Which Mac Laptop to Buy?

[ChuckS]

To date I've only been using Windows laptops for my recording setups, but I'm at a point where I need to switch over to a Mac, which I have very little familiarity with.

My previous audio interfaces were Motu, but I recently bought a used Metric Halo ULN-8 3D. My plan was to use the ULN-8 as a dumb interface over USB into my Windows laptop; that hasn't worked reliably, and I'm done trying to go that route. Changing to a Mac computer will allow full functionality for the ULN-8 so that's the direction I'm going.

Since I will be using this for field recordings (choirs, small ensembles, etc) as well as for my home setup (recording solo guitar, mixing the field recordings, etc) I want a laptop. Also want to attach a larger monitor when at home. I'm thinking of getting the 16" Macbook Pro with 16GB ram and 1TB SSD. Thoughts or recommendations?

Thanks!

[guitarmint]

Just get something with silicone M1 chip;
Battery life is superb on those

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by ChuckS

To date I've only been using Windows laptops for my recording setups, but I'm at a point where I need to switch over to a Mac, which I have very little familiarity with.

My previous audio interfaces were Motu, but I recently bought a used Metric Halo ULN-8 3D. My plan was to use the ULN-8 as a dumb interface over USB into my Windows laptop; that hasn't worked reliably, and I'm done trying to go that route. Changing to a Mac computer will allow full functionality for the ULN-8 so that's the direction I'm going.

Since I will be using this for field recordings (choirs, small ensembles, etc) as well as for my home setup (recording solo guitar, mixing the field recordings, etc) I want a laptop. Also want to attach a larger monitor when at home. I'm thinking of getting the 16" Macbook Pro with 16GB ram and 1TB SSD. Thoughts or recommendations?

Thanks!

The 16" MacBook Pro is a beast and I'm sure you'll love it. I think there is several choices for the chipset and I'd just double check if everything you run (hardware and software) is working with the M1 chip-set.

Memory has always been a performance issue but I find more and more applications and plug-ins these days have become increasingly hoggish. The standard disclaimer applies here in buy as much memory as you can budget, you'll never regret it.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by ChuckS

To date I've only been using Windows laptops for my recording setups, but I'm at a point where I need to switch over to a Mac, which I have very little familiarity with.

My previous audio interfaces were Motu, but I recently bought a used Metric Halo ULN-8 3D. My plan was to use the ULN-8 as a dumb interface over USB into my Windows laptop; that hasn't worked reliably, and I'm done trying to go that route. Changing to a Mac computer will allow full functionality for the ULN-8 so that's the direction I'm going.

Since I will be using this for field recordings (choirs, small ensembles, etc) as well as for my home setup (recording solo guitar, mixing the field recordings, etc) I want a laptop. Also want to attach a larger monitor when at home. I'm thinking of getting the 16" Macbook Pro with 16GB ram and 1TB SSD. Thoughts or recommendations?



Thanks!

I don't know what a "dumb interface" is ?
Also what DAW ? (doesn't really matter as long as it is Mac OS compatible )

To buy new There are three base configurations 16" MBP to choose from ---one with the M1Pro chip and two with the M1 Max chip.
Since you did not mention video I am guessing the M1 Pro chip ?

Not much to say it will be powerhouse well into the future They come with three TB 4 /USB-c ports to go to the ULN and an HDMI out for an additional display.

What you may find in general that Mac OS is a tiny bit different flow at first (different paths to access features, etc.) but fairly quickly you may also find Mac OS a bit easier, a bit more intuitive, and more of a just plug and play ,,or launch and play situation .

The only thing IMO that is a bit hokey on a machine in this price point .. (I have a 14 " M1 Pro chip MBP) is the camera is still only 1080 not 4k,, not a deal breaker but still a bit hokey.

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by KevWind

I don't know what a "dumb interface" is ?
Also what DAW ? (doesn't really matter as long as it is Mac OS compatible )

The control software for the ULN-8 interface only runs on Mac. If the interface is configured by a Mac (I used an old Mac Mini), the configuration can be saved and recalled on boot up. It can then run in stand-alone mode and send audio (as a dumb interface) over USB to a Windows computer with routing based on the recalled configuration. However, getting the audio into the Windows computer was not reliable. That's why I'd like to move to a Mac.

I'm using Reaper as my DAW.

Originally Posted by KevWind

To buy new There are three base configurations 16" MBP to choose from ---one with the M1Pro chip and two with the M1 Max chip.
Since you did not mention video I am guessing the M1 Pro chip ?

I was assuming the M1 Pro chip. For audio I'll be capturing up to 12 channels, 24 bit, at 96K. Not doing video, but not sure about the future. If I went that route I assumed I'd combine audio and video in post.

Originally Posted by KevWind

Not much to say it will be powerhouse well into the future They come with three TB 4 /USB-c ports to go to the ULN and an HDMI out for an additional display.

What you may find in general that Mac OS is a tiny bit different flow at first (different paths to access features, etc.) but fairly quickly you may also find Mac OS a bit easier, a bit more intuitive, and more of a just plug and play ,,or launch and play situation .

The only thing IMO that is a bit hokey on a machine in this price point .. (I have a 14 " M1 Pro chip MBP) is the camera is still only 1080 not 4k,, not a deal breaker but still a bit hokey.

Thanks!

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by Joseph Hanna

The 16" MacBook Pro is a beast and I'm sure you'll love it. I think there is several choices for the chipset and I'd just double check if everything you run (hardware and software) is working with the M1 chip-set.

Memory has always been a performance issue but I find more and more applications and plug-ins these days have become increasingly hoggish. The standard disclaimer applies here in buy as much memory as you can budget, you'll never regret it.

I was wondering about how much ram to get. My Dell laptop has 16GB and all seems fine now using my old interface. I don't really use much for plug-ins, also the Metric Halo has DSP for what I would typically use.

Thanks!

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by ChuckS

I was wondering about how much ram to get. My Dell laptop has 16GB and all seems fine now using my old interface. I don't really use much for plug-ins, also the Metric Halo has DSP for what I would typically use.

If 16 is enough on your current computer, it should be enough one of the new Mac laptops. These new machines seem to use ram a lot more efficiently and people have been reporting they're able to do just as much as before with less ram.

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by jim1960

If 16 is enough on your current computer, it should be enough one of the new Mac laptops. These new machines seem to use ram a lot more efficiently and people have been reporting they're able to do just as much as before with less ram.

Good to have that as a guideline. Thanks!

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by ChuckS

I was assuming the M1 Pro chip. For audio I'll be capturing up to 12 channels, 24 bit, at 96K. Not doing video, but not sure about the future. If I went that route I assumed I'd combine audio and video in post.

Yes the M1 Pro will handle that easily and will even process video very well if not quite as fast a Max chip but for occasional video will provide great performance

I did a quick quasi replication of a test I saw on youtube and recorded 200 tracks of audio at once albeit in 48k 24 bit but it was no problem at all. My machine is a 2021 14" M1Pro MBP with 16 GB memory and 1 TB storage

Here is the video test am talking about, he gets into it at about 2:00 minutes

[KevWind]

Also as far as video performance (if and when)
Note that my M1Pro machine does indeed process video noticeably faster than the i7 machine listed below

[FrankHudson]

Should do the job. Computer power requirements for live acoustic recording are minimal.* Mixing and the like with plug ins can require a bit more, but nothing like what a computer doing real-time recording with virtual instruments and their performance effects to produce full orchestras and/or a studio full of gear "in the box" (all done with software) can absorb.

I forget what ports are on the current Mac laptop models, but you should be able to drive a larger, high resolution external monitor through USB-C or HDMI.

*My live studio space has run a dozen tracks live into an ancient Intel Mac Mini with a Core2Duo recording to an external firewire mechanical hard drive.

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by FrankHudson

Should do the job. Computer power requirements for live acoustic recording are minimal.* Mixing and the like with plug ins can require a bit more, but nothing like what a computer doing real-time recording with virtual instruments and their performance effects to produce full orchestras and/or a studio full of gear "in the box" (all done with software) can absorb.

I forget what ports are on the current Mac laptop models, but you should be able to drive a larger, high resolution external monitor through USB-C or HDMI.

*My live studio space has run a dozen tracks live into an ancient Intel Mac Mini with a Core2Duo recording to an external firewire mechanical hard drive.

Thanks for the info!