# IMac 27" 2020 for orchestral production? How much storage? MacBook or iMac?



## David Han (Sep 7, 2020)

Hi! I'm looking to buy a new computer for semi-professional orchestral production. A few questions for the tech experts on this website!

1. How is the new iMac 27" 2020 for orchestral music? Anyone here using it? I'm planning on going with the i7 with 8GB RAM, which I'll upgrade to 32GB myself. That'll probably be enough for my music.

2. 512GB or 1TB? I'm going to keep all my libraries on a separate SSD (if anyone has recommendations for an SSD, please tell me!). Will 512GB be enough for project files/documents/pictures/everyday browsing?

3. MacBook Pro or iMac? I'm considering a laptop as well since I'm a student. Can it handle big projects? How portable is the MBP 16"? Which one will worth more in the long run? 

Thank you in advance for helping me out!


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## rnb_2 (Sep 8, 2020)

From what I've seen, the 2020 i7 iMac is an excellent base for orchestral composing. My gut feeling is that 512GB should be enough for most composers, given the typical use of external drives for sample storage, but that depends on how big your photo/media libraries are.

One thing to help with drive usage is to add a small volume to the internal drive (*not a partition* - APFS makes this trivial) - say 30-50GB - if you have a sizable Photos library and store it there, using the "Optimize Mac storage"setting. This will keep the library from eating up all of your free space on the system drive.

You will certainly get more for your money with the iMac - the fastest 8-core 16" MBP is $1k more expensive than the i7 iMac (partly because you have to pay Apple's RAM prices to get 32GB), and is ~30% slower. Whether mobility makes up for that is up to you - I find the 15/16" size unwieldy, personally.


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## David Han (Oct 19, 2020)

rnb_2 said:


> From what I've seen, the 2020 i7 iMac is an excellent base for orchestral composing. My gut feeling is that 512GB should be enough for most composers, given the typical use of external drives for sample storage, but that depends on how big your photo/media libraries are.
> 
> One thing to help with drive usage is to add a small volume to the internal drive (*not a partition* - APFS makes this trivial) - say 30-50GB - if you have a sizable Photos library and store it there, using the "Optimize Mac storage"setting. This will keep the library from eating up all of your free space on the system drive.
> 
> You will certainly get more for your money with the iMac - the fastest 8-core 16" MBP is $1k more expensive than the i7 iMac (partly because you have to pay Apple's RAM prices to get 32GB), and is ~30% slower. Whether mobility makes up for that is up to you - I find the 15/16" size unwieldy, personally.


Thank you for your very helpful answer! I decided to go with the 27” iMac and I love it! I chose the 1TB option since I do a little bit of video editing on the side but if it wasn’t for that, 512GB would’ve definitely worked. I think it will for most composers as well. But yes, for anyone considering the 27” iMac, it’s a great machine for orchestral music and I have no regrets yet!


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## rnb_2 (Oct 19, 2020)

David Han said:


> Thank you for your very helpful answer! I decided to go with the 27” iMac and I love it! I chose the 1TB option since I do a little bit of video editing on the side but if it wasn’t for that, 512GB would’ve definitely worked. I think it will for most composers as well. But yes, for anyone considering the 27” iMac, it’s a great machine for orchestral music and I have no regrets yet!



Congratulations on the new iMac! Glad I could be of some help.


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## Minsky (Jan 4, 2022)

rnb_2 said:


> From what I've seen, the 2020 i7 iMac is an excellent base for orchestral composing. My gut feeling is that 512GB should be enough for most composers, given the typical use of external drives for sample storage, but that depends on how big your photo/media libraries are.
> 
> One thing to help with drive usage is to add a small volume to the internal drive (*not a partition* - APFS makes this trivial) - say 30-50GB - if you have a sizable Photos library and store it there, using the "Optimize Mac storage"setting. This will keep the library from eating up all of your free space on the system drive.
> 
> You will certainly get more for your money with the iMac - the fastest 8-core 16" MBP is $1k more expensive than the i7 iMac (partly because you have to pay Apple's RAM prices to get 32GB), and is ~30% slower. Whether mobility makes up for that is up to you - I find the 15/16" size unwieldy, personally.


Rick, I'm just wondering.. I'll probably be heading down the iMac i9 route..as my 5,1 MP is reaching the end. I'm just wondering if you might know / be able to signpost me to external SDD configurations. I reckon I might need as much as 16TB for samples and projects. It looks like I'll be ending up with a few hubs etc as I have some outboard gear and the iMac isn't so strong on connectivity as the MP. Don't worry if this sin't anything you've thought about or cared to think about, just thought I'd ask on the offchance, having found your answer to David here.


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## Elrik Settee (Jan 4, 2022)

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that should help...


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## jbuhler (Jan 4, 2022)

Minsky said:


> Rick, I'm just wondering.. I'll probably be heading down the iMac i9 route..as my 5,1 MP is reaching the end. I'm just wondering if you might know / be able to signpost me to external SDD configurations. I reckon I might need as much as 16TB for samples and projects. It looks like I'll be ending up with a few hubs etc as I have some outboard gear and the iMac isn't so strong on connectivity as the MP. Don't worry if this sin't anything you've thought about or cared to think about, just thought I'd ask on the offchance, having found your answer to David here.


I have the i9 iMac with 128GB and have two OWC Thunderbays for serving samples. They hold 4 SSDs each. In addition I have a bunch of USB 3 hard drives for back up and other needs. I haven’t had any issues with dropouts or anything running with 256 buffer. DFD in Kontakt is set at 18.


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## Jett Hitt (Jan 4, 2022)

jbuhler said:


> I have the i9 iMac with 128GB and have two OWC Thunderbays for serving samples. They hold 4 SSDs each. In addition I have a bunch of USB 3 hard drives for back up and other needs. I haven’t had any issues with dropouts or anything running with 256 buffer. DFD in Kontakt is set at 18.


Which Thunderbays do you have?


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## jbuhler (Jan 4, 2022)

Jett Hitt said:


> Which Thunderbays do you have?


A TB2 mini and a TB3 regular one that I replaced the fan on to make it quiet. (The fan was very easy to replace.)


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## Jett Hitt (Jan 4, 2022)

jbuhler said:


> A TB2 mini and a TB3 regular one that I replaced the fan on to make it quiet. (The fan was very easy to replace.)


Thanks. I've been looking for a solution. The Thunderbay 4 Mini looks like it might fit the bill, but I see complaints that it is noisy. (I'm not sure why SSDs need a fan.)


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## jbuhler (Jan 4, 2022)

Jett Hitt said:


> Thanks. I've been looking for a solution. The Thunderbay 4 Mini looks like it might fit the bill, but I see complaints that it is noisy. (I'm not sure why SSDs need a fan.)


The mini might not, and you can likely disconnect the fan since the power supply is a block that isn't built into the case that houses the drives. You can likely also replace the fan with a quieter one if it proves problematic and you decide you need it. I'll say there were also noise complaints about the mini when I bought it. I haven't found it noisy, so haven't bothered to disconnect the fan. It's well below the ambient room noise, which admittedly is not that of a fully insulated studio where I have things set up. But It's located a distance away, and if you had it in a cabinet I doubt anyone could hear it (though you'll have to buy an expensive extended TB4 cable to do that since the cable that comes with it is short). The regular unit has the power supply built into the case so it needs a fan, and it is definitely loud. That's the one I changed.


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## rnb_2 (Jan 4, 2022)

Minsky said:


> Rick, I'm just wondering.. I'll probably be heading down the iMac i9 route..as my 5,1 MP is reaching the end. I'm just wondering if you might know / be able to signpost me to external SDD configurations. I reckon I might need as much as 16TB for samples and projects. It looks like I'll be ending up with a few hubs etc as I have some outboard gear and the iMac isn't so strong on connectivity as the MP. Don't worry if this sin't anything you've thought about or cared to think about, just thought I'd ask on the offchance, having found your answer to David here.


No problem at all! I would probably agree with @jbuhler and go the Thunderbay 4 mini route, although you could also take a look at the Thunderbay 8 or Thunderbay Flex 8, as well. Two Thunderbay 4 minis or one Thunderbay 8/Flex 8 can get you what you need - I would probably set up RAID 0+1, with one Thunderbay mini running RAID 0 with 4x4TB Crucial MX500, and the second mirroring the first - the same can be done with the Thunderbay 8/Flex 8, just in one case instead of two. You could also run RAID 4 or 5 with a mix of 4x4TB + 4x2TB, which would give you 18TB of usable storage vs 16 with the RAID 0+1.

While the i9 iMac is certainly a great machine, if you can keep the 5,1 MP running for a bit longer, we're expecting to see an Apple Silicon iMac/iMac Pro sometime in the Spring, likely running the M1 Pro/Max (there is some conjecture that we might see a dual M1 Max config, as well). Something to consider, though there are issues running many Kontakt instances on Apple Silicon at present (most other sample players are either Apple Silicon native, or seem to work better than Kontakt currently).


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## Minsky (Jan 5, 2022)

jbuhler said:


> I have the i9 iMac with 128GB and have two OWC Thunderbays for serving samples. They hold 4 SSDs each. In addition I have a bunch of USB 3 hard drives for back up and other needs. I haven’t had any issues with dropouts or anything running with 256 buffer. DFD in Kontakt is set at 18.


That’s brilliant, thank you. I’ll check out the OwC thunderbays.


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## Minsky (Jan 5, 2022)

rnb_2 said:


> No problem at all! I would probably agree with @jbuhler and go the Thunderbay 4 mini route, although you could also take a look at the Thunderbay 8 or Thunderbay Flex 8, as well. Two Thunderbay 4 minis or one Thunderbay 8/Flex 8 can get you what you need - I would probably set up RAID 0+1, with one Thunderbay mini running RAID 0 with 4x4TB Crucial MX500, and the second mirroring the first - the same can be done with the Thunderbay 8/Flex 8, just in one case instead of two. You could also run RAID 4 or 5 with a mix of 4x4TB + 4x2TB, which would give you 18TB of usable storage vs 16 with the RAID 0+1.
> 
> While the i9 iMac is certainly a great machine, if you can keep the 5,1 MP running for a bit longer, we're expecting to see an Apple Silicon iMac/iMac Pro sometime in the Spring, likely running the M1 Pro/Max (there is some conjecture that we might see a dual M1 Max config, as well). Something to consider, though there are issues running many Kontakt instances on Apple Silicon at present (most other sample players are either Apple Silicon native, or seem to work better than Kontakt currently).


Thanks Rick, I’m looking at the OWC thunderbays and had wondered about an ‘8.’ 

Hmm I’d heard about the possibility of a new iMac with M1 or similar. I’m wondering whether they’ll have pushed past the 64gb ram ceiling because really I don’t think that’d serve me. I have some pretty heavy beasts that I’d like to stick with. It would suck tho to buy intel a week (of weeks) before a refresh. Ugh! It’s so difficult at the moment! Lol


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## samphony (Jan 5, 2022)

Best advice I can give is purchase or lease what you need now. You’ll write it off in relation to your taxes, no?


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## Minsky (Jan 6, 2022)

samphony said:


> Best advice I can give is purchase or lease what you need now. You’ll write it off in relation to your taxes, no?


Yes, that's true, I can write off over time.. it's more the upheaval of integrating and updating a new system in the middle of working too. I try to do it as infrequently as possible - but it's an option.


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## rnb_2 (Jan 6, 2022)

I don't envy the position you're in. If you want to change as infrequently as possible, waiting for the M1 Pro/Max iMac feels like the better option for longevity, but there is only a possibility of >64GB if they release a high end config with a dual M1 Max. You might want to check in with some of the composers that have purchased 64GB M1 Max MacBook Pros to see how they're working in practice.


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## Minsky (Jan 6, 2022)

rnb_2 said:


> I don't envy the position you're in. If you want to change as infrequently as possible, waiting for the M1 Pro/Max iMac feels like the better option for longevity, but there is only a possibility of >64GB if they release a high end config with a dual M1 Max. You might want to check in with some of the composers that have purchased 64GB M1 Max MacBook Pros to see how they're working in practice.


Yes, some say a dual chip might take it to 128gb but the mood seems to be 64gb is more likely. I’m tempted to open core my 5,1 up to big sur and hope it holds out. Not a great option but maybe best for now. I’ll see what feedback on 64gb I can find. Thanks again!


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