New Mac for Jazz recording

[twotoedsloth]

Hello,

I appreciate you taking the time to read this message, I know there are probably dozens of questions like this.

We need a new Mac computer (I tried to talk them into Linux Mint, got shot down quickly). This would be to record student recitals.

We would need a maximum of 16 channels, at the moment using a Soundcraft Signature 22MTK, but that might change to a Yamaha TF1, depending on whom we hire to do these recordings.

I was thinking that the new Macbook Air with 16 gigs of RAM and 512 gig SSD would do the job nicely. But my assistant is insisting that the Macbook Air is not suitable for recording, and we should go for the 13" Macbook Pro. Looking at the specs they seem to be nearly identical, just the Air has a lower capacity battery and a much smaller power supply.

Please let me know what you think? Am I missing something critical in terms of Air vs MBP?

Many thanks,

Peter

[muzines]

Did your assistant give you an actual reason why they considered the Air unsuitable?

[shufflebeat]

Did your assistant give you an actual reason why they considered the Air unsuitable?

Maybe more suited to recording Phil Collins.

[muzines]

Maybe more suited to recording Phil Collins.

Because it has no fans?

[Luke W]

Maybe more suited to recording Phil Collins.

Because it has no fans?

Savage

But yes, recording 16 tracks of audio doesn't ask very much from a computer, especially by today's standards. I'd be surprised if an Air struggled with that.

[MOF]

I’ll probably be buying the new 13” MBP but does your assistant know that it has fans in it, albeit extremely quiet and most times not active because it’s so thermally efficient.

[twotoedsloth]

Hello,

Many thanks for your responses.

My assistant is a mac evangelist, and she knows their product lines well. Maybe because of the fan she prefers the Macbook Pro. It would be horrible if during a student recital the computer dropped out of record mode due to overheating.

I'll ask her when she gets in on Thursday morning.

Thank you for your guidance,

Peter

[shufflebeat]

Maybe more suited to recording Phil Collins.

Because it has no fans?

Savage

Brutal - but funny

I was thinking more about putting some Phil Collins in the Air.

(Duh-duh, duh-duh, duh-duh, duh-duhduhduh!)

...tonight.

A bit more gentle but not half as chuckleworthy.

[CS70]

Maybe more suited to recording Phil Collins.

Because it has no fans?

The virtual hat is duly taken off

[muzines]

My assistant is a mac evangelist, and she knows their product lines well. Maybe because of the fan she prefers the Macbook Pro. It would be horrible if during a student recital the computer dropped out of record mode due to overheating.

Edit: I think the fan thing was purely conjecture on your part, and you didn't actually get a reason from her as to why, so I've removed my previous comment. You won't get fan noise, or overheating, on these at all. Even the one without the fan... They are phenominal. Either would work fine for your needs.

Don't buy any other Mac running Intel chips at this point in time, fwiw... Unless you *want* fan noise, and overheating...

[muzines]

BTW It was a Facetious comment about Phil, played unfairly just for laughs. I like him. and he's done great work.

It was just that that response was simply pithy-er and funnier than my first response, so I went with it...

[Luke W]

You saw your chance... Too good not to.

[shufflebeat]

Sometimes the crime is worth the time. To do otherwise would be disrespectful to the craic.

[twotoedsloth]

Hello all,

I'm not sure I understand you here Desmond, when you say "Don't buy any other Mac running Intel chips at this point in time, fwiw... Unless you *want* fan noise, and overheating..."

Do you mean I should NOT purchase an Intel based Mac? Or should I stick to the older line of the Macbook Air or Pro?

I would broadly agree that fan noise and overheating are not desirable.

Sorry for being so dense.

Peter

[Luke W]

I'm not sure I understand you here Desmond, when you say "Don't buy any other Mac running Intel chips at this point in time, fwiw... Unless you *want* fan noise, and overheating..."

Do you mean I should NOT purchase an Intel based Mac? Or should I stick to the older line of the Macbook Air or Pro?

I would broadly agree that fan noise and overheating are not desirable.

I'm sure you'll get an answer from Desmond directly, but I assume the advice is as you've said, to avoid the Intel based machines. They run far hotter than the newer models using Apples own CPU, it's one of the reasons for Apple moving away from them.

[muzines]

I'm not sure I understand you here Desmond, when you say "Don't buy any other Mac running Intel chips at this point in time, fwiw... Unless you *want* fan noise, and overheating..."

Sorry, I thought that was fairly clear.

- Anything other than the current/latest Air or 13" MBP have Intel chips in them.
- Don't buy them.
- They are power hungry, hot, slow, and will make the fans run.

If you do get one of the current machines, you'll need to check compatability for both Big Sur and the M1 chip with whatever software you want to use. But your Mac expert should be able to guide you through all this if you're not sure of what's what.

[twotoedsloth]

Thanks very much.

I will insist on an M1 based 13" Macbook Pro with 16 gigs of RAM.

I trust that Logic will work out of the box? We will eventually want to run Pro Tools (not my choice), but to record student recitals Logic will do just fine for now.

Much appreciated.

Peter

[muzines]

Yes, Logic 10.6.x will work out of the box.

Check compatibility with your audio interface though.

[MOF]

Yes, Logic 10.6.x will work out of the box.

Check compatibility with your audio interface though.

And any third party plugins within Logic.
I did however see one video where he ran eveything in Rosetta mode, they all worked and it (M1 MBP 13”) was still very fast.

[muzines]

And any third party plugins within Logic.

Indeed, third-party plugin support on Big Sur is still early days. However, for recording purposes, it's probably not too much of an issue.

[twotoedsloth]

Thanks everyone for your advice.

Quick question: Does a new Macbook only run Big Sur? Or can it be rolled back to Catalina (or earlier)?

Best wishes,

Peter

[muzines]

Big Sur only - it's a completely new hardware architecture, previous OS's will not work on completely different hardware.