Literally every video you have done is extremely useful. Many of us in music and audio are preoccupied with the same subjects and issues. You are the spokesperson for us "common audio folks"! For laptops, it is hard to get exactly the right combo, and most commercially available models are non-customizable or upgradeable. You can get some customization at places like Tuxedo Computers, where you can get a laptop with no RAM, no HD, no OS, and add it all on your own as you go along later. Some of these can have up to 128GB RAM or 4 NVME SSDs, so that is room for growth (I like not having to carry around external enclosures with NVMEs for sample libraries, so I can just pop the NVME stick out of those enclosures and stick them inside the laptop). Some laptops even have desktop speed CPUs (and require double power supplies because of that!). Sure, in the end, you can always build a more powerful desktop, but at least there ARE some options for the mobile audio warrior! Quick additional remark: these days Windows audio production is significantly more reliable than it used to be; notice many composers publishing music production videos here on "the Yutubes" run Windows rigs and are very satisfied. You can custom order a Mac Pro with dozens of Xeon cores and even more dozens of GBs of RAM for $10K+, or build the same specs for thousands of dollars less yourself on Windows platform.
I have currently have a 2018 MacBook Pro in which I use for production and mixing. Lord willing when I get a house, I plan to get desktop computer strictly for mixing and DAW work.
That's it! For me, a laptop is the best option: Edit videos on the go and make music at the studio. Last week, I tried justify to buy a Mac Studio instead a MBP M1 Pro 14, but portability is an important factor for me.
Do it and you won’t regret it!Im using a MacBook Air 16GB,512 storage and I do audio sessions and video editing on the laptop and it does just as good if not better than my mbp.Both can be used 7 days per week at my commercial studio.
I have a full blown studio with a Mac Pro, but in the last few months I've spent all my time on my M1-Pro. The ability to work anywhere at anytime is euphoric and ther hasn't been even a second of processing power being an issue. I would lose my mind if I had to always work in my studio now.
You should do a video on the Mac Studio. Seems very relevant to this discussion considering the power, price, and size. I’d love to hear your opinion or see a review from you on it.
my only warning about gaming computers for audio is that alot of focus on gaming is GPU so for instance an 16 core cpu will not help for gaming but will work well for audio. For audio get the the fast single core and the most amount of fast cores.
@@phenixnunlee372 I recommend trying to load an EastWest Hollywood Orchestra Opus Orchestrator session from an NVME drive, it is screaming fast and sample streaming is a huge improvement over HDs and SSDs. A regular SSD maxes out at 600 MB/s, if you are streaming multiple high resolution samples for a full orchestra, a faster storage device is absolutely worth it. Most composers will not have enough RAM to load all those samples into memory, so only the first chunk of those samples get loaded into memory, the rest catches up through storage device streaming.
For me it used to be desktop Mac mini 2018 was kind of portable had a set up in my house and the studio then iMac 27 inch and 2012 Mac book pro 13 in but now 14 inch MacBook Pro is all I need
I have a weird setup I use opensuse tumbleweed with bitwig and pipewire on an hp laptop that used to have windows but I replaced that virus with a real os.
Mr. Johns, it seems like I should not refer to you as Barry until we arrange to have a beer or two at Captain Tony's on Key West. My answer to your question for my 'Home Studio' is yes. I work as a full time A1 Audio Engineer for several National Touring acts. So, here is what I have just moved to: Home Studio: Mac Studio with a 2TB drive, 32 gig of memory and a 2TB external for samples as well as another 1TB external for tracks. The externals are Thuderbolt 4 OWC drives. It is a screaming little setup. I use a 14" MBP on the road with 1TB internal storage, 10 core CPU, 24 core GPU and 16 core Neural engine and 32 TB of memory. This would also work great in the studio, but I wanted to desktop for my main recording/mix computer. Preferred recoding software is Cubase 12 Pro. I have been a Cubase user since I dumped the ADATS in the 90's. Anyway, use the right tool for the job and the one you are comfortable with that works into your work flow. Let me know about Captain Tony's.
To Steinberg's credit, Cubase/Nuendo 12 is chugging along just fine even on an old 2012 (Late model) i7 Mac Mini with 16GB RAM and with just "old-fashioned" SATA III SSD, not even NVME...
@@AdamElteto I just bought Nuendo 12 and am getting used to it. I was going with Studio One, but the workflow of the SSL UF8 are much better in Cubase/Nuendo.
You are not mentioning the gigantic pain in the ass managing a laptop and desktop especially with upgrades, plugins, vsts and licensing. I han an m1 mini in studio and m1 laptop as I like to do some audio editing outside studio. Being able to have 1 powerful machine with all plugins, vsts and active sessions is so nice. I just keep a hub in studio for quick connect/disconnect. Either laptop or desktop should be fine for most project studios. Just my .02
My windows desktop makes a little metallic sound after recording guitar when close to the computer and it goes away if i move some meters back, my laptop does not do that. Is it besourse of my mesh cabinet or is it just radiation you cant fix ?
Hey Barry, did you check out the new ADAM Audio A77H monitors? Sorry the question isn't related to the video, but I just thought of it, since I always see your monitors in your videos. Would love to hear your thoughts.
Hi- I have watched a lot of your videos and I love your channel- I have a studio in a room in the back of a music store that I work at ( we sell pa equipment and stuff like that) but I have spent the last year building up my studio gear, and my studio has come a long way, and it's time for me to get a new computer. I run pro tools, and I've been using an IMac. (I've always been a Mac guy) It works ok but when it comes to plug ins it just sucks. The cpu just won't handle barely anything. I've heard you talk about the m1 and it sounds great but is there a desktop yet? This video made me think hard again about wanting to upgrade. I can run pro tools like a Champ (I've been doing it since the 90s) but I really don't know much about computers and I don't have anyone to ask for advice. I don't want a laptop but I want a Mac that can handle lots of plug ins and all that I do. What would you recommend that I get? I don't do any video. All I do is pro tools audio recording. I'm super old school about stuff- and I guess because of that I'm super lost in this area! I love your channel, and thanks in advance for any advice!
If I were to buy today fresh and looking for the best bang for the buck for audio only. I would pick up a MacBook Air M1 with 16 gigs of RAM and a 512 GB SSD hard drive for 1100 USD. If I needed to expand later. I would just add a USB SSD hard drive. If I was doing A lot of 4K video. I would go to the MacBook Pro or studio, but as far as the best bang for the buck it doesn’t matter if you’re looking at desktop or laptop. The Macbook AIR M1 Will do all the floating point math you need To run a massive amount of plug-ins for audio at just over $1100. A total no brainer
I usually record 10 tracks at a time sometimes up to 20. Would the M1 air with 16ram be good enough? I have a Sweetwater card so I’m debating witch one to get . I appreciate the help
@@ConcertCultureSound I record 10 tracks at a time on a quad core 2013 iMac - SSD Hard Drive with a USB Audient ID 14 MKII and an 8 channel Behringer ADA 8200 ADAT preamp. I would expect any of the M1’s to hands down completely beat the pants off of my system. I assume you’re using a quality multi input sound device? Good luck
Picked up a m1 max 64gb 32 core 4tb macbook pro 16..... that thing blows away my 2019 with similar specs and the most important thing it IS QUIET! No more heat and full fans in 5 min.
New m1 max laptop monterey user here. Works amazing. I use studio one...and harrison mixbus. Plugins from acoustica, UA (native from spark). Plugin alliance...softube...waves...roland cloud...arturia....kontact....spectrasonic.... many others all working. Take your time and update everything. It works! RME interface and motu too. Software companies are and have come around supporting these systems.
I use Logic Pro and have quite a few plugins.. thinking about getting a new machine- what would be a good Mac Computer configuration to effortlessly run lots of plugins simultaneously like reverbs, Universal Audio Plugins ..etc ? I'd like a setup where the artist can hear reverb but not recorded it.. Stuff like that !
I’m currently in college to get a degree in video production but I’d also like to dabble a little in audio as well. I currently have an HP laptop that’s about 4 years old & am seriously trying to figure out if I should get a new windows based laptop , which would be a gaming style laptop, or get a new Apple! Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated! Thanks in advance.
Well I may be a little biased, but I happen to prefer the Apple ecosystem. That said, only you can decide on which operating system you’re most comfortable with, as you can do great work with either one of them. An advantage to a Mac, is it you know it’s gonna work right out of the box and not have any issues when it comes to audio, or quite frankly video. As long as you get a properly specked out window space computer, you can have the exact same experience. As a general rule any laptop that is geared towards heavy gaming, it’s most likely going to be OK for doing audio work. Obviously you always want to get the most powerful computer you can afford at any time you’re buying .
@@BarryJohns I’m very familiar with Windows but my potential employer has everything Mac/Apple plus I’d LOVE it to work right out if the box & not have to worry about turning different things off & on when I’m using it for my college classes then for audio/video work! I recently had to switch from Android to Apple for phone OS & that was a breeze! I been really leaning towards Mac & when you posted this I thought “Hey ask him! He’s doing exactly what I’m looking to be doing!” So thank you for your advice!
@@wadecourtney8958 The new M1 Apple Silicon Mac’s are simply amazing, more power than we’ve ever seen from a Mac computer in the price range they’re sold in. They are video editing beast, as well as extremely powerful and efficient for audio work. The new Mac Studio is highly compelling. No need to go to the ultra, the max is more than enough.
This is honestly one of the most underrated channels I know on TH-cam. Keep up the good work and it will eventually get super big, I promise!
Literally every video you have done is extremely useful. Many of us in music and audio are preoccupied with the same subjects and issues. You are the spokesperson for us "common audio folks"!
For laptops, it is hard to get exactly the right combo, and most commercially available models are non-customizable or upgradeable. You can get some customization at places like Tuxedo Computers, where you can get a laptop with no RAM, no HD, no OS, and add it all on your own as you go along later. Some of these can have up to 128GB RAM or 4 NVME SSDs, so that is room for growth (I like not having to carry around external enclosures with NVMEs for sample libraries, so I can just pop the NVME stick out of those enclosures and stick them inside the laptop). Some laptops even have desktop speed CPUs (and require double power supplies because of that!). Sure, in the end, you can always build a more powerful desktop, but at least there ARE some options for the mobile audio warrior!
Quick additional remark: these days Windows audio production is significantly more reliable than it used to be; notice many composers publishing music production videos here on "the Yutubes" run Windows rigs and are very satisfied. You can custom order a Mac Pro with dozens of Xeon cores and even more dozens of GBs of RAM for $10K+, or build the same specs for thousands of dollars less yourself on Windows platform.
Thanks Adam!
I have currently have a 2018 MacBook Pro in which I use for production and mixing. Lord willing when I get a house, I plan to get desktop computer strictly for mixing and DAW work.
That's it! For me, a laptop is the best option: Edit videos on the go and make music at the studio. Last week, I tried justify to buy a Mac Studio instead a MBP M1 Pro 14, but portability is an important factor for me.
Do it and you won’t regret it!Im using a MacBook Air 16GB,512 storage and I do audio sessions and video editing on the laptop and it does just as good if not better than my mbp.Both can be used 7 days per week at my commercial studio.
If you do a lot of video you will appreciate the 16” more.
The 16” has better cooling and doesn’t underclock the GPUs under load the way the 14” ones do.
@@BarryJohns Good point!
@@edwardx.winston5744 That’s it!
I’d like to see you review the new Mac Studio for pro audio use. Thanks Barry
I’ve got one on order, it was supposed to get to me last week, but it’s delayed. I will be doing extensive testing, and then videos will follow.
Thanks Barry...! Great vid as always... Looking forward to your time (and the vids) with the new Mac Studio!!!
Deciding on this right now and a big deciding factor for me is being able to dust the laptop and not being able to easily dust the Studio.
I have a full blown studio with a Mac Pro, but in the last few months I've spent all my time on my M1-Pro. The ability to work anywhere at anytime is euphoric and ther hasn't been even a second of processing power being an issue. I would lose my mind if I had to always work in my studio now.
You should do a video on the Mac Studio. Seems very relevant to this discussion considering the power, price, and size. I’d love to hear your opinion or see a review from you on it.
I have one on order, I was actually supposed to receive it last week, but it got delayed. I will be doing some pretty extensive testing once I get it.
I built an i9 Hackintosh for the power issues mentioned. But, I definitely miss the portability of my MB Pro.
Desktop & laptop for me
my only warning about gaming computers for audio is that alot of focus on gaming is GPU so for instance an 16 core cpu will not help for gaming but will work well for audio. For audio get the the fast single core and the most amount of fast cores.
Also, fast SSD are a waste of money for most audio use cases. So do not get to fixated on it.
@@phenixnunlee372 I recommend trying to load an EastWest Hollywood Orchestra Opus Orchestrator session from an NVME drive, it is screaming fast and sample streaming is a huge improvement over HDs and SSDs. A regular SSD maxes out at 600 MB/s, if you are streaming multiple high resolution samples for a full orchestra, a faster storage device is absolutely worth it. Most composers will not have enough RAM to load all those samples into memory, so only the first chunk of those samples get loaded into memory, the rest catches up through storage device streaming.
@@AdamElteto this is a good use case for a faster SSD but if you are not highly sample driven or using that it is a horrible investment.
For me it used to be desktop Mac mini 2018 was kind of portable had a set up in my house and the studio then iMac 27 inch and 2012 Mac book pro 13 in but now 14 inch MacBook Pro is all I need
I have a weird setup I use opensuse tumbleweed with bitwig and pipewire on an hp laptop that used to have windows but I replaced that virus with a real os.
Mr. Johns, it seems like I should not refer to you as Barry until we arrange to have a beer or two at Captain Tony's on Key West. My answer to your question for my 'Home Studio' is yes. I work as a full time A1 Audio Engineer for several National Touring acts. So, here is what I have just moved to: Home Studio: Mac Studio with a 2TB drive, 32 gig of memory and a 2TB external for samples as well as another 1TB external for tracks. The externals are Thuderbolt 4 OWC drives. It is a screaming little setup. I use a 14" MBP on the road with 1TB internal storage, 10 core CPU, 24 core GPU and 16 core Neural engine and 32 TB of memory. This would also work great in the studio, but I wanted to desktop for my main recording/mix computer. Preferred recoding software is Cubase 12 Pro. I have been a Cubase user since I dumped the ADATS in the 90's.
Anyway, use the right tool for the job and the one you are comfortable with that works into your work flow. Let me know about Captain Tony's.
I will be looking forward to that beer to “start” the next one I’m down in the keys!
To Steinberg's credit, Cubase/Nuendo 12 is chugging along just fine even on an old 2012 (Late model) i7 Mac Mini with 16GB RAM and with just "old-fashioned" SATA III SSD, not even NVME...
@@AdamElteto I just bought Nuendo 12 and am getting used to it. I was going with Studio One, but the workflow of the SSL UF8 are much better in Cubase/Nuendo.
You are not mentioning the gigantic pain in the ass managing a laptop and desktop especially with upgrades, plugins, vsts and licensing. I han an m1 mini in studio and m1 laptop as I like to do some audio editing outside studio. Being able to have 1 powerful machine with all plugins, vsts and active sessions is so nice. I just keep a hub in studio for quick connect/disconnect. Either laptop or desktop should be fine for most project studios. Just my .02
Desktop. all the way....
My windows desktop makes a little metallic sound after recording guitar when close to the computer and it goes away if i move some meters back, my laptop does not do that. Is it besourse of my mesh cabinet or is it just radiation you cant fix ?
Can you recommend a video or channel for building a desktop PC for DAW work?
th-cam.com/video/C1Qbwe-p_9Q/w-d-xo.htmlsi=AhhU_SLo2_0Agtmv
Any computer that has fan noise is not usable to anyone with a small room to record in. That is something to consider in your decision.
Hey Barry, did you check out the new ADAM Audio A77H monitors? Sorry the question isn't related to the video, but I just thought of it, since I always see your monitors in your videos. Would love to hear your thoughts.
Ok pretty sure they are sending me a pair to review.
@@BarryJohns hoping for a possible give-away!!! 😉
Hi- I have watched a lot of your videos and I love your channel- I have a studio in a room in the back of a music store that I work at ( we sell pa equipment and stuff like that) but I have spent the last year building up my studio gear, and my studio has come a long way, and it's time for me to get a new computer. I run pro tools, and I've been using an IMac. (I've always been a Mac guy) It works ok but when it comes to plug ins it just sucks. The cpu just won't handle barely anything. I've heard you talk about the m1 and it sounds great but is there a desktop yet? This video made me think hard again about wanting to upgrade. I can run pro tools like a Champ (I've been doing it since the 90s) but I really don't know much about computers and I don't have anyone to ask for advice. I don't want a laptop but I want a Mac that can handle lots of plug ins and all that I do. What would you recommend that I get? I don't do any video. All I do is pro tools audio recording. I'm super old school about stuff- and I guess because of that I'm super lost in this area! I love your channel, and thanks in advance for any advice!
If I were to buy today fresh and looking for the best bang for the buck for audio only. I would pick up a MacBook Air M1 with 16 gigs of RAM and a 512 GB SSD hard drive for 1100 USD. If I needed to expand later. I would just add a USB SSD hard drive. If I was doing A lot of 4K video. I would go to the MacBook Pro or studio, but as far as the best bang for the buck it doesn’t matter if you’re looking at desktop or laptop. The Macbook AIR M1 Will do all the floating point math you need To run a massive amount of plug-ins for audio at just over $1100. A total no brainer
I usually record 10 tracks at a time sometimes up to 20.
Would the M1 air with 16ram be good enough?
I have a Sweetwater card so I’m debating witch one to get .
I appreciate the help
@@ConcertCultureSound I record 10 tracks at a time on a quad core 2013 iMac - SSD Hard Drive with a USB Audient ID 14 MKII and an 8 channel Behringer ADA 8200 ADAT preamp. I would expect any of the M1’s to hands down completely beat the pants off of my system. I assume you’re using a quality multi input sound device? Good luck
Picked up a m1 max 64gb 32 core 4tb macbook pro 16..... that thing blows away my 2019 with similar specs and the most important thing it IS QUIET! No more heat and full fans in 5 min.
New m1 max laptop monterey user here. Works amazing. I use studio one...and harrison mixbus. Plugins from acoustica, UA (native from spark). Plugin alliance...softube...waves...roland cloud...arturia....kontact....spectrasonic.... many others all working. Take your time and update everything. It works! RME interface and motu too. Software companies are and have come around supporting these systems.
I use Logic Pro and have quite a few plugins.. thinking about getting a new machine- what would be a good Mac Computer configuration to effortlessly run lots of plugins simultaneously like reverbs, Universal Audio Plugins ..etc ? I'd like a setup where the artist can hear reverb but not recorded it.. Stuff like that !
What budget
@@BarryJohns $1,500 to $2,500
@@Avatar7x7 Mac Studio Max, no need to consider the ultra. 32GB Ram 2 TB drive. Easily last you 10+ years.
Windows and Pro-Tools sounds so 2005 - have you made that switch to Studio One and Mac Studio yet?
Partially with S1, Mac Studio the was supposed to arrive last week, delayed.
I’m currently in college to get a degree in video production but I’d also like to dabble a little in audio as well. I currently have an HP laptop that’s about 4 years old & am seriously trying to figure out if I should get a new windows based laptop , which would be a gaming style laptop, or get a new Apple! Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated! Thanks in advance.
Well I may be a little biased, but I happen to prefer the Apple ecosystem. That said, only you can decide on which operating system you’re most comfortable with, as you can do great work with either one of them. An advantage to a Mac, is it you know it’s gonna work right out of the box and not have any issues when it comes to audio, or quite frankly video. As long as you get a properly specked out window space computer, you can have the exact same experience. As a general rule any laptop that is geared towards heavy gaming, it’s most likely going to be OK for doing audio work. Obviously you always want to get the most powerful computer you can afford at any time you’re buying .
@@BarryJohns I’m very familiar with Windows but my potential employer has everything Mac/Apple plus I’d LOVE it to work right out if the box & not have to worry about turning different things off & on when I’m using it for my college classes then for audio/video work! I recently had to switch from Android to Apple for phone OS & that was a breeze! I been really leaning towards Mac & when you posted this I thought “Hey ask him! He’s doing exactly what I’m looking to be doing!” So thank you for your advice!
@@wadecourtney8958 The new M1 Apple Silicon Mac’s are simply amazing, more power than we’ve ever seen from a Mac computer in the price range they’re sold in. They are video editing beast, as well as extremely powerful and efficient for audio work. The new Mac Studio is highly compelling. No need to go to the ultra, the max is more than enough.
@@BarryJohns thank you sir! I do believe you just helped me decide to get a M1 Pro in a few months
If audio production is your business. Then get a good mac and write it off.
I’m more confused now then before I watched this video
"You're Holding It Wrong"
😎