What Mac Should You Buy for Composing?

If you found this video helpful and would like to show your appreciation, you can buy me a coffee:
www.buymeacoffee.com/davidkudell
I recently upgraded my composing computer to a new Mac Studio and I’ve been getting some questions from composers about it. One of the biggest questions is how much internal storage and how much RAM should I get?
So I thought it might be helpful to run a few benchmarks that test what composers actually need.
This will be the first of 2 videos. In this one I’ll share my experiences with the Mac Studio, and I’ll be comparing the speed of hosting both Kontakt and Sine Player samples on the internal drive versus hosting them on an external USB drive, so you can decide how much internal storage and RAM you need to buy. Then in the next video, I’m going to do a side-by-side comparison between running VEPro directly on the Mac Studio, versus running a disabled track template, including showing you loading times, save times, and more.
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About David Kudell:
David Kudell is an LA-based music composer for film & TV. He is well known for being selected by JJ Abrams, Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy and Ramin Djawadi out of 11,000 composers as the winner of the “Spitfire Westworld Scoring Competition” to score a scene from the HBO show Westworld in 2020. His groundbreaking score shook up the composer community with its wholly original take on the scene, and instantly made David a household name among fellow composers.
As a composer, David has shown his ability to write music in a broad variety of styles and genres for film & TV. As part of composer Anne-Kathrin Dern's team, he recently contributed music to the Netflix film "The Claus Family 2," the gothic thriller film "Devil,” and romantic thriller “Have. Hold. Take.”
His album "Reel One," a collection of original themes for film and TV, is available on all streaming platforms.
In addition, he has written music and sample library demos for the premiere sample library companies Orchestral Tools and Native Instruments.
Born and raised in Southern California, David graduated with a Master's Degree in Film & Television Production from San Diego State University in 2000. After graduation, he worked in the post-production sound department on over 25 Hollywood films, including Black Hawk Down, Mission Impossible 3, and Kill Bill. He is also an accomplished video director, having filmed and produced hundreds of commercials at his company Rimrock Creative Media.
His background as a video director has led to his current success as a music composer, as his understanding of the filmmaking process gives him a film director's perspective on the best use of music to tell the story.
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KZbin Channel: / davidkudell. .
Website: www.davidkudell.com
Twitter: / davidkudell
Facebook: / david.kudell
Instagram: / david_kudell

[@DavidKudellMusic]

November 2023 update: With the first benchmarks for the MacBook Pro M3 Max showing a similar CPU score to the M2 Ultra, it’s worth taking a good look at that option now, as you can have a portable machine with similar power. (Although the RAM maxes out at 128GB)

[@simonseeberger7019]

Thank you very much for the video. Finally a composer doing this, i don't need the 20st comparison for video render speed. I now ordered a MacBook Pro M3 Max 128GB, looking forward to see what this machine is capable of!

[@danmatousek]

@@simonseeberger7019 Would you mind commenting again once you test it for a few days with a big project? I am in the same place, deciding whether to buy Studio or M3MAX Pro but I really worry about MacBook overheating and throttling due to the sustained load. Studio has still much more space there and a bigger fan.

[@tronam]

@@danmatousek The 14/16" MacBook Pros don't throttle during DAW usage because the GPU cores sit mostly idle. I've had several variations of the M-chips so far: M1, M1 Pro, M2 Max, and the only times I've had my MBP run warm enough to spin up the fans to an audible level is when doing something that taxes the CPU and GPU simultaneously, like gaming or doing a Blender 3D render, but never during music production. The uneven start/stop nature of DAWs don't push the cores as hard as a synthetic benchmark like Cinebench and without the GPU cores engaged the SoC doesn't get hot enough. They're dead silent for audio, which is one of the reasons why so many musicians use Macs.

[@drmedwuast]

@@tronam good info, thanks!

[@RedLeo-pf9yo]

Thank God, your a composer, instead of a poser. 😂

[@joesalyers]

3 Pro Tips: You can clean the ram by opening the terminal and typing sudo purge then type your password (it won't show your password being typed). This cleans up RAM and some of the purgeable space on your SSD. So don't buy some app that cleans RAM because the tool is built into Mac OS. Also if you want to know down to the kilobyte how much ram each app is using just type top into the terminal it will give you a true breakdown of RAM, shared, cached memory, and CPU for each application. To quit top just hit the q key. Also on MacOS the Swap size is based on how much RAM you have. So 32GB and higher will only have a 1 GB swap, 16gb of RAM will have a 4 GB Swap and 8GB of Ram will have up to 10 gb of swap. You can cut down on the swap usage if you use a chrome based browser like Chrome, Opera, or Vivaldi, by going into the browser flags and disabling Swap. 99% of people never use swap from audio or video apps but background browser tasks will use it more than anything else. Great video by the way I just upgraded from a M1 Max Macbook Pro to a M2 Ultra with 128gb of RAM & 2TB drive so your review has been very helpful!!! Cheers!!

[@DavidKudellMusic]

Thank you, those are some excellent tips. I knew about sudo purge, but forgot about it when I was doing these tests!

[@joesalyers]

@@DavidKudellMusic Love the video I just got my M2 Ultra Mac Pro and I have been setting it up all day. The M2 Ultra is a beast compared to even my M1 Max. I wanted the Mac Studio but the wait time is crazy for those right now if you special order a configuration so I just went with the Mac Pro, I basically got it for the same money after selling my fully loaded M1 Max 16 inch Macbook Pro. But the Mac Pro is REALLY big and I wish I had just waited on the studio for 4 weeks.

[@DavidKudellMusic]

@@joesalyers congrats! That will be a beast and you’ll be able to load it up with lots of storage!

[@cbhrcbhr]

Does the terminal "purge" is also purging the swap and "purgeable area" on disk ?

[@joesalyers]

@@cbhrcbhr Yes as much as the OS deems necessary to purge but you must do a full restart after running the purge command to clear more purgable space. But just to clear the swap you can quickly log out and log back in after running the purge command. To keep your swap usage from being too high do this and you'll see a dramatic drop in swap usage. The most important thing you can do is turn off the Swap flag in a chrome based web browser since it will run in the background even if you never open the browser. So if you use Chrome, opera, Vivaldi or a chrome derivative you would type into the browser searchbar the name of the browser such as chrome://flags or vivaldi://flags and search for swap and change it to disabled and swap should be used FAR LESS and it will let your ssd last longer. Cheers!!

[@MusicMakingEnglishMan]

I subbed for the pure pain I saw in your face when you revealed how long it took to screen record everything, good effort, I love creators who care enough to do tests like this.

[@owenathanael]

Did not expect that small of a difference between external and internal SSD times. Thanks for making this video! Truly helpful.

[@BlingJ.]

they are both ssd and nand chips almost identical

[@soundthrills]

Really appreciate you taking the time to test everything David! I'm really happy with my M2 Ultra so far! Cheers!

[@shubus]

Appreciate the great amount of work you put into making this video. And it's just what I needed as I'm close to pulling the trigger on the Mac Studio.

[@Frank.Zimmermann]

Huge thanks for your effort David! This video is extremely helpful. Looking forward to the second one. :) All the best!

[@ericecho5118]

Thanks for going through the trouble of doing those tests for Kontakt samples. Exactly the kind of info I was curious about before eventually purchasing one of these!

[@sunuppools6447]

THANK YOU for taking the time to make this content. It must have been hair pulling to say the least. What useful info! I have always wondered the difference between internal and external drives on load times. So great to finally know!

[@budwrite]

Thanks for a clear overview for composers. Wonderful!!!

[@JoshuaTMagee]

This is an incredible benchmark, especially the speed comparisons between the internal and external drives. Definitely earned a new subscribe from me. Kudos, and thank you!

[@GeorgeLeong]

Thanks David for making this comparison.

[@crystalclearmedia3554]

David thanks. This information helps resolve a few reservations about my future purchase.

[@jaumepardalito]

Thanks David! Great information and exposition.

[@MichelBarbaro]

The video I've been waiting for more than three years! Thank you so much! Subscribed!

[@forfilmmusic]

This is such a great overview and tests for things I work with everyday. Thanks for all this work! Your videos are really aimed at the pros who deal with these issues. I learned some valuable new things. Waiting on new Mac studio now.

[@trevordolhan1060]

Great video David! Appreciate all the work you've put into it man.

[@tomgire3058]

Thanks so much for doing this! Been very happy with my M1 Ultra and had a gut feeling about all this stuff, but now I can give good advice with real world data to friends asking for tips!

[@pooriapouria]

Very useful comparison. Thanks.

[@frenchthomasmusic]

Finally ! Someone did it!... It’s so hard to find useful infos about tech from artists & composers, most of the time people just play the same midi / audio clip until system overload but that definitely not representative of how our workflow runs. Thank you and good luck with your work 🙏

[@DougHammer]

Excellent info David, thank you! I just set up a new M2 Mac Studio Ultra 64GB 4TB and put everything on the internal. I am surprised by Kontakt loading times. For video work though, the internal is great.

[@seansegal5112]

Awesome work David, thanks!

[@InLightTone]

Really well done David, thanks for taking the time to put this together!

[@DavidKudellMusic]

Glad it was helpful!

[@jessemcinturff1268]

Former apple store employee turned TV composer here: my endless thanks goes out to you, this is quite literally some of the best info I've ever seen for music people on how our computers work.

[@notsure1135]

How your computers work? Did you know that Logic doesn’t utilise all the cores? Reaper performs better on silicon! Crazy!

[@tronam]

@@notsure1135 Not by default, no. It will only use the performance cores. This can be adjusted, but isn't recommended because the E-cores aren't as powerful and will overload more quickly.

[@EarmonkeyMusic]

This is extremely informative. I'm not a composer (well I pretend to be) but I have been looking at the M2 Studio as an upgrade for my Intel iMac. This helps me a lot to decide how I should configure it. Thanks!!!

[@expander3710]

THANK YOU for doing the hard drive test

[@NikolaiMusicChannel]

Great video, man! Super interesting to see someone actually put this to the test and see what the difference is in reality 🙂 Thanks!

[@ArtmanBass]

Thanks for your assessment and hard work, David! I bought an M1 Mac Mini (16 Gb ram) in 2020 and was wondering what I should replace it with if it started chocking on my sessions. So far it has held on for most pieces (about 120 tracks of virtual instruments.) I’ll remember your recommendations when I’m ready for an upgrade.

[@rolfgustavsonmusic]

Fantastic dedication to excellence in doing all of this, David!

[@DavidKudellMusic]

Hey Rolf! Thanks! Wish I was in Helsinki!

[@benoitheroux3535]

Thank you David, very helpful, 2 years ago I step in the orchestral composition, now I understand why I'm very limited with my macbook pro M1 pro with 16 gb of RAM lol ! thanks mate for the explanation

[@richdewhittaker1746]

Thank you… I’ve been thinking about making a jump to the ‘Studio’ lately, this Is gold-dust info! Cheers ☕️⚡️

[@ohmicronD]

Fantastic video and info David! Thanks!

[@nikolaybakalov8264]

Finally the tests I've been waiting for my whole life! Lol. Super valuable information! Thank you so much!

[@derSTEFstef]

Incredible work, thank you so much for the help!

[@paulbeckmann]

Brilliant test! Thanks!

[@TheFlyMan3829]

Dude thank you so much for the time you took to make this video! Very helpful and informative as im in the market coming over from PC and these tests are exactly what i needed!! People like you make the world go 'round! I appreciate ya! :)

[@pro-303]

Thank you for this complete and honest test , What a surprise for the USB SSD !! It Saves me a lot of money

[@MarsenK1]

Thank you David, very interesting. This must have been a lot of work ❤.

[@evanhodgescomposer1233]

I cannot imagine how long this took! This is really useful for so many composers! Thanks for the hard work!

[@DavidKudellMusic]

You're very welcome!

[@peteluna4968]

Excellent! This is exactly what I’ve wanted to know!

[@SorooshMhs]

Many thanks David! As someone who is still relatively new to composing, this video is super helpful. I'm not even on mac, but it's great to know how little of a difference using an internal vs external drive makes, for samples

[@DavidKudellMusic]

Glad it was helpful!

[@rostasi]

Thanks for the info. As a composer, I’ve been using 64GB RAM on a 14 year old tower and I need to upgrade past El Capitan, so this was helpful.

[@IvayloKabakov]

This must have taken quite a lot of effort and time to create. Thanks a lot for doing it, it is so very informative and useful info! 👏🏻

[@watchtheskies]

David, thank you so much for doing this! 🙃

[@nicksaya]

THANK YOU!!!!!!! FINALLY A REAL TEST!!!!

[@triumphaudio]

Fantastic David!!! Thanks for doing this!

[@DavidKudellMusic]

Thanks Kevin and team!

[@mikebrun.mp3]

unbelievably helpful, thank you!

[@PhillipPresswood]

That was a ton of work. Many thanks!

[@markanthonyart]

yes thanks for this video. Doing the tests we all wanted to see!

[@DavidKudellMusic]

Glad it was helpful!

[@kentkarlsson4169]

Hi David! Thank you for taking the time to do this test, very informative. A question, I'm using a Kensington usb rollerball, do I have to use a slot on the studio or does the new keyboard have one like previous mac keyboards? Thanks again!

[@charlesblack4565]

Thank you for making this!! 🙏 Soo helpful! 👌

[@sound4label]

Thanks for your time doing this video :)

[@jigsound]

Amazing, thanks for the comparison! 👌🙌 Still struggling with a 2015 iMac here. 😅

[@rtisabel]

Thanks David, Very informative!

[@LongshanMusic]

Finally, someone did this! Thank you and subbed. 👍

[@DavidKudellMusic]

Thanks for the sub!

[@silvio_composer]

Grande David! Anecdotally looking at read/write speeds on my external 10Gps USB drives made me suspect such an outcome. Thank you so much for putting this thorough comparison together, it's really helpful. 🙏🏻

[@DavidKudellMusic]

Hey Silvio, glad it was helpful!

[@monsieurmv]

Thank you so much for the tests & this video! I've been using a huge PC with many MD drives (some on a dedicated PCI card) and my load times for orchestral libraries have become unbearable overtime. I guess a cluttered/old Windows installation does that, I might just make the switch! (and spend 2 weeks installing VSTs...)

[@AnnaSibirskaja]

Most helpful! Resolved my external SSD uncertainties. Thank you.

[@DavidKudellMusic]

Glad it helped!

[@andrewgoodwincomposer]

Thanks for info David!

[@rickdeaguiar-musicreflecti7692]

Excellent overview. Love your style. Thank you for taking the time on this :)

[@DavidKudellMusic]

My pleasure!

[@marksaxon]

Great video! The key with any Mac is get the right CPU/Memory config and get the smallest storage option for the OS/apps/project files. I keep all of my sample libraries on a USB-C external SSD. Their mark up on storage is ridiculous! A Gen 4 2TB nvme drive for a Windows PC can be had for around $100. Same read/write speeds as the Mac storage too. 1 TB seems to be the sweet spot but if you do video editing, 2 TB might be the better choice.

[@antsteep]

Thanks David. This is just what every composer shopping for a new Mac needs. Legend.

[@peterwaringofficial]

Very useful info about what to buy, thank you 👍

[@johnhahn1877]

Thanks for the info David!! This is perfect in that I'm currently getting by with a 2017 iMac making sacrifices to not overload my system. This week I went into my studio to build on a song to find a black screen with a folder with a "?"!! Can you say panic! 8 new songs built on this computer. I was able to recover but I'm going to upgrade on my terms (while the computer is still working) and have had enough of compromises to save cpu. Lots of videos full of info regarding the need for lots of gpu from video content creators. I've learned that the key for me with audio recording will be cpu, which brought me to the studio ultra. Your info pushed me over the top...I'm going in!! Based on your info I'm not going to upgrade past the standard config of 64GB ram and 1TB HD. THANKS for your effort on these tests!

[@cbhrcbhr]

Hi Thank you very much for your review I do not use so many tracks for my orchestral template as most of them are VSL VI instruments that I send to MIR PRO 3D One great thing in VSL is the Perf-Leg Patches, it is analysing the length of each note so it saves a lot on the articulation changes I have only 120 tracks in my Master Template but I use articulation changes when needed. Today I am using stereo output but I start to investigate into Dolby Atmos I have a Mac Pro 2019 with 64 GB and internal 4TB, 2 x 48" I have divided my internal so all my samples are in one partition I check from time to time if I am using the swap file, is so I re-boot When I start VSL I was using VE and VE PRO SERVER, this bring more CPU use as you add process for VE. Also having all instruments in Logic it is distributing better the load on the cores. I have used many configuration since 1976 !!! mostly Raid 0 arrays for my Samples A space killer is Final Cut Pro that I use on the project I am on.

[@joobastudio]

Thanks David !

[@user-rr3ps6jt1c]

Very informative, thank you! DO you have recommendations for USB SSD that are more on the affordable side?

[@MichaelJM]

Thanks for making this. I'm still using a 2010 MacPro and it's gotten a bit silly trying to keep it working. I liked having the flexibility to add RAM as I needed so it's a bit frustrating to be locked into a number especially when the Mac Studio is so expensive. Your video and testing helps answer some of the questions I had and will make upgrading my setup a bit easier.

[@Henry0870]

I just maxed out my 2009 Mac Pro (flashed to a 2012 model) 2 weeks ago my video card died, so for a moment I considered getting a new Mac Mini. But decided to get a new video card. (As I might need the cash I have for a window repair) Then saw the price for a set of 2 CPU's (3,46 ones) + 128 Gigs of RAM and decided to get those as well. But that wil be the last upgrades possible (besides storage maybe), as I already have a fast NVME SSD thingy...

[@ironcitymusic8667]

I'm a pro tv composer as well. Thanks for doing this...very helpful👍👊

[@WilliamMorrisMusic]

Great testing! Ive been telling people for a while that disk speed has very little effect on kontakt load times. I'd heard that CPU has a bigger bearing on that front but I've not been able to test that yet.

[@liamtahaney713]

Well I certainly dont regret getting a smaller harddrive. Great video!

[@tharindujayathilake6017]

Thank you for this... Excellent work..

[@420unreal]

Thank you so much for a real world video thats not just 150 omnisphere track. This is much more informative 👌

[@franckdansaert]

Thank you !great and very useful video !

[@alinali1]

thanks for the test ! great so far - a couple of questions: a) Did you notice additional strain on the CPU when reducing preload Kontakt or Sine RAM buffer size ? b) Did you test polyphony with internal / External drive usage if there is any difference ? c) Have you tested East West Opus too ? I think the fact that there is a difference between sine and Kontakt for loading time on different HDDs has somthing to do with the sample compression Kontakt uses (needing much more CPU to decompress and loading samples into ram) vs less compressed samples (Sine or EW Opus maybe) that use less sample compression and therefore can load samples faster into the ram from the hard disc (CPU can more easily address samples from HDDs to RAM) but I might be wrong... Thanks...

[@juansvault]

thank you for this david

[@TomislavRupic]

I am totally surprised there is so little difference… I am moving all my samples to external ssd now, thanks for the test 🙏

[@user-ih3qx1nq4h]

this is a unique video! Thank you!

[@chadcannon7735]

Super helpful, thank you!!!

[@SampleLibraryReviews]

amazing video! this is what I wished was out when I bought my last mac. Thanks David!

[@DavidKudellMusic]

Thanks @samplelibraryreviews after all of the helpful videos of yours I’ve watched, I’m glad one of mine was helpful for you!

[@semihyanyali]

Thank you so much, this is so helpful.

[@ChrisGilcher]

Hi David, thanks for your very helpful video. Is it still a "must" to batch resave all libraries, when I did a complete clean install eg. of all libraries from NI via Native Access? Just got my MacStudio ... :)

[@MatbiangShadap]

Thank you for making this video possible.. Literally no one in the KZbin community have been able to do this.. 🔥

[@PawanKumar-hm5te]

very informative video ! thank you would also love to see without doing the kontakt and sine players pre load buffer size ! just keeping 60 kb just to test it out

[@Historyisnotwas]

Awesome video and info! This content is what I have been looking for! Except that I don't really use DAWS. I use notation software ( Dorico, Musescore, etc.) What Apple Mac ( non-laptop) would be best to score large orchestral works with Noteperformer/Dorico/ and other sound libraries? Would an iMac ( all in one) or the Studio be better?

[@AlessandroRegiaCortePersonal]

Owesome!!!!! Thanks David!!!!

[@Harrysound]

I have a m1Pro MacBook Pro with 4TB and 32 gig. It’s been brilliant. I was expecting more from the SSD but that’s because of the small but plentiful files. Great video, lots of good info.

[@JackaTrial]

it's actually a lot better for audio production then it's m2pro counterpart.

[@JoelBrandonMedia]

Recently learned that above the M1 Pro, you are basically wasting money on the new chips, unless you need to edit 8k video etc. They simply do not aid music production. At least according to James Zahn on KZbin. Great work! Super helpful video. 🎉🎉

[@thenext9537]

Yep, I was hyped on the m2 and now m3 but I dunno now!

[@ghost-user559]

@@thenext9537Well it makes a huge difference because the base and max ram have gone up, and in general having a better gpu is helpful for many people who do other side jobs like graphic design, ai art, or video editing (or the odd video game). But I would always recommend getting last years model at a discount just to get the most lifespan and performance out of your machine.

[@zvenx]

Thank you so much for doing this David. Very Enlightening.. and yes I did like and subscribed :)

[@DavidKudellMusic]

Thanks and welcome!

[@yaizavarona]

Thank you so much for this excellent video and all the help you provide here. You’ve probably stopped me from spending extra on internal storage and rather investing in better external drives for my libraries. Many thanks again!

[@yaizavarona]

May I add a question please. If purchasing an external SSD Thunderbolt drive to host the libraries, say the Lacie Rugged Pro, would it make any difference to get a 4TB one or would by any chance speed things up to buy 2 drives, 2 TB each? I’m finding contradictory information on the matter. Thanks again!

[@DavidKudellMusic]

I don’t think separate drives will do anything for you, personally. If internal doesn’t make that much improvement , two externals won’t. Plus you save a port. That LaCie drive is very overpriced. You can get a much cheaper 4TB or 8tb.

[@yaizavarona]

Thanks again @@DavidKudellMusic

[@fabiencurtis]

Thanks for taking the time to make this helpful videos. Subscribed! Look forward to your next one with a VEPro stress test. Courage with the grumpies, the IT security professionals, the “real composers” with paper and pen, the jealous PC fans who will always compare their performances against this awfully expensive Mac 😅 You act for the composers’ community prosperity 😃🙏

[@kennethjackson4858]

Thanks, David. Appreciate it!

[@kennethjackson4858]

Hey David, I'm looking St third Mac Studio M2 and in not where you are in composing or orchestration or libraries, but for me would the M2 with 64 gb of RAM and maybe 1 or 2 tb be enough for me worth my budget? Hopefully, I hear from you. Thanks ahead.

[@RalphGuzzo]

excellent excellent work - thank you - super helpful

[@ravisinghalofficial]

Great video ✌️. Is there a difference in speed if you run 13:31 sessions directly from usb SSD vs internal SSD vs thunderbolt 3 SSD?

[@nlgcomposer]

I switched to a Mac Studio Ultra (2022) toward the end of the "growing pains" season, where everyone was finally starting to become compatible with the M1. It's been working great! I had originally tried the M1 Max and it was not up to the task.

[@andivax]

Titanic work, man! Thank you ❤

[@wazmand]

Thx for the effort !

[@torley]

Oh David, I'm glad you stepped up to MAKE A POSITIVE DIFFERENCE and DID THIS FOR US COMPOSERS!!! Fellow M2 Ultra'er. YES your hope came true and it's clear your video has been helpful for us, a couple months in. You presented the info in a clear and consistent manner and it was easy to follow along. ( @ 7:50 I like how the Subscribe button lights up when you mention it ) I appreciate the tips 'n' tricks you called out along the way, things I hadn't paid close enough attention to. Now, I'm curious along the dimension of space and not just speed: are you getting close to running out of space on external SSDs, are you eyeing an upgrade to that? Since sample libraries keep getting larger. Have you looked into expanding to enterprise SSDs? Meaning, like the 30.72 TB and 61.44 TB options available from Solidgm and others. StorageReview has some takes on them, but again, it's not in a musician context.

[@joshtackett]

Really appreciate that you took the time to do this! There’s almost no content out there regarding Macs and composers. I just ordered a M2 Ultra Mac Studio with 192GB RAM and 2TB internal. I’m later going to add a 16TB external RAID from OWC (the 4M2) to host both Dropbox and samples. Currently I have an assortment of 4TB SSDs. It makes me feel better seeing how successful you were with a similar setup!

[@DavidKudellMusic]

Wow, congrats! I hope you love the system as much as I do. I scored a feature film on this system in only 2 weeks and it passed with flying colors.

[@joshtackett]

That’s insane! Sounds like it passed the true test! Haha

[@roieshpigler]

Finally a useful video 🙏🙏🙏 Great job 👏 Wondering about your use of plugins (eq, compression ect.) and the way they affect the cpu

[@DavidKudellMusic]

I have parallel compression on my stem groups, so maybe 20 instances of FabFilter Pro-C, plus a couple instances of Cinematic Rooms and a few instances of Berlin Studio. Ozone on the master bus. That’s all for my starting template. Then add other stuff as needed.