Mac Mini (2018) has problems with Logic Pro X

I sincerely hope everyone here is reporting this to Apple and escalating to engineering. I am with you Hugh. I do not have time to spend beta testing Apple's hardware and praying for a fix. This stuff should never make it to the surface. The fact that it us occurring not only in Logic but in Pro Tools tells us immediately that this isn't a Logic issue. It is a mini/Mojave issue or combination of the two.

UAD Apollo 8p in. I also have a UAD satellite Octo. It’s funny, I try not to mention that in discussions with Apple because they immediately go to that as the problem. “Have you tried removing all of your UAD plugins?” “Did you try contacting UAD?” “Are you using any other ‘third party’ plugins?” Er, what? Yes of course.

But Logic tunes from before I had my UAD system are far worse. Virtual instruments seem to all be stacked on that last thread. I could get over half a dozen Logic virtual amps with my previous iMac, and when I play the same song on this mini I have to freeze most of them, if not all if I’m recording something. Never gave it a second thought before.

QA has been really bad with all of the new machines... The MacBook Pro has been met with equally frustrating issues that left me to come to the same conclusion, all of these new models were rushed out... I wasted a month chasing audio issues down with support only to end in no resolution... Seems the only way this is going to get the proper attention is if users start filing complaints with customer relations. If you want to escalate your issues, (which you absolutely should), I've found this to be the best multi-pronged approach... A. Report the issue to support. B. Call support and ask for customer relations stating you want to file a complaint. C. Submit feedback citing your case and complaint numbers...

I mean the QA between software and hardware... All of the T2 machines have had one serious issue or another, (if not multiple issues.) It's like there's little to no testing being done to look for crippling bugs that all seem to stem from bridgeOS/T2 in some way or another.

Completely understand. I threw a month of my life away chasing down audio distortion that stemmed from a security update. (I've confirmed this by cloning a backup I made before the update back to the machine the and distortion went away.)

And I agree about the hardware as well... I don't think the hardware's faulty, I think the coding for bridgeOS is seriously SHOTTY.

Granted I'm on a MacBook, but you mentioned using Logic for a long time. You're obviously aware of Logic using the last core for live processing/midi input, and anything that winds up on the mixbus yeah? (Not saying this is ideal... Logic should be a lot more efficient considering how the new processors score on single-core performance...)

Oof That's bad. I know 64's ideal, but have you tried 128 to see if the spike goes down?

I've found that as much as I'd like to run 64 I simply can't with my templates being the size they are...

That said, Apple really should optimize this, and I'm sure it can be done somehow...

They also need to move the single core live track usage to a different core than the same one background tasks run on. And, if they were smart they'd figure out a way to move mixbus processing to its own core...

Once I start to process my mixbus is when I see single core build up get really rough when just mixing, no live track selected...

How are the cores reporting its workload? Are they spiking?

Check this out. One core totally taxed out. SNAP, CRACKLE, POP! It will also halt playback in Logic.

Here's a decent description by Apple. It's old but I don't think anything has changed.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201838

FWIW, Im running Logic 10.4.3 on a new Mac Min with 8GB RAM, hve imported over 200 tracks into 12 different songs from old Pro Tools files and have not had even a hiccup running anything.

Im using a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 via USB for my interface, out to a PreSonus Monitor Station V2 then to 3 different monitor speaker pairs.

Im new to Logic (Pro Tools convert) but will gladly answer any setting or parameter questions if needed.

I am having the same issue. Not only does this happen in Logic, it also happens in Pro Tools. It has to be a Mojave/Mac mini thing. Either way these engineers need to get on this yesterday. It is embarrassing to have all this horsepower and no giddy up. Pathetic Apple.

You mention QA. So then are you saying we are all getting faulty hardware? I honestly don't think we are dealing with faulty hardware here. I think that Mojave and the new mini just aren't working well together for some reason. There seems to be some CPU issues as far a spiking and not distributing processing evenly across all cores. Why this is happening is beyond me, but I have spent the entire evening doing all sorts of tests. To speak frankly I am getting really sick of working for Apple when Apple should be working for me. It makes it impossible to get any amount of work done when errors are popping up all over the place because of CPU spikes. This is not the only issues with the new mini. There's Bluetooth problems rampant and apparently even issues with the USB ports. I don't know where Apple's heads are at these days, but it is certainly not on quality.

Hugh Kremer, No it's not!

Cpu acts normally and no screen resolution issues on the exact same projects and with the exact UAD hardware and plugins!

I was having issues on the mini with both Logic 10.4.3 and Cubase 10!

I believe it has to do with the lack of a dedicated gpu on the mini therefore the spikes and extra load on the processor while using a 4K monitor!

Anyway my advice to all! GET RID OF IT!

I'm stuck here too, Nick. I am reporting this through all the channels I know of. I suggest everyone else do the same.

Can everyone here please list the audio interfaces they are using and what displays and if they are using an eGPU or not?