Hi,
I’ve got a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40, which wont be compatible with M2 Macs, if I get an RME, would it be possible to use the Saffire with the RME (on an M2 Mac Pro)?
Thanks
Chris
I just got a macbook pro 14” m2 pro. It’s kind of ridiculous that I’ve had a few sessions on it already and am still to feel any heat or fan noise running pigments harmonic engine with 4-5 voice chords and 512 overtones.
I would wager I could have got away with something less powerful but better to have power and not need it than to yadda yadda yadda etc.
Also to add as a first time mac user, ableton seems to make way more sense now. Native drivers on core audio with headphones plugged in seems to work fine for latency etc. Just been using my slate VSX and I’m all good for now.
But yeh from an efficiency point I’ll be interested to see if my bills come down if I don’t use my PC with 20 year old tv as a monitor combo and just mac it up!
3 Likes
how much ram did you get?
I got 16GB with 512SSD. I pretty much always like to have 16 with any system, but I would be interested to see how these run on 8.
I was messing about with my MBP 14 M2 and had a 100+ track mix of Divas. Repro, Pigments and Omnisphere all platings chords and with FXs applied. Managed to max out the CPU but the fan didn’t kick in at all.
I’m still kind of in awe with the new MBPs. Really glad I took the plunge. Definitely overkill for me but still lovely to use. And not missing the touchbar too much…
2 Likes
Reason Studios - Reason 12.6 is now out of beta with support for native M1/M2, complete with ALL rack extensions. I have tested the beta and for me it was rock solid. The CPU meter doesn’t even budge even when loaded with machines. I might be retuning to Reason as my main DAW for creative purposes. I have the 14 inch MacBook Pro M1 Pro, how is it working for you guys?
anyone knows if it’s possible to install Pure Data + Gem on the M1? last update is from 2019 and looks like Intel only… if it’s abandoned, is there anything else I can use for creating some visuals?
Wont it run in Rosetta mode ?
It’ll still perform well.
didn’t try because I don’t have rosetta installed, I’m sure it’ll perform well but I just don’t want to install it
Not exactly MacBook but latest iPhone and iPad os updates are causing issues with camera connection kit.
It no longer charges the device … I noticed this last week and it’s being reported on Reddit and websites.
Fun
How can adding more emojis impact power management …
You can run it using Rosetta 2
thanks, I don’t have rosetta installed but if I will someday I will try it for sure, or maybe the devs will pickup the project and provide arm package 
Mac will download Rosetta automatically once you click on Run with Rosetta in Get info menu
I know, I was avoiding installing it on purpose, I wanted “pure blood” studio with native software only 
so far I didn’t have to install it as all software I must use provide native support, everything else I can live without or wait for native support
1 Like
Well I’ve had the M2 Pro Mac Mini for a few months or so now, and it’s pretty much unstoppable in terms of real-world electronic music DAW usage.
Specs are:
M2 Pro (12 cores + 19 core GPU)
32GB Ram
2TB Hard drive
I’m using Ableton 11 and Logic Pro, and it never gets stuck with anything - perhaps the odd loading rainbow wheel if there’s a lot going on, but no real drop outs, unless I’m loading the DAW up heavily and I change a patch on Omnisphere that’s 2gb+ in size, then it may overload for a second.
I did a test of a potential max out scenario (for me), using:
- Microtonic multi out
- Atlas
- 4x Cherry Audio Sines (similar or possibly worse than U-he Diva for CPU hogging)
- 4x Omnisphere (using a 1.3gb patch on each instance)
- 4x Pigments
- Fab Filter effects on every channel
No tracks frozen and all using midi generators, and it was just sat at av. 35% CPU load (at av. 65 degrees), using about 15gb RAM (inc. Mac OS) and the Mini was slightly warm to touch with no fan noise, unless you press your ear hard against the top of the Mini.
If I needed to use any other software (browser, audio interface mixer, word, excel), they behaved the same as if Logic wasn’t running - instant snappiness.
These Mac’s get my recommendation 
7 Likes
That’s pretty much the same spec Mac Mini as I bought and I’m seeing the same results. What audio interface are you using? I have the RME Babyface Pro FS and it’s been rock solid.
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I’m using a new interface as of a week ago, the Antelope Orion Studio Synergy Core, and it’s stable - the software is a little buggy from Antelope, but it’s not taking up unnecessary CPU power. I haven’t tried it with the Synergy Core plugins, but they would be driven by the 6-core DSP within the Orion in any case, so wouldn’t impact the Mac CPU/DAW performance from what I can tell so far.
Before that I’ve been using a UA Apollo Twin Duo, and had a similar pain-free experience.
I haven’t monitored performance using Overbridge, or tracking other analog synths into the DAW, but I’m sure it won’t break a sweat compared to this in-the-box stress test.
c or f?
seriously though my studio m1 ultra won’t go over 45c no matter what, crazy
That is crazy! The Mac Studio thermals are better than the Mini due to case size and fan design though, so that’s to be expected.
The 65 is Celsius. So 148 Fahrenheit. 338 Kelvin 
The fan’s running at 1700rpm and the power usage is 24w.
Compared to my old PC tower or old G4 and Intel Mac’s, these numbers are a quantum leap, and that without looking at single/multi core performance.
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Thinking about selling my Mac Book Pro from 2014 to replace it with an Air. The Pro works just fine, but it’s a bit too big at this point and I would like to save space. Sorry for not scanning the whole thread, but is there anything that could be a problem with an M1 Air for the following use case?
It would only be used for recording in Ableton Live 11. No fancy plugins or anything, basically just a multitrack recorder. Connected to my 18i8 via USB. I usually live record three stereo audio tracks and one mono audio track. Only the latter is using Valhalla Plate and a vocal compressor, the other ones don’t use any effects or plugins. To finalize stuff, I work in projects with these audio tracks, rarely more than 20 tracks. Again, no plugins or MIDI tracks so far.
This should be an easy task for an M1 Air with 8GB RAM, right? Would an older Air maybe even do the job? Storage is an issue on Macs, that’s why I usually transfer most stuff to a 512GB USB stick. Would prefer to have at least one regular USB input for that reason.
Another thing I’m not sure about is Ableton license. I’m using a friend’s license since you can register several devices. Could I deactivate it on my Pro and reactivate it on my Air?