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Mac Mini M1 External Storage/Audio Production Related Questions

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 30, 2014
167
19
London, UK
Hey Good People!

I have recently ordered a new M1 Mac Mini with the following spec...

Apple M1 Chip with 8‑Core CPU and 8‑Core GPU​

256GB Storage​

  • Apple M1 chip with 8‑core CPU, 8‑core GPU and 16‑core Neural Engine
  • 16GB unified memory
  • 256GB SSD storage
  • Gigabit Ethernet

I will be using this Mac mainly for Audio Production and it will be constantly connected to the following peripherals/equipment...

USB 2.0 - APPLE WIRED KEYBOARD & MOUSE

USB 2.0 - NATIVE INSTRUMENTS AUDIO INTERFACE

USB 2.0 - NATIVE INSTRUMENTS MIDI KEYBOARD CONTROLLER

USB 2.0 - iLOK USB LICENSE STICK

HDMI 2.0 - LG 1080P MONITOR

Okay...

So I have a 1TB Samsung T5 external SSD which I would like to create a bootable external system drive to run macOS Big Sur on.

This was simple and efficient on my previous Intel Mac Mini however I’ve not read much about how it works on a M1 Mac.

Does anyone have any experience with this and would be able to offer any advice?

Thanks!
 
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Sorry I can't help with the specifics of your question, as I don't have an M1 device.

You might well be already aware of this, however I should point out that while it might have made a lot of sense to have the T5 as your boot drive on your previous Mini, in the case of the M1 Mini using the T5 would seriously degrade the potential performance of the M1 platform.
The difference in speed between the T5 and the internal SSD is huge and this would (probably significantly) impact the performance of swap activity.

Samsung T5 = 540 MB/s
Internal M1 SSD = between 2.7 and 3.5 GB/s
 
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Thanks @Wando64

Yes, I am aware that the T5 would be significantly slower.

With the Intel Mac Mini I found the difference to be okay, great actually in my particular use case. I was just wondering if I would see a similar result from the M1 Mac Mini.

I’m not at all familiar with how the swap activity works but I guess it would not be as efficient with the T5 as using the internal drive?!?

I mainly use Logic Pro X and a good amount of AU Plugins. Would I be okay with just installing Logic on the internal drive and all of my third party plugins externally?

Thanks!
 
Miscellaneous said:
Thanks @Wando64

I mainly use Logic Pro X and a good amount of AU Plugins. Would I be okay with just installing Logic on the internal drive and all of my third party plugins externally?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I remember seeing information about this (I am also a Logic user) and I believe some people have achieved that, although it wasn't straight forward, but it was some time ago so things might have changed.

Actually, thinking of it, I think the issue was more about keeping the Logic libraries on a different drive.

You are better off asking this on a Logic specific forum such as : https://www.logicprohelp.com/forum/
 
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Hey @Wando64

Thanks for your replies! That’s awesome...I will have a read and see what would work best.

I believe that relocating the Logic Pro X content to an external drive is now much easier than it used to be.

I recently watched a video on YouTube which shows that you need only to install the app and the initial essential content.

You can then relocate the downloaded content from within the Logic app itself to external storage and any further downloaded content will automatically go to that folder on the external storage.

However, I have other AU Plugins such as Native Instruments Komplete, Arturia Analogue Lab 5, Reason Studios Rack so I would also have to install those libraries without creating a huge mess lol.

In the past I would just create a bootable external system SSD and install normally but as you’ve mentioned, I would likely see a huge performance hit with the Samsung T5 that I currently have.
 
I am probably a much heavier user than you, with much more heavy music libraries and need of 1 tb ssd. I am waiting until nov 2021, and would just advice you to do the same. Since your Mac Mini will last for 4 years or 6.

I plan to upgrade either SSD or RAM, and I am not sure if I can afford both, but it is still worth it. I made a 10 year plan for upgrading Mac, and recommend this. I CAN afford to upgrade both RAM and SSD if I stretch myself, because the price scheme on Macbook Pro and the iMac are much higher pr size of RAM and SSD. Therefore it is worth it to save your cash 6 months more to buy a higher machine, if you can give it back before you receive it. I do not know what your deadline is.

I have been looking to upgrade for 1 year, and I have a Macbook 2012 Pro and an Mac Pro 3,1. But I am endlessly stuck between Big Sur and SSD. I think I will do this:

I will keep my MEDIUM Music Studio on Macbook 2012 with Samsung SSD Disk.

And I will buy a Mac Mini and use it for only the best of projects. And I will skillfully device a system, how to use these systems together. As long as SSD are so expensive, I think I have to.


:: MY STASH::

I have a Macbook 2012 Pro with 1 TB SAMSUNG SSD
Mac Pro 3,1 which is not updated with anything yet
 
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Media Pimp said:
I have the same config you purchased along with a 1TB T5 SSD. I have Logic Pro installed on the internal and the libraries are all installed on the T5. Works without issue. It's extremely simple to relocate the sound library to the external drive.
Click to expand...
Hey @Media Pimp

Just out of interest, how did you go about setting this up in terms of formatting the Samsung T5 SSD?

What I've done is I completely erased the drive with APFS/GUID format via Disk Utility and renamed it SSD EXT so that it can be used as external storage for Data/Sound Libraries/Samples etc.

Cheers!
 
Miscellaneous said:
Hey @Media Pimp

Just out of interest, how did you go about setting this up in terms of formatting the Samsung T5 SSD?

What I've done is I completely erased the drive with APFS/GUID format via Disk Utility and renamed it SSD EXT so that it can be used as external storage for Data/Sound Libraries/Samples etc.

Cheers!
Click to expand...
That's pretty much what I did as well (different drive name though). I also use it the drive to store my photo library.
 
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Hi @Media Pimp

Thanks! Okay, so I should be good!

I plan to connect the Samsung T5 via a USB-A port. I will use a 4 Port Anker USB 3 Dongle in the other USB-A port to connect the Wired Keyboard/Mouse and iLok, Audio Interface & Midi Controller via the 2 USB-C/TB3 ports.

Much Appreciated!
 
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@Miscellaneous I have mine plugged into an Element Hub (CalDigit). Easily one of my best purchases. I would make sure that you'll be able to take full advantage of the T5's speed. I'm not familiar with Anker products myself.
 
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@Media Pimp

I just saw the CalDigit hub on Amazon UK, looks quite handy but probably overkill for my requirements.

I'll see how I get on, still waiting for the Mac Mini M1 to be delivered this week.
 
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