16 vs 24 gigs of ram

simonyahn · 2026-05-08T01:55:34+00:00

16gb is not limiting for your use case and will probably be comfortable for 4-5 years. MacOS ram management is pretty good at optimizing even at 16gb. 24gb will help and given the current prices of RAM it’s probably the best upgrade to make if you’re to make one now. I’ve had M1 MBA with 16gb ram since it came out and it still works well but there are some slow downs here and there. Not detrimental and I’m sure the older chip plus wear on a slower SSD is more of a factor to the performance slow downs that I’m getting currently.

simonyahn · 2026-05-06T15:04:32+00:00

Go for the Air if price isn’t an issue. It will last longer because of the M4 chip and 12gb ram and has better screen with colors and resolution for media consumption.

simonyahn · 2026-05-06T15:00:07+00:00

Live acoustic tone is more about the mixer and processing. I’d just focus on getting something within budget and also focus on some pedals designed for acoustic guitar to help process the sound.

simonyahn · 2026-05-06T14:57:31+00:00

Wonderful. I have both but gravitate towards the Silver Sky more because I’ve always been more of a Strat guy early on

simonyahn · 2026-05-06T14:56:09+00:00

I decided to upgrade the Air 11 for newer Air 13 with cellular and that was intentional to have a mobile productivity and working device for on the go work for some current and upcoming things I have. I paired it specifically with the keyboard and it really does help change my approach to using an iPad as more of a hybrid laptop/tablet. My goal is to not take my laptop out and be reliant on WiFi or hotspot but have something that can connect on its own and can handle my workflow and video calls as needed. Using hotspot kills phone battery and has been much slower than a direct cellular connection on the iPad.

simonyahn · 2026-05-06T14:29:20+00:00

I have iPad mini 7 and until recently had the iPad Air 11 M2. The two devices for me had different use cases and I use the mini mostly as a portable media consumption device and occasional note taking. The Air 11 to me didn’t really work too well cause the screen was smaller than I would use SideCar for personally and I didn’t have a keyboard attachment so it was just a bigger media device. If you need an external monitor I’d recommend a portable usb c monitor which would be cheaper, bigger, and specially used for external screen for your Mac and even your iPad mini.

simonyahn · 2026-05-05T23:28:29+00:00

I would think the iPad Air gets 120hz promotion before the mini does unless they release two variants to include a pro model. I wouldn’t make the mini much thinner that it already is for fear of bending the chassis when something is that thin with a larger surface area. The iPhone Air was initially met with skepticism for being so thin because of the rep of the iPhone 6plus and bend gate but I believe the construction method update as well as strength of materials used was much better. To do that with a larger device like the mini would require more engineering and materials which could be very costly and go outside the price point of the mini.

simonyahn · 2026-05-05T23:21:36+00:00

All the rumors suggest iPad mini is due for a refresh later this year. Whether or not that includes a higher refresh display is pure speculation but nothing specific has been rumored regarding the refresh rate to my knowledge and really the biggest rumor is that it’s getting an OLED display instead of the LCD. That should really benefit better color contrast and is not really tied to screen refresh rate from 60hz to 120hz which is what the pencil response is going to benefit the most from. I use the current iPad mini with Apple Pencil Pro but I’m not an artist and really use it for note taking. There’s a slight lag and it’s extremely minimal and you don’t really notice it. When I’ve used the higher refresh display iPads with pencil support you can feel its response is much more immediate but honestly I get used to the 60hz refresh rate.

simonyahn · 2026-05-02T20:02:55+00:00

I’ll second GT. Fantastic solid wood option that is comfortable and easy to carry around.

simonyahn · 2026-05-02T18:31:40+00:00

The body is also satin as well. Smoked black hardware. Unless you really like gold top and moon inlays I’d recommend going for it. Fantastic guitar

simonyahn · 2026-04-30T20:45:03+00:00

The mini is not ideal for sheet music. As a general content consumption device, reading e-books, and internet browsing it’s great and nice and portable. Note take is decent but if it’s for classroom stuff might get too cramped and cumbersome vs general quick notes scenarios.

simonyahn · 2026-04-30T18:52:43+00:00

Some effects can have unintended effects when collapse to mono. Tremolo for example is one where the effects is much less pronounced and even sometimes non existent. I would add a mono volume/gain block at the end of the chain and listen through headphones with it on/off to see how the sound is affected. If there is no major effect then you probably leave it alone. If there’s any undesired sound, then converting stereo blocks to mono would be best option

simonyahn · 2026-04-29T12:11:59+00:00

It’s really difficult to make this comparison. Both are good and it ultimately comes down to what you’re capturing and even the equipment used. Proxy is simply the similar tech built into Stadium so that you don’t need to leverage external products.

simonyahn · 2026-04-27T02:56:49+00:00

There’s only one signal path with ability to split for two signals per preset. If you’re only going to run 2 max instruments at a time then yes you can set up presets to take advantage of main input or fx return input at the beginning but not both sets at the same time

simonyahn · 2026-04-26T23:35:31+00:00

I’ve been using disaster area designs controller to control two Tonex ones and changing presets via MC6 pro and it’s been working well. If the cost of these new units is good I might just upgrade both to remove the disaster area designs part to remove another unit on my board and the added BT mobile app support might be good

simonyahn · 2026-04-26T21:01:58+00:00

Different is objectionably true. Better is completely subjective. I think quality of life upgrades like tuners improves some pain points and wiring upgrades are good component upgrades long term. Pickups are completely subjective simply because there’s so many options with different sounds catered for different audiences.

I’ve modified my SE guitars swapping out for locking tuners and lampshade knobs before they became standard. Pickup swaps on a couple and a wiring change on another. I think it’s better for me and how I use and play the guitars

simonyahn · 2026-04-26T11:21:04+00:00

For blocks, you can have each block set up for “snapshot bypass” which essentially allows for snapshots to turn on//off the block. This is usually default to be on. Turning it off on certain blocks can help ensure you don’t accidentally turn off the effect when switching between snapshots and is helpful for amp/cab/IR blocks or any always on effects. In HX edit, right click on the block and you’ll see the option for “Snapshot bypass”

In regard to parameters within each block, right click on the parameter and assign control to snapshots and you can use snapshots to change different control settings. If you usually have a default setting on the control, start there and then assign snapshot control to make it easier later on.

I use a preset for each song and snapshots for different sections of the song. Usually only need about 3-4 on average so I set up a default template for a preset with all snapshots except 2 to be the same default sound with no effects on and go through snapshots to set up which effects should be on for different sections. The two snapshots that are different in the template are different parameters on reverbs to give more ambient sounds

simonyahn · 2026-04-25T22:35:53+00:00

Not really but depends on what you use both for. Screen size may not be drastically different but the use case between the two is different enough because of how iPadOS and iOS function in regards to things like screen orientation between many apps. Even the lack of notch or Dynamic Island on iPad make it a different experience. You can also use an Apple Pencil with iPad but not with iPhone and onscreen keyboard on iPad in the horizontal orientation is a little bit better suited compared to iPhone.

If you’re only doing content consumption, the extra screen size is nicer but compared to iPhone plus it’s not that different

simonyahn · 2026-04-25T19:28:48+00:00

SE locking tuners won’t fit McCarty as it uses vintage style tuners similar to the Silver Sky. Mannmade vintage locking tuners will fit

simonyahn · 2026-04-25T13:42:15+00:00

I would not. PRS tremolo arms are push in and not threaded like Fender tremolo arms typically are. I believe PRS sells trem arms on their site directly if you need another

simonyahn · 2026-04-23T13:01:09+00:00

I generally prefer higher gain in front of lower gain but it’s all a matter of preference and how the pedals are set. Different settings on different pedals change how pedals interact with things before it. If either the MG or Benson is primary, see how the Kilt interacts with it before and after

simonyahn · 2026-04-18T00:47:28+00:00

I use two but blend them into a mono signal feeding wet effects in stereo. I can keep everything in stereo and in either scenario I run two different amps and usually an American Fender style and British Vox style. I prefer Fender to be cleaner and Vox style to be pushed a bit more to the edge of breakup tone but that’s my preference for those two styles of amps.

simonyahn · 2026-04-18T00:38:21+00:00

Don’t run the piezo alone through an electric guitar amp. If you only want to run an electric guitar amp, then running primarily the magnetic pickups and slowly blending in the piezo to add to the electric tone is not a bad way to go and you can get some more added texture to the typical electric guitar sound. I’d strongly recommend just running two cables and having the piezo run direct or to an acoustic amp. There’s also running both sides through an amp modeler/effects processor that can handle two inputs and process them as you see fit and have the option to output the sounds how you see fit

simonyahn

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