Optimize MacOS for Audio and Music Production

[vad.martyn]

Looking to optimize Macbook with M1 chip for Audio and Music Production.
There too many things running by default that obviously are not essential. Without any audio applications open MacOS uses around 7GB of ram, that memory usage obviously can be brought down significantly.
Besides DAW and audio plugins, I only need essential things to work like Finder, display, keyboard, mouse, Thunderbolt ( and “usb” ) ports, charging port, internet browser, wifi and Bluetooth.

[vad.martyn]

no one knows ?

[uOpt]

A plain macOS install is pretty silent. It might have some stuff in RAM that you don't need, but no CPU time taken and few interrupts.

[FapFilter]

I think the only option is to get your hands dirty, learn Terminal commands and permanently remove unneeded tasks from there.
Google is your friend.
I think i've just recently seen a post on Macrumors on how to truly disable Universal Control. Learn how that works and it'll probably work on other apps aswell.
Be careful though, as you probably can f**k up your system for good this way.
Of course there are also optimizers for Mac (and of course Windows too), but i think that way you'll just have different kinds of crapware on your system


Having said that, i personally think unless you have a very old system that can just barely handle your OS anymore, it's not really worth it.
Otherwise it's just for the sake of technical curiosity in how to deeply hack your system or some form of OCD with not much actual benefit for the user experience (if at all)

Most modern OS just reserve a lot of memory to make sure everything will work smoothly all the time.
At first i was in shock too when i saw that my Macs use ~4GB of RAM just for idling around, while my Win 7 system was using “just“ 1.2GB for that (which still is a lot if you're asking some Linux-heads)

I would only start to worry when you're getting sluggish experiences under actual usage due to low physical RAM

[sQeetz]

I'm actually quite a novice to MacOS. That being said, from what I gathered, is that if your 'memory pressure' graph is in the green (Activity Monitor->Memory->bottom part) there is nothing to worry about.

[Tangential]

A large part of that 7 GB is probably "inactive" memory, generally nothing to worry about.

[ON BEATS]

Update..

My M1 Pro was displaying around 6-7GB RAM use on idle and basic tasks. A few days ago I installed this free software and it's dropped down permanently to 3.4-3.6GB on idle.

When making music it went up to around 7.5 'ish' with zero SSD swapping. It's the 16GB 256GB SSD version. I was the 7.5GB useage before installing this app, using the built in performance monitor thing (my laptop is in German language/keyboard so I can't translate everything from memory).

I decided to keep the app installed so I can monitor RAM use and it sits happily under 4GB, and with internet pages open I don't think it went over 6GB.

Here is the link in case you guys want to try

https://nektony.com/memory-cleaner

[ON BEATS]

MacOS shouldn't be using 7GB on idle.

This morning's beat didn't go near or over 7GB which was nice to see. I still have the above memory app installed but will remove it now it's gotten rid of whatever crap had it sitting around 7GB like the topic starter.

The limit I've found is that my drumkit VST needs to be installed as a VST, and my other instrument VST's have to be installed as AU.

If I upgrade to Waveform 12 the problem should be solved, because it will make better use of the multi core processor.

Running a base M1 with 16GB RAM, Apple suggested running waveform with 4 Cores

[kidslow]

I think the only option is to get your hands dirty, learn Terminal commands and permanently remove unneeded tasks from there.

Having tried this approach, nothing is permanent. If you install any OS upgrades, there is a medium to high probability to have your changes overwritten. It's just a maintenance headache. I also used to install apps into sub-folders and alternative locations from /Applications, but Apple sort of forces the issue, even though applications can be run from anywhere. Ugly as it is to have everything in there, that is by far the path of least resistance and I have mostly given up fighting.

To the OPs question, the more RAM you have the better. Apple no longer allows upgrading RAM, so when buying a Mac I suggest to always max out RAM for your model. Drive size is less critical with USB-C performance nowadays, so one way to economize is get a smaller drive. The best DAC you can afford will also make a difference. Apple audio ports, should they even be available, have consistently been substandard for years (high noise floor). Easy enough to substantiate this with a good pair of headphones.

[ON BEATS]

Having tried this approach, nothing is permanent. If you install any OS upgrades, there is a medium to high probability to have your changes overwritten. It's just a maintenance headache. I also used to install apps into sub-folders and alternative locations from /Applications, but Apple sort of forces the issue, even though applications can be run from anywhere. Ugly as it is to have everything in there, that is by far the path of least resistance and I have mostly given up fighting.

To the OPs question, the more RAM you have the better. Apple no longer allows upgrading RAM, so when buying a Mac I suggest to always max out RAM for your model. Drive size is less critical with USB-C performance nowadays, so one way to economize is get a smaller drive. The best DAC you can afford will also make a difference. Apple audio ports, should they even be available, have consistently been substandard for years (high noise floor). Easy enough to substantiate this with a good pair of headphones.

Nice reply! I just wanted to add that I have used the 3.5mm port exclusively with over-ear headphones and earphones, also USB C adaptor with earphones (yesterday evening) and a USB C cable to my amplifier.

The audio ports may well be substandard but I find they work really well in practice. That said somebody shouted at me on Instagram and said if I don't use an Audio Interface my music will sound shxt

Last week I did some testing and never used more than 7GB RAM while creating music (simple trap beats). If I bought a new MacBook I think 8GB RAM is more than sufficient. There are M1 Air 8GB users making music and editing 4K videos on YouTube - the processor seems to be more important than RAM these days.

Had I known I would have bought the cheaper 8GB model.

The new M2 Air is the most tempting I've seen in a long time, and if I buy one it'll be 8GB RAM but with 512GB SSD because Apple made hardware changes to the new M2 with 256GB memory.

It has just one 256GB 'nand' chip, as opposed to two 128GB in my M1. This apparently causes read/write speed limitations in the M2, unless we opt for the 512GB SSD model.

Fanless music production might be cool! Loads of people are doing it with iPads, and there's one guy on YouTube running his studio with an M1 Air (sorry for the monologue, have a great week guys)

[kidslow]

People were making music on Macs using PowerPC models 20 years ago ... or Amigas 40 years ago, so the hardware is never the final limitation whether your music is mellifluous or not. Only your patience and imagination are. My advice is still to maximize the RAM over all else, but sounds like you are doing your research so who am I to say. An eternal DAC, even an audioquest dragonfly, will be well worth the investment imho.

[jamcat]

Optimize MacOS for Audio and Music Production:

1. Open box
2. Unpack computer
3. Plug in computer
4. Turn on computer
5. Done

[Shockspoon]

Not M1, but on Intel i've encountered slowdowns (clicks) on nearly 80-90% full disk (internal APFS).

[Serhii Kot]

Optimize MacOS for Audio and Music Production:

1. Open box
2. Unpack computer
3. Plug in computer
4. Turn on computer
5. Done

Pretty much all it needs for optimization.

[FapFilter]

Install the drivers for your audio interface, if it has any