Starting from scratch. Mac M2 Mini content...

[randocaster]

I'm at the point (beyond it really) where this computer is making me want to throat punch strangers.

At this point I can no longer update FM9 edit, which is a deal breaker.

Current setup:
Hackintosh (dual boot for Windows) i5 2500k (2011).
Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 (and 24) firewire.

Yes, firewire (stop laughing)

2 x 24 inch VGA/DVI monitors, and 40" TV via HDMI

JBL 305 monitors.

Looking at a Mac M2 Mini. Definitely sticking with the base model. Apple upgrade prices are ludicrous, and the 8 GB of unified ram will be enough for my needs.

For port and SSD additions I'm looking at this:
https://satechi.net/products/stand-...Mg==?queryID=4d7cdaa7515a0e8828565827cfeb8662
Also considering a Focusrite Scarlett 4i4

Thinking of a 32" (or similar) 4k monitor to replace the 2 old monitors.

Will want a new keyboard mouse combo. Blue tooth or USB I assume.

So pretty much the JBL's and the TV as a secondary monitor will remain.
I'm not sure of exactly what I need to make sure I've got 2 monitors and the USB interface covered properly with the ports available. I haven't thought about this stuff in over 10 years, and the tech is totally different.

I'd love some recommendations for:

A hub for extra ports (if the one I posted isn't optimal)
USB interface (2 mic inputs + 2 line mandatory)
Budget friendly monitor (No gaming, photo/video editing).
Basic functional keyboard and mouse.

Just want to state that I'm looking to do this as wallet friendly as possible. Not interested in things like UA interfaces and Mac Studio monitors even though they're awesome.

 

[marsonic]

Looking at a Mac M2 Mini. Definitely sticking with the base model. Apple upgrade prices are ludicrous, and the 8 GB of unified ram will be enough for my needs.

I think the M2 Pro is worth the price if you're actually running a DAW. Apple's thing about macs needing less RAM than PCs is a flat-out lie. It's still shared graphics memory, and anything that uses the GPU is going to eat up system RAM and cause more paging, which does include some modern plugins. There is a small advantage in doing it the way they do it, but it's in GPU latency, not memory efficiency. I would not buy a Mac with 8GB of RAM and kind of wish I'd upgraded to 32. A mac needs more RAM than a comparable PC with a discrete GPU, period.

For port and SSD additions I'm looking at this:
https://satechi.net/products/stand-...Mg==?queryID=4d7cdaa7515a0e8828565827cfeb8662

Link doesn't work - it just goes to Satechi's home page. I've heard good things about them.

In general, for mac storage, NVMe over thunderbolt is not quite worth paying a lot for. Thunderbolt reserves some bandwidth for DisplayPort whether you use it or not, so it isn't possible to get gen3 4x speeds, let alone gen4 or gen5 4x speeds on a mac other than the Mac Pro. Even the internal storage doesn't actually do it (a lot of the speed they report comes from volatile caches, not actual disk speed).

The good news is that you can use cheaper drives and get all the performance available to you. For direct storage, I like the Samsung T7 Shidelds a lot.

The even better news is that you don't really need the fastest drives available for audio workflows. Almost any modern external SSD is going to be fine - just be wary of things that seem too good to be true.

Also considering a Focusrite Scarlett 4i4

I've had good luck with Scarlett interfaces. The big downside is that you can't bypass the mic pres, so line inputs are always going to be a bit dirtier than some other options.

I'm not sure of exactly what I need to make sure I've got 2 monitors and the USB interface covered properly with the ports available. I haven't thought about this stuff in over 10 years, and the tech is totally different.

That's the other reason to go for the M2 Pro mini. More thunderbolt ports. As much as I freaking hate Thunderbolt, it's the only real option. Apple (and others) sell USB-C or thunderbolt hubs, and all of the thunderbolts can carry DisplayPort (plus the HDMI out on the mini)...though I believe there's a max of 3 screens depending on total resolution (a limitation of the way they do graphics).

A hub for extra ports (if the one I posted isn't optimal)

I really like the OWC TB Pro Dock. But, I also wanted 10GbE. Any of theirs that has the ports you want is going to be good.

USB interface (2 mic inputs + 2 line mandatory)

If you like Scarletts, they're worth sticking with. I'm not convinced there's all that much difference between them at that price range. If I were buying in that price range today, I might go for the SSL one. Sadly, all my research on AIs has been higher end.

Budget friendly monitor (No gaming, photo/video editing).

I've had the best luck with LG. Most of them seem to use the same panels.

Basic functional keyboard and mouse.

I can't really help you with that. I use a super-dorky keyboard and an Elecom trackball.

 

[marsonic]

Oh, I guess I should add....

There is still an advantage to NVMe storage...you just can't get to the theoretical max speeds once you start putting things like RAID arrays or probably even the latest crop of drives into the setup - Thunderbolt will saturate before the drives run as fast as they can. It's still better than SATA, just not by as much as advertised (which it is on PCs).

Also, WRT 10GbE on the OWC dock...not that it applies to you, but both throughput and latency are significantly worse than on PCs with PCIe 10GbE NICs (especially running FreeBSD, but also Linux and Windows). I can't figure out why. I had no problems running my main storage off a server and mounting everything over 10GbE when I was running PCs. The exact same setup on macOS was painfully laggy to the extent that I went with a completely different approach and repurposed my storage server for a different use.

After about a year with my M2 Pro Mini, I'm vaguely satisfied with it, and I do like macOS a lot better than Windows 11. But, desktop PC Hardware is still flat-out better both for the money and in absolute terms. If I could build a PC, run macOS on it, and expect it to continue to get OS updates for ~5 years, I would do it in a heartbeat. Sadly, that's not the case.

There's very little chance, given some other stuff you've said, that the last two paragraphs apply to you specifically. But, in case anyone else finds this thread and is interested, I figured I'd put the information there.

 

[randocaster]

If I could build a PC, run macOS on it, and expect it to continue to get OS updates for ~5 years, I would do it in a heartbeat. Sadly, that's not the case.

I'm retiring my hackentosh. Built in in 2011 with i5 2500k. Smoked anything I could get from Apple at 3X the price at the time.

I just need it now for general use and a little light recording. If I ever get in to real recording again (unlikely), I'll probably build another PC.

Really appreciate the thoughts and info.

 

[Chewie5150]

I have the m2 pro mini and love it. I recently replaced a lot of my peripherals too and I quite like this hub: Amazon product ASIN B07Q3TYF15
I run a dual monitor setup. a 34" 2K wide samsung thunderbolt and an older 27" samsung 1080p hdmi. Zero issues with the mac mini supporting these.

 

[GlennO]

Thinking of a 32" (or similar) 4k monitor to replace the 2 old monitors.

Budget friendly monitor (No gaming, photo/video editing).

Just a thought, but 4k may not be the best choice for you. 1440p would probably give you less headaches with music apps and the resolution may even be better for your purposes.

 

[Chewie5150]

4k monitor on the mac is overrated. I had one and returned it. 1440p totally.

 

[randocaster]

Just a thought, but 4k may not be the best choice for you. 1440p would probably give you less headaches with music apps and the resolution may even be better for your purposes.

4k monitor on the mac is overrated. I had one and returned it. 1440p totally.

Thank you. This is helpful.

 

[strabes]

For the purposes you mentioned the M2 Mac Mini will be perfectly adequate for years. I’d consider the 16gb ram option but if you’re not using a bunch of sample-based software instruments like drums and pianos then you’ll be fine with 8gb.

32” 1440p is a great balance of size/resolution for me. I’d take that over two 24” 1080p monitors all day. Since you don’t need low response time or high frames you can pretty much buy the cheapest thing you can find on Amazon or Newegg. Though I will say once you’ve become accustomed to 120hz or more it’s hard to go back to 60hz.

Depending on your needs you may not need to spend money on a thunderbolt dock, you may be perfectly fine with either nothing or just an inexpensive powered USB 3 hub. For thunderbolt, I like caldigit’s stuff.

Keyboard and mouse are so personal so you’ll need to experiment to find what works for you. For DAW work I like the apple magic trackpad. I use a windows keyboard but in the Mac options I swapped the start and alt keys so that alt functions as my Cmd key and Start is my Option key, so their location is the same as a Mac keyboard.

For your interface consider the Scarlett 8i6. That will give you plenty of I/O, including SPDIF for the Fractal so there’s no conversions. These go for under $200 used.

You’ll also likely want the soundsource app so you can use the volume keys on your keyboard.

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

I'm at the point (beyond it really) where this computer is making me want to throat punch strangers.

At this point I can no longer update FM9 edit, which is a deal breaker.

Current setup:
Hackintosh (dual boot for Windows) i5 2500k (2011).
Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 (and 24) firewire.

Yes, firewire (stop laughing)

2 x 24 inch VGA/DVI monitors, and 40" TV via HDMI

JBL 305 monitors.

Looking at a Mac M2 Mini. Definitely sticking with the base model. Apple upgrade prices are ludicrous, and the 8 GB of unified ram will be enough for my needs.

For port and SSD additions I'm looking at this:
https://satechi.net/products/stand-...Mg==?queryID=4d7cdaa7515a0e8828565827cfeb8662
Also considering a Focusrite Scarlett 4i4

Thinking of a 32" (or similar) 4k monitor to replace the 2 old monitors.

Will want a new keyboard mouse combo. Blue tooth or USB I assume.

So pretty much the JBL's and the TV as a secondary monitor will remain.
I'm not sure of exactly what I need to make sure I've got 2 monitors and the USB interface covered properly with the ports available. I haven't thought about this stuff in over 10 years, and the tech is totally different.

I'd love some recommendations for:

A hub for extra ports (if the one I posted isn't optimal)
USB interface (2 mic inputs + 2 line mandatory)
Budget friendly monitor (No gaming, photo/video editing).
Basic functional keyboard and mouse.

Just want to state that I'm looking to do this as wallet friendly as possible. Not interested in things like UA interfaces and Mac Studio monitors even though they're awesome.

You might reconsider more RAM. 16G is mighty tight these days, and you can't add it later, AFAICT....

 

[rickboot]

I've been running 4k for the last 7+ years on a 27" and now 32" inch display. My machines were/are a MacBook Air M1 8GB (then a 16GB), a MacBook Pro 13 M1 16GB, and now a MacBook Pro 16 M1 Max. I also use the same monitor with a Windows 11 machine with an RTX 3070 that I primarily play FPS games on. It works smoothly at 120 Hz on my Macs and PC. The higher res makes everything look sharper, even if you run larger text sizes. 4K 60Hz monitors have fallen in price, so I suggest looking at them yourself before choosing.

Also, I ran Logic Pro on my MacBook Air M1 with 8GB. I could easily play the load and play Billie Eilish's Ocean Eyes, which has 32 tracks of audio and VSTs, without any hiccups, even while multitasking. Regardless, I'd get 16GB to allow for upgrades for futureproofing. You might need it for MacOS 20 and the once-promised Fractal Native.

 

[marsonic]

I'm retiring my hackentosh. Built in in 2011 with i5 2500k. Smoked anything I could get from Apple at 3X the price at the time.

I retired mine a few years ago and went back to Windows on the same computer. I stand by that choice at the time. I stand by the choice to go back to mac, if only because Apple switching to ARM means that hackintoshes are going to die eventually. IME, they're a better experience than actual Apples....kind of the only downside is power usage. But....I didn't notice the switch in my power bill.

Just a thought, but 4k may not be the best choice for you. 1440p would probably give you less headaches with music apps and the resolution may even be better for your purposes.

I have mixed feelings. 1440 is the "right" resolution, IMHO for about a 22-24" screen. Anything larger feels like it's wasting space.

I use 2 4k displays (27" and 65") and a 1080 display (15" IIRC). The 4K displays are both scaled to 3200x1800, and it works well for me. I have tried both of my 4k screens scaled to 1440, and it wasted so much space that it made me want even more monitors.