# 16gb of RAM for Composing



## Phrygian6 (Jan 16, 2022)

Hey there guys!

I have a MacBook Pro 16gb of RAM with an M1 Pro processor. I own Nucleus, and I was wondering if 16gb of RAM will be limiting at some point. So I guess my question is, should I return this and get one with more RAM, or just use it until I reach a bottleneck and build a PC to use with VEPro whenever I eventually need it. I'd love to hear your feedback! I use Logic Pro X btw, I don't know if that matters. 

Thanks,

Cody


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## 3CPU (Jan 16, 2022)

Phrygian6 said:


> Hey there guys!
> 
> I have a MacBook Pro 16gb of RAM with an M1 Pro processor. I own Nucleus, and I was wondering if 16gb of RAM will be limiting at some point. So I guess my question is, should I return this and get one with more RAM, or just use it until I reach a bottleneck and build a PC to use with VEPro whenever I eventually need it. I'd love to hear your feedback! I use Logic Pro X btw, I don't know if that matters.
> 
> ...



Besides VEPro, what other plugins and mods you use with Nucleus, do they all run natively, and how much impact this will have on resources. 

32GB memory is the minimum for my intended use of high quality sampled VI, other users may want more than 32GB, I am considering 64GB for much larger VI projects, orchestral mock-ups.

Apple is yet to provide a new more powerful desktop processor that supports up to 256GB of memory. Meanwhile, the 10-core that supports up to 64GB memory is fine for many users and even better if running all plugins natively. 

Or you could wait until March/April 2022, which isn't that long to see if Apple has something new that satisfies your requirements. 

Comparing currently the latest high-end desktop with the Apple M1 10-core laptop, now that's impressive.... 
.



.


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## Wunderhorn (Jan 16, 2022)

16GB is gonna end in tears really fast. People really need to get off this M1 hype. Just because it is something new it does not mean it good (At least for media composer's needs)


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## anderslink (Jan 16, 2022)

Native applications perform really well on the m1 though. The CPU gives 3x performance over my old i7 4 core and if I use Keyscape I can get 5-10 times the instances I used to be able to - maybe it's mainly the increase to 64 gb of RAM. Kontakt just needs to get its update which is apparently in Beta but I haven't tried it yet. Currently Kontakt is definitely worse overall than any equivalent or even inferior Intel platform because of Rosetta. It takes too long to load each instance. If this is solved I think 32 / 64 GB will really prove this computer to be worth it.

Also I'm a bit confused what is the point of having a laptop with 16 gb of ram and VI Pro? Didn't you get the laptop to be portable?


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## Phrygian6 (Jan 16, 2022)

3CPU said:


> Besides VEPro, what other plugins and mods you use with Nucleus, do they all run natively, and how much impact this will have on resources.
> 
> 32GB memory is the minimum for my intended use of high quality sampled VI, other users may want more than 32GB, I am considering 64GB for much larger VI projects, orchestral mock-ups.
> 
> ...


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## 3CPU (Jan 16, 2022)

Phrygian6 said:


> I'd *love* to hear your feedback!


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## Nico5 (Jan 16, 2022)

Wunderhorn said:


> 16GB is gonna end in tears really fast. People really need to get off this M1 hype. Just because it is something new it does not mean it good (At least for media composer's needs)


Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say that for the use case under discussion too little RAM will become a show stopping bottleneck regardless of how good the CPU/GPU architecture is?

i.e. a rather classic/routine case of avoiding bottlenecks for the desired use cases, rather than the M1 not being pretty great.


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## thevisi0nary (Jan 17, 2022)

Wunderhorn said:


> 16GB is gonna end in tears really fast. People really need to get off this M1 hype. Just because it is something new it does not mean it good (At least for media composer's needs)


M1 is great but 16gb of SOC unified ram is not magic ram


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## Ruchir (Jan 17, 2022)

16GB of ram works fine for me on my composing PC. I also use a VEPro sample set up on another PC installed with 32GB.


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## thevisi0nary (Jan 17, 2022)

Ruchir said:


> 16GB of ram works fine for me on my composing PC. I also use a VEPro sample set up on another PC installed with 32GB.


It works fine when you have an additional computer with 32gb of ram lol. For a single machine with soldered ram I don't think 16gb is a good investment long term.


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## Mr Frodo (Jan 17, 2022)

Ruchir said:


> 16GB of ram works fine for me on my composing PC.


16GB is generally OK for me. Admittedly I'm only a hobbyist and occasionally I have to pre-render or freeze tracks in Reaper in order to keep things running smoothly, especially if I have about 16 or more tracks sounding at once (plus FX buses). But I rarely compose using more than 20-25 tracks anyway, so I'm happy with it for now. I'd need a new PC to get 32GB, and I can't justify that expense. 

Judging from other people's comments, though, if you want to make money at composing, 32GB sounds like the minimum. Maybe one day...


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## Ruchir (Jan 17, 2022)

thevisi0nary said:


> It works fine when you have an additional computer with 32gb of ram lol. For a single machine with soldered ram I don't think 16gb is a good investment long term.


Thought the OP Cody said that he was open to building a new PC using VEPro if he hit a bottleneck. Hence this scenario.


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## timbit2006 (Jan 17, 2022)

I'm using 21gb just to browse the internet!
I hate to say it but anyone saying 16gb is enough... sorry. RAM is so damned cheap now why not just max it out.


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## fakemaxwell (Jan 17, 2022)

timbit2006 said:


> I'm using 21gb just to browse the internet!
> I hate to say it but anyone saying 16gb is enough... sorry. RAM is so damned cheap now why not just max it out.


Unfortunately, for Apple user this isn't the case. It's 400 extra dollars to get 32GB in an M1 Macbook Pro, from a base of 8GB. 800 extra for 64GB.


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## Paul Cardon (Jan 17, 2022)

Counterpoint to "it's not enough" since everyone else already has good points:

I did all of the music, sound design, and final mixdowns on these 3 shorts with an AMD Athlon x4 950 and *6 GB of RAM* back in 2015-2016. (Every single bit is virtual instruments except for some live trombone on FishBowl)








If you're committed, smart about the libraries you use, smart about freezing and purging, and at least a _little_ bit crazy, anything is possible.

(Also speaking as someone who now has an Intel i9 and 96 GB of RAM.)

Obviously, those limitations added friction to every part of the process, required me to make many more intentional decisions and lose some ability to experiment, and you COMPLETELY lose the ability to build worthwhile templates (all 3 of those shorts started from empty projects), but where there's a will, there's a way.


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## Nico5 (Jan 17, 2022)

timbit2006 said:


> I'm using 21gb just to browse the internet!


21GB with just browsing? 

I'm getting only to about 7 GB with just operating system (including drivers and background processes) plus Firefox with a few open browser windows and tabs.


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## thevisi0nary (Jan 17, 2022)

Ruchir said:


> Thought the OP Cody said that he was open to building a new PC using VEPro if he hit a bottleneck. Hence this scenario.


Apparently I can’t read, sorry =(.


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## Faruh Al-Baghdadi (Jan 17, 2022)

Paul Cardon said:


> Counterpoint to "it's not enough" since everyone else already has good points:
> 
> I did all of the music, sound design, and final mixdowns on these 3 shorts with an AMD Athlon x4 950 and *6 GB of RAM* back in 2015-2016. (Every single bit is virtual instruments except for some live trombone on FishBowl)
> 
> ...



This 3rd video is the best thriller I've seen in the last few years.


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## KEM (Jan 18, 2022)

My MacBook Pro has 16gb of ram and it’s doing fine in that area, but I also have a VEP template on a PC that all my samples are on. If you go the VEP route the 16gb would be fine, but if you want everything on one machine you’ll absolutely need at least 64gb


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## mscp (Jan 18, 2022)

Phrygian6 said:


> Hey there guys!
> 
> I have a MacBook Pro 16gb of RAM with an M1 Pro processor. I own Nucleus, and I was wondering if 16gb of RAM will be limiting at some point. So I guess my question is, should I return this and get one with more RAM, or just use it until I reach a bottleneck and build a PC to use with VEPro whenever I eventually need it. I'd love to hear your feedback! I use Logic Pro X btw, I don't know if that matters.
> 
> ...


You can always freeze tracks if you're short of RAM. My tip is: If you need more RAM, think whether the investment is wise. If it's just a hobby: freeze tracks. If you're working on a paid project, write first and see if you can get away with 16gb ram only.


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## Alex Fraser (Jan 19, 2022)

You can offset the memory limitations to a certain degree if you lean on a (fast) SSD for streaming.

I run a 16gb machine for media production - and it's fine. All the usual suspects work. Just don't have any illusions on heavy orchestral arrangements with 5 mics on each part.


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## fadiese (May 26, 2022)

timbit2006 said:


> I'm using 21gb just to browse the internet!
> I hate to say it but anyone saying 16gb is enough... sorry. RAM is so damned cheap now why not just max it out.


Your web-browser is using 21GB because it can. The more RAM available, the more the web-browser will use memory. And because you have so much, there is no need to free it early. It doesn't mean that you can't browse with less RAM. On my laptop I have 4GB of RAM, and I often have 50+tabs open.


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## tony10000 (May 28, 2022)

Freeze your tracks and 16GB is just fine. And your system will run way faster without bogging down and you can use effects liberally to mix.


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## mauriziodececco (Jun 9, 2022)

My two cents: for composing, i have been using a 16Gb 2019 MacBook Pro 13" 4core since it came out; it substituted a 2010 Mac Pro with 12Gb. Never had a problem in my compositions, using 20-40 tracks, NI Komplete stuff, Arturia and Falcon. So, it is fine for the way i work.

But: I subscribed to EW Composer Cloud for a while, and when the new Hollywood Orchestrator came out, i tried it once; that was the first time i really saw my MBP on his knees, asking for merci. No way to actually use it, RAM full, CPU overload, everything 

So, it actually depends on what you do; i am currently thinking about upgrading, and on my budget i can buy either a full blown M2 Mac Book Air, or a reasonably configured Mac Studio, and i confess that i am really tempted by the fanless and cure MBA, even if with the Mac Studio you can go for world domination; after all, everything is in the use case.

A caveat: if you make money out of it, either to leave on, or just to complement your income, it is a completely different discussion.

Maurizio


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## termux (Jun 9, 2022)

timbit2006 said:


> I'm using 21gb just to browse the internet!
> I hate to say it but anyone saying 16gb is enough... sorry. RAM is so damned cheap now why not just max it out.


Is it a single Google Chrome?


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