There are a lot of benchmarks and numbers about the new M1 Mac Mini computer. But how does it perform in a real life situation for music production, streaming and recording? Here are my thoughts.

UPDATE 1: MOTU released a driver for the Midi Express 128. I got the beta test version before and can confirm that it works fine! https://motu.com/download

UPDATE 2: Please don´t get mad about my RAM statement. I know that the Mac Mini and MacOS can deal with RAM very efficently and I am no IT expert to talk about the pros and cons here. My argument should have been "you can´t upgrade the RAM later, so get the big one instead of regretting it later". All efficiency aside: when you work with video projects and sample libraries more RAM is good. That is the point I was trying to make.

This is a list of everything that I tested and I can confirm that it works:
HARDWARE:
RME Fireface 802
RSHTECH USB Hub 3.0 (https://amzn.to/2TuMQAA)
Ableton Push 2
Elgato Streamlink 4k
Midi Fighter Twister
Arturia Keystep / Microfreak
Waldorf Iridium (I stop the list here, all class compliant midi devices work)

SOFTWARE (latest versions):
Ableton Live 11
Bitwig 4
OBS
all UHe products
all TAL products
all Valhalla DSP products
Ozone 9
Arturia VCollection
Arturia Pigments
Spectrasonics Omnisphere
Native Instruments Straylight, Reaktor, Massive, Replika
Xfer Serum

00:00 Introduction
00:14 RAM
01:14 SSD
02:04 Connectivity
03:13 Real life test
05:41 Software support
07:30 Compatibility
09:34 Your questions
14:10 iOS and macOS
14:42 PWM
14:53 Video editing
16:36 Final thoughts

My latest ambient releases:
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➽ https://synphaera.bandcamp.com/album/...
➽ https://phelios.bandcamp.com/album/am...
➽ https://exospheremusic.bandcamp.com/a...

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#macmini #m1