# 16 GB M1 or 32 GB M1 Pro?



## TheRitornello (Nov 2, 2022)

Hi guys, a newcomer here. I've been a reader of VI control for a few years now, and only recently joined so I say thank you for the info you all share. 

My current computer is a PC that is around ten years old and is starting to have hiccups with even small tasks. A single instance of Heavyocity's Ascend or Genesis children's choir can overwhelm it fairly quickly as well with notes hanging, crackles in playback, etc. Sometimes it behaves fairly well, but it's getting worse and the time has definitely come for a new computer. 

I'm leaning towards making the move to Apple, especially with the M1/M2 chips. Here are the two setups that are in contention for me right now:

1. 24-inch iMac Apple M1 Chip (16 GB memory) -- mobility is not strictly necessary and the 24" display would be an improvement over what I have 

2. 14-inch MacBook Pro Apple M1 Pro Chip (32 GB memory) -- has the pro chip, twice the RAM of the iMac, and portability would be nice (also more expensive) 

My question is how much of a difference to expect between the two when it comes to running multiple instances of libraries like Ascend??? I'd like to be able to run multiple instances of more demanding libraries and substantial orchestral templates without overwhelming my machine. Granted, even the iMac would be substantially more powerful than what I have now. 

I'm thinking that it may be a good idea to "future-proof" my computer though, as libraries and plugins seem to be increasingly intense. I expect my new setup to last for 5-10 years as well, which leads me to think option #2 is a better investment even though it is more expensive. 

What think ye? For those of you that have experience running large orchestral templates with demanding libraries or using heavy effects with the M1 chip, is 16 GB RAM a significant bottleneck?

Thanks in advance!


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## TheRitornello (Nov 2, 2022)

Add option 3 -- M2 MacBook Air with 24GB memory


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## gzapper (Nov 2, 2022)

Form factor is a consideration, since the specs are now close between all and powerful enough for most uses. Do you need a built in big scree? Or is a studio with external monitors of your choice better? Is portability useful, buy a laptop....


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## TheRitornello (Nov 2, 2022)

At this point I would slightly prefer laptop, although I would be very happy with the desktop. My main question is how much more power the m1 Pro with 32 GB RAM has over the 16 GB M1 or M2 system when running a larger template or using heavy effects.


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## ibanez1 (Nov 2, 2022)

If it helps your decision, just this week I had to order a 32GB RAM kit for my laptop as I was constantly hitting the 16GB limit with my orchestral template. My CPU was never the issue. 16GB isn't enough once you start stacking enough instruments.


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## Jett Hitt (Nov 2, 2022)

It would be worth waiting to see what Apple releases this month. It is rumored that several of the chips are getting a boost and more RAM. I would hold out for the latest iterations of these chips because you absolutely do not want to be stuck at 16GB.


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## Piotrek K. (Nov 2, 2022)

No matter MAC or Windows 16GB is way too low for orchestral templates. 32GB to certain extent is ok, but it is also surprisingly easy to max 32GB and with M1 MAC you can't add RAM afaik (but I may be wrong). So I wouldn't call it future-proof.


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## TheRitornello (Nov 3, 2022)

Thanks guys! I think I'm leaning pretty strongly towards the M1 Pro MacBook Pro w/32 GB RAM now. That's stretching my budget pretty far, but it seems to be one of the better cost to power options I can see. I don't mind freezing/transforming a track now and then if necessary, but don't want to have to do that but so often. 

And with my current (old) desktop beginning to have lockups regularly, I think I'm going to go ahead rather than waiting for further developments... I have some obligations currently that require me to have a working computer.

I'm looking forward to creating with a computer capable of handling my favorite existing libraries!


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## Nick Batzdorf (Nov 12, 2022)

Jett Hitt said:


> It would be worth waiting to see what Apple releases this month. It is rumored that several of the chips are getting a boost and more RAM. I would hold out for the latest iterations of these chips because you absolutely do not want to be stuck at 16GB.


I’d be surprised if they release more Macs this year. The timing would be wrong for the holidays.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Nov 12, 2022)

The processor is unlikely to make a noticeable difference. 16GB of RAM could be a bottleneck if you use large sample libraries.


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## onnomusic (Nov 12, 2022)

32! you gotta keep in mind that its unified memory, so for instance the GPU is taking some of it too.. And you'll be happy with the laptop with perhaps a slightly bigger external display at some point. you'll future proofed both with ram and who knows when the laptop comes in handy int he future


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## Nick Batzdorf (Nov 12, 2022)

onnomusic said:


> 32! you gotta keep in mind that its unified memory,



That's a good point. M-chips are very fast at swapping physical and virtual memory (meaning that it pretends the drive is memory if you run out), but you generally want to avoid having it do that.

With all the things I load at startup (various utilities, audio interface software, etc.) + basic things I never close (browser, email, text), I start out with almost 10GB less than the full 64GB installed.


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## TheRitornello (Nov 15, 2022)

SO I ended up going for the 32 GB Mac Book Pro. I haven't been able to spend nearly as much time with it as I'd like and am still getting everything set up, but I do have a question: When I load up just one instance of Ascend (heavyocity) or Genesis (Audiobro), Kontakt is showing a fairly significant CPU hit. It's definitely less than the old i5 8GB computer I was using, but it's still taking significantly more than I expected. 

I'm impressed at how quickly it loads up samples, and I'm not getting crackles and pops or hung notes, but is this a really bad sign??? Should it really be hitting 20-35% of the CPU with one instance of Ascend? Is this a settings issue, a computer issue, or just a beast-of-a-library issue? 

I suspect that I need to adjust the buffer size, and purge...


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## TheRitornello (Nov 16, 2022)

Is it normal for Kontakt to be using 35% of ram when running one instance of Ascend?


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## Nick Batzdorf (Nov 16, 2022)

Genesis has a lot of scripting, so it does use a fair amount of one CPU core if you have the track it's on selected as the live input track in Logic. If you look at Activity Monitor, you'll see that it's not close to choking, though.

The Speed Pro Most Voices program is using 25GB on my machine. That's a lot, but it's a big library.


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## TheRitornello (Nov 17, 2022)

Nick Batzdorf said:


> Genesis has a lot of scripting, so it does use a fair amount of one CPU core if you have the track it's on selected as the live input track in Logic. If you look at Activity Monitor, you'll see that it's not close to choking, though.
> 
> The Speed Pro Most Voices program is using 25GB on my machine. That's a lot, but it's a big library.


That would make sense with the amazing legato, intelligent divisi, syllables, etc. It's really helpful to know that this is displaying the use of _one core_, not the entire system! I was starting to worry that there was something wrong with my new computer. Thank you for mentioning that. I didn't realize this before. Still learning! I guess with Ascend there can be _a_ _lot _of polyphony happening as well, especially when sustaining with the pedal. 

I've watched some of the videos people have done with Ascend on YouTube and it's common to see Ascend hitting that hard or harder in the Kontakt CPU display. I now feel much better about spending what is a bunch of money (for me) on the new system. 

Now to make some music!


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## Nick Batzdorf (Nov 17, 2022)

TheRitornello said:


> it's common to see Ascend hitting that hard or harder in the Kontakt CPU display.



The CPU use drops a lot in Logic as soon as you select another track for live input.

I don't know about other DAWs.


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## rmak (Dec 19, 2022)

Does using an external ssd vs internal ssd for sample Libraries on M1 Pro affect the performance significantly? Even if it s a usb c? Thanks


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## boinzy (Dec 27, 2022)

Do you use any Slate + Ash libraries? I am very curious how they're performing on the latest Mac hardware.


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