imo 256 is only ok for a light system. Like note taking, browsing, some tunes. Sure, you can install apps and and a DAW, but I think more of this as a sketch pad than a main machine - which is a nice thing to have - flesh out some stuff but then offload to backup. But 256 has also been shown to be slower, like on the M2 Air, so it’s yet to be seen if the M2 Mini would suffer from this also. For me 256 can be ok if as a second machine, like an Air. While my main machine would be 1TB minimum (these days).
It is workable with a fast external ssd, but still an annoyance. Sooner or later you will forget to close a daw, putting computer to sleep while having a sample library loaded and then it becomes a nuisance when you leave home and forget the ssd.
Get at least a mac with 512GB and be selective with which libraries you actually use. Synth/Effects plugins don’t use a lot of space, so you are good there. 16GB RAM/1TB internal storage will get you a long way, though.
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Thanks, I was asking more for info really and some user perspectives. I’ve had a bit of a look round the internet but didn’t really find the answers I was looking for. Searching about installing apps on an external drive just gave me reddit results from 2013 or a ton of guides on how to put the OS on an external drive… ugh.
MacOS is also completely foreign to me though so some of the basic good practice stuff I’m not sure if it translates across from windows machines. Like if I add up storage requirements of all the programs I intend to install, what’s a rule of thumb to keep spare?
I imagine out of the box a 256GB only has something like 220-230GB of available storage after the OS. It’s just that the 256GB ones are priced at a really tempting level, if adding external drives later on (that are going to be faster than the internal drives in my PC anyway) is feasible for not just data but applications as well (with some care in use) it becomes even more tempting.
…been using a MBAir 8/256 for the past 9 months running every DAW imaginable. Works great. You will need some kind of external SSD to store your projects and libraries onto but its super easy to do. So much FUD online about what you need. The only area where things need to get beefy are 4K editing/post. Moving forward the real question is whether future local AI workflows will run on non-nvidia platforms - I think this is Apple’s remaining achillies heel in terms of dominating media related creation workflows.
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I’m running a 512GB M1 mac mini with two USB SSDs attached, and I haven’t had any issues at all. I do use the internal SSD for the heaver sample libraries (mostly drum libraries) but I’m sure running them off an external would be fine; I have no issues running huge multitrack projects in Reaper, for example.
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Part 3 (and last part) is out, for the nerds in here. I’m sure we are a few. Enjoy 
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I think MacMini with M2Pro is a great addition to the line up. I would’ve bought that and an iPad for portability instead of the M1Pro 14’, since I use the MacBook as a desktop computer 95% of the time, and for that 5% an iPad it’s enough.
Regardless, I think I’ll wait until M3 or even M4 generations to upgrade my computer, since I have never listened the fans in my Mac, even with heavy mixing daw sessions.
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I’m running a min spec m1 mini with an external ssd and have no issues at all. Depending how much you need to stress this machine it will cover a lot of ground.
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I think this might have been asked but not fully answered but…
A friend of mine is planning on a new M2 Mac mini. He’s wondering if his NI vsts and Kontrol will work. I think I’m right in saying the plugins aren’t working natively but will do in Rosetta ( ?) but not sure on Kontrol.
He just wants to make sure he can still get the scales and chords and things from the keyboard. Pretty sure that should be fine but anybody if you guys got experience with M1 systems?
Basically, everything should 99% work so long as he starts his DAW in Rosetta mode.
The above won’t be necessary if:
- he’s using Logic or another DAW where he primarily uses AUs instead of VSTs, as those run in their own Rosetta containers
- he’s using Bitwig, which spins plugins off into their own processes, allowing a mix of native and Rosetta
- he doesn’t get his new Mac until NI finishes porting everything to M1/M2 (they’re currently targeting this spring)
That ~1% does include an NI product, though. For whatever reason, FM8 doesn’t work at all on Rosetta, but it’s planned for native as well.
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Cheers! Figured things would mostly work fine
As with the MacBook Air, certain configurations of the SSD storage on the new M2 MacBook Pros and Minis have slower write speeds than others. (Has to do with the number of physical chips/buses used.) Still faster then most users will need or notice, IMHO.
On the other hand, certain configs are mind blowingly fast…
I dont care. I just here to stir the soup.
Whats a good audio loopback option that is easy to toggle on and off? I used Blackhole and it’s ok, but when I don’t need it, its still loaded as the default audio out option, so it just became a hassle to go in to settings and turn on and off all the time.
I mainly use to sample from youtube and other sites.
Are any of the paid solutions easier to toggle?
Soundflower?
https://rogueamoeba.com/freebies/soundflower/
edit: hmm looks like no official Apple Silicon support as of yet, but rogue amoeba have their Loopback offering also
Loopback is very good. Worth the money imo.
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Yeah im thinking that or I just sample from my iPhone into ableton. Loopback seems a lot deeper than black hole.
@G0n35y A lot of them are now silicon native, including Kontrol.
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Cheers.
It has honestly taken my mate days to get everything installed! I had no idea just how flakey Native Access could be.
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