I got myself a M1 MacBook Air (256gb 16gb) in February 2021 and I don’t really feel the need to upgrade to a M1 Pro or M1 Max. My MBA is sufficiently powerful to run any task I need to run at the moment (mixing, mastering, music production, any office related task and even some light gaming). Plus it is super portable and it feels amazing to be able to bring such a powerhouse with me wherever I go or travel. Last reason is : it is relatively inexpensive and I could easily replace it if anything were to happen to it. I keep a recent Time Machine backup at home in case something happens, so I will have as little downtime as possible.
I picked up an M1 MacBook Pro last year (16GB ram/1TB SSD) and it runs Logic, Native Instruments and Arturia VSTs like a champ - no regrets! Great vid 👍
I can't thank you enough for your time, money, and expertise lately with all of these M1 videos. My 2016 base level i5 is really starting to get bogged down, even offloading everything I could to external drives. It's time I upgrade and figuring out what exactly I need as someone that edits a ton of videos in addition to audio has been time consuming.
I love my Macbook Air M1 (Mighty One) and for me its the best Computer i have had in the last 40 years. It matches all the checkboxes portability, power, its cold, no fan noise ever!, highly affordable, extremely stable, battery power for days…. whats not to love? Best from Germany
Hey Barry, I just want to let you know that I really enjoy listening to your thoughts and views. Your show is a great asset for engineers and musicians looking for information on what hardware works… in your opinion… and I think that your opinion carries some weight. Thank you for all do for the music community
Bought the M1 Pro 16 inch 16tb ram 1tb ssd seems pretty powerfull and silent. I hooked up a Sonnet thunderbolt 3 chassis with 2 UAD octo pcie cards to keep my ultimate plus collection up and running and maybe use the 3rd slot for some pcie double ssd backup raid 1 configuration to be double safe and have 2x2 tb for backup and storage. I know people think UAD connect is the future and it would be if there was a plan and information about which plugins will be converted the whole rent system isn't great either because the should be changing the price tag when the expand the collection. I keep my 16 sharks running a substantial part of the mix plugins and I'm totally happy with the M1 performance the fact it stays cool and silent is just great I love it !!!
I agree, Its definitely not an easy decision to make. I personally started on a 2017 MacBook pro 13" When i started creating music but I started to run out of puff in college. I bought a specced out 2019 MacBook ro 16 but kind of hated it because of not only the fan noise but because I still felt limited "This is where I went to university and started doing a lot of Orchestral sample library and Ambisonics/Surround multi-channel mixes" I got am M1 Mac Mini base model this summer and it was excellent for more standard arrangements (30-50 Tracks with 10 Heavy synths, 8 Sample libraries and a few effects). I spent a lot of time trying to maximise it but In hindsight I would of bought a 16GB model and waited until next year to get one of the pro desktops But with the limiting 8GB i found that I just couldn't personally deal with it for large Multi-channel sample library based projects. So far the M1 Max I now have has been everything I wanted my 2019 16" Intel to be. But don't get me wrong. Like you said, I know what kind of power I needed and I pushed all my previous machines to the limit, to the limit! and needed more. I would agree that most people do not need more than the base M1 for music production. especially if you daily use Synths, samples and recorded parts. Great Video and Content Barry
My M1 Air is about the same weight and size as my 2018 12.9 iPad Pro plus keyboard. It even fits into the iPads sleeve. It is a powerhouse. Amp sims with stereo delay and reverb at 88.2 and 32 samples it just shrugs off. Photo editing in PS and Lightroom Classic don't impress it. A Thundebolt dock with a big screen for home and a little SD-card dongle for traveling that is all I need. It even feeds my Apollo Solo for hours and independent of a power supply. There is no fan that makes noise or sucks in dust. You finally pushed me off the fence: I'll stick to the Air. :) Thanks for the thoughtful video!
I bought the MacAir 16gb, 2 TB SSD; I work with smaller projects, I can't imagine maxing it out, not even close. I knew the M1 pro and Max M1 would be available in the future but why wait when the MacAir was going to be more than enough? I made the right decision.
Barry, check out the “fillit” pocket. If you have to work off an SSD on a “lapped” laptop it’s indispensable. No dangling dongles or drives. Just need a long enough cable ideally, with a right-angled plug
Just ordered a Mac M1 pro. $2000. Now I can upgrade my firestudio project to the quantum (Presonus) Not sure why people don’t use Presonus more? A lot of features for the money and they sound great.
I went ahead and got the 16 inch M1 MacBook Pro with 32 GB ram and 2 T. Is it more than enough ? Probably. But, for me, the laptop screen my monitor, more ports, more power justify the price. A MacBook Air with 16gb ram and 2 TB of storage comes out to $2100 and I wouldn’t get any spec less. For me, I think I made a good decision. The air is just too Tiny and outdated for me, I think the 16 inch pro is the sweet spot
Dude. I am new to your material. I subscribed after the first video I saw. I’ve been at this about 18 years. Your information in incredible. Thank you for sharing.
My upgrade was needed due to my old windows CPU not making the support list for win11, my computer was kinda dying anyway, and I wanted thunderbolt capability. I originally placed an order for a MacBook m1 max but the availability was un reasonable for when my projects were due. I ended up picking up the M1 Pro 16gbram, 16core graphics with 1 TB storage. So far it's been functioning miraculously with studio one (also in between a couple sessions via logic). I feel like it's got more than enough power to work through my sessions and i can essentially push more quality out of my mixes by applying even more oversampling than i was previously capable of as I work mostly ITB. Being able to do that, plus some, has left me pretty impressed.
Any of the Pro chips, combined with a 1 tb SSD, is the sweet spot for so many people. Yes, the 14 and 16 inch models are expensive, but you get so much for your money. For my purposes the 10/14 option is the best fit.
I have the late 2019 Macbook Pro I9 and I hate it. Don't get me wrong, its a powerful Macbook but the damn heat and noise it puts put is insane, and they launched the first M1 3 months after I got my I9, so here I am stuck with a loud noisy machine while I could have had a M1 for half the price.....
Thanks for the honest appraisal on the new M1 stuff. What I got from this was I should probably move from x86 to the M1 sooner rather than later. More and more I'm finding myself prepping. Thinking about where to put my $$$ i.e. not spending money upgrading my current laptop, grabbing the plug-in downloads for MacOS as well as the x86 plug-ins etc...even though I'm not using MacOS in the studio yet. You've become one of my go to channels for audio production. Love your work Barry!
I have a Mac Pro late 2012 so I need to step up Bc I can’t update unless I upgrade the graphics card. But it cost so much to upgrade the graphics card! So I might as well just got a new M1 mac. I want the 14’ M1 pro. Good info thanks Barry!!!
I ALWAYS try to buy a lot more than I need right now. I buy to try and future-proof my equipment so it's still functional and relevant 5 or 10 years from now. As much as these things cost, along with the software and peripherals you may need, it's a hefty investment. I don't want to find myself one or two years later with 4 or 5 thousand dollars worth of outdated gear.
I don’t think that is much of an issue unless you really buy much less than you needed. As long as it works with your workflow today with a little wiggle room, it’s very likely to work with your workflow in the future. Especially for people who deal with Audio, most people have pretty consistent workflows. It’s not like a guitar or drum kit is magically going to take more processing power to record. Orchestral or electronic music or mixing albums full time is another story. I think what’s scarier is having plugins or third party applications that never get updated and get left behind. As in stuff that never even makes the transition.
I like the MAC mini and have built a Hackintosh i7 with 64G RAM. I work completely in the box. A lot of the plugins I use (for example WAVES) are memory intensive. I also use Nuendo and it uses a lot of resources as well. I ordered a MAcBook 14” M1 Pro Max 32G X 32 core. I do work on the road periodically and I do edit video. So, it justifies the choice. I agree Monterey is the issue with the faults. Salt Life👍
I've had the base level M1 Air since last December and I've found it frustrating mainly because of the 2 ports. I really shouldn't have gone for the 256gb version however I have managed perfectly well using an i7 Air with 256gb ssd so it has been a bit perplexing as to why I've had so many issues with the M1. ultimately the 2 usb C ports have been a handicap otherwise I would have just upgraded to 16gb and a 1tb ssd. for the next 2 weeks I am testing a base model M1 Pro 14" MacBook Pro with those specs and this being the first 24 hours with it I'm already feeling liberated by the extra ports & MagSafe, but of course I'm yet to throw some very heavy workloads at it. the migration assistant successfully ported over everything and it seems to be handling almost everything very smoothly - I did get a massive latency of about 115ms when running Soundtoys as an AU as I hadn't yet installed the silicon compatible update. At this early stage it's looking like it could be prohibitive to run non silicon optimised software so the imperative task is to find the worst bugs & establish if/how to optimise or workarounds... getting flashbacks of the AAX era debug nightmares BUT the payoff is far bigger this time
Hi sir, i have a 16 inch M1 pro Macbook with 1tb SSD, logic Pro is sticking and hanging in 50 tracks, it also says system overload, when I used it first on 150 tracks with 32 buffer size, it only use 50 percent of cpu power, and playing well, but now it is not working, need help
Very informative, I made the right decision after watching your video. PS one friendly tip is to add chapters to your video. I think it would enhance the experience. Great great work, I talk to music producer and even hes like go to Berrys videos!!
Great video thanks for posting. According to an apple genius I spoke to at the apple London store all the m1 airs with big sur were taken off the shelves with new OS X released in October 2021. The m1 airs now come with Monterey as you can also tell by the photo on their boxes. I’m using the new 14 inch m1 max and unfortunately none my pro tools sessions that I worked in for 15 plus years that used native instruments kontakt well they do not work and crash pro tools. It’s a big bummer, so much so that I’ve resorted to learning Logic Pro because there is currently no work around and you can’t go back from Monterey to an old OS X because the machines come built with Monterey.
If the machine originally shipped with a lower OS version you can go back. So even though your MBA shipped with Monterey, it shipped with Big Suhr when it was released, therefore you can install Big Suhr on it. The new M1Pro/Max shipped with Monterey on original release, so it’s the lowest OSX that can be installed on it.
@@BarryJohns apple made it almost impossible to downgrade OS with monetary, I know because I was in the middle of a project and stupidly upgraded my MacBook….
Barry just a quick update on my situation. Kontakt works with new pro tools update. However, after testing it with my sessions, for a £3500 machine it takes 2.5 minutes to load my pro tools sessions, the fan noise kicks in, and the cpu sits around 50 percent so I’ve purchased the MacBook Air today with 16gb ram and 1tb ssd. I know it won’t be as powerful as the new machines but I think I will be able to work on it and save half the amount of money spent on the maxed 14 inch. Thanks for you videos and have a merry Christmas!
I have an M1 Air that use with an HDX card and it can run anything I throw at it. In my situation the laptop alone couldn't handle what I do without cpu errors but using it hybrid with the card I have zero crashes
I think the M1 Pro is a good long term investment. I've had my M-1 Pro since release, 16" 16GB 1TB and with Logic I just don't max it out at all... and my FCP projects are so simple it's a joke for me at this point. However I hope to keep this at least 3 years and I think by 2025 I think the M1 Pro will be a better position by that point. Who knows though, the M-1 Air I traded in for it was probably the best laptop I've owned, wonderful typing experience, still fast enough for Logic, very portable and completely quite. I don't regret trading it in for my 16" Pro, which I don't think is bulky at all but I'm use to 17" gaming laptops, but rather noting the Air is just a phenomenal all around, especially for the price in Q1 2022.
I still have a late 2012 27 inch iMac. I'm getting back into video editing and found that I need to upgrade. But I'm going to wait for the new 27 inch iMac.
Loving my 2014 MBP15" it just runs and runs... But it will no longer upgrade. So looking at what new Mini's are coming out this year as I really never take my laptop out anywhere. Hopefully an M2 or M1 Pro for Mac Mini..
Hi Barry, thanks for the video, I am definitely going to get an M1 mac mini for audio recording only. I have to decide whether to wait for the mini to be upgraded or if I would be fine with the M1 and 16gb of ram. I want to run 32 channels at 192khz in logic pro. I will be almost exclusively using it for recording (no more than 4 channels at a time) and playback. Some plug ins for compressors etc. I have a decent set of outboard effects and will be mixing on a Soundcraft GB4 40 analogue mixer. I also have a good hardware synth set up and various acoustic drums. I was wondering if you could give me any indication as to the feasibility of this please? Very few people are working at 192 kHz, or even 96 kHz for that matter. Thanks again, Kev
Hi Barry i hear you say often that the m1max is overkill but i disagree. every time I buy a new computer the top of the line looks like overkill but with the passing of the years it become obsolete. When I bought my 486 dx2 66mhz it was the top and cost me $3000 and last me 8 years before dying. I use a macbook pro 2012 16 gb 1tb and in 2012 I was able to run my entire orchestral template of 560 tracks. Now it can handle barely 80 tracks. Software requirements are usually evolving faster than the hardware. so in conclusion I don't see the max as overkill but as an investment that will guarantee me to have a stable system for several years.
Hey man, I agree that traditional thinking regarding CPU's has been buy as much as you can afford, as you are always likely to see a significant increase in power by upgrading to the next CPU. Things are different on all fronts in the way that Apple Silicon processing works, from RAM, Video, as well as CPU tasks, these are all done vastly different, you simply can't apply the traditional thinking to the M1 series of computers. From all the research I did, and I am on anal logical thinking fool who is borderline obsessive about these things, the only things the M1 Max does better than the M1 Pro is heavy computation needs, like auto cad, scientific research, things like that. There was marginal increases in power for the types of things we do, Audio/Video.
Hey man thank you for the video. I'm all in the box recording producer. I rely heavily on CPU. when I finish making a beat, sometime my artist want to jump in booth right the way, and I'll be forced to recording with my vsts on. I have a decent PC. so with few plugins and instruments I can get away with 256 Buffer size. would M1MAX PRO handle 32 - 125 buffer?
I think my 16 inch m1 might be too weak! It doesn't fit everything, then lags when its full of stuff. Should I get an M2? I shall watch the video :) But I am super sad 😢 WHY DO MY ABLETON FILES DISAPPEAR?
Lessons learned, it’s not the processor is not buying enough insanely over priced built in SSD. If you don’t mind always attaching an external drive, then get a NMVe enclosure and put a SSD in it, move your sample libraries to it and free up you hard drive on you MBP. This will make a huge difference.
I work completely in the box, so I need my CPU for all of my processing. All that hardware you were saying ties you down to your studio-for someone in my position-is all in my laptop. So it’s all portable, but it also all relies on the power of my processor. I don’t make my sessions heavy because I’m glutenous. My sessions are heavy because having a channel strip on 20 tracks costs me a crap ton of CPU, but if I don’t, I don’t have an “outboard” substitute. I have an M1 MacBook Pro, and I regularly Max it out in protools with 5 or 6 tracks, each with all 8 inserts full of plugins of various CPU appetites. I admit, I still have some questions about how to optimize that I haven’t been able to answer, my cpu tends to hover at 40% with no apps running… but I have CPU issues with almost every session. I don’t want to be a “power user,” I just don’t have hardware. I was hoping the m1 would lift the ceiling on that significantly, but now I’m really excited about the prospect of an M1 Max-clad Mac mini! I honestly think I-and any all-in-the-box engineer not running external DSP will inevitably end up running into cpu barriers with any modern computer. By trying to incorporate tasks that others do outside their computers all in one place, we just have to ask more of our systems to keep up with standard practices. The idea that the M1 max would let me just create freely without worrying about the limitations of my system AT ALL is pretty exciting. I know I’ll get a big boost when avid finally gets their s**t together and MAKES PROTOOLS M1 NATIVE, but until then, emulating recording to tape, then a full analog board with outboard compressors, eqs, saturators, etc across a 30 channel session plus summing channels, busses, reverbs and delays, etc just isn’t an option. It just isn’t.
If anyone has advice on how to optimize my system though, and get more out of the CPU I have, I’d love some tips! I’ve read all the Reddit and message boards, I’ve done a lot to try and optimize, but I also have thousands of plugins and apps, many of which do stuff in the background that I’ve had trouble controlling. Open to suggestions!
@@zwsh89 I can tell you for sure something is not right with your system. On my M1 MacBook Air, I could run hundreds of tracks, each one with four plug-ins easy, and maintain a 32 buffer the entire way, it doesn’t even budge the CPU on the MacBook Air. I’d be more than happy to test out one of your sessions on my computer if you want. If that something you’re interested in, you can email me one of your sessions, and I’ll take a look and see if I can see anything. Barryjohns@barryjohnsstudiotalk.com
@@BarryJohns Hey Barry-thanks for the reply! Really, you get that kind of performance running protools and all those plug-ins, which - between one and four plugins per track across hundreds of tracks would likely mean over 400 unique plug-in instances - all through Rosetta 2 with no problem?! I haven’t even attempted more than like 75 tracks on this system, and when I go above 15 tracks, I only use a few plugins per track. Especially if they are light on their feet like fabfilter, I can get by just fine. It seems like cpu use starts to rise more exponentially than in a linear fashion once I start layering more plugins on each track. Meaning 8 plugins on 1 track seems to eat way more power than one of each of those 8 plugins spread out across 8 tracks, each with just one of those plug-ins. I don’t know how common that experience is, but I can do 40 pro q’s on 40 tracks with no problem, it’s when I then layer tape emulators, saturation, time based effects on the busses or master, reaching 7 or 8 plugs per summing point is where I start hitting walls. But I would LOVE to find out that something was wrong with my system-because that means it can be fixed! I also have had issues with plug-in manager apps being blocked by my system, even though I’ve definitely got my permissions set up properly, including deactivating gatekeeper and granting all audio related apps full disk access when appropriate. But I can’t even open waves central on my primary user account, I have to log into a secondary administrator account to manage all of my installations. I’ve been back and forth with Waves multiple times, and exhausted the expertise of 4 of their techs at this point, and after doing and sending them everything they asked, they couldn’t find an issue, and said my next best bet is to talk to Apple, and we all know what a dead end that is. The last AppleCare tech I talked to didn’t know what Logic was. As a non-audio person, I can understand them not having heard of Protools, sure… but I can’t really expect quality help from someone who doesn’t know what a DAW is at all. Especially if they work for a company that makes two… but still doesn’t know what they are. As you mentioned, something is definitely not right with my system, but I’ve assumed this is unrelated to my CPU troubles. Maybe it’s not. Either way, this is all inspiring me to do a nice big system cleanup, maybe even a full reinstall of Big Sur after a thorough series of redundant backups of all my goodies. But in the mean time, I would actually be suuuuuper interested in what one of the sessions that I can’t even hit play on on my system would look like on your system. I should make sure that I don’t use any plugins you don’t have a license for so you can run the full session. The best thing for me to do might be to restart a session and build it up like I would if I was really mixing it, but just do a mock-up using only plugins we both have. They don’t need to be set up to sound good, they just need to work for the purposes of demonstrating a session my system can’t run. If there are any big name manufacturers you own the full product line of, that could be a good place to start, because then I don’t need a list as long as I stick to plugins by those brands. But as I implied above, I have sessions that literally don’t run on my computer anymore. I make my mix moves by guess and by feel, and then bounce, which usually renders below 1x speed. Then I tweak, and repeat. Not quite the efficiency revolution I was expecting with an M1. Bouncing at .8x or .9x speed means it’s definitely needing more power than it can get from my system to run in real time… so I’d be super curious what a session like that looks like on your system! So thanks for the offer, let me know what you think of all of this, and I’ll make that mock session and send it over to you by email! Much appreciated, I know you’re a busy man, so it means a lot that you reached out and offered some of your time! The rarity of that is not lost on me-the social media driven public face of the modern music industry is of course full of click-bate and false claims, so it’s really touching when some of the real good eggs like yourself fight back and remind people that there are still down to earth people who just want to see the most people have as much creative freedom as possible, no matter what that means. I’ve always felt that way about you and your channel, especially considering the fair consumer-based perspective that you drive your content with. But this seals the deal, I’m truly honored to be in a completely unsolicited direct conversation with you! The fact that you read your comments (even from non-subscribers like me-although that’s about to change 😁) and reach out to viewers having issues is above and beyond the call, and I truly hope despite future shifts in the industry, that you and the content creators like you who put people and craft ahead of the “rat race” and pressure to sacrifice quality for flashiness develop a real, stable niche within the larger community! You’re the ones who deserve all the TH-cam traffic and revenue, and if that were the case, the world would be a better, more fair, and higher-fidelity place! Either way, it’s super nice to have a reliable and trustworthy place to get all my gear head news! Like many down to earth, rational people, I’m sure you have the occasional bout with imposter syndrome, and wonder whether your approach and edgy content is reaching anyone, and actually helping anyone. Rest assured, the answer is a resounding YES! I’ve shared many of your videos over the last year or so whenever a friend is about to fall into a trap that you turned me onto! I had a friend recently think about buying (not subscribing for) a Protools Ultimate license, and you can probably guess which videos I sent her way!
Also, I realize I’ve been saying “all 8 insert/plug-in slots.” I am aware that protools tracks have 10 insert slots, not 8. That’s what I’ve meant this whole time. It’s when I have 50 plugins, but they are 10 plugins across 5 tracks that I have issues that I don’t seem to have running the same 50 plugins as two plugs per track across 25 tracks. As I’m typing this, I’m realizing that a work around could be to just use way more aux sends to lighten the load on each track, but it’s still sending the signal through the same processing chain, so I’m not sure how helpful that will end up being. But you’ve got me thinking critically about this and not just settling and rolling over like I have been, and that’s already super helpful!
@@zwsh89 the problem is waves plug in, they are the worst cpu hugs because of the way they communicate with the host, personally you would catch me dead before installing that junk on my system, there are lots of companies who do things better than waves….
Ok so, your content is pretty good and informative especially for the audio world … thanks for that. But here’s a question for you; In a previous video you touched on core/ processor affinity… being that that is the case, if you have more cores for the is to spread the loads across, wouldn’t the ultra work out better for producers using heavy cpu intensive kontakt plugins and libraries?
Maybe in the future when apps/plugins are writen in a way that can take advantage of them. The Ultra excels at heavy calculations amd is great for scientific use, not much of a difference as of today in the Ultra over the Max. Just my 2 cents.
Here’s a good question for you. What about those that don’t have hardware DSP? Should we go for the higher end chip like the M2 pro? I imagine you are using some type of hardware DSP or you are utilizing your outboard gear for processing. What do you recommend for those that do everything in the box?
Processing outboard hardware is not CPU heavy, as long as you have a fast interface (most modern interfaces) and an updated DAW (anything today really) it’s a non issue. It’s more about the timing of the IO than processing.
this is for production .... but for recording?? 24...32 channels? , live recording music on studio? if you have a recording studio with drums guitars etc?
Hi Barry, super video. But what about those of us who don’t need a laptop. What about M1 desktops. To the best of my knowledge, there is no pro desktop yet. Does that mean we have to choose the Mac Studio with the M1 Max (the Ultra is not just way out of reach, it is also a waste for most of us). Or does the iMac cut, it in your opinion. P.S. I do both 4K video and audio, plus some RAW photo editing. P.S. Was that a Whitesnake reference at the end there.
I edit multi cam 4k footage all the time on a base M1 MacMini. If you don’t do a lot of VI work, then you should be fine with that or an iMac. Keep in mind that M2 is around the corner for both of those.
Hey Barry,I posted a question on one of your other videos asking for some advice,and you were kind enough to answer…I am new to the recording thing,and I had two questions…..on the new M1 Mac Mini,is 8gb’s of RAM sufficient,or do I need 16??………and……interfaces..for low /no latency tracking do I need a Thunderbolt interface,or USB-C type?….
USB C and Thunderbolt are relatively equal in their ability to stream data back and forth so either is sufficient. You will want 16bg Ram, this will ensure you get years of mileage from the computer. 512gb hard drive is minimum, 1TB is best. You can always add external SSD drives for more storage.
You da man Barry! Hey I’ve got a question related to these new Macs with their M1x processors related to use with Pro Tools. I know these Macs use their internal storage in addition to the on board ram. Does the app in my case Pro Tools need to be optimized to take advantage of this or does the Mac OS take care of this regardless of apps being up to date? Do VI’s work well with this process? Thanks Barry! Keep these vids coming!!
I’ve got a video coming out on Friday where I talk specifically about Protools on the M1Pro/Max that you should check out. Bottom line today, Protools is not ready for Monterey, it’s not a Pro/Max thing as I had no issues on my M1 MB Air on Big Suhr.
I'm a light laptop user. I got the M1 macbook Air 8gb ram 512 SSD in upgrade over my 2012 alienware 16 ram, 2tb HD. I mainly want it just in case there are things I can't do on my watch, phone, or tablet and it's better to have a laptop and not need it than to need a laptop and not have it. Is it a safe 10 year buy? Will I be okay for the next 10 years given my light to no workload, or do I not need to get a laptop unless I need one?
Fantastic videos. I have a question. Im now working on an Imac late 2013 8G 256. I use an apollo x4 and have some extra plug ins from other companies I use like Izotope/Wave and of course the UAD ones. When I am composing using orchestra instruments from UAD and Spitfire and have around 8 tracks of music I am already rendering at over 60% - when i add the Izotope mastering plug in pro and a 3 or 4 EQ it renders to 120 and that's end game mainly for me. I need another Imac, that's clear. The 24 inch M1 Imac thats out this year would that work perfectly in my case when get the 16G and 1 TB 8-8 core -- I know probably I can go for a lot more tracks compared to my Imac I have now, however, the amount of tracks wouldn't be causing the load, the plug ins on the channels do. Now the question is; Will the 24 inch Imac easily do the job of me composing a regular pop song, or a cinematic trailer or an orchestra composition using Spitfire like the Albion One....I guess I will never go over 25 tracks, but who knows in the future.....Would the 24 inch be good or would you say wait till the new Imac Pro comes out next year....Not many music producers made a video using the 24 inch M1 Imac. It is mainly laptops they show..Thanks in advance
The 24inch imac, gives you the same power potential as the M1 air and macbook pro 13inch. As they all have the M1 chip inside. Probably worth getting 16gb ram. Or get a mac studio.
@@mmhcreates thanks so much for your reply. Few weeks ago I made the decision to buy the iMac and it was a good decision. Projects with over 60 tracks having the neve summing on it and taped and other heavy plug ins running at 60 to 70% without any problem. That takes out the headache I had with the old iMac :-) - and I guess when the UAD runs native the cpu will go down. The iMac for me was the right choice and it is powerful enough to complete the projects.
I don't know of entry level prices though... the Macbook Air M2 16GB, 1TB sets you back 2065 euro. The entry version with 8GB Ram, 256 GB costs 1375 euro Almost 700 euro difference. I have yet to see a ssd drive and a 8 gb stick that sets you back 700 euros 😀
@@BarryJohns you are right... the current 14" M2 model with 16GB and 1TB ssd costs 2749 euro. The 2021 14" M1 model costs 2125 euro.... probably better spend the extra 750 to get the 2021 14" M1.
Been looking to upgrade from my windows pc for a while now. Decided to get the 13” MacBook Pro because I felt the power would be enough. I just couldn’t work with how tiny the laptop was, keyboard , sceeen everything just felt like an iPad with a keyboard😭😭 Took it back, I’m waiting for the base 16” to be restocked now….the size of the 13” was definitely a deal breaker for me, and that made me not even want to consider the 14”
I think most people use an external monitor when doing work at home, but for people doing much of their work on the Laptop alone, I agree the 16” is best.
Thank you so much for the videos! Already pulled the trigger on the M1 Pro 16"/16Gb/1Tb. I'll report back once i get my paws on it.. dec 20 -27. I ended up with this one because besides audio i want to do some video work too, but mostly i want to be able to throw everything and the kitchen zinc to my sessions if i need to. i'll check your unsuported plugins video again. thanks again!
I’m very very happy with my MacBook Pro, it does everything I want/need and then some!! I can work with logic mixing and editing for hours on Battery while conected to a 4K display and apogee ensemble thunderbolt, tons of plug-ins, slate digital all access mostly, vocalign, free stuff from izotope, arturia, Acustica, and more!!
@@patovega That's great to hear, thanks for the update! I'm waiting on a similarly specced 14-inch and really didn't feel like spending an extra $450 CAD for 32 GB of RAM. Glad I didn't since it seems like with this new architecture 16 GB is enough for most tasks!
@@patovega My only concern has been: Could I use this as a performance instrument? Sample rate being at the lowest, audio quality at its highest, with maybe 2 or 3 other sample instruments loaded up. I know sample library instruments tend to HOG RAM, and not sure if 32GB would even enhance that experience?
I’m trying to figure out if I should grab the 14 or 16in, only due to the heat M1 max (24 core or 32 core) 64gb memory 2tb sssd Should I go 24 or 32 core ( main question) Also 14 or 16in
In the 14 inch model, the Max produces more heat and drains the battery. Any of the Pro chips will do. So now, months later, after viewing many of the exhaustive testing videos here, you can see that (for the 16 inch size) the 24 core GPU Max is almost always better than the 32. What did you decide to buy?
I bought the Mac Studio M1 Max. The fan noise is absurdly loud. It even has a high pitch whining. It makes it useless for voice over. I can't believe they released it like that.
Something is not right and you are the first person I’ve heard that from. I have used four different M1’s, from the air to the MacStudio and have never heard a fan on any of them and I’ve done some massive stress test. I have many videos demonstrating it.
@@BarryJohns there are plenty of videos showing this model doing exactly what I’m saying. It’s not a matter of stress testing. This fan goes OFF with a whining sound that clocks in at 11k right when you turn it on. No apps running.
@@davidattar9605 It seems you are correct. I googled it, and this came up. www.macrumors.com/2022/05/09/mysterious-noise-sparks-complaints/. It does say it's a lesser number of them, and it looks like you got one of the problematic ones. That said, it's understandable that you are frustrated. I've never encountered this with a single M1, so its very interesting for sure.
Maybe for you, but that’s a little disingenuous right, assuming everyone has the same level experience as you. Just take a look at all the comments and then let me know if it was so obvious. Just trying to be fair.
Apple now offers four different MACBOOK laptops for four types of users: 1.) The M1 MACBOOK AIR is for casual users who mainly use their laptop to surf the web, write emails, send text messages, listen to music, watch videos and on occasions may write programs and/or edit music, photos and/or videos using inexpensive or free apps. 2.) The M1 MACBOOK PRO is for amateur hobbyist and semi-professionals who have outgrown the inexpensive and free editing/coding apps and now require a laptop capable of tackling slightly bigger and more complex tasks. 3.) The M1 PRO MACBOOK PRO is for avid hobbyists, semi-professionals, and professionals who want to use powerful, best of breed, computers and apps to do serious editing, programming, data analysis and content creation. 4.) The M1 MAX MACBOOK PRO is for avid hobbyists, semi-professionals, and professionals who require the MOST powerful hardware and software to do the MOST complex and demanding tasks in their respective industries.
This wreaks of having no personal experience with either computer. The M1 MacBook air is incredibly powerful. It beat the top of the line MacBook Pro from the year prior release as well as destroyed my 12 Core MacPro. The M1 Max is overkill for 99% of studio work.
I got myself a M1 MacBook Air (256gb 16gb) in February 2021 and I don’t really feel the need to upgrade to a M1 Pro or M1 Max. My MBA is sufficiently powerful to run any task I need to run at the moment (mixing, mastering, music production, any office related task and even some light gaming). Plus it is super portable and it feels amazing to be able to bring such a powerhouse with me wherever I go or travel. Last reason is : it is relatively inexpensive and I could easily replace it if anything were to happen to it. I keep a recent Time Machine backup at home in case something happens, so I will have as little downtime as possible.
I picked up an M1 MacBook Pro last year (16GB ram/1TB SSD) and it runs Logic, Native Instruments and Arturia VSTs like a champ - no regrets! Great vid 👍
I’m a Logic user, just looking at getting M1 MacBook Pro, was just debating between that and Akai mpc x. But I love Logic.
beast setup tbh
That’s awesome how about maschine how does it run that?
Also is 16 gb is enough or should I get 32?
@@BeatsnmotivationI find 16GB is enough, Maschine runs without issues
I can't thank you enough for your time, money, and expertise lately with all of these M1 videos. My 2016 base level i5 is really starting to get bogged down, even offloading everything I could to external drives. It's time I upgrade and figuring out what exactly I need as someone that edits a ton of videos in addition to audio has been time consuming.
The M1 Macs are a video editing dream!
The honesty in a sea of reviews stoking gear lust is very refreshing. Subscribed
I love my Macbook Air M1 (Mighty One) and for me its the best Computer i have had in the last 40 years. It matches all the checkboxes portability, power, its cold, no fan noise ever!, highly affordable, extremely stable, battery power for days…. whats not to love?
Best from Germany
i totally agree with this comment!
Hey Barry, I just want to let you know that I really enjoy listening to your thoughts and views. Your show is a great asset for engineers and musicians looking for information on what hardware works… in your opinion… and I think that your opinion carries some weight. Thank you for all do for the music community
Wow, thanks Paul!
Bought the M1 Pro 16 inch 16tb ram 1tb ssd seems pretty powerfull and silent. I hooked up a Sonnet thunderbolt 3 chassis with 2 UAD octo pcie cards to keep my ultimate plus collection up and running and maybe use the 3rd slot for some pcie double ssd backup raid 1 configuration to be double safe and have 2x2 tb for backup and storage. I know people think UAD connect is the future and it would be if there was a plan and information about which plugins will be converted the whole rent system isn't great either because the should be changing the price tag when the expand the collection. I keep my 16 sharks running a substantial part of the mix plugins and I'm totally happy with the M1 performance the fact it stays cool and silent is just great I love it !!!
I agree, Its definitely not an easy decision to make. I personally started on a 2017 MacBook pro 13" When i started creating music but I started to run out of puff in college. I bought a specced out 2019 MacBook ro 16 but kind of hated it because of not only the fan noise but because I still felt limited "This is where I went to university and started doing a lot of Orchestral sample library and Ambisonics/Surround multi-channel mixes" I got am M1 Mac Mini base model this summer and it was excellent for more standard arrangements (30-50 Tracks with 10 Heavy synths, 8 Sample libraries and a few effects). I spent a lot of time trying to maximise it but In hindsight I would of bought a 16GB model and waited until next year to get one of the pro desktops But with the limiting 8GB i found that I just couldn't personally deal with it for large Multi-channel sample library based projects.
So far the M1 Max I now have has been everything I wanted my 2019 16" Intel to be. But don't get me wrong. Like you said, I know what kind of power I needed and I pushed all my previous machines to the limit, to the limit! and needed more. I would agree that most people do not need more than the base M1 for music production. especially if you daily use Synths, samples and recorded parts.
Great Video and Content Barry
Well said! Cheers.
Thank you, brother.
I just wana say that I love you, for asking the right questions. Nobody asks the type of questions you do.
My M1 Air is about the same weight and size as my 2018 12.9 iPad Pro plus keyboard. It even fits into the iPads sleeve. It is a powerhouse. Amp sims with stereo delay and reverb at 88.2 and 32 samples it just shrugs off. Photo editing in PS and Lightroom Classic don't impress it. A Thundebolt dock with a big screen for home and a little SD-card dongle for traveling that is all I need. It even feeds my Apollo Solo for hours and independent of a power supply. There is no fan that makes noise or sucks in dust. You finally pushed me off the fence: I'll stick to the Air. :)
Thanks for the thoughtful video!
I bought the MacAir 16gb, 2 TB SSD; I work with smaller projects, I can't imagine maxing it out, not even close. I knew the M1 pro and Max M1 would be available in the future but why wait when the MacAir was going to be more than enough? I made the right decision.
Barry, check out the “fillit” pocket. If you have to work off an SSD on a “lapped” laptop it’s indispensable. No dangling dongles or drives. Just need a long enough cable ideally, with a right-angled plug
Bok Tower is the most beautiful place in Florida. I love the bells and the vibe.
Just ordered a Mac M1 pro. $2000. Now I can upgrade my firestudio project to the quantum (Presonus) Not sure why people don’t use Presonus more? A lot of features for the money and they sound great.
I went ahead and got the 16 inch M1 MacBook Pro with 32 GB ram and 2 T. Is it more than enough ? Probably. But, for me, the laptop screen my monitor, more ports, more power justify the price. A MacBook Air with 16gb ram and 2 TB of storage comes out to $2100 and I wouldn’t get any spec less. For me, I think I made a good decision. The air is just too
Tiny and outdated for me, I think the 16 inch pro is the sweet spot
Dude. I am new to your material. I subscribed after the first video I saw. I’ve been at this about 18 years. Your information in incredible. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks!
My upgrade was needed due to my old windows CPU not making the support list for win11, my computer was kinda dying anyway, and I wanted thunderbolt capability. I originally placed an order for a MacBook m1 max but the availability was un reasonable for when my projects were due. I ended up picking up the M1 Pro 16gbram, 16core graphics with 1 TB storage. So far it's been functioning miraculously with studio one (also in between a couple sessions via logic). I feel like it's got more than enough power to work through my sessions and i can essentially push more quality out of my mixes by applying even more oversampling than i was previously capable of as I work mostly ITB. Being able to do that, plus some, has left me pretty impressed.
Any of the Pro chips, combined with a 1 tb SSD, is the sweet spot for so many people. Yes, the 14 and 16 inch models are expensive, but you get so much for your money. For my purposes the 10/14 option is the best fit.
Awesome I live down the road from bok tower myself. Deciding which mac to get for my studio upgrade. Great Chanel brother !
I have the late 2019 Macbook Pro I9 and I hate it. Don't get me wrong, its a powerful Macbook but the damn heat and noise it puts put is insane, and they launched the first M1 3 months after I got my I9, so here I am stuck with a loud noisy machine while I could have had a M1 for half the price.....
Touching on video: all those lappy bad boys have the Retina screen 🤤 I am mindblown by the liquid display quality 🤯
Very wise words! I have a MacBook Air and it’s more than enough for my needs. Monetary broke lots of plug ins…
Thanks for the honest appraisal on the new M1 stuff. What I got from this was I should probably move from x86 to the M1 sooner rather than later. More and more I'm finding myself prepping. Thinking about where to put my $$$ i.e. not spending money upgrading my current laptop, grabbing the plug-in downloads for MacOS as well as the x86 plug-ins etc...even though I'm not using MacOS in the studio yet. You've become one of my go to channels for audio production. Love your work Barry!
Great video! Very relatable!
Great video man. Exactly the video real professionals need!!
I have a Mac Pro late 2012 so I need to step up Bc I can’t update unless I upgrade the graphics card. But it cost so much to upgrade the graphics card! So I might as well just got a new M1 mac. I want the 14’ M1 pro. Good info thanks Barry!!!
I ALWAYS try to buy a lot more than I need right now. I buy to try and future-proof my equipment so it's still functional and relevant 5 or 10 years from now.
As much as these things cost, along with the software and peripherals you may need, it's a hefty investment. I don't want to find myself one or two years later with 4 or 5 thousand dollars worth of outdated gear.
I don’t think that is much of an issue unless you really buy much less than you needed. As long as it works with your workflow today with a little wiggle room, it’s very likely to work with your workflow in the future. Especially for people who deal with Audio, most people have pretty consistent workflows. It’s not like a guitar or drum kit is magically going to take more processing power to record. Orchestral or electronic music or mixing albums full time is another story.
I think what’s scarier is having plugins or third party applications that never get updated and get left behind. As in stuff that never even makes the transition.
I like the MAC mini and have built a Hackintosh i7 with 64G RAM. I work completely in the box. A lot of the plugins I use (for example WAVES) are memory intensive. I also use Nuendo and it uses a lot of resources as well. I ordered a MAcBook 14” M1 Pro Max 32G X 32 core. I do work on the road periodically and I do edit video. So, it justifies the choice. I agree Monterey is the issue with the faults. Salt Life👍
I've had the base level M1 Air since last December and I've found it frustrating mainly because of the 2 ports. I really shouldn't have gone for the 256gb version however I have managed perfectly well using an i7 Air with 256gb ssd so it has been a bit perplexing as to why I've had so many issues with the M1. ultimately the 2 usb C ports have been a handicap otherwise I would have just upgraded to 16gb and a 1tb ssd.
for the next 2 weeks I am testing a base model M1 Pro 14" MacBook Pro with those specs and this being the first 24 hours with it I'm already feeling liberated by the extra ports & MagSafe, but of course I'm yet to throw some very heavy workloads at it.
the migration assistant successfully ported over everything and it seems to be handling almost everything very smoothly - I did get a massive latency of about 115ms when running Soundtoys as an AU as I hadn't yet installed the silicon compatible update.
At this early stage it's looking like it could be prohibitive to run non silicon optimised software so the imperative task is to find the worst bugs & establish if/how to optimise or workarounds... getting flashbacks of the AAX era debug nightmares BUT the payoff is far bigger this time
The scam likely call cracked me up 😂 I’ve been there shooting my videos
Still using my 2019 Intel Mac Mini. When it starts choking, I will upgrade!
Hi sir, i have a 16 inch M1 pro Macbook with 1tb SSD, logic Pro is sticking and hanging in 50 tracks, it also says system overload, when I used it first on 150 tracks with 32 buffer size, it only use 50 percent of cpu power, and playing well, but now it is not working, need help
Very informative, I made the right decision after watching your video. PS one friendly tip is to add chapters to your video. I think it would enhance the experience. Great great work, I talk to music producer and even hes like go to Berrys videos!!
Grate Stuff Man i Am Going To Wait For a Desktop Mac Mac Mini But Really Am waiting For The New 20 Core Mac Pro Desktop That Is My Dream Machine
Yes, I need the M1 pro!!! I edit video and mix records.
Very enjoyable video. Specs and tests are great, but sometimes we just need a general explanation. Simple and informative.
Great video thanks for posting. According to an apple genius I spoke to at the apple London store all the m1 airs with big sur were taken off the shelves with new OS X released in October 2021. The m1 airs now come with Monterey as you can also tell by the photo on their boxes. I’m using the new 14 inch m1 max and unfortunately none my pro tools sessions that I worked in for 15 plus years that used native instruments kontakt well they do not work and crash pro tools. It’s a big bummer, so much so that I’ve resorted to learning Logic Pro because there is currently no work around and you can’t go back from Monterey to an old OS X because the machines come built with Monterey.
If the machine originally shipped with a lower OS version you can go back. So even though your MBA shipped with Monterey, it shipped with Big Suhr when it was released, therefore you can install Big Suhr on it. The new M1Pro/Max shipped with Monterey on original release, so it’s the lowest OSX that can be installed on it.
@@BarryJohns apple made it almost impossible to downgrade OS with monetary, I know because I was in the middle of a project and stupidly upgraded my MacBook….
@@Mrfpsara mackeeper.com/blog/downgrade-macos-monterey-to-big-sur/
@@BarryJohns thank you Monetray is so beta even the timemachine is broken😂
Barry just a quick update on my situation. Kontakt works with new pro tools update. However, after testing it with my sessions, for a £3500 machine it takes 2.5 minutes to load my pro tools sessions, the fan noise kicks in, and the cpu sits around 50 percent so I’ve purchased the MacBook Air today with 16gb ram and 1tb ssd. I know it won’t be as powerful as the new machines but I think I will be able to work on it and save half the amount of money spent on the maxed 14 inch. Thanks for you videos and have a merry Christmas!
I have an M1 Air that use with an HDX card and it can run anything I throw at it. In my situation the laptop alone couldn't handle what I do without cpu errors but using it hybrid with the card I have zero crashes
I think the M1 Pro is a good long term investment. I've had my M-1 Pro since release, 16" 16GB 1TB and with Logic I just don't max it out at all... and my FCP projects are so simple it's a joke for me at this point. However I hope to keep this at least 3 years and I think by 2025 I think the M1 Pro will be a better position by that point. Who knows though, the M-1 Air I traded in for it was probably the best laptop I've owned, wonderful typing experience, still fast enough for Logic, very portable and completely quite. I don't regret trading it in for my 16" Pro, which I don't think is bulky at all but I'm use to 17" gaming laptops, but rather noting the Air is just a phenomenal all around, especially for the price in Q1 2022.
Are you sure many people do max out the memory but the SSD is so fast they don't realize it is being used as a swap memory disk.
I still have a late 2012 27 inch iMac. I'm getting back into video editing and found that I need to upgrade. But I'm going to wait for the new 27 inch iMac.
Loving my 2014 MBP15" it just runs and runs... But it will no longer upgrade. So looking at what new Mini's are coming out this year as I really never take my laptop out anywhere. Hopefully an M2 or M1 Pro for Mac Mini..
Also my MBP is running the internal screen as well as 2x 1080p 27" screens with projects up to 30-50 tracks (at most) in Logic Pro.
I dig the bass drum sound on your intro
Very helpful, friend!
Hi barri a macbook pro m1 pro 16gb ram is good for music production? O nesecito 32 de ram?
Hi Barry, thanks for the video, I am definitely going to get an M1 mac mini for audio recording only. I have to decide whether to wait for the mini to be upgraded or if I would be fine with the M1 and 16gb of ram. I want to run 32 channels at 192khz in logic pro. I will be almost exclusively using it for recording (no more than 4 channels at a time) and playback. Some plug ins for compressors etc. I have a decent set of outboard effects and will be mixing on a Soundcraft GB4 40 analogue mixer. I also have a good hardware synth set up and various acoustic drums. I was wondering if you could give me any indication as to the feasibility of this please? Very few people are working at 192 kHz, or even 96 kHz for that matter. Thanks again, Kev
The emotion in this 🤩🤩9:05
500 TB baby!!!
Hi Barry i hear you say often that the m1max is overkill but i disagree. every time I buy a new computer the top of the line looks like overkill but with the passing of the years it become obsolete. When I bought my 486 dx2 66mhz it was the top and cost me $3000 and last me 8 years before dying. I use a macbook pro 2012 16 gb 1tb and in 2012 I was able to run my entire orchestral template of 560 tracks. Now it can handle barely 80 tracks. Software requirements are usually evolving faster than the hardware. so in conclusion I don't see the max as overkill but as an investment that will guarantee me to have a stable system for several years.
Hey man, I agree that traditional thinking regarding CPU's has been buy as much as you can afford, as you are always likely to see a significant increase in power by upgrading to the next CPU. Things are different on all fronts in the way that Apple Silicon processing works, from RAM, Video, as well as CPU tasks, these are all done vastly different, you simply can't apply the traditional thinking to the M1 series of computers.
From all the research I did, and I am on anal logical thinking fool who is borderline obsessive about these things, the only things the M1 Max does better than the M1 Pro is heavy computation needs, like auto cad, scientific research, things like that. There was marginal increases in power for the types of things we do, Audio/Video.
I've been watching your videos religiously for a while now and i thought I already subscribed....... Welp I just clicked the button now....
Thank you!!!!
Loved this! Also, you are hilarious!
Hey man thank you for the video. I'm all in the box recording producer. I rely heavily on CPU. when I finish making a beat, sometime my artist want to jump in booth right the way, and I'll be forced to recording with my vsts on. I have a decent PC. so with few plugins and instruments I can get away with 256 Buffer size. would M1MAX PRO handle 32 - 125 buffer?
iMac M1 for me. But not yet . My iMac is still good. 2014 iMac. Will do in the futche
I think my 16 inch m1 might be too weak! It doesn't fit everything, then lags when its full of stuff. Should I get an M2? I shall watch the video :) But I am super sad 😢 WHY DO MY ABLETON FILES DISAPPEAR?
Lessons learned, it’s not the processor is not buying enough insanely over priced built in SSD. If you don’t mind always attaching an external drive, then get a NMVe enclosure and put a SSD in it, move your sample libraries to it and free up you hard drive on you MBP. This will make a huge difference.
I work completely in the box, so I need my CPU for all of my processing. All that hardware you were saying ties you down to your studio-for someone in my position-is all in my laptop. So it’s all portable, but it also all relies on the power of my processor. I don’t make my sessions heavy because I’m glutenous. My sessions are heavy because having a channel strip on 20 tracks costs me a crap ton of CPU, but if I don’t, I don’t have an “outboard” substitute. I have an M1 MacBook Pro, and I regularly Max it out in protools with 5 or 6 tracks, each with all 8 inserts full of plugins of various CPU appetites. I admit, I still have some questions about how to optimize that I haven’t been able to answer, my cpu tends to hover at 40% with no apps running… but I have CPU issues with almost every session. I don’t want to be a “power user,” I just don’t have hardware. I was hoping the m1 would lift the ceiling on that significantly, but now I’m really excited about the prospect of an M1 Max-clad Mac mini! I honestly think I-and any all-in-the-box engineer not running external DSP will inevitably end up running into cpu barriers with any modern computer. By trying to incorporate tasks that others do outside their computers all in one place, we just have to ask more of our systems to keep up with standard practices. The idea that the M1 max would let me just create freely without worrying about the limitations of my system AT ALL is pretty exciting. I know I’ll get a big boost when avid finally gets their s**t together and MAKES PROTOOLS M1 NATIVE, but until then, emulating recording to tape, then a full analog board with outboard compressors, eqs, saturators, etc across a 30 channel session plus summing channels, busses, reverbs and delays, etc just isn’t an option. It just isn’t.
If anyone has advice on how to optimize my system though, and get more out of the CPU I have, I’d love some tips! I’ve read all the Reddit and message boards, I’ve done a lot to try and optimize, but I also have thousands of plugins and apps, many of which do stuff in the background that I’ve had trouble controlling. Open to suggestions!
@@zwsh89 I can tell you for sure something is not right with your system. On my M1 MacBook Air, I could run hundreds of tracks, each one with four plug-ins easy, and maintain a 32 buffer the entire way, it doesn’t even budge the CPU on the MacBook Air.
I’d be more than happy to test out one of your sessions on my computer if you want. If that something you’re interested in, you can email me one of your sessions, and I’ll take a look and see if I can see anything.
Barryjohns@barryjohnsstudiotalk.com
@@BarryJohns Hey Barry-thanks for the reply! Really, you get that kind of performance running protools and all those plug-ins, which - between one and four plugins per track across hundreds of tracks would likely mean over 400 unique plug-in instances - all through Rosetta 2 with no problem?! I haven’t even attempted more than like 75 tracks on this system, and when I go above 15 tracks, I only use a few plugins per track. Especially if they are light on their feet like fabfilter, I can get by just fine. It seems like cpu use starts to rise more exponentially than in a linear fashion once I start layering more plugins on each track. Meaning 8 plugins on 1 track seems to eat way more power than one of each of those 8 plugins spread out across 8 tracks, each with just one of those plug-ins. I don’t know how common that experience is, but I can do 40 pro q’s on 40 tracks with no problem, it’s when I then layer tape emulators, saturation, time based effects on the busses or master, reaching 7 or 8 plugs per summing point is where I start hitting walls. But I would LOVE to find out that something was wrong with my system-because that means it can be fixed! I also have had issues with plug-in manager apps being blocked by my system, even though I’ve definitely got my permissions set up properly, including deactivating gatekeeper and granting all audio related apps full disk access when appropriate. But I can’t even open waves central on my primary user account, I have to log into a secondary administrator account to manage all of my installations. I’ve been back and forth with Waves multiple times, and exhausted the expertise of 4 of their techs at this point, and after doing and sending them everything they asked, they couldn’t find an issue, and said my next best bet is to talk to Apple, and we all know what a dead end that is. The last AppleCare tech I talked to didn’t know what Logic was. As a non-audio person, I can understand them not having heard of Protools, sure… but I can’t really expect quality help from someone who doesn’t know what a DAW is at all. Especially if they work for a company that makes two… but still doesn’t know what they are. As you mentioned, something is definitely not right with my system, but I’ve assumed this is unrelated to my CPU troubles. Maybe it’s not. Either way, this is all inspiring me to do a nice big system cleanup, maybe even a full reinstall of Big Sur after a thorough series of redundant backups of all my goodies. But in the mean time, I would actually be suuuuuper interested in what one of the sessions that I can’t even hit play on on my system would look like on your system. I should make sure that I don’t use any plugins you don’t have a license for so you can run the full session. The best thing for me to do might be to restart a session and build it up like I would if I was really mixing it, but just do a mock-up using only plugins we both have. They don’t need to be set up to sound good, they just need to work for the purposes of demonstrating a session my system can’t run. If there are any big name manufacturers you own the full product line of, that could be a good place to start, because then I don’t need a list as long as I stick to plugins by those brands. But as I implied above, I have sessions that literally don’t run on my computer anymore. I make my mix moves by guess and by feel, and then bounce, which usually renders below 1x speed. Then I tweak, and repeat. Not quite the efficiency revolution I was expecting with an M1. Bouncing at .8x or .9x speed means it’s definitely needing more power than it can get from my system to run in real time… so I’d be super curious what a session like that looks like on your system! So thanks for the offer, let me know what you think of all of this, and I’ll make that mock session and send it over to you by email! Much appreciated, I know you’re a busy man, so it means a lot that you reached out and offered some of your time! The rarity of that is not lost on me-the social media driven public face of the modern music industry is of course full of click-bate and false claims, so it’s really touching when some of the real good eggs like yourself fight back and remind people that there are still down to earth people who just want to see the most people have as much creative freedom as possible, no matter what that means. I’ve always felt that way about you and your channel, especially considering the fair consumer-based perspective that you drive your content with. But this seals the deal, I’m truly honored to be in a completely unsolicited direct conversation with you! The fact that you read your comments (even from non-subscribers like me-although that’s about to change 😁) and reach out to viewers having issues is above and beyond the call, and I truly hope despite future shifts in the industry, that you and the content creators like you who put people and craft ahead of the “rat race” and pressure to sacrifice quality for flashiness develop a real, stable niche within the larger community! You’re the ones who deserve all the TH-cam traffic and revenue, and if that were the case, the world would be a better, more fair, and higher-fidelity place! Either way, it’s super nice to have a reliable and trustworthy place to get all my gear head news! Like many down to earth, rational people, I’m sure you have the occasional bout with imposter syndrome, and wonder whether your approach and edgy content is reaching anyone, and actually helping anyone. Rest assured, the answer is a resounding YES! I’ve shared many of your videos over the last year or so whenever a friend is about to fall into a trap that you turned me onto! I had a friend recently think about buying (not subscribing for) a Protools Ultimate license, and you can probably guess which videos I sent her way!
Also, I realize I’ve been saying “all 8 insert/plug-in slots.” I am aware that protools tracks have 10 insert slots, not 8. That’s what I’ve meant this whole time. It’s when I have 50 plugins, but they are 10 plugins across 5 tracks that I have issues that I don’t seem to have running the same 50 plugins as two plugs per track across 25 tracks. As I’m typing this, I’m realizing that a work around could be to just use way more aux sends to lighten the load on each track, but it’s still sending the signal through the same processing chain, so I’m not sure how helpful that will end up being. But you’ve got me thinking critically about this and not just settling and rolling over like I have been, and that’s already super helpful!
@@zwsh89 the problem is waves plug in, they are the worst cpu hugs because of the way they communicate with the host, personally you would catch me dead before installing that junk on my system, there are lots of companies who do things better than waves….
Ok so, your content is pretty good and informative especially for the audio world … thanks for that. But here’s a question for you;
In a previous video you touched on core/ processor affinity… being that that is the case, if you have more cores for the is to spread the loads across, wouldn’t the ultra work out better for producers using heavy cpu intensive kontakt plugins and libraries?
Maybe in the future when apps/plugins are writen in a way that can take advantage of them. The Ultra excels at heavy calculations amd is great for scientific use, not much of a difference as of today in the Ultra over the Max. Just my 2 cents.
Here’s a good question for you. What about those that don’t have hardware DSP? Should we go for the higher end chip like the M2 pro? I imagine you are using some type of hardware DSP or you are utilizing your outboard gear for processing. What do you recommend for those that do everything in the box?
Processing outboard hardware is not CPU heavy, as long as you have a fast interface (most modern interfaces) and an updated DAW (anything today really) it’s a non issue. It’s more about the timing of the IO than processing.
@@BarryJohns Good to know!! I haven’t switched to UAD for interfacing yet but plan to. Thanks for the info!!! Greatly appreciate you.
I'm comming from my 3intelcored macbook 2018 and have to wait until jul for my studio shoebox ... baaaah
Thank you Barry, cool video and very informative!!, do you have a link for the 500T SSD Drive??? Hahaha Great video man!
this is for production .... but for recording?? 24...32 channels? , live recording music on studio? if you have a recording studio with drums guitars etc?
Yes, for exactly what you mention. I have demos out there.
500TB would be the shxt!!!!
I have an M1 mini and want the next gen M2 base level mini just because the bluetooth is SO bad on the all metal design of the mini
Hi Barry, super video. But what about those of us who don’t need a laptop. What about M1 desktops. To the best of my knowledge, there is no pro desktop yet. Does that mean we have to choose the Mac Studio with the M1 Max (the Ultra is not just way out of reach, it is also a waste for most of us). Or does the iMac cut, it in your opinion. P.S. I do both 4K video and audio, plus some RAW photo editing. P.S. Was that a Whitesnake reference at the end there.
I edit multi cam 4k footage all the time on a base M1 MacMini. If you don’t do a lot of VI work, then you should be fine with that or an iMac. Keep in mind that M2 is around the corner for both of those.
I would love to see you give your opinion on the Apogee desktop interface
Hi Barry. What's your take on the Mac Studio especially the M1 Ultra one?
I have one in order that I will be doing testing on, stand by.
Hey Barry,I posted a question on one of your other videos asking for some advice,and you were kind enough to answer…I am new to the recording thing,and I had two questions…..on the new M1 Mac Mini,is 8gb’s of RAM sufficient,or do I need 16??………and……interfaces..for low /no latency tracking do I need a Thunderbolt interface,or USB-C type?….
USB C and Thunderbolt are relatively equal in their ability to stream data back and forth so either is sufficient.
You will want 16bg Ram, this will ensure you get years of mileage from the computer.
512gb hard drive is minimum, 1TB is best. You can always add external SSD drives for more storage.
You da man Barry! Hey I’ve got a question related to these new Macs with their M1x processors related to use with Pro Tools. I know these Macs use their internal storage in addition to the on board ram. Does the app in my case Pro Tools need to be optimized to take advantage of this or does the Mac OS take care of this regardless of apps being up to date? Do VI’s work well with this process? Thanks Barry! Keep these vids coming!!
I’ve got a video coming out on Friday where I talk specifically about Protools on the M1Pro/Max that you should check out. Bottom line today, Protools is not ready for Monterey, it’s not a Pro/Max thing as I had no issues on my M1 MB Air on Big Suhr.
9:09 Favorite part of the video
Hello sir, i want to buy a MacBook Pro 16 (2021) M1 pro, 16gb ram, 1tb SSD, is it good enough for heavy uses (production) ?
Yes, it’s what I use.
@@BarryJohns thanks sir
I'm a light laptop user. I got the M1 macbook Air 8gb ram 512 SSD in upgrade over my 2012 alienware 16 ram, 2tb HD. I mainly want it just in case there are things I can't do on my watch, phone, or tablet and it's better to have a laptop and not need it than to need a laptop and not have it. Is it a safe 10 year buy? Will I be okay for the next 10 years given my light to no workload, or do I not need to get a laptop unless I need one?
You will get many years out of that computer.
@@BarryJohns thanks
Too many choices! Lol. What a great world 😄
So which one did you end up keeping? :)
Great video
You should look at the intel nuc for windows users
Fantastic videos. I have a question. Im now working on an Imac late 2013 8G 256. I use an apollo x4 and have some extra plug ins from other companies I use like Izotope/Wave and of course the UAD ones. When I am composing using orchestra instruments from UAD and Spitfire and have around 8 tracks of music I am already rendering at over 60% - when i add the Izotope mastering plug in pro and a 3 or 4 EQ it renders to 120 and that's end game mainly for me. I need another Imac, that's clear. The 24 inch M1 Imac thats out this year would that work perfectly in my case when get the 16G and 1 TB 8-8 core -- I know probably I can go for a lot more tracks compared to my Imac I have now, however, the amount of tracks wouldn't be causing the load, the plug ins on the channels do. Now the question is; Will the 24 inch Imac easily do the job of me composing a regular pop song, or a cinematic trailer or an orchestra composition using Spitfire like the Albion One....I guess I will never go over 25 tracks, but who knows in the future.....Would the 24 inch be good or would you say wait till the new Imac Pro comes out next year....Not many music producers made a video using the 24 inch M1 Imac. It is mainly laptops they show..Thanks in advance
The 24inch imac, gives you the same power potential as the M1 air and macbook pro 13inch. As they all have the M1 chip inside. Probably worth getting 16gb ram. Or get a mac studio.
I think the answer to your question is Yes.
@@mmhcreates thanks so much for your reply. Few weeks ago I made the decision to buy the iMac and it was a good decision. Projects with over 60 tracks having the neve summing on it and taped and other heavy plug ins running at 60 to 70% without any problem. That takes out the headache I had with the old iMac :-) - and I guess when the UAD runs native the cpu will go down. The iMac for me was the right choice and it is powerful enough to complete the projects.
@@joshrainbow-IceTenor nicely done, glad it's working for you.
I don't know of entry level prices though...
the Macbook Air M2 16GB, 1TB sets you back 2065 euro.
The entry version with 8GB Ram, 256 GB costs 1375 euro Almost 700 euro difference.
I have yet to see a ssd drive and a 8 gb stick that sets you back 700 euros 😀
That’s when you should look at the MBP. You are paying much higher there compared to US.
@@BarryJohns you are right... the current 14" M2 model with 16GB and 1TB ssd costs 2749 euro. The 2021 14" M1 model costs 2125 euro.... probably better spend the extra 750 to get the 2021 14" M1.
@@TJ-hs1qm don’t forget they’re about ready to release the M2 pro in the M2 Max
@@BarryJohns prices are grossly inflated here in Europe. I think I have to go with a 2020 M1 air 16MB 512 GB around 1440 euro. Thanks 🙂
Isnt the mac mini a better setup for a home studio?
Yes, I’d wait for the MacMini Pro if you can wait.
The only problem of the M1 air is exactly that. External hi res will heat up the air and it slowdown
I never once on in over a year of using the M1 MBA had anything even come close to that ever happen to me.
Been looking to upgrade from my windows pc for a while now. Decided to get the 13” MacBook Pro because I felt the power would be enough.
I just couldn’t work with how tiny the laptop was, keyboard , sceeen everything just felt like an iPad with a keyboard😭😭
Took it back, I’m waiting for the base 16” to be restocked now….the size of the 13” was definitely a deal breaker for me, and that made me not even want to consider the 14”
I think most people use an external monitor when doing work at home, but for people doing much of their work on the Laptop alone, I agree the 16” is best.
@@BarryJohns yeah that’s for sure. I’ve got a monitor as well. But I use both screens and that tiny screen just wasn’t doing it for me
Waiting for the 2022 Mac mini Max.
Thank you so much for the videos! Already pulled the trigger on the M1 Pro 16"/16Gb/1Tb. I'll report back once i get my paws on it.. dec 20 -27.
I ended up with this one because besides audio i want to do some video work too, but mostly i want to be able to throw everything and the kitchen zinc to my sessions if i need to. i'll check your unsuported plugins video again.
thanks again!
Checking in to see if 16GB was enough to throw anything at it?
Also curious about how things are holding up!
I’m very very happy with my
MacBook Pro, it does everything I want/need and then some!! I can work with logic mixing and editing for hours on Battery while conected to a 4K display and apogee ensemble thunderbolt, tons of plug-ins, slate digital all access mostly, vocalign, free stuff from izotope, arturia, Acustica, and more!!
@@patovega That's great to hear, thanks for the update! I'm waiting on a similarly specced 14-inch and really didn't feel like spending an extra $450 CAD for 32 GB of RAM. Glad I didn't since it seems like with this new architecture 16 GB is enough for most tasks!
@@patovega My only concern has been: Could I use this as a performance instrument? Sample rate being at the lowest, audio quality at its highest, with maybe 2 or 3 other sample instruments loaded up.
I know sample library instruments tend to HOG RAM, and not sure if 32GB would even enhance that experience?
Mac Mini Pro or Mini Max will come in 2022. Maybe. If so, it will beat all Macs released this year.
I’m trying to figure out if I should grab the 14 or 16in, only due to the heat
M1 max (24 core or 32 core)
64gb memory
2tb sssd
Should I go 24 or 32 core ( main question)
Also 14 or 16in
If your not doing hardcore video the max is a waist…your paying for more graphic power…
In the 14 inch model, the Max produces more heat and drains the battery. Any of the Pro chips will do.
So now, months later, after viewing many of the exhaustive testing videos here, you can see that (for the 16 inch size) the 24 core GPU Max is almost always better than the 32.
What did you decide to buy?
Keep the air w/ Big Sur for yourself and the bigger pro, then lend/give the 3rd M1 to your son?
I’ll take viewer Donations! Sadly, I can’t have it all…..
Now that you have this MacBook on your hands I can tell that you’re a tall person 😂
I bought the Mac Studio M1 Max. The fan noise is absurdly loud. It even has a high pitch whining. It makes it useless for voice over. I can't believe they released it like that.
Something is not right and you are the first person I’ve heard that from. I have used four different M1’s, from the air to the MacStudio and have never heard a fan on any of them and I’ve done some massive stress test. I have many videos demonstrating it.
@@BarryJohns there are plenty of videos showing this model doing exactly what I’m saying. It’s not a matter of stress testing. This fan goes OFF with a whining sound that clocks in at 11k right when you turn it on. No apps running.
@@davidattar9605 It seems you are correct. I googled it, and this came up. www.macrumors.com/2022/05/09/mysterious-noise-sparks-complaints/.
It does say it's a lesser number of them, and it looks like you got one of the problematic ones.
That said, it's understandable that you are frustrated. I've never encountered this with a single M1, so its very interesting for sure.
I sent the first one back. The replacement did the same thing.
@@davidattar9605 wow, sorry man, what are they’d saying about it?
I wish I had known this before, I would have addressed it.
"I couldn't decide so I bought them all"
That’s what a great return policy can do!
@@BarryJohns good stuff.
Ports! You didn’t mention ports. That’s a big deal for what we do because of drives, interfaces, and controllers.
Watch this video I did a while back. th-cam.com/video/R79E7SI45lk/w-d-xo.html
Just here to justify my purchase.
Damn! didn't get to the part of Slate and Monterrey thing... yikes! Slate stuff is what i use the most
Hopefully they will sort that out very soon!
woww 20 min for "Good Luck on your Decision"...
Wow, you are really adamant about the MacBook Air
Be patient, one word. Overbridge.
I have an ideal. I can become your adopted son and you can give me one instead of returning it. 😂
LOL You kept the 'scam call'
Subscribed
Apple needs to allow you to downgrade the os on new machines to big sur
Now we have it: You should buy a Mac Studio for your Studio. Ha ha ha. 😁
Ports.
Dude stop waffling . Get down to it .
So blindly not really consider all the possibilities and knee jerk my decisions, not my style.
the amount of obvious things there is insane lol
Maybe for you, but that’s a little disingenuous right, assuming everyone has the same level experience as you. Just take a look at all the comments and then let me know if it was so obvious. Just trying to be fair.
Apple now offers four different MACBOOK laptops for four types of users: 1.) The M1 MACBOOK AIR is for casual users who mainly use their laptop to surf the web, write emails, send text messages, listen to music, watch videos and on occasions may write programs and/or edit music, photos and/or videos using inexpensive or free apps. 2.) The M1 MACBOOK PRO is for amateur hobbyist and semi-professionals who have outgrown the inexpensive and free editing/coding apps and now require a laptop capable of tackling slightly bigger and more complex tasks. 3.) The M1 PRO MACBOOK PRO is for avid hobbyists, semi-professionals, and professionals who want to use powerful, best of breed, computers and apps to do serious editing, programming, data analysis and content creation. 4.) The M1 MAX MACBOOK PRO is for avid hobbyists, semi-professionals, and professionals who require the MOST powerful hardware and software to do the MOST complex and demanding tasks in their respective industries.
This wreaks of having no personal experience with either computer. The M1 MacBook air is incredibly powerful. It beat the top of the line MacBook Pro from the year prior release as well as destroyed my 12 Core MacPro.
The M1 Max is overkill for 99% of studio work.