iMac Pro 10-core or 14-core for DAW/software synths and 1080p streaming simultaneously?

mimoLive
1

I’m thinking of what would be the best upgrade from my current 2013 6-core Mac Pro, and my question is whether a 10-core iMac Pro would be sufficient for both running Ableton Live and other DAWs as well as streaming in 1080p at the same time.

(When I tried 1080p streaming and Ableton at the same time on my current system, I got performance warnings from mimoLive.)

Would 10 cores (depending on the DAW load) be enough, or would I need 14 or 18 cores?

I have a MOTU 624 which has a mixing engine to mix/route the audio from my external synthesizers and the DAW, so mimoLive would just be handling streaming and monitor mixes.

Thanks in advance!

–Douglas

2

@dcarmich That is a good question. Since the iMac Pro has a hardware encoder, the stream should not be a problem. I have no idea how much resources Ableton uses, which is probably very much depending on how much processing you do on the sound. The iMac Pro is pretty powerful at 10 cores, but if you can afford more, then go for it.

3

@“Oliver (Boinx)” Thanks! So basically, the stream encoding would be done in hardware on the iMac Pro versus software on the 2013 Mac Pro?

4

@dcarmich The Mac Pro does not have a hardware encoder. The iMac Pro has.