Mac Mini (2018) Audio Production Performance

[Jorbanead]

For anyone who just got the i7 mini - how does it handle audio production? More specifically, I use a lot of virtual instruments (NI Komplete 12, stock Logic Inst, others) and do some fairly heavy mixing too. Most of my projects rarely exceed 100 tracks, but I need a Mac that can handle a fair amount of MIDI tracks and plug-ins.

I’m seriously considering the new i7 Mini (32gb RAM I will upgrade myself). I mainly use Logic, but I also have ProTools 2018.

 

[inmnbob]

i use all the same plugins and have the i7/32gb mac mini. I really noticed the speed improvements when I bounced a song to an MP3 format yesterday. I was using an 2013 iMac with an upgrade ssd boot drive prior to that. So i am happy. I haven't seen the spinning color wheel on the mac mini as i did the iMac

 

[Jorbanead]

i use all the same plugins and have the i7/32gb mac mini. I really noticed the speed improvements when I bounced a song to an MP3 format yesterday. I was using an 2013 iMac with an upgrade ssd boot drive prior to that. So i am happy. I haven't seen the spinning color wheel on the mac mini as i did the iMac

Thanks for the reply! I'm coming from a 2012 MBP so I'm assuming i'll see some big improvements as well.

 

[Miscellaneous]

I would also like to hear about other users experiences with the new Mac Mini i7 (Late 2018) specifically for Music Production. My usage is pretty similar to the OP and I would be very interested to hear about noise levels in particular as well as performance improvements.

 

[rmdeluca]

I would also like to hear about other users experiences with the new Mac Mini i7 (Late 2018) specifically for Music Production. My usage is pretty similar to the OP and I would be very interested to hear about noise levels in particular as well as performance improvements.

I can't speak to mixing and bouncing performance yet, but what I can say is that live performance with software instruments and guitar amp sims has been awesome compared to my 2014 i7 Mini. The 2014's tendency to stutter or breakup with lower buffer sizes over a TB2 interface (especially when multitasking) was literally the #1 reason I ordered the 2018 i7 Mini the day it came out.

Now I can keep Logic open all day with my software instrument piano+MIDI keyboard, guitar plugged into audio interface into Logic guitar sim and have Facebook open and be playing Youtube videos while practicing guitar with 0 hiccups and low latency.

This Mini is so snappy I may move some of my software development workflow back to OSX.

As far as noise, the Mini's internal fan is not audible in my treated studio when performing the above live work in Logic. For reference, the Shuttle PC I have 3m away with a towel over it IS audible, as is my ceiling fan's motor. My development workstation (with a silent power supply and Noctua CPU cooler) is slightly audible and it sits opposite my Mini.