Mac Mini for Music Production

[TimeWaster101]

I'm putting together a simple home studio to do some recording and music production. Its time to get a new Mac. I've done a lot of research on the new M2 Mac Mini and M2 Pro Mac Mini. I have a few questions maybe someone with better experience can answer:

1. Between the $1000 upgraded M2 Mac Mini (16 GB RAM, 512 SSD) and $1300 base M2 Pro Mac Mini, is the additional processor cores and gpu cores worth it in the context of music production? I know you also get multiple monitor support, more thunderbolt ports, etc. but from just a performance standpoint is the extra $300 worth it here?

2. Is 16 GB enough for running Ableton Live and a bunch of plugins? Am I going to be heavily using Swap?

Thanks

 

[rm5]

Hey, @TimeWaster101 ! Hopefully I can help ya out here.

Cores matter. I was just working on a huge orchestral action-type cue today (which sounds absolutely dope by the way!) on my 5,1 Mac Pro (6-core), and I noticed it was hitting a wall pretty quick with 32 tracks. Now, I would notice a difference between 8 and 12 cores (M2 vs. upgraded M2 Pro), but if you get just the base M2 Pro with 10 cores, that wouldn't make much sense to me - just because it seems like the difference would be minimal. Attached is a screenshot of the CPU usage I was seeing while playing back this large production. Again, this was on an Intel Mac, but I'd be curious to test this production out on my M1. I wouldn't worry too much about GPU cores.

RAM matters. I would definitely get 24 GB if getting an M2, or 32 GB with an M2 Pro. I saw myself using around 19 GB of RAM (total—Logic was using ~3.5 GB) when working on this track. I have 32 GB in my 5,1, and 16 GB in my M1 MBA—I generally don't produce anymore on my MBA because of the lack of RAM—I do have issues with swap on that machine.

EDIT: A question for you—what kind of producing are you planning to do? Big orchestral stuff like me, or more simple stuff?

EDIT #2: The screenshot of the production was taken BEFORE any processing was done—so no reverb, etc. But I generally assign reverb to a bus to save CPU anyway.

What other questions do you have? I hang around these forums fairly often so let me know if you need anything else!!

 

[fisherking]

am running logic pro (for a living) on an m2 pro mini; 16gb ram, 512g drive (i store archived projects on an external). no orchestral work; mostly pop, electronic stuff... and i mix some rock band stuff as well.

no issues, no fan noise (that amazes me, after my intel imac experience), and all is well. 16gb should be the minimum, tho...

 

[Nbd1790]

You should be fine, although you should splurge on whatever upgrades you can if production is something you take seriously. Most people (not all) buy these machines and keep them for a long time. In a perfect world, you would ideally go with the M2 Pro paired with 32gb of RAM and you would have a powerhouse of a machine that you wouldn't have to think twice about your processing power. Not to mention, you would be future proofed for quite a while.

If you're budget is tight, I would say go with the M2 and 24gb of RAM. A lot of it depends on the complexity of your projects, but generally speaking that would be a great config. This video pertains to the M2 Pro base config but might give you some insight. Hope this helps!

 

[fisherking]

i'd go for power (the m2 pro) over ram (ie 16gb min, but not 32 unless you can budget it). if you're using serious orchestral libraries, 24 or 32gb ram is worth it, but if you're doing simpler productions, 16gb will do fine (at least, it works here without issue).

 

[TimeWaster101]

Thanks to each of you for chiming in I really appreciate the different perspectives. It’s hard to know what I’ll need as I’m just getting into music production as a hobby. I’m sure it will start simple. The question is how complex will it get? Part of me thinks I buy more conservatively because I may not need the extra power and if it becomes something I’m spending tons of time doing and pushing the bounds of the hardware then maybe I sell and upgrade. But it’s possible I could pay for specs I don’t need. I’m a guitar player and can play simple stuff on a keyboard. So I reckon at first I’m only going to be using a few tracks and plugins. I would like to work my way up to more and more layers and maybe even make some electronic music.

 

[Ben J.]

Thanks to each of you for chiming in I really appreciate the different perspectives. It’s hard to know what I’ll need as I’m just getting into music production as a hobby. I’m sure it will start simple. The question is how complex will it get? Part of me thinks I buy more conservatively because I may not need the extra power and if it becomes something I’m spending tons of time doing and pushing the bounds of the hardware then maybe I sell and upgrade. But it’s possible I could pay for specs I don’t need. I’m a guitar player and can play simple stuff on a keyboard. So I reckon at first I’m only going to be using a few tracks and plugins. I would like to work my way up to more and more layers and maybe even make some electronic music.

In that case, a base model M2 mini w/16GB ram is all you need. I run mixing sessions in Pro Tools on mine, and it's a powerhouse. And completely silent - which means a lot when you work with audio. So much computer for the money. And in most cases you'll want to get a small'ish internal drive, ie 512, and use your money on less expensive NVMe drives in true Thunderbolt 3/4 enclosures.

No need now to buy a computer to last for a long time, as there will likely be coming more leaps in computing power in the next few years.

 

[rm5]

Thanks to each of you for chiming in I really appreciate the different perspectives. It’s hard to know what I’ll need as I’m just getting into music production as a hobby. I’m sure it will start simple. The question is how complex will it get? Part of me thinks I buy more conservatively because I may not need the extra power and if it becomes something I’m spending tons of time doing and pushing the bounds of the hardware then maybe I sell and upgrade. But it’s possible I could pay for specs I don’t need. I’m a guitar player and can play simple stuff on a keyboard. So I reckon at first I’m only going to be using a few tracks and plugins. I would like to work my way up to more and more layers and maybe even make some electronic music.

Right. It sounds like you're just getting started in production, and thus, you won't need a ton of power, which I wasn't aware of before. Heck, I used a 2012 Mac mini as my production machine for almost two years before upgrading! It sounds like you're just gonna be playing your guitar/keyboard for now, so that's all the power you'll need—if you decide to get into film/media composing with large orchestral libraries that use several GBs of RAM like me, then you'll upgrade. To me that's not super complicated. Now obviously if you end up doing demo reels, that'll be another story, because then you'll need to give 'em all you got (which usually means having MASSIVE productions)... but that's a completely different topic for a completely different thread.

Lemme let you in on something: it took me YEARS before I actually NEEDED the computing power I do now, because it took me YEARS to build up my collection of relatively high-end sample libraries. I've been producing in some form or another since I was like 6 years old, and it wasn't until I was 16 that I had a reason to have a more powerful machine.

 

[Ben J.]

And if you want to save some money, you can get a second hand 2020 M1 mini - they should be quite cheap now, but I assure you the power is almost that of the 2023 M2. I had the M1 before, and they're both so powerful that it's actually quite difficult to notice the difference.

 

[rm5]

am running logic pro (for a living) on an m2 pro mini; 16gb ram, 512g drive (i store archived projects on an external). no orchestral work; mostly pop, electronic stuff... and i mix some rock band stuff as well.

no issues, no fan noise (that amazes me, after my intel imac experience), and all is well. 16gb should be the minimum, tho...

I did not know you were a producer/musician also, that's really cool! I'm glad the M2 Pro Mac mini is working for you—that's something I've considered as my next computer, other than a Mac Studio. Anyway... glad we're helping the OP make a step in the right direction.

 

[fisherking]

I did not know you were a producer/musician also, that's really cool! I'm glad the M2 Pro Mac mini is working for you—that's something I've considered as my next computer, other than a Mac Studio. Anyway... glad we're helping the OP make a step in the right direction.

i could do all my work on my previous 2019 i7 imac (only dealing with loud fans on bouncing dense projects), so seemed logical 😉 that the m2 mini could easily handle my work... and it does. no stresses, no fans, and it's fast, stable.

my best work experience with a mac ever 👍

 

[TimeWaster101]

These are super helpful details! Thanks guys. I guess my only concern then with going with the $1000 upgraded M2 (16 gb ram + 512 SDD) is the concern that if I needed to sell it would have worse resale value than the $1300 m2 pro. :/
Decisions decisions. Apple always makes it so you want to go for the next upgrade. The psychology that goes into their pricing tiers lol

 

[Yebubbleman]

I'm putting together a simple home studio to do some recording and music production. Its time to get a new Mac. I've done a lot of research on the new M2 Mac Mini and M2 Pro Mac Mini. I have a few questions maybe someone with better experience can answer:

1. Between the $1000 upgraded M2 Mac Mini (16 GB RAM, 512 SSD) and $1300 base M2 Pro Mac Mini, is the additional processor cores and gpu cores worth it in the context of music production? I know you also get multiple monitor support, more thunderbolt ports, etc. but from just a performance standpoint is the extra $300 worth it here?

2. Is 16 GB enough for running Ableton Live and a bunch of plugins? Am I going to be heavily using Swap?

Thanks

The M2 vs. M2 Pro debate comes down to how serious you plan on doing music production. I do think that you ought to get as much RAM as you can (because RAM helps with what you're doing and you cannot add more after the fact like you could on some Intel models). I'd also get a 1TB drive (partially because you can't add it after the fact, but also for added flexibility down the road).

 

[fisherking]

The M2 vs. M2 Pro debate comes down to how serious you plan on doing music production. I do think that you ought to get as much RAM as you can (because RAM helps with what you're doing and you cannot add more after the fact like you could on some Intel models). I'd also get a 1TB drive (partially because you can't add it after the fact, but also for added flexibility down the road).

i dunno, i am doing pro work with 16gb ram (just as i did with my intel imac). and storage? especially with a desktop, it's easy to add external drives for additional storage.

 

[TimeWaster101]

Ugh I think I'm overthinking this. But now I'm leaning between
$1200 Regular M2 + 24gb RAM + 512 SSD
or
$1300 m2 pro + 16 GB RAM + 512 SSD

Seems like pro's of the first is a little cheaper, probably plenty of performance but more RAM increases multitasking and plugin/track count and in some ways this machine *might* be more future proof with the extra ram.
Pro's of the second is obviously more raw performance (and quite a bit I might add) so anything that is not using too much ram will run faster. Seems like most of the time this would be the case but when you need the extra ram its not there?

I did go play with a Macbook Pro 16 M2 Pro with 16 gb ram at best buy and I had a to open a ton of youtube videos, apps, apple video, logic pro, imovie, and have a things all playing back at the same time to get yellow memory pressure but still never saw a single bit of swap. So it does seem like that 16 gb goes a long way for Apple applications.
But I am a little concerned since I'll be using Ableton Live and third party plugins maybe they won't be as optimized and might need more memory and not make use of the extra processor cores.

Also does the difference between the 100 vs 200 GB/s memory bandwidth between the M2 and M2pro really matter or play into deciding between these two?

 

[Yebubbleman]

i dunno, i am doing pro work with 16gb ram (just as i did with my intel imac). and storage? especially with a desktop, it's easy to add external drives for additional storage.

External storage will never be as fast as internal storage, though. But to each their own.

 

[fisherking]

External storage will never be as fast as internal storage, though. But to each their own.

sure, but? i have, for years (on my intel imac and now my m2 pro mini) archived older projects on an external (gasp) hard drive (the spinning disk kind).

occasionally, i'll work on something on one of those files right off the external drive, and have never had an issue (since the project loads into ram). just mentioning

 

[rm5]

occasionally, i'll work on something on one of those files right off the external drive, and have never had an issue (since the project loads into ram). just mentioning

Adding to your point: I have all my sample libraries (including the Logic sounds) on my external SSD, because my internal drive just doesn't have enough space for my 500 GB and growing sample collection.

 

[TimeWaster101]

Well I decided to go ahead and order the M2 Pro Mac Mini with 16 GB RAM and 512 SSD. I figure if I get way into this and the machine starts choking then by that point I can sell and upgrade. But I have a feeling this will do more than I need it to.

 

[rm5]

Well I decided to go ahead and order the M2 Pro Mac Mini with 16 GB RAM and 512 SSD. I figure if I get way into this and the machine starts choking then by that point I can sell and upgrade. But I have a feeling this will do more than I need it to.

Good choice I think! Keep us posted as to how your experience is!!

 

[fisherking]

Well I decided to go ahead and order the M2 Pro Mac Mini with 16 GB RAM and 512 SSD. I figure if I get way into this and the machine starts choking then by that point I can sell and upgrade. But I have a feeling this will do more than I need it to.

that's what i have, and logic hasn't blinked, stuttered, crashed (well, once) or whined yet. and no fans. and am working on some dense projects...

 

[StoneJack]

These are super helpful details! Thanks guys. I guess my only concern then with going with the $1000 upgraded M2 (16 gb ram + 512 SDD) is the concern that if I needed to sell it would have worse resale value than the $1300 m2 pro. :/
Decisions decisions. Apple always makes it so you want to go for the next upgrade. The psychology that goes into their pricing tiers lol

go with M1 16gb and 512SSD and save money for Logic Pro. Believe me you'd be happy with the choice. I own both M2 MBA and M1 Mac mini and difference in CPU power is negligible for hobby music projects but you will have much better value with m1

 

[Ben J.]

go with M1 16gb and 512SSD and save money for Logic Pro. Believe me you'd be happy with the choice. I own both M2 MBA and M1 Mac mini and difference in CPU power is negligible for hobby music projects but you will have much better value with m1

I totally agree. The M1 16GB for half the price of M2pro - and use that money on software and plugins.

 

[TimeWaster101]

I almost went M1 or M2. But I got to thinking about it and I think there's a good possibility I will want to do some video editing with it and some photo and graphics editing so this gives me a little more flexibility and in general will just be a longer lasting machine (I hope). But I do think I would have been fine with the base M1 or M2 mini. I can't believe how fast all these machines have become.

 

[Ben J.]

I almost went M1 or M2. But I got to thinking about it and I think there's a good possibility I will want to do some video editing with it and some photo and graphics editing so this gives me a little more flexibility and in general will just be a longer lasting machine (I hope). But I do think I would have been fine with the base M1 or M2 mini. I can't believe how fast all these machines have become.

Yea, you're good. You do what's best for you. Good luck.