Philip OKeefe

I've heard really great things about the M1 Air. How big is the screen? I also read that the battery life on them is just incredible. Has that been your experience? I have a mid-2012 quad i7 MBP w/ 16GB, which I like, but it's getting older. The Air is certainly one of the contenders for its eventual replacement. Seems like an awful lot of bang for the bucks. I also have an iPad mini 5, which I think is the perfect tablet size - I kind of like the idea of a smaller/lighter laptop. I think I'd take it with me more often, especially if I didn't need to plug it in every three or four hours. I'm sure I'd use it a lot (just like I do with my current laptop) but I still appreciate the advantages of a "desktop" computer, too. A good laptop is great to have, but I also need a main DAW computer with a bit more in terms of horsepower and connectivity.

Yes, I have Internet access enabled on my M1 Mac mini, and I plan to do the same with my incoming M1 Max Mac Studio. No, I don't use my studio computers for casual web browsing - just for what I need to access (plugin manufacturers, my iLok account, etc.) and use separate MacBook Pros for other tasks.

I have a few full-sized keyboards, but I recently put this little rig together to have something to just mess around on that is all hardware-based - no computer, no soft synths. My kids love playing around with it too, so it also serves as kid-bait and encourages them to come by and visit once in a while.

The only thing that remains to be seen is how quiet they managed to get the new Mac Studio. Apple's product page says they stay "whisper quiet." I saw a report from Apple that said 15 dB SPL (A Weighted, IIRC), at idle, while the M1 mini is 5 dB SPL at idle. I can live with 15 dB if the fans aren't leaf blowers when it's under a moderate load. Under a moderate load, the mini has been dead quiet for me.

Oh, and yes, I agree with you that the Model D and Pro-1 are pretty darned convincing replicas. I've never owned a Mini, but my very first synth was a brand new Pro One, so I'm very familiar with the originals.

My Sweetwater Sales Engineer told me they expect it will probably get here in May. I had regular access to an original many years ago, and I reviewed the Prophecysound Pi-Phase Mk II a few years back, which I believe is the exact same as the current version from Mutron. It was a great pedal, and I planned on buying one, but I couldn't afford it at the time. Then I tried to contact Mutron about buying one of theirs after the Prophecysound was discontinued, and they never got back to me. We'll see how close the new one is to the originals... hopefully, sometime in May.

I'll admit that I broke down and bought a Model D and a Pro-1, and I just ordered a Bi-Phase from Sweetwater yesterday. I got them for a bit under $200 each ($149 for the Bi-Phase), so it was just too tempting to pass up. The Model D and Pro-1 are both surprisingly good. The little mini synths OTOH, don't do anything for me. I think they're shooting for the Korg Volca market with these. With a $50 price tag, I'm sure they're going to be impulse buys for a lot of people... but again, not for me.

I was using my UA Satellite FireWire Quad with both my DAW PC and my MacBook Pro. It's still useful on the MBP, even if it turns out I can't use it with the M1 Macs. And I agree with you regarding the way UA allows you to retain the plugin licenses, even when you add or upgrade hardware. That's a very cool policy. My Thunderbolt Octo is loaded with all of my plugins and it works great with the M1 Mac mini, and I'm sure it will continue to work just fine with the Mac Studio. And one BIG advantage of the Thunderbolt versions is that they're fast enough that you can use them when tracking, and not just when mixing. FireWire doesn't let you do that. As far as the Studio, that's the model I went with - the M1 Max. 16 GB seems to do fine with the M1 Mac mini, and 32 GB was always more than enough for my DAW PC, so I think 32 GB will be fine with the much more memory efficient M1 Max. The only thing I upgraded from the base spec is the SSD. Considering how fast the integrated storage is, I went ahead and opted for 1 TB this time, vs. the 512 MB that I went with on the M1 mini. I don't do a ton of video editing and I'm not a gamer, so I'm sure the base model's 24-core GPU will do fine for my needs. Even the M1 Mac mini's 8-core GPU renders videos surprisingly fast. I just can't justify spending twice as much to get a M1 Ultra Mac Studio. Not for the types of projects I do and the way I work.

Yeah, I noticed that too. I can't imagine they're planning on discontinuing the larger iMac, but hey - I could easily be wrong. Still, it would be a shame if they didn't update that with an M1 or M2 SoC of some sort. As far as Logic on an iPad, with M1 family chips being added to iPad models, I think that's just a matter of time. The line between Mac and iPad keeps getting ever more blurred... after all, we can run iPad apps on the M1 laptops and minis now, so why not the other way around once the iPads are powerful enough?

I wonder why they decided not to support FireWire on the new Macs... they still sell the FireWire Satellites, last time I checked. 🤷‍♂️

Yeah, that's both too large and too expensive for my needs. I'm going to be sticking with. my Acer 20" and 23" dual displays for the time being. Anything larger and I'd have to reposition my nearfield monitors, which I really don't want to have to do.

In Pro Tools Ultra 2021.12 running on a 16 GB M1 Mac mini paired with an Avid Carbon interface, I can open and run sessions that maxed out my old i7 quad core (32 GB RAM) PC / HD3 setup and the CPU use is at about 15-20%. And that's with a 32 sample buffer setting. The M1 family SOC's are exceptionally fast. I didn't believe the hype at first, but I was convinced after using one for only a short while. They're great computers!

The performance cores on the M1 family are clocked at 3.2 GHz. That includes the M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max - all of which share the same basic core configuration. The Pro and Max just have more of them (and more GPU cores), along with faster memory bandwidth and the ability to be configured with more RAM. I'm not sure what the cores on the M1 Ultra will be clocked at, but I suspect they'll be the same as everything else in the M1 family. I just purchased an M1 Max Studio to replace my 16 GB M1 Mac mini. It should be here in a couple of weeks. The mini is amazing, and plenty powerful, but I wanted to get something even faster and with more ports, and I'm sure the Studio is going to be way more than enough for my needs and will last me for at least a few years, if not several years.

It was nice to see them focus on creatives again. Energy use is more of a factor for laptops, but even with the desktops, it's really much lower with Apple silicon, and the less demanding cooling requirements allow these computers to be practically inaudible - which as you know is a HUGE factor for anyone who is recording with microphones in the same room as the computer. Considering it is International Women's Day, it was nice to see them feature some of their female employees, as well as those from other companies. No, I don't think I saw anything plugged into a Thunderbolt port, except when they used a TB cable to connect the new display to a MBP. My interface is an Avid Carbon, and that's ethernet; outside of my UA Thunderbolt Octo, I presently don't have any TB devices (although I am currently using an adapter for a second display with my M1 Mac mini), but since they also support USB, I can certainly use them for that. I also am glad to see that they added a card slot to the Studio, as well as a couple of front-facing USB-C ports; that will make it much tidier and more user-friendly than having to reach around to the back of the computer and fiddle with a USB dock every time I want to connect something temporarily. The way my desk is configured, no one will see anything that's behind the computer. I don't like how expensive TB cables are either, but fortunately I don't need long ones.

SOLD! I just purchased one of the new Apple Studios. Should be here in a couple of weeks. They added everything I was hoping for - an even faster ( ) CPU, more RAM, and more ports. I think this will probably take care of my desktop computer needs for the foreseeable future - at least for the next few/several years. Like I said before, I really can't justify the price of a new Mac Pro, so this looks darned near perfect for my needs, and at a more reasonable price than I'm sure they're going to want to the next generation Pro.

Noise Attenuation Methods Mandatory.

Yeah, I would have thought/hoped so, but UA's not supporting firewire on M1 Macs. Second post in this thread... https://uadforum.com/macos-11-big-sur-mac-m1-sub-forum/54072-firewire-satellites-m1.html

Some Firewire peripherals are not compatible, so that's something you should look into if you need Firewire compatibility. I don't know if it applies to everything, or if it's due to the M1 family SOCs or the new OS (I'm running Monterey) but my UA Satellite Firewire Quad won't work, even with adapters. The good news is that the current Mac minis (and according to the rumor mill, the ones that will be announced soon) still have two USB-A ports on them, in addition to the Thunderbolt/USB-C ports. I may get a dock eventually, but that would be more for the sake of adding a SD card slot than anything else. If the new "Studio" or Pro minis have one built in, I might not even need a dock at all. I guess I'll find out on Tuesday.

If they are going to stick to the goal of being all Apple Silicon by the end of 2022, I don't think they'll launch any new Intel powered computers. But I hear a lot of people are not happy about losing the ability to use their eGPUs with the new minis. If I was doing tons of video and that was important to me, I might consider getting one of the current Intel-powered minis. Maybe Apple is considering one last Intel powered computer for those folks, but I haven't heard/read any rumors about that. The Mac Pros were always so nice, but large and just too expensive for me to ever really justify. I've heard rumors that the new ones may be half as big physically, which I think would be cool, but I'm sure they're still going to be super-expensive, and I just don't need that kind of power. I think they're working on a new one, but I think we're more likely to see those launch at WWDC, or maybe even in the fall. I have to say, Apple is just slaying it with their in-house processors; even the M1 mini is surprisingly fast. Paired with an Avid Carbon and a UA Thunderbolt Octo, I'm running sessions with 50+ tracks, gobs of plugins, edits, automation... and it's sitting at about 15% CPU use. And that's with a 32 sample buffer setting. And it's absolutely silent. Zero fan noise. And again, that's just a basic M1 SOC with 16 GB. If Apple releases a Pro version or a M1 Max equipped model with more RAM, I'm going to be really tempted - especially if it has a couple more Thunderbolt ports. That is one of the biggest limitations of the current M1 minis IMO - they only have two Thunderbolt ports. Four, like the Intel-powered minis have - would be nice.

It's this Tuesday, March 8. I'm looking forward to seeing what they announce/launch. I'm hoping the leaks and rumors regarding the new Mac mini are true. I picked up one of the 2020 Mac minis with a 512 GB SSD and 16 GB of ram and the thing is an absolute beast - much faster than my old i7 quad core PC... but if they announce a mini with a M1 Pro or M1 Max, I might be tempted to trade this one in on one of those. While what I have now is very fast, I think it might be nice to have even more performance cores and 32 GB of ram... because more power never hurts, right? Any guesses on what you folks think they'll announce? Anything in particular you'd like to see them announce/release?

The higher-end models apparently were designed (and built?) by David Bock, formerly of Soundelux and the man behind Bock Audio. I own a couple of his mics, and they're excellent, so I'd expect good things from those. I didn't see this one coming, but it might be a good fit for UA.

Gibson is planning on being there, so I most likely will be, too.

I can be a right bastid when I want to be, but I don't have a podcast... Congrats on the forum, my friend!

Thanks Geoff and dB! I've missed you guys!

George is an incredible engineer - he's worked on some of my favorite records of all time. He's also a true gentleman. First class all the way, and his Musicplayer forum is an absolute gold mine of priceless information!