Mac M1 owners using Rosetta 2 - what's it like?

[Pitch Black]

Do you see noticable changes in performance using either apps booted under Rosetta 2, or AU's Rosetta'd into an M1-native app?

Just asking because my showload currently has 4 instances of Izotope Stutter Edit 1, which won't ever be updated to M1, and Stutter Edit 2 patches are not compatible in either way. The four Stutter Edits each have a bank of custom presets that I've made, which is why I'm reluctant to give it up.

Would I be a damn fool to consider playing live with Rosetta running in the background somewhere? I'm currently on a 2015 RMBP - specs in sig.

What's your experience? How's Rosetta running for you?

[Machinesworking]

I never even bothered trying booting Live or other apps booted into Rosetta, but AU plug ins booted in Rosetta work surprisingly well, I mostly run Amplitube and the Vienna Ensemble Pro plug in. Reports in general are that Rosetta AU's add about 10%, but I'm somewhat skeptical that Stutter Edit 1 will run in Rosetta at all. Some older plug ins and even ones that were relatively new (Kontakt, Massive X, Spark 2, etc. etc.) had to be updated to run in Rosetta at all.

Is there something specifically weird about the conversion from v1 to Stutter Edit 2? did you try it and it didn't work? because IMO your chances of this working with v1 are pretty low.

[Pitch Black]

Is there something specifically weird about the conversion from v1 to Stutter Edit 2? did you try it and it didn't work? because IMO your chances of this working with v1 are pretty low.

They're totally different plugins, so patches wouldn't transfer over at all. Izotope customer care told me there's no chance of further Stutter Edit 1 updates.

[Greenapples2019]

Hi, I switched from a 2013 MBP to an M1 and found a big improvement in the overall performance (CPU load fell by about two-thirds like-for-like). Some projects didn't transfer over well (I had a few unexplainable issues with drum racks causing massive spikes) and I found that VST3s ran better under Rosetta than AUs in Ableton. I use Logic as well and found the native AUs run a bit better, but not significantly, so I'm holding off upgrading to Live 11 until I can see whether the benefits of native vs Rosetta are worth it. For live work in Ableton I stick to Ableton and Fabfilter plugins with a couple of Arturia and Plugin Alliance, but for studio work where performance isn't as critical I use a wider variety.

Overall I think the leap in performance from Intel Mac to M1 is greater than the "leap" from Rosetta to Native, but I guess that's based on my use-case.

[Pitch Black]

Thanks for the info greenapples!

My M1 Max machine arrives on Jan 8 and I have a big gig at the end of Feb. Many tests to do! Looks like I might play live using the 2015 RMBP for a bit longer. I use Live 10 for shows on that machine with only 3 non-Ableton fx.

[Greenapples2019]

You're welcome Pitch Black I hope you enjoy the M1 as much as I do. For live work it's been rock solid and for studio work it's great not having to even think about freezing or bouncing tracks to free up CPU. Sounds like you have a few weeks to get used to it and trust it before deciding whether to use it for your gig, it's a nice problem to have!

[Jed]

Kia Ora Paddy,

Long time NZ admirer of your work...

Ive moved from a 15" 2011 Mac Book Pro to an M1 13" Mac Book Air in the last month. Night and day - I'm running the 11.1 Beta in Rosetta mode and its stable with all my non M1 updated plugs to this point.

I tried running the beta natively and had issues with some non updated plugins not being stable using the Apple AU translation, so this will do for now. Still, a massive leap in the amount I can run, and the M1 Macbook Air is a star. I seriously considered the new Pros but for me (as an enthusiast) they don't stack up in terms of cost/benefit.

Merry Christmas and keep being one of NZ's pioneers

Cheers
Jed

[Pitch Black]

Hey Jed, many thanks for your kind words! And for sharing your M1 experience. This new lappy will be the first time I've owned a brand-new Mac since 2006. I've always been a "slow-adopter" when it comes to updating my system - always have, and always will be. Just quietly I'm "professionally paranoid" with perhaps an overdeveloped "first do no harm" attitude etc Keeps the machine running, but it can sometimes hold me back, too.

Meri Kirihimete to you and your whanau!

Paddy