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  • New Mac advices

    lupineL
    lupineL

    Hello,

    I'd like to upgrade my computer with a new Mac, can you help me?

    Currently I'm using a MacBook Pro 15" mid 2018 with i9 6-core, 32GB RAM and internal NVMe SSD.
    I work on Cubase MIDI projects and a single VE Pro instance with about 50 VSL instruments (both VI Pro and Synchron). The plugins I use are MIR Pro and Neutron 3 (on almost every instrument).
    The problem is I have to raise VSL preload size (saturating RAM) and use the largest buffer size possible in Cubase to avoid dropouts, more over the Mac always heats up spinning the fan at full blast, very annoying!

    Can you give me some advices on which desktop Mac to buy to improve my workflow?
    I'd like a Mac that remains the quietest possible, so I'm looking at both the iMac Pro and Mac Pro. Is the i9 27" iMac a valid alternative? Does it heats up?

    Do anyone have some experience on these machines?
    What CPU should I choose? How many cores?

    Many thanks in advance :)

    Mac Studio M1 Ultra macOS Ventura 13.4 Studio One 6.5
  • S
    S

    Hi Lupine,

    I asked this question before too and do not get an answer. But I am afraid that the 16core Mac Pro 2019 (with 192 or 96 Gb of Ram) is the best choice. I own a 12core mid 2010 Mac Pro with SSDs, 96 Gb of Ram and all but the processor speed of the single cores seems to be too slow for Synchron. I considered the iMac early 2019 but it only has 8 cores and is limited to only 2 Thunderbolt slots on one bus. The 10core iMac Pro is still a option because of itĀ“s Thunderbolt slots but with enough Ram itĀ“s nealy a costy as the Mac Pro 2019 and not as future prove. And the new Mac Pro is silent like a husband after 10 years of marriage. 

    If you donĀ“t need an expensive GPU  would recommend the Mac Pro 2019. But who am I haha. I was asking for advice too.

    LetĀ“s see if some crack in here will share his or her wisdom with us. 
  • T
    T 
    Hello,

    I am also looking into the new MacPro 2019 (specs: 16 cores, 192GB RAM, 4TB SSD). I like to know if already someone has tested this new machine (with any specs).

    Cheers
    Stefan.
  • M
    M

    To all friends above,

    Watch this test:

    https://vi-control.net/community/threads/2019-mac-pro-daw-benchmark-test-results.88521/

    It seems its performance is really impressing if you can afford the price ($8000+).

    But I guess you can build a solid PC slave within $2000 and use VEP on it, getting an approximate or better performance, while you staying on your current Mac as a master machine and keep your workflow.

    An i5 8th gen CPU can handle around 80 VIs quite well. If you'd like to have more plugins and effects, i7 9th gen or better should be considered. Single core performance is the most important factor for VIs, multi cores comes the second.

    At least 64GB RAM if you have large template.

    I don't worry about apple's SSD performance since any lastest 2019 mac comes with nvme PCIE3.0X4, which is really solid according to synchron player's scan. But make sure you get enough space for your sample library. If you stream from a SATA external SSD via USB3.0, you may come across drop out in large project.

    iMac/iMac pro/Mac mini heats up easily if you throw crazy things (over 150 instruments and plugins) on it due to its all-in-one design.