The amazing MacBook Air.

[loukash]

3 hours ago, CBA713 said:

The only thing I was slightly iffy on was 256 or 512, but I generally use an external hard drive to store stuff. 512 puts it up to $1,499 and I suppose I wonder if it's worth it for another $200. I think 256 would be fine.

Aside of not being able to upgrade the drive later, the internal Apple SSD is fast. Very fast. (The 256 GB SSD in the M1 and M2 MacBooks was slow though, but that has been allegedly fixed with the M3 models.) If you want to record or edit audio, you will notice this difference, even compared to fast high quality external SSD drives which are not all cheap either, while cheap drives are – you guessed it – not fast.

And… audio files accumulate fast, too. 

Don't try to save a few bucks in the wrong spot… ;)

Edited April 3 by loukash

[CBA713]

17 hours ago, loukash said:

Aside of not being able to upgrade the drive later, the internal Apple SSD is fast. Very fast. (The 256 GB SSD in the M1 and M2 MacBooks was slow though, but that has been allegedly fixed with the M3 models.) If you want to record or edit audio, you will notice this difference, even compared to fast high quality external SSD drives which are not all cheap either, while cheap drives are – you guessed it – not fast.

And… audio files accumulate fast, too. 

Don't try to save a few bucks in the wrong spot… ;)

 

Excellent thoughts, thank you!

I think I have this thing in my head where, since I have used Logic since 2009 (which was 8 & 9) on my '09 MBP, and Logic X / Pro or whatever it's officially called since 2016 or '17 on my '17 MBP, in my head it's like playing a Gambcube game on a Switch or some other kind of silly comparison. So like if Logic worked perfectly on my 2017 MBP with 8 GB RAM and uhhhh what like 128 SSD, then wouldn't Logic now work exactly the same or better on a much faster computer 7 years later? I know it's probably not a worthy comparison, but I am trying to wrap my brain around that.

But yes, I think 13" MBA M3 16GB RAM and 512 SSD will be perfect.

[Mania]

On 4/3/2024 at 4:04 AM, bebenavole said:

Do you have a link to your specific hub device? thank you

The brand name is : HELIX. 
I can't find the exact model on the net. It is 3 years old now. It has 4 USB A ports and 1 USB C port. 

Edited April 4 by Mania

[fisherking]

amazon is full of hubs; usb A/C, usb C... lots of variables. and if you're using it in a single place, powered hubs are a good investment, as they won't draw power from your mac (useful for hard drives, for example).

anyway, just mentioning!

[bebenavole]

Anyone running additional monitors on their Air? I am attracted to Air bt the lack of ports is really a turn-off

[fisherking]

30 minutes ago, bebenavole said:

Anyone running additional monitors on their Air? I am attracted to Air bt the lack of ports is really a turn-off

i run a dell monitor from thunderbolt to the hdmi port on the monitor. my 2nd port on the air goes to the hub built into the dell.. and everything else works from there (music keyboard, audio interface, 2 external drives). good stuff 👍

[loukash]

4 hours ago, CBA713 said:

So like if Logic worked perfectly on my 2017 MBP with 8 GB RAM and uhhhh what like 128 SSD, then wouldn't Logic now work exactly the same or better on a much faster computer 7 years later?

Keep in mind that Logic 10.8 has quite a bunch of nifty features that may demand lots of CPU and speedy drive.

4 hours ago, CBA713 said:

I think 13" MBA M3 16GB RAM and 512 SSD will be perfect.

It should work alright.
If you're fine with that small screen, that is…
Because compared to Logic 9, Logic X wastes too much screen estate on useless borders, frames, toolbars, overblown buttons and other schickimicki.

3 hours ago, Mania said:

The brand name is : HELIX. 

I wonder what Line 6 thinks about this… :D

[fisherking]

10 minutes ago, loukash said:

If you're fine with that small screen, that is…
Because compared to Logic 9, Logic X wastes too much screen estate on useless borders, frames, toolbars, overblown buttons and other schickimicki.

wheni'm with my external monitor, i have lots of space (and i keep the mixer & a level plugin on the air screen). when i'm away with just the air... i scroll a lot, and... it's fine.

not sure how X wastes screen real estate; you can customize what you see (& don't). no idea (anymore) what L9 looked like (& don't care 😉); i wouldn't give up all the current X features and functions to go back to a logic that has less toolbars, etc... along with infinitely less features.

[CBA713]

Yeah the smaller screen might take some time to get used to after 14 years of a 15", but I'm ok with it. I do have a second flatscreen thing that I had to buy for my current MBP because the screen is dead... or it is experiencing the thing where it works to about a 40 degree angle and then turns black. Apple quoted me at $700-800 to fix it, shops around town $500. Anyone else have to deal with that on the 2016-17 models? I'm told it's an issue Apple knew about but they're not offering any extra warranty for it. But that's all bridge under the water, and I believe I am ready for a new computer.

I'm a "casual" recordist, meaning I do stuff at home and track things for the library I work for, but then I have dedicated pals who have pro mixing setups... and they can deal with the plug-ins. I did over 50 songs for the library over the pandemic, and Logic X, at whatever update it was on, worked great the whole time. Current edition on this computer is 10.7.9, so I might be a bit behind, but looking forward to whatever new stuff is too advanced for me to use!

[loukash]

1 hour ago, fisherking said:

not sure how X wastes screen real estate; you can customize what you see (& don't)

Of course I do customize.

1 hour ago, fisherking said:

no idea (anymore) what L9 looked like

Well, I only upgraded to X in 2019 because LP9 had too many issues on El Capitan. Surely I like the new bells and whistles – at least those I got around to explore yet – but the new UI felt like a step back to kindergarten.
But yeah, I got used to it because there would be no way around it other than doing some stuff via the Environment window which still has the nine-ish look and feel.

[CBA713]

Oh dang, these M3 Macbook Airs we're talking about are less than a month old too, huh? I didn't realize they were that new. Excellent. Seems like a great time to buy.

[Sascha Franck]

Fwiw, I just ordered a maxed out M3 MBA (13", 24GB, 2TB), once it'll be there and Logic is installed, I'll happily put it through it's paces, running the infamous Logic Benchmark (or rather version 2 of it) and report here. Got an extra test regarding single core performance, too (which the Logic Benchmark pretty much deliberately excludes), which would be the most important thing for me.

The dealer at first told me I might've to wait for up to 4 weeks, but the latest information is that it could be here in 2-3 days already (I rather don't trust that, fingers crossed, though).

Edited April 16 by Sascha Franck

[Mania]

I am sure you will be pleased with the new Air. I've read your concerns about the M3 processors in the other thread but I think logic will get updated and honestly my M1 air is still so good I don't even look at the CPU performance anymore. It's just that good.  It gets everything done. In the past i had to constantly monitor the CPU performance. I can pretty much remove that part from the display the top in Logic now. These Airs are 10 fold better than a Mac Pro was just 8-10 years ago and people got professional work done with those. 

[analogika]

On 3/28/2024 at 8:59 AM, David Nahmani said:

If they have the same specs (Processor, number of cores, RAM and disk), then the main difference is that the MacBook Pros have one or more fans, which can get noisy. 

Not really. 
 

This M2 Pro at least runs pretty cool, and when the fan does come on, it’s inaudible until it hits about 5000 RPM — and then it’s barely noticeable. 

[Sascha Franck]

From all I know (and obviously that's quite plausible) you can squeeze some more juice out of the Pros because of the fan. When reaching a certain CPU load, the MBA has no other way of dealing with it but to either just say "no" or throttle the CPU speed. The MBP then still has the fan available.

Whether that difference is worth the extra money - not for me at least. I absolutely love the idea of a laptop with zero moving parts inside, especially as replacing the fan in my Macbook back then has turned into a major drama. And it'd be even more of a drama these days as you likely can't do it yourself at all anymore.

Edited April 16 by Sascha Franck

[bebenavole]

would this work as a good extension for the MBAir?

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/CalDigit-Thunderbolt-Element-TBT4-Cable/dp/B08FQWXQCN/

I am running an extra monitor, MIDI keyboard, typing keyboard. mouse, USB/FW interface and a couple of HD's. Can I hook up a powered USB 2.0 hub to this without causing any damage?
Thank you

Adam

[wonshu]

At that price I would (and did) opt for the OWC Thunderbolt Dock

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Thunderbolt-Docking-Station-OWCTB4DOCK-Black/dp/B097TVLB4F/

[bebenavole]

Yeah, I dunno. Never used the card slot, dont need ethernet or the headphone out. Looks like I am paying for something Ill never use. The one I posted is stripped down which seems cool.

[Sascha Franck]

15 minutes ago, bebenavole said:

Yeah, I dunno. Never used the card slot, dont need ethernet or the headphone out. Looks like I am paying for something Ill never use. The one I posted is stripped down which seems cool.

 

I just picked up my MBA and got a €30 HUB from the multimedia shop on the way back. HDMI, Ethernet, 3 x USB-A, 1 x USB-C /w power-thru. Will report whether it works well. There's one with more ports for roughly 90 bucks.

The one you've linked to is way too expensive in case you don't need TB/USB-C outs.

[Sascha Franck]

Ok, first very, very rough tests.

Logic Benchmark #2 from here:

https://music-prod.com/logic-pro-benchmarks/

128 tracks. Very good. My Mac Pro (see signature) does 92, which I was quite satisfied with already (never needed all the multithreading performance anyway).

I was switching to the maximum number of cores in the preferences - and well, the E-cores are in fact in use. Possibly not just as much as they could be, though - but still, 128 tracks is more than what people got from M1/M2 machines and very likely more than what I may ever need.

 

But now it comes.

The very thing my MP was lacking off the most has been singlethread-"oomph". One of the reasons why I wanted to get a new computer, so I could always work at 32 samples buffersize and never worry.

I was creating a little singlethread test that I think translates pretty well to real life experiences. Goes like: ES2 playing 3 voices (really doesn't matter, could've been anything to "trigger" the signal path) followed by Space Designer instances in each insert, using the factory default setting with the wet slider all the way down and the quality set to "low" (which allows for finer scaling). As each channel strip would only allow for 15 inserts, I'm running the channel strip output into bus 1, bus 1's output in bus 2 and so on, just to force serial (hence singlethreaded) processing (obviously, the track needs to be selected for that as well).

I would then go through the various buffer sizes. On the Mac Pro that is. Because on the Macbook Air I had to take a break after 32 samples buffer size. Because, well, the MP got me 14 SD instances before crackles appeared. The MBA however managed to fo 50-51 perfectly flawless, at around 52-53 things started to feel a little laggy and at 54-55 crackles showed up.

So, after that test I had to take a break to look for my jaw which was somewhere on the floor. I needed it for that big grin...

[Sascha Franck]

Fwiw, the little HUB I bought works as supposed. It's made by Hama and called "USB-C Multiport + HDMI, Ethernet".

Might buy their bigger version, too, already running out of USB-A ports (but this one will be perfect for traveling).

[wonshu]

Re MBA performance: we told you. These machines, even the previous generations are marvels. Best computer I have owned in my life.

Re Hub: at least 3 of those cheaper ones broke here already and had to be replaced... so milage my vary...

[Sascha Franck]

2 hours ago, wonshu said:

Re Hub: at least 3 of those cheaper ones broke here already and had to be replaced... so milage my vary...

 

The only thing I noticed is that I already need more ports. Getting along for now, but will order a larger one the next days and use this for traveling.

 

Regarding anything else, this thing just delivers. I'm really having issues with Apples pricing ideas, but in case the thing won't break and stay alive without issues for the next 5 years, I think it'll be money well spent.

Also quite happy I went with the 13" instead of the 15" (which was my first plan), the form factor is just perfect.

[bebenavole]

15 hours ago, Sascha Franck said:

I just picked up my MBA and got a €30 HUB from the multimedia shop on the way back. HDMI, Ethernet, 3 x USB-A, 1 x USB-C /w power-thru. Will report whether it works well. There's one with more ports for roughly 90 bucks.

The one you've linked to is way too expensive in case you don't need TB/USB-C outs.

I would switch to external SSD's for backup and recording. Everything else is USB + the monitor will have to go thru a T4 port I guess

[wonshu]

Yes, the number of ports are a real issue. Although I have the M1 MBA that only has 2 ports and no separate power socket, so you're already better off there...

Also: keep in mind that the way USB-C works if you plug a new device in, the whole connection gets re-negotiated and sometimes this leads to unexpected disconnections of devices that were already present. Absolutely terrible for storage media.

So be careful with your drives and eject them before connecting more devices!

Not Apples fault, AFAIK this is a general USB-C problem.

[Sascha Franck]

Fwiw, as far as the little HUB I bought goes: Don't! I just discovered my mouse would only work on one of the 3 USB-A ports. Ridiculous. Other things are working fine on the other ports, but this is too fishy for me so it'll go back.

[analogika]

48 minutes ago, Sascha Franck said:

Fwiw, as far as the little HUB I bought goes: Don't! I just discovered my mouse would only work on one of the 3 USB-A ports. Ridiculous. Other things are working fine on the other ports, but this is too fishy for me so it'll go back.

I wouldn’t trust the HAMA stuff as far as I can throw it. 
 

At least, that was my experience back in the 90s. 

[Sascha Franck]

4 minutes ago, analogika said:

I wouldn’t trust the HAMA stuff as far as I can throw it. 

 

I have some of their mobile gadget peripherals (also another HUB), and while not great, they always did their jobs fine.

But this is really annoying...

[loukash]

4 hours ago, analogika said:

I wouldn’t trust the HAMA stuff as far as I can throw it. 

I'm also using a highly complex Hama device in my studio, the LSP-203.
Sometimes it… works! :D

4 hours ago, Sascha Franck said:

little HUB

Last year I was looking at the Hama hubs as well, but in the end I have opted for the slightly more expensive Linq 8in1 as it has all the ports that I actually need. It works all right, but for some devices it's better to use the other free port on the MBA and connect directly. Hence I also bought a bunch of USB-C-to-[insert-your-legacy-port-here] cables and adapters. Apart from attempting to connect FireWire drives – which just suck and run much faster via USB2 than via FW – everything works as long as there are compatible or hacked drivers, all the way back to my first USB Wacom Intuos tablet and Epson scanner that I both bought in 2000 or so…

[Sascha Franck]

19 minutes ago, loukash said:

Last year I was looking at the Hama hubs as well, but in the end I have opted for the slightly more expensive Linq 8in1 as it has all the ports that I actually need.

 

Quite nice but not enough USB outs - from a bigger device I'd want more (possibly instead of the card readers which I pretty much never ever need).

I've got 5 USB devices connected permanently at my main workspace already, so a larger dock should rather cover these (I should note that I'm oldschool when it comes to mice and keyboards, so both need their own USB port - but I could of course reduce that to one, using a mini 2x HUB).

Anyhow, I brought the Hama back and as there were zero alternatives either at "Media Markt" or at "Gravis", at least not going for reasonable prices, I just went home with another of the same type. And guess what? This time everything seems to work. Perhaps a monday morning dud in the first round.

Gives me some time to think about what I might want as a serious solution. As it'd be a stationary arrangement, I'd have no concerns about adding a simple USB hub, so we'll see.

Fwiw, amazingly enough, USB-C-to-B (aka "printer port USB") cables still don't seem to be a regular thing, all they had in 3 stores was adapter plugs, which will possibly harm the sockets due to their size and tension going along with that. Last thing I want is to damage one of those rare breed USB ports.

Edited April 18 by Sascha Franck