Ordered Mac Studio: Help me pick a monitor

[AcousticDreams]

I ordered a Mac Studio Mi Max with a predicted delivery of July 26th.

This will only give me a few days with my new computer, as I leave for three back to back adventures for the following 6 to 7 weeks. Returning in mid September. Oh well, that is the way it goes sometimes.

I still need to buy a monitor for my new set up. I have a gift certificate for Best Buy of $250. But willing to spend a little more if necessary.


For better or worse, my recording set up is in my Living room. As a bachelor, I can do this. And my living room opens up to the den. So wide open and good sound. I have portable Gobo's- sound treatment.

What is different:
+ As you can see, I have my keyboard on rollers. This is great as I can push it back parralel with the end of the table to give me more work space when not in use.
+ My Mic stands have quick releases for the arms. Thus I can change over to a recording set up in just a few minutes.

For better or worse, this is the way my recording set up needs to be.

My mic stands are behind me. Thus when I am recording I need to turn around away from the computer monitor.

With my new set up I plan to have a long cord and just move the monitor in front of my microphones. I may build a small rolling table or just place it on the ground. The goal is so that I can see the actual recording levels.

My living room is also home to my guitar work bench, which also doubles as a Wood arrow & leather making table. Sadly, because of all of my hobbies I am a bit of a messy guy. The only thing that saves me is all of my little tool holders & portable tables. In the Den, just 20 feet away, is my regular TV movie watching area. The living Room - Den is where I spend 99% of my time when I am in the house.

Won't be watching movies or playing games on my future computer monitor. So I would think a baseline would be plenty good. However, I might be editing some photo's on it...and hopefully in the future a little video.
I have liked the colors of Samsung in the past. Nothing is as good as the Mac screen for color accuracy...but that is o.k...I plan to keep my old 2009 Imac up and running for most of my photo's duty.

So if you would be so kind as to give me your input as to if I only need the baseline, or the models up from there? Is there an extra inputs that I need in the back of the computer?
+ 27 inch or 32 inch?
+ Baseline or a model up?
Some Choices listed below:







https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung...?skuId=6420869
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung...?skuId=6471364
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung...?skuId=6471364

[jim1960]

The Samsung Smart Monitor M8 is likely going to be my choice when I get my Mac Studio.

[AcousticDreams]

Originally Posted by jim1960

The Samsung Smart Monitor M8 is likely going to be my choice when I get my Mac Studio.

Looks like an amazing monitor.

However, I do not believe I would be using any of the extra features it has. Don't have Ipad or even a smart phone. Won't be gaming or watching any television on it. Just an occasional Youtube music video.

And it is way out of my price range. Willing to go to $350.

My primary goal is to use this for music production. I am sure I will use it for photo editing and emails and such as well. But my hope is to kept the other computer for those duties.

However...then comes the other problem of where do I put the other computer?...so realistically, I am sure I will use my new computer for other duties. But I still don't think I need most of those features.

One thing I might consider...is leaving the computer where it is and interfacing a smaller monitor or I pad to see the recording levels? Not sure what requirements my monitor needs for that? And Not sure I wish to make the extra investment. Still it is something to think about.

[sdelsolray]

Consider strongly getting a 4k monitor. A 27" will be less expensive and more than adequate.

[AcousticDreams]

Originally Posted by sdelsolray

Consider strongly getting a 4k monitor. A 27" will be less expensive and more than adequate.

Thank you sdelsolray for the suggestion. I realize that it will be helpful if I do a video, but is there any advantage to a 4K monitor for music?

[KevWind]

Humm
First let me say I think getting the computer and then quickly going on vacation my be more of blessing in disguise than you think .

That said if it were me and I was aiming for a $350 budget I would add a few more $ and would consider this one

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-PA278QV-...f_=as_li_ss_tl


And this is why and explains why the 5 K retina iMac looks so good (Note he does video and photo and throws around some terms I am unfamiliar with. but starting about 1/2 way through starts making some good points if accurate (I think )

[sdelsolray]

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

Thank you sdelsolray for the suggestion. I realize that it will be helpful if I do a video, but is there any advantage to a 4K monitor for music?

Yes. With the higher pixel density you can have more things on the screen at the same time, e.g., the mixer and editor windows from you DAW as well as several plugins.

[FrankHudson]

Sorry that I'm a bit rushed for time, so I can't give you as much attention as you might want right now.

Even with a budget limit, consider two monitors. Yes, things like mixer and other windows can float inside one screen, but two cheap old-school regular HD monitors work well and may come inside your budget. Particularly if you want to have a screen as a "level monitor" -- it may be nice if it's separate screen. You'll probably drive one monitor off a USB C port on your Studio and the other off the HDMI. You don't need a USB C monitor for the 2nd. USB to DVI or display port adapters are available.

My studio space Mac (where I prefer to record live and where I record with others) has two older, cheap and cheerful regular HD monitors. I'll usually run the mixer on one screen and the track view on the other. Sometimes I'll set a track view screen so my keyboard player can see it and is able to see where they are in the tune visually as well as by ear.

On my editing and mastering and "in the box" "Studio B space (little bedroom home office) I have two as well. One is an old HP 1920x1200 monitor I've used for a decade or so and the 2nd screen a cheaper higher resolution screen one step down from 4K QHD.

On either of these spaces I may use the extra screen real estate to open plugins which in my case may also include amp sims or "stomp box" emulations. Frankly, with my old eyes that never were great to begin with and the need to see the monitors with a guitar in front of me sometimes, I don't run super high resolutions. The Mac OS will happily scale screens "down" from the monitors actual "real" resolution, but the plausible extra sharpness is less important to me than being able to see some things clearly when engineering and producing myself, so I haven't generally spent for higher resolutions myself as of yet. More's better, yes, but for example in my Studio B space, the HP monitor gets a lot use for a place to move plug in windows, while the higher resolution monitor set to display things smaller but more stuff on screen, lets me see the big "zoomed out" picture of a session.

As you think about mounts or stands be aware that most monitors accept one of a couple of standard VESA mount patterns. This lets you buy a versatile stand to go with an inexpensive monitor that offers little adjustment or flexibility. You can even mount them on a wall like a flat screen TV if that solves a desk space issue. It's not usual for one to re-arrange one's desk as you figure out what works over use-time, so a different stand may be something you decide on down the line too.

Hope any of this helps.

[AcousticDreams]

Originally Posted by KevWind

And this is why and explains why the 5 K retina iMac looks so good (Note he does video and photo and throws around some terms I am unfamiliar with. but starting about 1/2 way through starts making some good points if accurate (I think )

Originally Posted by FrankHudson

Even with a budget limit, consider two monitors. Yes, things like mixer and other windows can float inside one screen, but two cheap old-school regular HD monitors work well and may come inside your budget. Particularly if you want to have a screen as a "level monitor" -- it may be nice if it's separate screen. You'll probably drive one monitor off a USB C port on your Studio and the other off the HDMI. You don't need a USB C monitor for the 2nd. USB to DVI or display port adapters are available.

My studio space Mac (where I prefer to record live and where I record with others) has two older, cheap and cheerful regular HD monitors. I'll usually run the mixer on one screen and the track view on the other. Sometimes I'll set a track view screen so my keyboard player can see it and is able to see where they are in the tune visually as well as by ear.

On my editing and mastering and "in the box" "Studio B space (little bedroom home office) I have two as well. One is an old HP 1920x1200 monitor I've used for a decade or so and the 2nd screen a cheaper higher resolution screen one step down from 4K QHD.
Hope any of this helps.

Yes, both of you offer great information...and also Scare me a bit! ha ha....This whole compatibility thing drives me crazy! I am already worried about getting my programs up and running on the new computer.

But some relatively good news. So I went to Best Buy and asked to speak to their most knowledgeable person on compatibility of monitors with Mac. What I got was a very young person whom was not familiar with the problems listed in the video, but is a quick learner-researcher. he spent oddles of time with me and We watched through the video at the store together.

Here is what he believes:
He believes that the problem he is having is mostly due to using a 13 inch mac book M1. He says that when you are relaying to a bigger screen, the program is still set for the Mac's smaller screen. Thus it is using the a program that was made to maximize the screen quality of the 13inch. Plus he believes the ram on that particular unit is small and thus this is another reason why he was having problems.

He further stated that he does not believe the Mac Studio would operate in this matter since it does not come with a screen. He does not think I would have a problem with any monitor I choose. ( I will further research this at the apple store )

However, is was all thumbs up for Frank's Suggestion to purchase a QHD...which I learned stands for
"Quality High Definition QHD is specified as 2560x1440 pixels at a16x9 aspect ratio, four times that of 720p standard high definition."

QHD would not be good for gaming as the refresh rate is much lower...but the viewing quality is good. Since I will not be watching television or gaming on it...this might be a good solution for myself.

If I get into video production later...well then I can always buy a 4k set.

I have lots more research to do...and still welcoming suggestions & further thoughts and discussions.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

Here is what he believes:
He believes that the problem he is having is mostly due to using a 13 inch mac book M1. He says that when you are relaying to a bigger screen, the program is still set for the Mac's smaller screen. Thus it is using the a program that was made to maximize the screen quality of the 13inch. Plus he believes the ram on that particular unit is small and thus this is another reason why he was having problems.

He further stated that he does not believe the Mac Studio would operate in this matter since it does not come with a screen. He does not think I would have a problem with any monitor I choose. ( I will further research this at the apple store )

However, is was all thumbs up for Frank's Suggestion to purchase a QHD...which I learned stands for
"Quality High Definition QHD is specified as 2560x1440 pixels at a16x9 aspect ratio, four times that of 720p standard high definition."

The scaling from the smaller screen could be the issue ?? As no one either GS or the DUC has mentioned problems with monitors with the Mac Studio

Also note the ASUS ProArt I linked is actually a QHD 2560 x 1440 display . However I see the Amazon price has jumped to $429 from the $379 I saw it for no more than a week ago .

Best buy likely has has a good QHD display OR
B&H has ASUS 27 " QHD 's starting @ $309 https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...UaAnXPEALw_wcB

to $399 https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...IaAuq2EALw_wcB

[FrankHudson]

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

Yes, both of you offer great information...and also Scare me a bit! ha ha....This whole compatibility thing drives me crazy! I am already worried about getting my programs up and running on the new computer.

But some relatively good news. So I went to Best Buy and asked to speak to their most knowledgeable person on compatibility of monitors with Mac. What I got was a very young person whom was not familiar with the problems listed in the video, but is a quick learner-researcher. he spent oddles of time with me and We watched through the video at the store together.

Here is what he believes:
He believes that the problem he is having is mostly due to using a 13 inch mac book M1. He says that when you are relaying to a bigger screen, the program is still set for the Mac's smaller screen. Thus it is using the a program that was made to maximize the screen quality of the 13inch. Plus he believes the ram on that particular unit is small and thus this is another reason why he was having problems.

He further stated that he does not believe the Mac Studio would operate in this matter since it does not come with a screen. He does not think I would have a problem with any monitor I choose. ( I will further research this at the apple store )

However, is was all thumbs up for Frank's Suggestion to purchase a QHD...which I learned stands for
"Quality High Definition QHD is specified as 2560x1440 pixels at a16x9 aspect ratio, four times that of 720p standard high definition."

QHD would not be good for gaming as the refresh rate is much lower...but the viewing quality is good. Since I will not be watching television or gaming on it...this might be a good solution for myself.

If I get into video production later...well then I can always buy a 4k set.

I have lots more research to do...and still welcoming suggestions & further thoughts and discussions.

I think I may have been unclear or you are misunderstanding me. With two computer monitors of the same size: the higher the resolution, the smaller things on your screen will be. Most DAWs let you "Zoom in/out" which is handy with their main screens. Plug-in control windows however don't always offer that. MacOS lets you scale at the operating system level a higher resolution screen so that it shows things at the larger size of a lower resolution screen, which is a good thing, but if you find you budget for computer monitors is limited you may be paying for higher resolution and not making use of it. And you're aren't going to be going into the operating systems settings every time you open up a plugin with lots of tiny controls.

Now if I had infinite money and space, I'd have multiple, reasonably large highest resolution available screens. I don't. The Mac system using two monitors which I use to do video editing and orchestra pieces with lots of VIs and plugins has one at 1920x1200 on the right and one at 2560x1440 on the left. Just by dragging a plugin or VI window over to the right monitor (lower resolution) the unzoomable/resizable window is in effect magnified and a sight for my old feeble eyes.

Note: I'm not knocking 4K monitors or even necessarily a larger and highest resolution screen, just pointing out that two screens have advantages in some situations, particularly when cost is a factor.

[AcousticDreams]

Originally Posted by KevWind

The scaling from the smaller screen could be the issue ?? As no one either GS or the DUC has mentioned problems with monitors with the Mac Studio

Also note the ASUS ProArt I linked is actually a QHD 2560 x 1440 display . However I see the Amazon price has jumped to $429 from the $379 I saw it for no more than a week ago .

Best buy likely has has a good QHD display OR
B&H has ASUS 27 " QHD 's starting @ $309 https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...UaAnXPEALw_wcB

to $399 https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...IaAuq2EALw_wcB

Originally Posted by FrankHudson

I think I may have been unclear or you are misunderstanding me. With two computer monitors of the same size: the higher the resolution, the smaller things on your screen will be. Most DAWs let you "Zoom in/out" which is handy with their main screens. Plug-in control windows however don't always offer that. MacOS lets you scale at the operating system level a higher resolution screen so that it shows things at the larger size of a lower resolution screen, which is a good thing, but if you find you budget for computer monitors is limited you may be paying for higher resolution and not making use of it. And you're aren't going to be going into the operating systems settings every time you open up a plugin with lots of tiny controls.

Now if I had infinite money and space, I'd have multiple, reasonably large highest resolution available screens. I don't. The Mac system using two monitors which I use to do video editing and orchestra pieces with lots of VIs and plugins has one at 1920x1200 on the right and one at 2560x1440 on the left. Just by dragging a plugin or VI window over to the right monitor (lower resolution) the unzoomable/resizable window is in effect magnified and a sight for my old feeble eyes.

Note: I'm not knocking 4K monitors or even necessarily a larger and highest resolution screen, just pointing out that two screens have advantages in some situations, particularly when cost is a factor.

It is always important to myself to mention= just how much help both of you have offered. I am super appreciative.

Yes, the Two screen concept was my original intention from the start. However...slightly limited financially right now, and will probably have to wait a while to purchase a second screen.

I really like KevWind's suggestion to look into the ASUS Pro Art series monitors. Correct colors is something that is important to myself...being a former pro photographer. Even though I say I will mostly be using my new system for Music production...I am sure that somewhere along the line I will do some video as well. After all, music goes hand in hand with Video these days. And ASUS is very reasonably priced.

I called ASUS this morning to try and find out the exact differences between all three models.
The Pa278QV, Pa278CV *& the PA2790CV

According to ASUS the differences are very minor.
+All three have the same speakers.
+ All three have the same color accuracy
* The difference between the QV and the CV is the rear ports
QV has= HDMI | Mini DP | DP | DVI-D Inputs
QC Has= HDMI | DisplayPort | USB Type-C
According to ASUS..the difference in ports for the QC would allow Daisy Chaining of Monitors...
This might be a defining factor.
? is Daisy Chaining an advantage over Splitting the HDMI Signal and going to two monitors? Certainly would save some cost in a splitter.

The PA279CV.....is 4K resolution(Resolution 3840 x 2160) as where the 278QV & CV are 2560 x 1440 QHD
So the question for me to research more:
? if Indeed there would be no problems with scaling in conjunction with my new Mac Studio MI Max because of the 4k resolution...
? And if 4k would be invaluable for future video editing.

Prices are QV $309, CV $399 & the PA279 has now skyrocketed to $482
So I believe the 4K is out of the question right now budget wise. And that could be for the best anyway.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

is Daisy Chaining an advantage over Splitting the HDMI Signal and going to two monitors? Certainly would save some cost in a splitter.

The first question that comes to mind is whether daisy chaining would still allow you to split the monitors or would it force the second to mirror the first.

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

The PA279CV.....is 4K resolution(Resolution 3840 x 2160) as where the 278QV & CV are 2560 x 1440 QHD
So the question for me to research more:
? if Indeed there would be no problems with scaling in conjunction with my new Mac Studio MI Max because of the 4k resolution...
? And if 4k would be invaluable for future video editing.

I was using a 32" lower resolution monitor for photo editing up until a couple of years ago. The problem I was having was colors not transferring correctly from the screen to print. The monitor was just not accurate enough on that front.

I moved up to a better quality monitor a few years back. When I researched what I should be looking for in a quality monitor for photo editing, a few things stood out...
You definitely want 4K so you can do more accurate editing.
You also want 10 bit color depth capability if you can get it.
It's been a few years so I don't know what's available at what price anymore, but when I was shopping, nothing under $600 was going to give me anywhere close to a full Adobe RGB color palette. If that's still the case, it's not critical to have but you will want a 100% SRGB color palette since that's what most printing houses use.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

? is Daisy Chaining an advantage over Splitting the HDMI Signal and going to two monitors? Certainly would save some cost in a splitter.

Jim raises a good question (if daisy chain can split the images or only mirror) I don't know ? But the only reason to have two monitors is to be able to have different things on each of them.

But with the Mac Studio I believe you would not have to have a splitter because (If I am remembering correctly ) it can send from both its HDMI and one of it's TB3 - USB -C connections ( I believe the $399 ASUS has both those types of connections) ..So I am thinking you could go with one now and one later

[FrankHudson]

I'd worry that daisy chain means mirror not different, but I don't know.

Yup, you can drive a high-res monitor off one of USB C ports. And yes, you can buy one now and one later, and no they don't have to match. In my meet the budget situation with my Mac Mini it was buy one new and use one existing that I had. Similarly, if you decide you need more mounting/positioning flexibility later you can use the VESA mount standard to give you that later.

I hadn't thought about video and 4K being very good to have. Makes sense, though for what I do I just work at older 1080 (HD) tops for my videos.

Color accuracy and short term, I thought of another poor-mans mitigation. Do I remember correctly, you have an older iMac. Are you happy with it's color accuracy? Just thinking, but you maybe remote computer connect to the new Studio running Photoshop there from the old iMac. I think you'd get the old iMacs color and for the most part the new Studio's speed. There'd be some additional latency, but for a static picture it'd likely be tolerable. Not saying to sacrifice color accuracy on your new monitor though.

Another thing that occurs to me if you own a iPhone (or better yet an iPad) and plan to use Logic. I believe Apple offers a remote app for Logic to run on their phones and tablets. Might be cool for your watch the mixer or levels needs while recording. Again, your session would be running on your new Studio, the Logic Remote app just lets you put up a remote windows to selected parts of the interface of Logic on the iPad or phone.