Which MacBook for casual music production?

[roccobladr]

I’m looking to step up my game in casual music production. I currently use my 10.5 iPad Pro with my guitar/bass going through an iRig HD2 into GarageBand.

This work flow has gotten them job done, but it’s getting too cramped working on the iPad. I typically don’t have more than like 10-15 tracks at a time.

My 2011 MacBook Air barely turns on anymore, so I’m looking to upgrade but don’t want to blow too much money.

What’s the best bang for buck for music production?

Does the base M1 MacBook Air get the job done?

I much prefer the m2 design, but will the slower SSD of the base model be a deal breaker for music production in GarageBand/logic?

Do I go for the M1 MacBook Pro for the fan?

 

[BrianBaughn]

I wouldn't want a slower SSD but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't affect the running of either GarageBand or Logic until there's a pretty high audio track count.

When I eventually upgrade to Apple Silicon (I use Logic Pro) I think my main concern with the Mac itself will be the amount of RAM as I sometimes use virtual instruments that take up quite a bit. Having said that, I'm not sure if LP on Apple Silicon uses RAM in the same way as Intel.

The fan question (cooling)…I don't know. Maybe someone can chime in.

This might be a good question for the folks at Logic Pro Help…or perhaps it has already been discussed there.

Logic Pro

Ask all your Logic Pro questions here.

www.logicprohelp.com

 

[polaris20]

I’m looking to step up my game in casual music production. I currently use my 10.5 iPad Pro with my guitar/bass going through an iRig HD2 into GarageBand.

This work flow has gotten them job done, but it’s getting too cramped working on the iPad. I typically don’t have more than like 10-15 tracks at a time.

My 2011 MacBook Air barely turns on anymore, so I’m looking to upgrade but don’t want to blow too much money.

What’s the best bang for buck for music production?

Does the base M1 MacBook Air get the job done?

I much prefer the m2 design, but will the slower SSD of the base model be a deal breaker for music production in GarageBand/logic?

Do I go for the M1 MacBook Pro for the fan?

The Air is more than fine for that usage. It's not going to even breath heavy at 15-20 tracks.

 

[roccobladr]

The Air is more than fine for that usage. It's not going to even breath heavy at 15-20 tracks.

Do you think the slower SSD of the M2 would make A noticeable impact when recording or producing?

 

[unrigestered]

This wasn’t an issue on spinning disks and even that somewhat “gimped“ SSD is magnitudes faster (it’s also still faster than some SSDs from just a couple of years ago)

 

[MajorFubar]

Do you think the slower SSD of the M2 would make A noticeable impact when recording or producing?

No, even the 'gimped' 256GB SSD on the M2 Air will absolutely obliterate your iPad Pro in terms of speed.

That said if money is an issue the M1 Air is a safe bet. However as an audio person I'd try to buy the 512GB because I think you'll quickly start hitting boundaries with the 256GB version of either, as soon as you get into creating more and more on a Mac and swallowing up the SSD space. If you choose to also download the full library virtual synths, you'll eat away a quarter of what's left of the 256GB, just for starters.

 

[roccobladr]

No, even the 'gimped' 256GB SSD on the M2 Air will absolutely obliterate your iPad Pro in terms of speed.

That said if money is an issue the M1 Air is a safe bet. However as an audio person I'd try to buy the 512GB because I think you'll quickly start hitting boundaries with the 256GB version of either, as soon as you get into creating more and more on a Mac and swallowing up the SSD space. If you choose to also download the full library virtual synths, you'll eat away a quarter of what's left of the 256GB, just for starters.

You bring up a good point. I have a lot of the GarageBand packs downloaded on my ipad, but I imagine the various synths and virtual drums etc take up more space. I was trying to get away with maybe using an external if needed, but the 512 might be a better bet for my long term needs.

 

[MajorFubar]

You bring up a good point. I have a lot of the GarageBand packs downloaded on my ipad, but I imagine the various synths and virtual drums etc take up more space. I was trying to get away with maybe using an external if needed, but the 512 might be a better bet for my long term needs.

Logic will let you store content on external drives but sadly GarageBand will not, unless you want to start hacking around with aliases. I think in this instance it's best just to play the game Apple wants you to play and just buy the bigger internal drive.

A few warnings and tips before you migrate to Mac:

1 - Not all iPad soundpacks are available in MacOS GB.
2 - Any iPad projects you open in MacOS GB are on a one way trip: you can't save them and at some point re-edit them in iPad GB.
3 - Obvious but I'll say it anyway: any iPad-specific third-party plugins won't work on the Mac: you'll need to convert those tracks to audio with the effects 'baked in'.
4 - MacOS GB lacks the Beat Sequencer, Live Loops (though both are in Logic, bizarrely) and smart instruments.
5 - Gonna blow your mind this, but on MacOS GB you can automate literally everything you can see, and some things you can't, not just track volume.
6 - The virtual amps are way more flexible in MacOS GB, and it even has a fully-fledged pedal-board with a whole rackfull of pedals 'stolen' directly from Logic.
7 - There is virtually no track limit unless you consider 256 tracks to be a limit.
8 - Apple's 'Logic Remote' on your iPad also works on GB, and will give you access to a wifi-connected mixing console as well as 'some' smart instruments.

 

[roccobladr]

Logic will let you store content on external drives but sadly GarageBand will not, unless you want to start hacking around with aliases. I think in this instance it's best just to play the game Apple wants you to play and just buy the bigger internal drive.

A few warnings and tips before you migrate to Mac:

1 - Not all iPad soundpacks are available in MacOS GB.
2 - Any iPad projects you open in MacOS GB are on a one way trip: you can't save them and at some point re-edit them in iPad GB.
3 - Obvious but I'll say it anyway: any iPad-specific third-party plugins won't work on the Mac: you'll need to convert those tracks to audio with the effects 'baked in'.
4 - MacOS GB lacks the Beat Sequencer, Live Loops (though both are in Logic, bizarrely) and smart instruments.
5 - Gonna blow your mind this, but on MacOS GB you can automate literally everything you can see, and some things you can't, not just track volume.
6 - The virtual amps are way more flexible in MacOS GB, and it even has a fully-fledged pedal-board with a whole rackfull of pedals 'stolen' directly from Logic.
7 - There is virtually no track limit unless you consider 256 tracks to be a limit.
8 - Apple's 'Logic Remote' on your iPad also works on GB, and will give you access to a wifi-connected mixing console as well as 'some' smart instruments.

Thanks for the info! I feel like I might even hold off on buying Logic and just stick with GarageBand on Mac until I really feel bottlenecked.

 

[MajorFubar]

Thanks for the info! I feel like I might even hold off on buying Logic and just stick with GarageBand on Mac until I really feel bottlenecked.

Seasoned Logic user here. I have a client who basically just sings vocals to downloaded backing tracks off YouTube and uses them to build her portfolio as a pub/club singer. I think we've recorded over 200 so far. I used Mac GarageBand for every single one of them, because its workflows for tracking (recording) are just way easier than Logic. Out of the two apps, Logic is the undisputed king for production and mastering, but the problem is, because it's cheap, way too many people buy it before they're ready for it, and its complexities hold them back, even if they don't really know that.

TLDR = wise move.

 

[roccobladr]

Bumping this thread with another question: how much space do GarageBand tracks take up on Mac? Will I quickly regret the base model? Finding it hard to pull the trigger on the 512gb storage

 

[MajorFubar]

That's a bit of a 'how long is a piece of string' question, because it depends how long you record, and what you record.

From an audio perspective, GB records in CD quality audio (44.1kHz / 16bit) so assuming my maths it right that's 150KB per second for each stereo track. So technically you might need a fair bit of space to record complex long pieces with many tracks, but remember you can shuffle the completed projects to an external storage device once you've finished them,you don't need to keep them on your hard drive.

For MIDI, the projects take much less space, because GB isn't recording the audio unless you freeze some tracks. However if you anticipate using MIDI instruments mostly, you'll probably end up wanting to install lots of plugins and third-party virtual instruments, which will all work best on the internal drive and tend to consume a lot of space, especially if you buy instruments with huge sample libraries like sampled pianos.

 

[polaris20]

Bumping this thread with another question: how much space do GarageBand tracks take up on Mac? Will I quickly regret the base model? Finding it hard to pull the trigger on the 512gb storage

I'd lean towards 512, but also bear in mind that you can save GB files to an external drive as well.

 

[roccobladr]

In case anyone was wondering, I ended up biting the bullet and splurged on the 14” M1 pro with 16gb RAM and 512 storage. The recent deal was too good to pass up and alleviated any concerns. Thanks for all the help!