New Macbook Pro and how much ram for Live 10?

[Faldoe]

Currently on an Early 2011 MBP with 16gb ram, SSD.

Looking at the new 16'' MBP and debating 32 vs 64gb of ram. A friend was saying the newer ram is way different than the DDR3 that is in this current MBP so 32gb of newer ram is better than the same in DDR3, so is it worth it getting the 64gb ram?

Granted this new computer will theoretically last me as long as the current computer so it may be worth it paying the extra.

My Live setup would be mostly for recording ideas - not much multitrack recording - and also playing live. Might be using a good amount of plugins.

[jonljacobi]

Memory speeds just aren't that big an issue unless you're building a gaming machine, and in particular a Ryzen one. So that's basically not something to worry about. DDR4 is not "way" different.

However, the more the merrier. I do more than fine with 32GB, but I don't load lots of large instruments. Actually, I get along just fine on my 16GB machine editing the same songs. Completely depends on how many FX and particularly sample-based instruments you use.

Apple charges a hefty premium for memory so don't overbuy unless you just have money to burn.

[jestermgee]

If your audio projects require 64GB of ram you’re doing it wrong.

16GB is fine enough so I’d save your money as I’m sure the upgrade from 32 to 64 is some insane amount.

[Faldoe]

If your audio projects require 64GB of ram you’re doing it wrong.

16GB is fine enough so I’d save your money as I’m sure the upgrade from 32 to 64 is some insane amount.

I had a project going with 4 tracks: 2 drum racks. and 2 VSTs and was getting some audio clicks/drop-outs and the CPU showing around maybe 40% spike.

[TLW]

My mid 2014 15” Retina MBP has 16GB of RAM and I can’t say that I’ve a pressing need for more RAM at the moment. Most of my Live projects run perfectly happily, unless I load the project full of samplers which read samples into RAM then play them from there rather than as SSD or HDD.

The current DDR4 RAM is a little bit faster than earlier generations, but any overall performance boost it gives isn’t likely to be very high. Where adding RAM becomes a way to boost the computer processing power is when the operating system starts swapping data out of RAM into the swap file. You can see if that is happening from the “memory” tab in the Activity Monitor utility. If memory pressure is high then you might benefit from more RAM

[jestermgee]

If your audio projects require 64GB of ram you’re doing it wrong.

16GB is fine enough so I’d save your money as I’m sure the upgrade from 32 to 64 is some insane amount.

I had a project going with 4 tracks: 2 drum racks. and 2 VSTs and was getting some audio clicks/drop-outs and the CPU showing around maybe 40% spike.

Ok... that is CPU related, not memory. All your Ram does is hold data to be delivered to the CPU. Like asking an assistant to hold all your books while you read. If you cannot read any faster, getting a stronger assistant to hold more books for you won't help you read faster.

[Tarekith]

Running 16GB here o the new 16" MBP and haven't hit any issues yet. 32 would be nice, but probably not needed.

[DJ the Not So Ordinary]

Hi,

I am also considering getting a 2020 Macbook Pro 16 but I have been reading in forums on Apple and Macrumors.com that Ableton Live makes the computer run very hot and the fans (which supposedly are loud) come on constantly. That concerns me. I went to the Apple store today to test one. I opened every single app on the machine, including Garage Band. I ran a track, while running movies from Safari over Netflix and iMovie. I had about 24 applications open and I didn't hear any fans come on.

Can anyone with a 16'' confirm if this "loud fan" issue is real?

Thanks

DJ the Not So Ordinary

[Tarekith]

16" MBP here, not hearing any fan noise so far with Live. Or any of my apps actually.

Actually wait, exporting my videos in Screenflow does kick the fans on, but that's to be expected for something like that.

[TLW]

Live 10 does seem to hit the Mac Windowserver very hard indeed for some reason. Which will quite probably result in it turning the fans on.
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=230967&p=1743486&hi ... r#p1743486 migt be worth trying - it reduced the load on my MBP enormously. Otherwise Live’s meter showed over 30% on a default empty project with no content at all other than the usual few empty tracks. After adding an options.txt that dropped to 5-6% and everything returned to normal.