My move to M1 (Mac Studio Max)

[selig]

Just wanting to start listing everything I needed to do to make the transition to M, for any who are so bold as to follow in my footsteps(!). Would love to hear from the intrepid explorers who have blazed the trail ahead of me if there are additional items I've missed or corrections!

Rosetta Mode
First off, until Reason is M1 compatible, I needed to run my DAW (LUNA) in Rosetta mode. Click on the application icon and "get info". There is a check box to launch in Rosetta mode. Though I only tested one song, Rosetta mode appears to add around 10% CPU load - otherwise everything appeared to launch/run just as quickly as before!

Thunderbolt Drivers
I still need my Focusrite Clarett 2Pre for MIDI fader control from the MIDAS M32r, but I first needed to update the Thunderbolt drivers:
https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/ ... ed-systems
Once I did (and it was quick) the Clarett showed up and is working perfectly!

Performance
Oddly, when running Reason standalone I was getting EXTREME glitches/slowdowns with large MIDI projects. I started clicking on things frantically, and accidentally de-selected "Use multi-core audio rendering" and suddenly everything sounded fine. Not sure this would still be a thing after Reason becomes M1 native, but until then give it a try if you're experiencing glitches on large projects.

Favorites
I did a 100% clean install for this machine, since I had been doing migrations for many times in a row (it was suggested to do a clean install from time to time). I'm sure to get rid of useless crap, but unfortunately you loose some useful stuff as well. Favorites is one of those, which I use extensively. Luckily you can copy the favorites files (or share them with others and collect 'em all!). Find it here on Mac OS:
~/Library⁩/Application Support⁩/Propellerhead Software⁩/Reason
On Windows:
%appdata%\Propellerhead Software\Reason

ScreenShots
And while you're digging around in the Library directory, don't forget to copy any plugin screen shots as well to save you time re-creating them later.

Connections
Aside from that, consider any adaptors you may need to support existing hardware. For example, I needed a Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) adaptor for my Focusrite. Also be aware that standard USB-C "power" cables will NOT work for audio interfaces - you need to be sure the ends have the lightening bolt logo on them (please, learn from my mistakes!). And consider a powered USB hub since you only get two 'legacy' USB jacks on the Mac Studio.

For your entertainment
I have already filled every 'hole' on the back of my Mac Studio except the headphones jack! I may need a USB-C/thunderbolt hub next…
Booting Reason takes half the time, about 6 seconds compared to 12 seconds on the old 2014 iMac.
Songs that maxed the buffer on the old system play with up to 75% CPU to spare!
This is all written on my second day of running this system, so I'll update as I go - stay tuned!

[PhillipOrdonez]

How's the noise? I was getting mentally prepared to move to Mac on a base model Mac studio but hearing complaints about a constant 2khz whine have made me think twice about the not so small investment.

I want a silent machine. My windows laptop doesn't struggle with my projects, but the noise is the reason I'm thinking about upgrading.

[integerpoet]

I have already filled every 'hole' on the back of my Mac Studio except the headphones jack!

My guess is headphones aren't an important part of your workflow, so for you this may be a double FWIW.

But FWIW I have heard the DAC and amp on Mac headphone jacks are good enough for high-impedance reference cans.

My M1 Mac mini doesn't have a headphones jack, so I use an outboard Thunderbolt headphone amp regardless.

[dvdrtldg]

Though I only tested one song, Rosetta mode appears to add around 10% CPU load - otherwise everything appeared to launch/run just as quickly as before!

I'm having more or less the same experience, with the notable exception of some high-CPU-load VST plugins that now bring my machine to its knees. Main "offender" is Acustica Audio - I was using their plugins a lot with no problems before switching to M1/Rosetta, now as soon as I load one, everything grinds to a sputtering halt. There are a few others as well

[stillifegaijin]

How's the noise? I was getting mentally prepared to move to Mac on a base model Mac studio but hearing complaints about a constant 2khz whine have made me think twice about the not so small investment.

I want a silent machine. My windows laptop doesn't struggle with my projects, but the noise is the reason I'm thinking about upgrading.

I’ve been working on a Mac Studio Ultra since it came out. No noise. Absolutely none.

[wendylou]

@selig Which Apple Studio hardware did you decide to get? Apple M1 Max or Ultra?

[tallguy]

I checked and I don't have "Use multi-core audio rendering" enabled either. I have a vague memory of going through the same process and switching things on and off until glitches stopped when I got my M1.

The best thing I got alongside my MacBook Pro M1 is the CalDigit TS3+ (they have since released the TS4). It takes care of all connectivity (USB, Thunderbolt, DisplayPort, Card reader, audio in/out) and also works as a power supply.

[selig]

How's the noise? I was getting mentally prepared to move to Mac on a base model Mac studio but hearing complaints about a constant 2khz whine have made me think twice about the not so small investment.

I want a silent machine. My windows laptop doesn't struggle with my projects, but the noise is the reason I'm thinking about upgrading.

One reason I wanted a new machine was because the fan noise of my iMac was intrusive on big projects. And it’s right there in your face, can’t move it! So far the Mac Studio is dead quiet from my position, partly because it runs quiet but also because it is not directly in my face!
If I go around to the back of my desk I can tell there is some slight fan noise (the fan vents are on the back of the unit), but so far even my big songs in both Reason and LUNA don’t cause the fans to kick on higher than when in idle.
As it is I still have access to the front of the Studio Max, but if noise was ever a problem I could move it even further away (something you can’t do with a laptop or all-in-one).

[selig]

I have already filled every 'hole' on the back of my Mac Studio except the headphones jack!

My guess is headphones aren't an important part of your workflow, so for you this may be a double FWIW.

But FWIW I have heard the DAC and amp on Mac headphone jacks are good enough for high-impedance reference cans.

My M1 Mac mini doesn't have a headphones jack, so I use an outboard Thunderbolt headphone amp regardless.

I need phones, and need them to come from the interface for best latency. I’ve never used the headphones output of any computer I’ve used - closest is using bluetooth air buds when traveling! But I definitely consider headphones an important part of my workflow!

[selig]

Though I only tested one song, Rosetta mode appears to add around 10% CPU load - otherwise everything appeared to launch/run just as quickly as before!

I'm having more or less the same experience, with the notable exception of some high-CPU-load VST plugins that now bring my machine to its knees. Main "offender" is Acustica Audio - I was using their plugins a lot with no problems before switching to M1/Rosetta, now as soon as I load one, everything grinds to a sputtering halt. There are a few others as well

I’m guessing I’ll run into that eventually, I’ve yet to load up even a third of all my commonly used plugins. So far I’m loading up old songs/mixes to test because they are songs I recently finished and am familiar with how the old system handled those songs. I’ve had a few chances to test specific plugins I was curious about, like the
My hope is that things will be worked out in the next 6 months or so and the transition will be as painless as it could be (which is not to say 100% painless!).
Luckily I’m not in the middle of any big projects, so I chose this time to do the upgrade knowing there would be SOME ‘pain’ involved…

[selig]

@selig Which Apple Studio hardware did you decide to get? Apple M1 Max or Ultra?

I went with the MAX since I couldn’t justify the doubling in price for the Ultra (unlikely giving me a doubling of every aspect), and the MAX seemed to be overkill for what I needed.
Songs that were maxing out the 8 year old iMac hit 25% on the Studio Max (slightly higher in Rosetta mode).
Those songs were doing everything I needed, so all I wanted was a system with a bit more CPU headroom - and the Max is delivering a LOT more than that. Hopefully it will last me another 8 years!

[selig]

I checked and I don't have "Use multi-core audio rendering" enabled either. I have a vague memory of going through the same process and switching things on and off until glitches stopped when I got my M1.

The best thing I got alongside my MacBook Pro M1 is the CalDigit TS3+ (they have since released the TS4). It takes care of all connectivity (USB, Thunderbolt, DisplayPort, Card reader, audio in/out) and also works as a power supply.

I’m set for USB-A ports with a powered 10 port extender. But as I’m maxed out with my thunderbolt ports I may need a way to extend those at some future point. The device you linked to is fantastic for a laptop, but duplicates things I already have on the desktop Mac.

[integerpoet]

My guess is headphones aren't an important part of your workflow, so for you this may be a double FWIW.

But FWIW I have heard the DAC and amp on Mac headphone jacks are good enough for high-impedance reference cans.

My M1 Mac mini doesn't have a headphones jack, so I use an outboard Thunderbolt headphone amp regardless.

I need phones, and need them to come from the interface for best latency. I’ve never used the headphones output of any computer I’ve used - closest is using bluetooth air buds when traveling! But I definitely consider headphones an important part of my workflow!

Interesting. I guess I was jumping to conclusions based on what I remember of some of your videos.

Sounds like you could try filling that headphones socket and see how it performs at least from a frequency/volume perspective. I'm curious, but I don't expect you to write a review on my account.

If latency is the main issue, I imagine the headphones DAC might be more-or-less directly attached to the motherboard. That would mean very very low latency. (I have no specific knowledge of how/where it actually connects. It's merely theoretically possible.) But if you mean latency during tracking, and your interface offers effectively zero latency for that, then that is obviously the way to go.

[selig]

I need phones, and need them to come from the interface for best latency. I’ve never used the headphones output of any computer I’ve used - closest is using bluetooth air buds when traveling! But I definitely consider headphones an important part of my workflow!

Interesting. I guess I was jumping to conclusions based on what I remember of some of your videos.

Sounds like you could try filling that headphones socket and see how it performs at least from a frequency/volume perspective. I'm curious, but I don't expect you to write a review on my account.

If latency is the main issue, I imagine the headphones DAC might be more-or-less directly attached to the motherboard. That would mean very very low latency. (I have no specific knowledge of how/where it actually connects. It's merely theoretically possible.) But if you mean latency during tracking, and your interface offers effectively zero latency for that, then that is obviously the way to go.

The bigger issue is simple - my audio doesn't come out of the mac, it comes out of the audio interface. I CAN switch it, but I already have four HP jacks within arms length, all 1/4" and able to spit out any possible signal from the system (with the exception of system beeps!).
BTW, splurged and got the Apple Studio display, and the speakers on it are pretty good as an alternate mix reference - so I WILL be using that option from time to time to check mixes I'm sure!

[selig]

Anyone else on an M1 mac seeing slow wake times from Sleep? It's taking me around a full minute to gain control after waking from sleep (but hey, that is still a lot faster than I can wake from sleep in the morning). Or maybe it's not system sleep, but display sleep that's causing it because I thought I had system sleep disabled.
Anyone?

[npinero1]

Hi Selig,
Love your work.
I bought a MacBook Pro M1 Pro with 10 CPU Cores because I dont really do video and I did not need the extra GPUs.I have an LG curved 35 inch wide screen to add more screen real estate and I start up from sleep in 14 seconds. I absolutely love the MacBook Pro M1 Pro. Everything works way better than even my old Mac Pro 12 Core system which I sold 6 months ago. I am sure everything will be even better once M1 support is released.

[Steedus]

Thanks for the reports. I'm planning on getting a Studio at some point, but I think I'll definitely wait until Reason M1 support is out. I managed to squeeze some more life out of my intel macbook pro after discovering that switch off Use Hyperthreading improved performance.

[tallguy]

Anyone else on an M1 mac seeing slow wake times from Sleep? It's taking me around a full minute to gain control after waking from sleep (but hey, that is still a lot faster than I can wake from sleep in the morning). Or maybe it's not system sleep, but display sleep that's causing it because I thought I had system sleep disabled.
Anyone?

Nowhere near a minute here. It's pretty much instantaneous.

[robussc]

Anyone else on an M1 mac seeing slow wake times from Sleep? It's taking me around a full minute to gain control after waking from sleep (but hey, that is still a lot faster than I can wake from sleep in the morning). Or maybe it's not system sleep, but display sleep that's causing it because I thought I had system sleep disabled.
Anyone?

I see that on my M1 mini, but not on the MBP. It’s quite strange.

[Chi-Individual]

I have a MacBook Pro M1 Pro 8 core and running R12 on Rosetta has been pretty painless besides one thing. I had an HP monitor 23” hooked up as my main screen and every time I would wake the screen and MBP I would get visual glitches on the reason projects, Studio One and Garage Band didn’t have the glitches but they are also M1 compatible. I would either have to continually wave my mouse over the blacked out areas till they came back or sometimes just close the whole project if I hadn’t really created anything in detail. Artiria plug ins still put my Reason sessions in rear naked choke even with one instance sometimes, esp if playing chords, and few REs, I think blamsoft REs. But I love it compared to my previous 2015 i7 MBP.

[Chi-Individual]

I put in a bug report for this BTW.