Looking to switch over from win10 to Mac M1, mainly interested in Music Production. My DAW, Studio One Pro has recently announced it will now run natively on M1. My question is, if the Daw is running natively though there are other plugins such as synths that still run on Win10 how would this play out ? Would the Mac run the DAW under M1 and the synths under Rosetta ? Or is it an all or nothing situation ?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Running Natively on Mx
- Thread starter ProgRocker
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
It's an "it depends" situation.
Traditionally, plugins (like Audio Units on the Mac) ran as part of the same process as the hosting app. I don't know if it's the same way on Windows, but that was the way it was done on the Mac.
That runs into a limitation of Rosetta: It's all or nothing. A process is x86 code, or it's ARM code. You can't mix and match.
One of the ways Apple prepared for this is that several years ago, they began pushing to have plugins run out-of-process. This introduces latency compared to in-process, but allows plugins to be x86 even when the main app is Arm.
So it comes down to:
- does Studio One Pro support the new model? One presumes so, since it would make sense to support it if porting it to be M1 native, but it's up to the developer.
- do your plugins support the new model? If I recall right, it's possible that some older x86 plugins may not be able to run in their own process.
Another (and perhaps bigger) question you will have to look into is how many of your plugins are available on the Mac, and whether you'll have to re-buy any of them to get the Mac version.
Traditionally, plugins (like Audio Units on the Mac) ran as part of the same process as the hosting app. I don't know if it's the same way on Windows, but that was the way it was done on the Mac.
That runs into a limitation of Rosetta: It's all or nothing. A process is x86 code, or it's ARM code. You can't mix and match.
One of the ways Apple prepared for this is that several years ago, they began pushing to have plugins run out-of-process. This introduces latency compared to in-process, but allows plugins to be x86 even when the main app is Arm.
So it comes down to:
- does Studio One Pro support the new model? One presumes so, since it would make sense to support it if porting it to be M1 native, but it's up to the developer.
- do your plugins support the new model? If I recall right, it's possible that some older x86 plugins may not be able to run in their own process.
Another (and perhaps bigger) question you will have to look into is how many of your plugins are available on the Mac, and whether you'll have to re-buy any of them to get the Mac version.
Great summary by @mr_roboto! OP, you will have to clear it up with the software developer. The product page states „To achieve optimal performance, Native mode requires all VST plug-ins, instruments, and hardware drivers to also provide Native support„ though, so I’d assume they use the traditional plugin architecture which requires your plugins to be native too.
Thank you for that great response. Most of my plugins do run on Mac however most haven't been updated to M1/ARM.
My main concern is even if I can run them the latency would render them unusable. I think as far as Music Production is concerned we may have to wait till all are updated to run native on M1.
I just realized there are actually three entities in play. Mac, Mac M1/ARM and x86. So I should ask this instead, if the host (Studio One Pro) ran natively on M1 how would the non M1 Mac plugins run ? I'd think they might be less problematic than the x86 plugins.
Though I think the reality is one needs to wait for all to be updated to run native on M1 to achieve the lowest latency and proper operation.
Thank you again....
My main concern is even if I can run them the latency would render them unusable. I think as far as Music Production is concerned we may have to wait till all are updated to run native on M1.
I just realized there are actually three entities in play. Mac, Mac M1/ARM and x86. So I should ask this instead, if the host (Studio One Pro) ran natively on M1 how would the non M1 Mac plugins run ? I'd think they might be less problematic than the x86 plugins.
Though I think the reality is one needs to wait for all to be updated to run native on M1 to achieve the lowest latency and proper operation.
Thank you again....