the m1 MacBook Air! This thing is amazing!
This is the best review I have seen on the M1 for music makers. Thanks.
M1 MacBook Air 16 GB ram has been an absolute powerhouse for me. Cubase 10.5 runs no problem with Kontakt, Slate Drums, Helix Native. Best impulse buy (certified refurbed) I’ve done in years.
Cubase ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
No problems hhahahahahabh
I just came across your channel while contemplating if I can start getting into the Sample Packs/Kontakt Instruments game. Your videos are very helpful - and being a person with a background in software development myself, your videos totally make sense! Thank you David, and keep up the great work :)
Great video and information for us musicians wanting to know how the new mac's work with music production 👌
I just bought an M1 MBP 16Gb with 2Tb ssd. I was waiting for the M1X, but it was takng too long.
I came from a Dell XPS 15. This New mac is very fast. Never heard the fan and it does not get warm.
One thing you missed and I forgot about was, you can only plug one external display. For those like me with multi display home studio setups, it could be worth waiting for the M1X processors that I believe will support up to 4 external displays. I am now shopping for ultra-wide display. I plan to get M1X Mac Mini when released so no a big deal.
BitWig Studio and Cubase are my main DAW's. Bitwig is now M1 Native and Cubase works perfectly. All my pluggins are working with exception to Massive X soft synth. I am very happy with my switch.
How’s your experience been w the RAM & SSD? What would you differently?
@@DaveSchulze Bigger SSD. The M1 MBP is a dream for running many vst. With todays newer models I would go with 4tb SSD and 32 Gigs of Ram, the Ram not because you need it, but to future proof it. I am more than happy with my current system but the SSD soon gets full with todays larger libraries.
@@troycarpenter4355 Thanks so much for the reply. Agree for all those reasons. I want 32GB/4TB but I also don’t want the premium although I can justify the expense over time. Mostly I don’t want to wait 4-6 wks for delivery. Ha!
I've been blown away at how transparent Rosetta 2 is. Some Intel applications like Camtasia run smoother and are more stable under emulation on my Mac M1 Air than they run on my 2015 Intel MacBook Pro!
It's very surprising isn't it! Apple really did a great job preparing for this transition.
@@DavidHilowitzMusic It's been much smoother than the transition from Power PC than Intel, and infinitely smoother than from 68000 to PowerPC. (I remember my dad bought one of the early PowerPC Macs and then returned it a week later because none of his software would run!)
I'm a PC guy for the past 25 years, and just got a Mac for Multimedia Production.. I would go M1 13" all the way, Air or Pro.. I think it's the cheapest time to buy this Apple product beast.. I've installed Rosetta 2 but I'm not sure how to use it, but anyways Cubase and Live are running smoothly with Native Instruments and East West cloud.. Battery life is insane, Sleeping/waking up is instant.. I went with the 16GB just for future proof's sake..
I will definitelly get myself a new Arm-CPU Mac (to replace my i7-6700K Dell XPS 8900 PC from 2016)... It's not even a question "would I, should I go for Mac instead of PC", for me it's just a question of "should I wait for M1X/M2 CPU release, is it worth waiting or... not?". I do have doubts on "which Mac should I get, Mini, or Air or MBP?" but that comes after the question "Should I wait for M1X/M2"... few months, you say.... I'm already waiting few months, and I am getting Itchy Trigger Finger on the "Buy" button
Damn I didn't know Ableton needs double the CPU on the M1 chip. Ableton need to provide M1 native. Even Bitwig is native now and Ableton is (probably?) the most used DAW and costs a big chunk of money too.
On the other hand, Reaper is the best 60€ I've spent.
I no longer use protools but I expect it to be compatible by 2025 (as for live i'm waiting as well)
The fact that Reaper is so reliable and inexpensive should not be dismissed outright. I know people find it ugly and cumbersome, but honestly, once you start using its advantages, it becomes a reliable music environment.
@@joetowers4804 Reaper has its pros for sure, but also cons. As an Ableton user, I find Reaper is lightyears behind in terms of MIDI plug ins, sampler, effects, etc.
It is also problematic (on my HighSierra MacPro anyway) for sending clock to MIDI hardware, applying offset delays and staying in sync when looping sections and it loops back to the beginning...everything goes off. But that has to do with me using lots of hardware MIDI sequencers and synths.
When I am mixing other people's music or mastering, Reaper is my go to and its amazing how CPU efficient it is.
@@valdir7426 I just read from Avids website that Protools are already compatible with M1 (unless I'm misinterpreting it). I'm actually surprised Live isn't compatible with M1.
Edit: It doesn't run natively unfortunately but Rosetta, the 2021.6 ver does allow 256 mono/stereo tracks
@@iasyama1999 yes Ableton has been compatible through rosetta since january; but the performance is not overwhelming.
thanks for the video! I appreciate it.
If the M1X is a “more pro” version, that’s what I’m gonna go for. I imagine having use for extra graphics performance and more memory for my editing multi layered 4K videos all the time.
I think that makes sense! Is my memory correct that you use DaVinci Resolve? I’ve heard good things about Resolve performance on the ARM chips.
@@DavidHilowitzMusic I’m using it sometimes. But mostly Final Cut Pro. But with real-time performance I’m curious to try Resolve more. In terms of speed and flow it’s hard to beat FCPX though, in my opinion.
hey, wouldn't recommend waiting for m1x. I personally don't think it's going to be a lot better. Remember, the m1 chip couldn't host more than 16 gb memory due to chip limitations. that may be fixed but maybe there will have to be some more years to even be able to do that.
Wait for M1X, if you like it, buy it, if not, don't. They shouldn't be too far away, a few months tops, so waiting doesn't hurt. Leaked specs have shown that the M1X will have 2 more CPU cores, and the GPU cores will jump up to 16/32 (you can upgrade even more to 32 but this might only be for the 16 inch, we'll have to see). The M1X chip will allow up to 32GB of RAM and you can connect multiple external displays to the M1X too. Additionally, the new Macbook pros are expected to have more ports, mini-LED display, 1080p webcam.
All of these are leaks and obviously haven't been confirmed, but as they are from the most reliable sources currently out there (such as Mark Gurman), I do recommend waiting a few more months to see the reveal of the M1X and then continue deciding which Macbook is best for you, especially since the Macbooks are expected to come by the end of this year (September-November).
@@BalticDS well i doubt that Gpu cores will jump that high. If they could, they would. Apple may have some i/o problems Once again just like with m1
Thanks for the info! Debating on the m1 vs m1 max now. Hard choice!
Great video. Was about to purchase an M1 recently, but I figured it would be best to wait for the m1x/m2 since they're on the horizon. Sucks that ableton isn't updated yet but I was considering giving logic pro a chance since I'm not 100% sure if I want to upgrade to live 11.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the M1X/M2 would only be an upgrade option, so more $$$ for a faster CPU. I recently got my first MBP M1 and for me the system seems fast enough. With the configuration I have I wouldn’t want to pay more for a faster CPU.
I use a 2020 i7 hexacore Mac mini with 16 gb as my desktop machine. My school (audio school) provided us a MacBook pro M1
Pro Tools is my primary DAW. As many are aware, avid is painfully slow with updates and only recently has pro tools been updated with official support for Big Sur. No, it does not yet officially support M1
Yet, I've been using both machines side by side. Installed programs are identical, here is my observation:
On M1 pro tools 2021.7 runs very smoothly. On this machine running one particularly large project, and it is a smoother user experience than pro tools on my Intel Mac mini. However, pro tools crashes occasionally on my M1 laptop. The experience is much smoother, but it is simply not as reliable as my Intel Machine at this time
It's also worth mentioning that running the exact same project on my desktop results in a rocket engine like heat production and fan noise, where my M1 laptop runs smoothly, quietly, and cooler
Final thing worth mentioning is that as of version 2021.7, M1 machines will not work with video. 2021.4 (.3 maybe) however did work with video on my M1 MacBook
Hi, David. Great advice. I'm amazed how quickly my go-to software is being updated for native ARM support. I expected it to go as slowly as the move to Intel went. I'm glad to see that Digital Performer 11 fully supports M1! I hope my third-party plugins catch up. Have a great weekend, and congrats on the M1 MBP.
The Live info I was looking for. Thank you!
Running Bitwig 4.0 on my brand new Macbook Air on M1. Never thought I'd feel ever again that my computer is actually a piece of music hardware, let alone that I'd be so excited about it.
I just use a PC with OpenMPT, suits my needs just fine and I can still make production quality music on it if I want to.
Good video, Ram considerations
Regarding hardware compatibility, I'm running an RME Fireface 800 which came out in 2004. RME is still making updated drivers for it, including native M1 support! It's a bit of a mess of dongles -- Firewire to Thunderbolt 2, Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 -- but it works. It's not as perfectly rock solid stable as it was on my 2015 and earlier MacBooks, but it's pretty good. On very rare occasions, a chunk of audio will just start looping on playback, and I have to reboot, and every once in a while the Mac won't see the interface or vice-versa when I plug it in and I have to just try random things, but it's still less problematic than the Digidesign Audio Engine ever was, on anything, with anything. :)
Also on very rare occasion, my MacBook would hang give be a pink screen and reboot when I unplugged the interface (it is supposed to be hot pluggable with non-Firewire power devices), but this problem seems to disappear if I remember to switch the sound input/out from the Fireface 800 to the laptop's build in mic and speaker first.
Wow, that’s amazing that they’re still releasing drivers for it. I had an M-Audio ProFire 2626 and M-Audio unceremoniously stopped updating the drivers like five years ago (presumably in order to encourage people to upgrade).
@@DavidHilowitzMusic RME is an AMAZING company.
I really enjoyed your video! Greatly produced. Keep it going!
my m1 mini arriving tomorrow :)
this video was perfect for me, currently on the 2016 MacBook pro as well. gonna wait another year or so before I upgrade, thanks
I’m a musician and an iOS developer as well :)
I wonder how the Ableton support has changed since it's now Apple Native.
Thanks for the review! It's quite a daunting task to go check every bit of software and hardware that makes your studio tick, since things even break for lesser causes. Upgrading is probably inevitable at some point... 😉
It's funny because my everyday laptop is a MacBookPro 13" from...2009 !!
So, 12 years of touring around the planet using both Logic or Ableton without any problems.
I just put an SSD and change the battery twice, that's all.
So in terms of obsolescence, Apple is pretty much ok for me ;-)
By the way thanx for your videos David!
Haha same here, I have a late-2008 unibody macbook, I replaced the battery and put a SSD. I use Skype everyday for work and logic still runs on it. It's from the time we could upgrade them easily and give them a second life.
I was waiting for the new macbook pro to get release but the price difference with the air is not worth it for me (1000€). Going for the M1 air 16gb/1tb.
The one downside is that my Emagic AMT 8 midi interface no longer works, but that's a 20 year old interface whose drivers were last updated in 2010, so I can't ask for much.
Ok keep on eating rotten apples. Drivers in mac are ridiculous.
@@marcosrotllan I think that's a computer thing overall; I don't think that I've had any *less* problems with driver issues on Windows boxes.
I’ve been amazed at how long my AMT8 has continued to work but yeh, this will be one thing I’ll need to account for as and when I upgrade.
@@StephenTallamyMusic Yup, 20 years later it still works fine with my Intel Mac running Catalina... but indeed, it's time to move on. Although, when I'm honest with myself, I confess I almost never turn on my old pre-USB MIDI synths anymore anyway... I can't bring myself to sell them, though.
@@Lantertronics yeh I’ve been playing with my pre USB synths recently (see my channel) and so the AMT8 has had it’s second coming. Seems like a Motu MIDI interface might be the way forward as they support M1.
Nice synopsis, David. I think one additional point to consider for a certain percentage of composers might be the RAM limit of 16gb in this first iteration of Apple silicon. Probably not an issue for most people, but definitely might be for some.
Yes, that’s definitely true, especially for people with large templates.
@@DavidHilowitzMusic I definitely fall into that category. Most of my orchestral templates (even single library ones) are designed for systems with at least 32GB of RAM, minimum. Some are designed for systems with 56GB and up.
Even just templates that use a lot of Acustica Audio effects eat up RAM pretty quickly.
The M1 systems are a non-starter for those using large libraries until they can use more RAM.
@Илья Соловьев What size are you referring to? What's the memory usage when you load the same libraries on an Intel Mac or Intel/AMD PC?
EDIT: The VI-Control forums show many users reporting issues with M1 in regards to RAM and especially large orchestral library templates. By many accounts, one of the primary benefits to the M1 memory approach over the Intel one has to do with their respective virtual memory approaches. In other words, they are accommodating larger templates by using virtual memory - not by being able to fit more into the RAM itself.
Unless the M1 processors have been married to SSDs that equal the speed of the RAM (which by all accounts I've seen, they are not) a virtual memory approach results in a performance decrease.
It would be great to see some more concrete apples to apples comparisons that addressed both the size of the templates and the respective performance when loading identical patches on both.
The M1's max ram is 16gb. That's why I just went with a Pc. I got a computer with way better specs than any mac without xeon processors for over half the price. My computer is only a couple hundred more than a fully spec'd M1 Imac and I have twice the hhd space, 4xs the ram and my 2070super kills out the M1 gpu and my I10900k is a beast. Apples computers are great but they're way too overpriced, with minium uprgadability.
This is the problem I ran into . My MacBook Air m1 is nice for travel production but it tops out fairly quick for what I do . I’m grabbing the iMac and upgrading it to 64 ram.
I use m1 mac mini as a professionell studio computer and if you use Logic and Rosetta there are absolutely no problems!!!
Such a perfectly succinct and helpful video, subbed for sure
blue cat's patch bay is great for your plugins that dont work
I can help with this one, yes, you should
Great video. I have been using the M1 Mac Mini and its been great for me running Logic. I don't use any 3rd party plug in's, just Logic's.
Cheers DH !
I went with an M1 Mini and the big issue for me is plugins using Rosetta which guzzle the CPU - had this with Amplitube 5 and (more disappointingly) Line 6 Helix Native. They're working on it but I'd have expected a subsidiary of Yamaha to have been a but more on the ball with Apple Silicon 🤷♀️
Switched to Windows for now...After 10- Years of Apple Experience and Logic....Now using Presounus Studio One 5 ... Amazingly Great and far ahead of Logic...and of course Windows Experience is great...
S1 5 user here too. I use both Windows PC and Macbook Air 1, both with S1. Obviously my main production computer is my desktop PC, but it's fans are loud and I find it very annoying when I am mixing. I use my Macbook M1 Air usually when I'm kicking back on my recliner chair or laying in bed. This is where I create most of my melodys and loops. I run a lot of automation too. I produce electronic music (industrial, synthpop, futurepop, trance, etc) and I've hadn't had any problems with my M1. Once I get a nice loop going, I send it over to my PC for further production. Studio One seems to run very nicely with m1 macs.
@@timetravelvictim following you for a lot of time...have learnt alot from you....I too have sampled one indian instrument bubultarang , got it recoded in my studio from one of the instrument player...thanks for your hard work...
Excellent video! Thank you very much!
great video thank you!
Nice video. I'd personally recommend people look at the MPC models as well, I have had no negative feedback on stems created in the MPC X standalone. Great tip re dual boot, Reaper is always a good option if midi is not too important to you.
I've been meaning to check out the MPC One for ages.
FLS is the only one
Big help. Thanks
I think Apple's roadmap is to have all product range updated before upgrading the M1 Airbook, Macbook Pro 13" and Imac 24". Just my guess of course but it fits what they have promised having all of the computer range running on Apple Silicone before the end of 2021.
I'm most exciting about the Mac Pro but I also think that one will turn up late unfortunately.
Exactly what I needed. Thanks!
Great advise David. I purchased the M1 Mini late last year and love it for my needs. I would like a new macbook and will certainly wait for the next launch to see what happens. My 2015 15 inch macbook fans are so noisy and make using it live on site recording annoying.
As an Ableton/VST user, thanks for the warning. Looks like I’ll keep waiting.
" I hardly hear the fan noise "... Mmm I don't wanna to hear fán noise at all . Should I pick the air instead ?
Music production need
There is a beta version of win10 for arm chips, works better than bootcamp for the intel Macs.
Thanks for the video. But why do your take PRO version, why not AIR?
So many plugins and VI are still not working natively, so no.
And what about VI using a lot of memory, the Ample Sound or the Stipfire Audio ones for example? (16 GB of RAM is still 16 GB of RAM)
@Kajin Most of them work non natively. but the problem is that if you want to have them working fine it is better if you set your host application (DAW) to work under Rosetta 2 (even if the application is Silicon native) - so you will lose a big part of the M1 advantages.
But many plugins still don't work NATIVELY. Use a good search engine to find which ones ;)
Great video and advice, thanks so much! So the new M1's come with a max of 16GB of RAM... whereas the intel based 27' imac's can be configured with 16, 32, 64 or even 128 GB of RAM (64 and 128 very very expensive tho!!) Would you say that the new M1 with 16GB of RAM is as efficient or even more so than the intel processor with 64 or 128 GB RAM? My Logic music projects sometimes mount up to 30 tracks or more with third party plugins (quite a few of them are Waves plugins, also Softube etc...) Thanks again! :)
Wow, so your Apollo Twin was totally compatible right off the bat?
Yes, but not now !!! I did my homework and I know that most of my 3rf Party Plugins won’t work for now… This may take a year to get them correctly updated and running 💡✨
It really does depend so much on what software you use most.
@@DavidHilowitzMusic I finally purchased a mac mini 16Gb/2Tb last week 😄 Took me a few days to install all my plugins (with Logic + Rosetta) and configure it. So far I didn’t have a single issue, everything is running fast and smooth. I just checked first on every site what I was about to install to make sure it was supported to avoid hickups and uninstall. I just had to skip Izotope products as they are not yet M1 ready. I spare you my list but it was the only products I didn’t install and i can easily wait until they are compliant.
Last version of Logic - that I could not run on my old iMac - is just amazing.
I’m a happy user✨
Great video. I’ve subscribed.
for me it worked pretty well, before m1 air, I was using 2011 i7 13" lol so it was HUUUUUGE upgrade
Thank you kind sir!
Make a tutorial of GarageBand iOS version of possible??
VI instruments will use a single core for running the VI thread and processor speed counts big time not so much the number of total processors.
extremely good quality content, thanks!
Is it compatible with a usb 2.0 Tascam soundcard? The Tascam has old drivers and is not class compliant so wondering if my US144 mark 2 will work with the M1?
Not without an update from Tascam.
Do you notice a change in round trip latency? for ableton or the M1 compatible DAWs? Also I think we may finally be able to run Ableton on an Ipad soon.
Don't take this the wrong way but what are Adobe Premier or being able to run Windows doing in a video titled "Should you buy an M1 Mac for music production?"? It would have perhaps been more relevant if you'd have mentioned for example that Avid still doesn't quite have a native version of Pro Tools or that Bitwig is fully native now or that U-he just released almost their entire product suite (synthesizers, effects etc) for the M1 platform last week. Avid dragging their feet on native versions of Pro Tools is far more pertinent to your story than anything Adobe or Microsoft related. Just some constructive criticism mate.
That said, performance wise, the M1 eclipses anything Intel has to offer right now and in my experience it is the top choice for low latency recording. Outside of things like Carbon or HDX etc. But that's my limited experience. I have a 2020 i7 Imac that's full maxed out and it kind of just shits itself whenever you drop the buffer and want to do anything other than recording audio.
A very important thing to consider buying a M1 for music production is the RAM limitation of the M1 processor (Max 16Go). It is far from enough to compose music using big libraries like orchestral libraries.
its been shown clearly by quite a few reviewers that 16gb does not equate to the intels with 16gb yes seems strange but its like having more than the 16gb. still these m1 units out are the very base model. who would run an macbook air intel for music production .. no one so that where you have to keep things in proportion. if you want a cheap machine and are not running a massive studio then the M1s are worth getting I have been very surprised comparing it to my macbook pro intell 32gb
@@williamshaneblyth I've been producing on Macbook Air 1.6 GHz (Turbo Mode 2.7 GHz with a controller), 8 GB RAM and it's been okay with the odd audio engine crash.
Never more than 20 tracks and it was nice.
Just upgraded to M1 so 16 GB should be a lot better. M1 uses the SSD as a RAM buffer, due to the fast read/write speeds.
I think M1 16 GB should be good for most people - there may be an orchestral test on youtube! If I find one I'll link the stress test here guys 💻 🎧 🎹🔊
@@trapbeatproducer mine is older so not even 8gb of ram I switched to a 3012 macmini it was upgraded to 16gb and a fast ssd the air wasn't up to anything but light stuff.
yeah, it's hard to hear the fan in the macbook air m1 if it doesn't have one
Hey David, just noticed the keyboard in the background. Is it a Sequential Circuits prophet by chance? I have a Pro-1 and the outline looks similar to mine. Thanks for the M1 update.
So many plugin software won't work natively, and you have to use Rosetta 2. UGH.
Have you tried the Beta version of Ableton Live 11 suite for the M1? I imagine the CPU usage would come back down.
Thank you for your honesty, it's appreciated. The M1 is cool, but to be honest, I don't see the point of it. I produce music and videos, so last year I bought a Corsair One computer for 4000$. It blows the M1 and 95% of all the computers out of the water. So unless you really want to stick to macOS, I really don't see the point of buying an M1-based computer if you're looking for the best performances. Intel is still making the most powerful CPUs in the market, and when they're not, it's AMD CPUs that are the best (which I think is the case right now).
You are right on the M1; there are more powerful chips available in x86 land. But the Intel architecture is drowning in technical debt, in the sense that no one at Intel would design a chip with that architecture now, and they (and AMD) are hitting diminishing returns in trying to improve it. I expect in 10 years even "Windows boxes" will be running ARM.
But for right now, yeah, you can put together an x86-based Windows box with an Intel or AMD chip vastly more powerful than any ARM-based machine Apple is offering (and that's not even getting into the 16 GB memory limit on the current crop of M1 machines).
I'm looking forward to seeing what the M1X brings to the table. I was going to wait to upgrade, hoping to hold out for an M1X device, but my 2015 was dying so I had to go ahead and go for the M1.
The main thing for me is that my M1 MacBook Air has zero noise, since it doesn't even have a fan. But that's only important for recording; for editing, yeah, let that fan rip. :)
One of my greatest life lessons, was when I missed the boat, by not seeing the future. Stuck in old ideas and new technology, when the world had moved on. The start of the M1 empire may be slow, but its picking up quickly, and this is only the beginning. For the vast majority of users, the basic M1 chips are already more than adequate. Its only a matter of time, within the next 3 years, who do you want to bet on - Intel/AMD or M1 for CPU's., and even the most demanding workloads will run adequately on the higher performance versions of the current M1 CPU's.
I'm a Windows die hard, and if I was not already so invested in Intel, if I was starting again, I would bet on the M1 architecture, its design is simply ahead of Intel/AMD, consumes much less power, on some of the most efficient CPU's for general purpose computing.
If the software and device drivers I run, have native versions that run on Apple Silicon, I think that's the way to go. What's the cost of this risk, the cost of an M1 based computer or an M1X based computer which will be released sometime in the next year. This would suit the vast majority of creatives.
Of course there will be exceptions, such as those running large sample libraries, such as highly detailed piano samples and orchestral libraries, which need aspects of them to for whom the current maximum of 16GB RAM on M1 based computers is definitely inadequate, and the only option is to either get an Intel Mac or an AMD or Intel Windows PC, to access 32 GB or more RAM. examples would be people like Hans Zimmer, for whom it makes no sense to run in small RAM like 16GB computers. So for such exceptions, which is the minority, then please get a nice beefy Windows desktop (not a laptop with mobile Intel/AMD CPU) but a proper desktop with lots of RAM/ability to configure/and add/remove peripherals. For such use cases - yes - a highly specced Windows computer is the best choice at this time. But most people are not likely to be in this category of users.
One of the interesting twists in the Apple Silicon landscape is the possible elimination of the need to buy separate GPU 's. That would be an interesting gamechanger.
4000 dollar desktop vs 1000 dollar laptop is not really a fair comparison. a 500 dollar DIY desktop is probably already enough to take lead. Power consumption and heat are things that matter more for this use case.
@@ReasonanceHead I agree, but my point is not to compare price/performance between different computers (it would be endless, especially if you consider the used market), but to point out that they are way better processors and computers on the market. Musicians are hyped with Apple because the marketing at Apple targets them. It's not because it's the best option for musicians, far from it! So you have tons of videos talking about the M1 chip, but way less talking about much better computers like the Corsair One.
I just ordered and got delivery of a NEW M3 MBP 14 core, with 96 GB RAM! WOWOWOW what a total let down!!!!! Compared to my 2018 Intel i7 with 16gb ram, I notice 0% difference in sped of loading, opening, playing back DAW productions. Totally disappointed with it... SO Am I paying £4000+ JUST for the extra RAM (which of course is useful).??
Really interesting thanks man
Most useful video on the subject yet, thank you . Can I ask which Mac and what specification you purchased please?
Yes
Is the base model MacBook Air m1 going to work with maschine mk3 ??
Very good video thanks !!!!
I have the 16gb/1 TB BTO. BTO...nice little letters that say 'we're your only choice, hahaha, if you want more than the bargain model.' It works fine with Logic Pro, better, actually, than my 27" i7 late 2015 iMac 4ghz, 32gb RAM. It worked fine on a basic model as well, but better the 16 gb RAM in my mind. I'm not composing symphonies or soundtracks. I hope IK optimises their software soon. Their tape emulations are excellent, but CPU ravenous.
Still digging the 16GB/1TB? See any point in going for more?
@@DaveSchulze yep. Given my use as described above, I see no need for more. Also, most of my 3rd party plugins have been updated to Apple Silicon. Not all, but most. The M2 chips are reported to have a different chip structure that makes it not as efficient as the M1, and the SSD is slower. There are reports of throttling on the M2.
Hope that helps.
@@PreacherAtArrakeen Thanks. I’m going to pickup a 16” Pro/16GB/1TB for Ableton, NI, Arturia, but I’m a bedroom guy so I think I’ll be okay. Just use externals for liberators, samples. Appreciate the feedback!
@@DaveSchulze no prob. Hope you have fun!
My machine wasn't dead, but 4 GB only, no chance to expand, killed a file, where I put in many weeks of time.
Very helpful. Thank you.
Sadly the Pro Tools on the M1 won't run the video engine which is pretty disappointing at the moment so I am hoping that by the end of the year that we might see the video engine working on M1 by the end of the year, but that's my optimistic outlook, I could be wrong to be honest. I have not had any issues with the M1 Mac other than the Pro Tools M1 video engine which is a suck but that means I am still rocking my Acer Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop Intel 11th generation for anything I am working in terms of the video side of things.
It’s solid, but ableton doesn’t run properly at all, drop outs on renders for no reason happens all the time. Another few years before it’s going to be all native
Do you really think it’ll be that long?
@@DavidHilowitzMusic they’ve had over a year already! Even if they released it today, all the third party plugs need doing too! Even so, I’m happy I’ve got the M1 as it’s the future!
Yeah, it’s really amazing that it’s taken this long. There’s literally Pro Tools for M1 already, and Avid is generally not so swift with such updates.
@@DavidHilowitzMusic pro tools is the same as ableton - Rosetta ready, not native M1. I’m tempted to go to logic as that at least is native
a ton of noise reduction to get rid of the fan noise? nah
I just purchased M1 Macbook Pro and it won't recognize my Akai MPK 261. Akai's website states "All Akai Pro Hardware and Software should be considered not supported for use with new M1 processors" I think they're working on it. Any suggestions on compatible controllers?
brother can you give me your view on macbook air m1 for music production?
As usual very clear info David Thanls. Now, why do you use Live Abelton 11 as your main DAW? would you care maybe making a video about it? Against Logic and others? I'm a low to mid level Logic user, trying to move -if it would be a better thing to do- to a different DAW, and well, Ableton is very much a favourite. I'd love to know your reasons. -unless you already did that? cheers
Hi folks...I've been documenting some of my first experiencethe
Also, I believe Apple has dropped Bootcamp for Parallels going forward? I _think_ you can run Windows on an M1 Mac presently via Parallels?
Hi David, thanks for the tips. Just got a question about Plugins. What about Plugins, say you’re running Logic with a bunch of third party Plugins. Will they be slower in logic if they’re not M1 modified or does it not make a difference?
any advice on how to hook up my Boss and Vox amps to those 2 ports on the back? struggling to find a solution here in Australia at the moment...but i do love how fast my Garageband is running on my new M1 Mac
great vid, you seem very nice
Wait, shouldn’t ANY class compliant audio interface work fine? does one need drivers for audio interfaces on Mac? I am contemplating to switch to Macbook Air 2020 FANLESS for home/hobby production, mostly with Maschine. What I always have missed in Windoze was native STACKING of audio interfaces , e..g. some synths have USB interfaces or even Guitar pedals like HX Stomp. Stacking those with your main one is impossible on Windows (in a performant way).
Plus, what’s the state with plugins working natively on M1 these days? I use Plugin Alliance, Roland, Audiothing and Overloud, mainly
Yes, class compliant interfaces work really well, although a lot of folks are using devices with custom drivers (such as a the UAD Apollo series). It is possible to "stack" interfaces on Mac by creating composite devices in the Audio Midi Setup app, although I suspect one's mileage may vary. :)
David please help I have the Mac 💻 M1 and I have my mbox pro with m audio monitors. How do I get it to work. I had the iMac 🖥 2011 previously. Logic Pro is what I used to record.
Avid would need to update the drivers.
How do plugins work? Like if the DAW is M1 native, but Waves need Rosetta. How does that work?
Unfortunately I couldn't make my Mac Mini M1 work with my Roland Quad Capture.
I need to run FL STUDIO/ KONTAKT and Kali Linux; please Tell me if I can run those.
Would u get the pro or the air?
I just checked the other day, and most of the third party software I use still hasn’t been released for M1. Including UAD and Waves, probably the two biggest names in the market. I bought a new Intel Mac last year because I knew this was going to happen, and wanted to be able to ride it out. I’m still surprised how slow it’s been.
🤠 If it were me I'd run VSL Ensemble Pro on the old computer as a plugin host networked to the new computer.
@@meldmagic That can't be good for performance.