Mac Studio MAX or Ultra???
Moderator: James Steele
Forum rules
This forum is for most discussion related to the use and optimization of Digital Performer [MacOS] and plug-ins as well as tips and techniques. It is NOT for troubleshooting technical issues, complaints, feature requests, or "Comparative DAW 101."
This forum is for most discussion related to the use and optimization of Digital Performer [MacOS] and plug-ins as well as tips and techniques. It is NOT for troubleshooting technical issues, complaints, feature requests, or "Comparative DAW 101."
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dhelpling
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Mac Studio MAX or Ultra???
Hey there you guys! It's time for me to upgrade to an M1 Mac and I wanted to get some advice from you engineers and producers that have upgraded. All of my sessions are at 24/96 with quite a bit of hardware integration (Audio and Synths) along with some heavy, deep sampled virtual instruments both in orchestral and heavy granular (processor hogs). I really just want to know if you all think that the Mac Studio MAX will be enough… Or if you think that the Mac Studio ULTRA is really the way to go? Thanks so much!
Re: Mac Studio MAX or Ultra???
I think the Ultra may be a bit of overkill for audio use, at least for a while.
828x MacOS 15.5 M1 Studio Max 1TB 64G DP11.34
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James Steele
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Re: Mac Studio MAX or Ultra???
Hard to say. I got an M1 Max Mac Studio 64GB RAM and 2TB SSD. Very happy with it. I haven't come close to maxing it out, and I'm running my buffer at 256 instead of 1024 like I did on my MacPro5,1. In fact, it seems to like the smaller buffer.
I generally record at 24/48 instead of 96, so not sure about that. If you have the money then an Ultra is gonna be awesome and should future proof you for quite some time. HCMarkus on this board got the M1 Ultra Mac Studio and he's very happy. Maybe he can chime in. If you were working at 48k, I'd say M1 Max is plenty... might even be for 96k... I just don't know.
There's also that whole eternal of issue of what might be just around the corner. Rumor has it there's an M2 Mini coming early part of next year... apparently postponed from this month. Might be worth holding off to see what that might look like. There's also an M2 MacPro coming, but that's likely to be ungodly expensive for mere mortals. I do really like my Mac Studio though!
I generally record at 24/48 instead of 96, so not sure about that. If you have the money then an Ultra is gonna be awesome and should future proof you for quite some time. HCMarkus on this board got the M1 Ultra Mac Studio and he's very happy. Maybe he can chime in. If you were working at 48k, I'd say M1 Max is plenty... might even be for 96k... I just don't know.
There's also that whole eternal of issue of what might be just around the corner. Rumor has it there's an M2 Mini coming early part of next year... apparently postponed from this month. Might be worth holding off to see what that might look like. There's also an M2 MacPro coming, but that's likely to be ungodly expensive for mere mortals. I do really like my Mac Studio though!
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Mac Studio M1 Max, 64GB/2TB, macOS Sequoia 15.5, DP 11.34, MOTU 828es, MOTU 24Ai, MOTU MIDI Express XT, UAD-2 TB3 Satellite OCTO, Console 1 Mk2, Avid S3, NI Komplete Kontrol S88 Mk2, Red Type B, Millennia HV-3C, Warm Audio WA-2A, AudioScape 76F, Dean guitars, Marshall amps, etc., etc.!
Mac Studio M1 Max, 64GB/2TB, macOS Sequoia 15.5, DP 11.34, MOTU 828es, MOTU 24Ai, MOTU MIDI Express XT, UAD-2 TB3 Satellite OCTO, Console 1 Mk2, Avid S3, NI Komplete Kontrol S88 Mk2, Red Type B, Millennia HV-3C, Warm Audio WA-2A, AudioScape 76F, Dean guitars, Marshall amps, etc., etc.!
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HCMarkus
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Re: Mac Studio MAX or Ultra???
I've got the Ultra, David. Haven't come close to maxing it out as yet.
One thing to remember: Apple Silicon cores are essentially identical across the M1 line; the M2 SOC (System On a Chip - CPU and GPU combined) brings a bit more per-core CPU power, but not a huge increase. Biggest issues anyone has reported with Apple Silicon is when a single core is pushed, which occurs when a single track is doing heavy-duty processing. Depending on your use case, you may well find that you are not limited by the SOC as a whole, but you may run into certain heavy hitters stressing one core.
My experience with the Ultra has been generally glorious but, like James Steele, I was coming from a 2010 5,1 12 core Mac Pro, not a 7,1 (which I recall is what you have.). For a clue as to single-core Apple Silicon performance, look to Geekbench stats for the M1s and compare to your 7,1 Mac Pro.
https://browser.geekbench.com/mac-benchmarks
One thing to remember: Apple Silicon cores are essentially identical across the M1 line; the M2 SOC (System On a Chip - CPU and GPU combined) brings a bit more per-core CPU power, but not a huge increase. Biggest issues anyone has reported with Apple Silicon is when a single core is pushed, which occurs when a single track is doing heavy-duty processing. Depending on your use case, you may well find that you are not limited by the SOC as a whole, but you may run into certain heavy hitters stressing one core.
My experience with the Ultra has been generally glorious but, like James Steele, I was coming from a 2010 5,1 12 core Mac Pro, not a 7,1 (which I recall is what you have.). For a clue as to single-core Apple Silicon performance, look to Geekbench stats for the M1s and compare to your 7,1 Mac Pro.
https://browser.geekbench.com/mac-benchmarks
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dhelpling
- Posts: 52
- Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2014 9:11 am
- Primary DAW OS: MacOS
- Location: San Diego
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Re: Mac Studio MAX or Ultra???
Thanks for the swift replies you guys! So cool to see the legendary MARKUS here as usual! Cheers :^)
