Head-to-Head Comparison: is M1 Native Really Better than Intel Mac or Rosetta with Studio One 5.4?

[@davelongenecker649]

I've been on Studio One for about ten years, but I'm still learning new things about it from your great videos, Matt - way to go!

[@MattHepworth]

Wow! Thanks, Dave!

[@Redelfaulk1]

Nice vid! Has this information been changed at all with the update to S1 v5.4.1? Also, the whole video I kept thinking you were tracking a cover version of Message in a Bottle by the Police. Good stuff!

[@MattHepworth]

Definitely a similar guitar part. ;-) No core changes I'm aware of, but I'll double check.

[@rickdeaguiar-musicreflecti7692]

Great comparison. Thank you for taking the time on this 👌

[@MattHepworth]

Thanks!

[@thomas-mavian]

Thanks Matt, great show of performance. Really interesting...

[@MattHepworth]

Thanks for getting me on the right track with pinning the spiking down last vid!

[@thomas-mavian]

@@MattHepworth You're more than welcome! Needing a new rig sometime soon so this is very interesting indeed!

[@jazzmastert]

Matt, could I ask for your comments on the following? I use a late 2018 Intel i7 6C, 32Gb RAM with Studio One 6 and UAD interfaces (12 DSP cores on UAD in total). In general it’s been great and I haven’t noticed any major power constraints but I have been looking at a move to Apple Silicon. I use mostly VIs, some synth, some sample and audio tracks, the latter mostly for vocals. I use all manner of plugins native and UAD. It’s exclusively a studio computer for audio. The Geekbench 6 scores for the i7 are 1398 SC and 5420 MC. I am looking at either of a Mac Mini M2 8C, 24GB RAM (Geekbench 6: 2626 SC, 9677 MC) or an Mac Mini M2 Pro 10C, 32GB RAM (Geekbench 2640 SC, 12068 MC). Both would have the same SSD size. With various discounts etc., the difference in money terms between those options is about $500, which represents quite a difference. Money is always a factor plus I don’t want a machine only to find it’s not being “worked”. Which makes most sense in your opinion? Sorry for a $64m question. I know there are many moving parts but I really would appreciate your views. This is a question I have been pondering and which isn’t well addressed on KZbin or the web IMHO. Most folks focus on video use cases but I don’t much need GPU power. I was kinda thinking that the non-pro M2 might represent a sweet spot for some audio users. I do note the memory bandwidth differences but not too sure there would be a practical constraint? Thanks in advance! BTW, great channel. Really appreciate your approach.

[@MattHepworth]

Hi Adam! I'd say, if you don't really need the ports, the M2 with 24GB RAM. That's actually the unit I was considering for my home setup, but since I also do all my video stuff from home, I'm personally going with the Pro. I also badly need the additional high-speed ports (even though I have a Dock). At the studio we've always run various Mac Pros. At home, though, where I do most my mix work these days (and shoot and edit my videos) I went from a fully upgraded Mac Pro to a 2018 i7 Mini exactly like yours, to an M1 Mini with 16GB. Even with the largest mixing projects I do not run out of CPU on the M1. The M2 Mini will provide about twice the real-world DAW performance of the 2018 i7. The M1 almost does. The other consideration is virtual instruments. I rarely use them myself, but there are times I'm still up against my 16GB memory limit. If you run a lot of VIs you might consider going beyond 24GB. Personally, I think 24GB is the sweet spot. If the Pro offered 24GB, that's what I'd choose.

[@jazzmastert]

@@MattHepworth Hey Matt, thank you so much for your considered (and speedy!) response. The info you’ve offered is super helpful to me. I will check my memory usage with VIs this weekend but essentially think I will probably head toward the M2 with 24GB as you suggest. Once again, please keep up the videos. I imagine they take a fair amount of effort and time but for what it’s worth, your videos, particularly your intelligent and straightforward approach, is quite refreshing amongst the noise on KZbin and coming from a working studio background, the authenticity is great!

[@MattHepworth]

Thank you so much! Let me know what you decide and how it goes!

[@MattHepworth]

BTW, I REALLY appreciate the video/channel feedback! I try to present the info I can't find and I try to dig in. Each video ends up being a battle with myself as to whether what I'm presenting is helpful, so it means a lot to hear that it is!

[@jazzmastert]

It’s an amazing world when someone from Utah helps out a guy in the UK via videos. Last time I was in Utah (skiing about 10 years ago) it was Christmas Eve and I got stuck in the snow in downtown SLC the night before my flight home!

[@katentu]

Studio one never crash when i change the buffer size on Windows. It sometimes crash for other reasons sadly, in version 4 it never crashed for me

[@MattHepworth]

Good feedback on the Windows version. I've had good experiences with both, but 5.3 and 5.4 both crash often when changing buffer for me on multiple systems.

[@DaveWestGuitar]

If you commit to processed guitar sound (Ampire on an input (auxiliary in PT) and don't run Ampire as a processor on multiple dry guitar tracks, does that avert the issue caused seemingly by Ampire? I grew up in the tape era, and I don't re-amp. I find the sound I want and then that's it. I may print a dry signal in addition but would have it inactive after recording just in case re-amping is demanded by someone else in mixing. Also, that buffer size is so small compared to what I'm used to with a Focusrite Thunderbolt 8Pre and PT 11 on a 7 core. I'd jump for joy for a buffer size of 64 to record with. Stumbled on this wondering what Interface and DAW to migrate to on my new M1. Is Studio One really the only real M1 native DAW out there? Is it truly M1 native functional? Was thinking the Quantum 2626 and Pro DAW version.

[@MattHepworth]

I too started on analog, but during the later 90s we all started moving to that don't EQ or compress on the way in mentality because we wanted to start with the cleanest source possible. Who knew that another decade after that we'd be fully chasing the glorious imperfections of analog again?! Studio One is fully M1, as is Logic, now Cubase, and most others. I used the Quantum (big brother to the Quantum 2626) for this testing and it's superior latency to ANY other interface-especially with Studio One. Studio One handles the dual buffer so perfectly. BTW, I had a Quantum 2626 briefly and found it to perform identically on the latency front. Great, affordable unit!

[@DaveWestGuitar]

@@MattHepworth Thank you, Matt. I mainly mean the amp tone get's printed. That usually doesn't have a compressor on it, and I enjoy playing with compression later, too. But getting the amp/drive tone printed just seems natural to me. You get it.

[@MattHepworth]

Yep. I don't normally use sims, actually, but many do and Ampire was one of the few that was M1 at the time.

[@Newmusicreview]

Nice vid dude....I did some stress tests on my M1 with Studio one as well ;-)

[@MattHepworth]

Thank you! I'll check it out!

[@TheBigViktor]

great video!

[@MattHepworth]

Thank you!

[@youtuberson4077]

When this happens to me, I get crackling in my audio but like at 2:15 ish. Sometimes I use Studio One when I livestream, so I have my game, OBS, and studio one running my microphone and when all three programs are going at once, I get crackling audio. I'm not even recording! Happens slightly when I use any other program besides S1, like if I open a firefox browser with S1 open

[@MattHepworth]

I used a separate computer to capture this via an El Gato capture card for that very reason.

[@youtuberson4077]

@@MattHepworth oooooh makes sense. I'm seeing so many people do that... Guess that's what I've got to do. Does the second computer have to be super powerful?

[@MattHepworth]

No, I use my second oldest system. Not much resources needed.

[@youtuberson4077]

@@MattHepworth thank you

[@MattHepworth]

Happy to help!

[@javierojanguren6495]

Now try it on the M1pro or M1max...

[@bugsy3333]

Well, you can't really put more pressure on a CPU than all tracks in record mode, all track input monitoring on, 16 samples and AMPIRE! Back in real world tracking, pretty sure CPU usage would be LOW!, I'm still in INTEL land but definitely moving up to M1 or M2. Thanks

[@MattHepworth]

Real world tracking on native here is 16 samples. 32 if absolutely necessary. If you're just tracking guitar or bass you can get away with higher buffer, but for vocals you need to keep the latency below 2ms, which means 32 sample buffer MAX at 48kHz, and 16 if you're running at 44.1kHz. I do have to avoid Ampire when tracking, since it's a CPU sucker.

[@jorgedejesustejedavaldez5283]

hhahahaha that's happens to me, I'm running studio one 5.4 on roseta and run better than the native version lol. I Don't know why

[@MattHepworth]

At 32 samples M1 starts to do better, but at 16 Rosetta is somehow better. It doesn't really make sense, but thanks for confirming it there, too!

[@emanuelwhitehead6039]

How many tracks

[@MattHepworth]

It was 24 simultaneous, I believe.

[@chrisblackwell5543]

Are you playing guitar direct into an interface , if so the -interface plays a big role in latency and cpu usage especially by the type of connection your using to your computer.. Studio one just made it native so of course there will be kinks to iron out. On most performance comparisons, the M1 has much better performance compared to the Intel.

[@MattHepworth]

Hi Chris, drums, bass, and two guitars are all being recorded "live" into S1. I feel like the vid gives a good overview of what's happening during real-life tracking. The shock for me is the 16 sample Rosetta vs M1 Native performance. Intel gets trounced by M1 here too.

[@jorgedejesustejedavaldez5283]

@@MattHepworth this is what happens to me too.

[@javierojanguren6495]

Now try it on the M1pro or M1max...

[@MattHepworth]

I'd like to, but I'll need to wait for a desktop instead. Fingers crossed for a Mini Pro...