Just bought my first mac.

[mihighil]

Hey there, as you read in the thread title i just got my first mac....and im in awe. I bought it mostly for working with audio. Any tips on optimising this machine for working with audio will be helpful, thanks

 

[unrigestered]

hi there and welcome 😀

some audio interfaces have dedicated drivers that are able to provide you with lower latencies than possible with the stock Core Audio drivers and maybe enable some nice features like internal mixers or some other nice goodies too.

otherwise just use common logic, like don't have too many other applications running that aren't absolutely needed.

not that both things are an absolute requirement, but you asked for optimization

 

[mihighil]

hi there and welcome 😀

some audio interfaces have dedicated drivers that are able to provide you with lower latencies than possible with the stock Core Audio drivers and maybe enable some nice features like internal mixers or some other nice goodies too.

otherwise just use common logic, like don't have too many other applications running that aren't absolutely needed.

not that both things are an absolute requirement, but you asked for optimization

I was thinking more about system settings and similar stuff, coming from windows and all i can say is macOS is weird 🤣

 

[unrigestered]

i can't think of too many system settings at the moment, that would truly optimize you Mac for audio.
maybe disable automatic Time Machine backups?
but i only have made a single backup after i was fine with the installations on my system and then switched to simply copying stuff manually for certain important files or folders, so i don't know wether or not Time Machine would actually start mid-session

Macs are good to go out of the box, though i also think that this issue is highly overblown on Windows too - unless it's coming preinstalled with a crap ton of useless additianal software that is bogging down your system.
ok, you should really install ASIO drivers over there, and from what i gather newer versions of Windows could nag you with update pop ups, or even force you to update mid-session, unless you go into the Registry, but i was still on Win 7 when i made the switch to Mac back in November of 2021, where you could easily disable auto updates and auto searches for those too.

of course there are some settings to be found where you can allow or disallow your apps using the microphone, camera, or access to folders that aren't typically required for apps like these, but optimization wise, these will do nothing for you.

 

[mihighil]

i can't think of too many system settings at the moment, that would truly optimize you Mac for audio.
it's good to go out of the box, though i also think that this issue is highly overblown on Windows too - unless comes preinstalled with a crap ton of useless additianal software that is bogging down your system.
ok, you really install ASIO drivers over there, and of course newer versions pf Windows could nag you with update pop ups, or even forcing you to update mid-session, unless you go into the registry, but i was still on Win 7 when i made the switch to Mac back in November of 2021

of course there are some settings to be found where you can allow or disallow your apps using the microphone, camera, or access to folders that aren't typically required for apps like these, but optimization wise, these will do nothing for you.

Yes i was thinking the same thing, i was just reading at some other forums for audio, and didn’t find anything related for optimising. Just normal (use your brain) stuff. Thanks anyway and why doesn’t the damn X button close apps?!? 🤣🤣

 

[unrigestered]

yes, the x thing can be bothersome
i'm simply using CMD+Q, CMD+W, or CMD+H where applicable instead of bothering with those buttons.
this solution is most likely faster than using the mouse for that, but of course can feel more "technical" than just using the mouse for pretty much everything

 

[mihighil]

yes, the x thing can be bothersome
i'm simply using CMD+Q, CMD+W, or CMD+H where applicable instead of bothering with those buttons.
this solution is most likely faster than using the mouse for that, but of course can feel more "technical" than just using the mouse for pretty much everything

Thanks for the info, i will need to learn a lot of shortcuts and how the OS works, it will be fun 😁

 

[unrigestered]

most of the basic keyboard shortcuts should be pretty similar to Windows (except for cmd instead of ctrl of course)

one big difference is cut/paste
while these are working exactly the same inside documents in a word processor or spreadsheet application with just cmd+x / cmd+v)

it is working differently with files and folders inside Finder, where it is now
cmd+c and option+cmd+v afterwards for the actual cut and paste

here's a brief list of keyboard shortcuts to keep you entertained:

Mac keyboard shortcuts - Apple Support

By pressing certain key combinations, you can do things that normally need a mouse, trackpad, or other input device.

support.apple.com

 

[mihighil]

most of the basic keyboard shortcuts should be pretty similar to Windows (except for cmd instead of ctrl of course)

one big difference is cut/paste
while these are working exactly the same inside documents in a word processor or spreadsheet application with just cmd+x / cmd+v)

it is working differently with files and folders inside Finder, where it is now
cmd+c and option+cmd+v afterwards for the actual cut and paste

here's a brief list of keyboard shortcuts to keep you entertained:

Mac keyboard shortcuts - Apple Support

By pressing certain key combinations, you can do things that normally need a mouse, trackpad, or other input device.

support.apple.com

I was just looking at the list, thanks a lot, much appreciated.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Hey there, as you read in the thread title i just got my first mac....and im in awe. I bought it mostly for working with audio. Any tips on optimising this machine for working with audio will be helpful, thanks

I would recommend you look into finding a third party audio driver with an equalizer as macOS does not have any equalizer settings whatsoever. I use Boom 3D but I don't know how well that's for audio professionals so your mileage may vary.

Also WELCOME! What Mac did you get?

 

[mihighil]

most of the basic keyboard shortcuts should be pretty similar to Windows (except for cmd instead of ctrl of course)

one big difference is cut/paste
while these are working exactly the same inside documents in a word processor or spreadsheet application with just cmd+x / cmd+v)

it is working differently with files and folders inside Finder, where it is now
cmd+c and option+cmd+v afterwards for the actual cut and paste

here's a brief list of keyboard shortcuts to keep you entertained:

Mac keyboard shortcuts - Apple Support

By pressing certain key combinations, you can do things that normally need a mouse, trackpad, or other input device.

support.apple.com

I was just reading up something on a forum and came across this (pictured bellow) does this only imply if you have multiple external drives?

I would recommend you look into finding a third party audio driver with an equalizer as macOS does not have any equalizer settings whatsoever. I use Boom 3D but I don't know how well that's for audio professionals so your mileage may vary.

Also WELCOME! What Mac did you get?

Thanks a lot 😁 i wont need that eq as i mostly work with a DAW, and i got the base m1 pro 14’. The upgrades were crazy expensive here in europe.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Thanks a lot 😁 i wont need that eq as i mostly work with a DAW, and i got the base m1 pro 14’. The upgrades were crazy expensive here in europe.

Yoooo you got a base M1 Pro 14' as well! This thing is the best laptop I've ever had.

 

[moons_mooniverse]

Hey there, as you read in the thread title i just got my first mac....and im in awe. I bought it mostly for working with audio. Any tips on optimising this machine for working with audio will be helpful, thanks

Just start making music. Or, if your audio work ist not music, start with your audio work.
This is how the Mac is made. Start creating. Not start adjusting settings. This is a main difference between Mac & PC.

 

[antiprotest]

Hey there, as you read in the thread title i just got my first mac....and im in awe. I bought it mostly for working with audio. Any tips on optimising this machine for working with audio will be helpful, thanks

Did you come from windows?

 

[ouruniverse06131986]

Hey there, as you read in the thread title i just got my first mac....and im in awe. I bought it mostly for working with audio. Any tips on optimising this machine for working with audio will be helpful, thanks

CONGRATULATIONS. You’ll LOVE LOVE LOVE macOS. It doesn’t matter which version you use cause once you go mac, you’ll never go back.

 

[mihighil]

Did you come from windows?

Yes.

 

[mihighil]

Did you come from windows?

Just start making music. Or, if your audio work ist not music, start with your audio work.
This is how the Mac is made. Start creating. Not start adjusting settings. This is a main difference between Mac & PC.

I work with music and audio for broadcast, commercials and film. Beend working at it for 5-6 years. I get the saying “it just works” but i was wondering if it was possible to optimise the system to the fullest. As it is possible with windows. But here i dont think that sort of tweaking is necessary.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

CONGRATULATIONS. You’ll LOVE LOVE LOVE macOS. It doesn’t matter which version you use cause once you go mac, you’ll never go back.

Wellllll that's not 100% true lmao. I love macOS but there are a lot of times you would probably go back, like games.

 

[Deedeekay]

Welcome to the cult. Can I get you a refreshment?

 

[Technerd108]

I work with music and audio for broadcast, commercials and film. Beend working at it for 5-6 years. I get the saying “it just works” but i was wondering if it was possible to optimise the system to the fullest. As it is possible with windows. But here i dont think that sort of tweaking is necessary.

MacOs is a Unix based system and it works very differently than Windows.

That being said it is much more optimized for the hardware out of the box than any Windows machine just because Apple designs the hardware around the software they produce in house. All the drivers in Windows are made by OEMS and not much optimization of the Windows OS is done by OEM's for the specific hardware you run beyond the drivers. Usually after a year or two OEM's pretty much forget about updating drivers for specific hardware because they are focused on the next model while Apple will continue to optimize the hardware for the software(MacOS) for the lifetime of the device or as long as the hardware or CPU is supported by Apple.

This way of creating devices from the ground up makes a much better optimized device.

The only problem is when Apple decides to change supported hardware for example the change from PowerPC to Intel and now Intel to Apple Silicon. When they change architecture or CPU support there is not much you can do as when they decide to ditch a architecture or cpu type that is it, once they pull support you are done.

I remember buying a Power PC machine right before the switch to Intel and they kept assuring people that they would support PowerPC for a long time which they really didn't.

So Apple in general makes very long lasting and optimized devices as long as you buy the most current CPU. In other words don't get an Intel machine.

There are command line tweaks you can make and software that supposedly tweaks the system and ram for best performance but honestly as long as you update your device regularly and don't fill up your ssd to 95% you are good!

Enjoy your new Mac. It will serve you well for a decent amount of time!

 

[unrigestered]

There are command line tweaks you can make and software that supposedly tweaks the system and ram for best performance but honestly as long as you update your device regularly and don't fill up your ssd to 95% you are good!

sadly this is not completely true for audio work (and some other areas too) where it is not completely uncommon that new macOS updates will break compatibility for stuff that was working flawlessly before.
that's why quite a few people will stay on older versions, at least until the info has gotten around that their software will actually still work, or has been patched to do so again, even if this means that they are slightly more vulnerable (in theory) if the aren't careful, or are visiting shady sites.

 

[evertjr]

Congratulations! I hope you have a nice experience like I do. Personally I'll never go back to Windows for anything but gaming. I recommend you to install Rectangle, an app that enables window snapping similar to Windows.

Here's some tips
CMD + Tab = switch between opened apps
CMD + ` = switch between windows from the same app (really handy)
CMD + Space = Universal Search (Spotlight), unlike Windows it works amazingly well to search files and launch apps
CMD + Shift + 3 or 4 or 5 = Screenshot the entire screen / Screenshot the selected portion / Opens an screenshot interface
CMD + C on a file in Finder then CMD + Option + V in another place = Cut and paste a file
You can press spacebar with any file selected to quick preview it, on the MacBook trackpad you can press a little harder in a file to preview it
Master the trackpad gestures and you'll be a productive beast!
The Activity Monitor app is like the Windows Task Manager, its good to keep an eye for any app using too much cpu time or memory.

 

[altaic]

I’d adjust the trackpad settings if you haven’t yet— IIRC, the default is a little slow.

Also in trackpad settings, take note of the gestures. The “lookup and data detectors” gesture (IIRC, force click by default) is great for looking up a word, searching for a highlighted phrase, previewing a link in Safari, etc.

The “more gestures” section of trackpad settings show you how to quickly access Notification Center, swipe between pages, swipe between mission control workspaces, overview mission control, etc. I really like setting mission control gestures to swiping with four fingers— left or right to switch workspaces, up for mission control.

Also, some random advice:

1) Don’t install any antivirus bloatware. MacOS has antivirus/antimalware built in (called XProtect), which is very good. In general, don’t install disk cleaners or other maintenance bloatware.

2) Get VLC and/or IINA for watching media/videos. Both are high quality open source software with a good track record. VLC supports pretty much every platform/OS, while IINA is developed specifically for macOS. Also, both include basically every codec built-in. Likewise, never install codec packages— anything that claims you need to install special codecs is probably malware/spyware.

3) If software requires admin privileges to install (and asks for your password) be absolutely sure you trust the source of the software. I basically never install stuff that requires special permissions, because that indicates that either the developers don’t know how to make proper app bundles (dubious software quality), or they want to monitor your system (dubious intentions). It’s one reason I don’t bother with any Google software— last I checked it prompted for admin access.

4) As someone else noted, macOS is Unix-based. So, a lot of Linux software has been ported to run on it. This is sort of advanced, but the main 3rd party (Unix-like) package manager for macOS is called Homebrew. It’s great for command line utilities and tons of other stuff, but it may be daunting if you’re unfamiliar with terminal / shell / command line.

 

[spiderman0616]

Yes i was thinking the same thing, i was just reading at some other forums for audio, and didn’t find anything related for optimising. Just normal (use your brain) stuff. Thanks anyway and why doesn’t the damn X button close apps?!? 🤣🤣

You will adjust to differences like this quickly. That annoyed me at first too and I used CMD Q a lot to get around it, but modern Macs don't really need you to fully close apps. For example, I will close important Excel workbooks that I'm collaborating on with other people if I'm not going to work on them for a while just to make sure I don't accidentally do something to one of them, but I don't close actual Excel hardly ever. I just let the OS manage the RAM when it needs to.

It's so funny to look back to the old days and think of how resistant I was to switching from Windows to Mac. My son now has a gaming PC and I've used it a few times for Elden Ring. It's a very powerful machine and runs modern games pretty nicely. But using Windows itself.........I can't believe I fought so hard internally to justify staying on that OS.

To it's credit, in about the middle of its lifespan, Windows 7 was the pinnacle of Windows design and performance in my opinion and is still my favorite version of all time. I felt like later updates and service packs bogged it way down and made it unusable eventually, but that may have been a problem with my hardware. Either way, I wasn't liking the look of Windows 8 in beta, and I never used Windows full time again after that machine.

 

[exoticSpice]

The 14" MBP is a good mac.