The Name Of This Forum Is An Oxymoron, Dude, you're gettin' nowhere--fast. Options

[Levon River]

The very title of this forum is an oxymoron.

There is no music on OS X, not in any meaningful and useful way across the spectrum of musical needs. You're hearing this opinion from a 10-year veteran die-hard Mac evangelist.

Sure, keyboardist Geewhiz has managed to cobble together a magically working combination that allows him to play Reason synths from his keyboard because it just so happens that he has one of the pitiful handful of USB MIDI interfaces that has had an OS X driver written for it. Not that anybody can determine even with a crystal ball which MIDI devices have any such drivers, since many MIDI (and audio) hardware manufacturers just put something nice and ambiguous in their promotional literature and on their web pages like "Mac OS 8.6 and above," leaving the buyer to find out by whatever means they can whether that includes OS X or not--usually *not*.

Or audiophile Gahlee Lookahere can transfer his Spike Jones collection off of scratchy 78-rpms into Peak and tweak. And God bless him.

Anybody can trot out any number of specialist, vertical-use examples to say, "Hey, now, listen here, you troublemaker: I'm making *my* brand of music." Fine. God bless you.

But if there is a single OS X-based studio even operating anywhere in the world right now, not only is it absolutely forced to use Apple's own monopolistic $1,000.00 bank-buster Logic Audio Platinum (after 2 1/2 years with NOTHING available), but it is a desert island cut off by oceans of "no date has been set" promises from the entire rich mainland of third-party software effects and virtual instruments, with only a few working hardware audio and MIDI interfaces bobbing around it like ghostly and uncertain buoys in the darkness.

Even the supposed Flagship of the "Mac-compatible" (please don't laugh) music fleet, Digidesign/ProTools, was so far out of the picture when OS X hit the streets that their top software wouldn't even RUN without risking extreme dangers on a Macintosh that even had OS X *installed* anywhere on it--even on a separate partition!

Even seasoned, experienced, veteran Mac computer music equipment salesmen right now, today, hedge and hem and haw when you're trying to *buy* something from them and want to know if it will work under OS X. Even with commissions on the line, their cash-register driven souls just won't let them cross that line.

This isn't music computing; it's an asylum that makes Bedlam look like Congress. (No, that's a bad analogy; actually Congress makes Bedlam look sane. But that's another essay.)

The names "Core MIDI" and "Core Audio" services must have been dreamed up by someone with a particularly malicious sense of humor, since it seems that what it means is that MIDI and audio access and usefulness have been surgically cored out of Apple, and replaced with some modern digital Tower of Musical Babel that has effectively kept musicians who were attempting to migrate to OS X from communicating with their computers now for almost three years.

And is the end of the bleeding frustration actually in sight? Well, it *always*, is, isn't it? But "no date has been set."

So if you soon see a rash of G3s and G4s--like mine--and other musical paperweights showing up on E-Bay, don't be surprised. Dude, musicians are gettin' a Dell.

[filarion]

A lot of frustration, eh?

You're obviously reluctant to keep using OS9, which works perfectly fine like it always has. Audio on OSX has made huge advancements the past 3 months and bitching isn't going to change that. Things may have slowed down a little, but give me a break. Every self-respecting studio does not upgrade to OSX "like that" anyways. Holding off on, for instance, a PT HD system until it's OSX ready is a natural choice that many made. Logic for OSX right now is more of a public beta to me, since, yes, there's still bugs, uncompleted features and lack of drivers.

Upgrading to OSX is a huge move and none that can be made (in a professional environment, playing around is possible right now and really makes me want to have it all soon) right now. But I think I'll be able to move up to OSX completely in the holidays, starting into 03 with an OSX only system (at least if RME gets their act together).

Cheers,

.martin

[rageheart]

yeah
im working with os9 and everythings fine with it.
i didnt change to osx because theres no reason for it.
when it is sure that osx works with my setup then ill probably switch.
no use in always having the newest os installed because its new...it wont make the music sound better...
stick with os9 and wait till osx is properly supporting your setup. then switch. if u want.

[Levon River]

You're obviously reluctant to keep using OS9, which works perfectly fine like it always has.

Let me say it one more time, with emphasis: the title of THIS FORUM is an oxymoron. Check the title of this forum one more time.

But thanks for playing.

[Levon River]

im working with os9 and everythings fine with it.
i didnt change to osx because theres no reason for it.

Hmm. Perhaps they aren't teaching in English classes any more the radical concept that the title of something, as in what I wrote that you're responding to, and its first paragraph establish the MAJOR PREMISE. So let me take one more run at it: I said that the very NAME of THIS FORUM is an oxymoron. Did you happen to notice the name of this forum?

[rageheart]

cool down, my friend.
i just want 2 say why dont u stick with the well supported os9 instead of rushing in2 osx?
maybe u switched 2 osx too fast realizing then that ur setup isn't supported properly.

[D-plex]

So if you soon see a rash of G3s and G4s--like mine--and other musical paperweights showing up on E-Bay, don't be surprised. Dude, musicians are gettin' a Dell.

Excellent...with Reason 2 out already and Cubase arriving on October 10, I may be in the market for a nice used G4.

[Levon River]

cool down, my friend.
i just want 2 say why dont u stick with the well supported os9 instead of rushing in2 osx?

I can't cool down till I get he't up, and you ain't seen me he't up. Trust me. I haven't even worked my way up to luke warm. And everything I said at the top of all this is still equally true.

I guess where you come from, sitting still staring at something, waiting for it to actually work, for nearly three years is called "rushing." Where I come from, they start shoveling dirt in on you.

[rageheart]

hello levon!

it may be helpful if you told us your "story". maybe you can tell us why you needed to switch to osx, which os/platforum u used before and whats your setup u can't get runnin. we should then be able to give u advice.

but maybe that isnt needed anymore...did u sell ur mac already?

p.s.: although we may come from different locations (im from germany), we all live on this planet and should treat anybody friendly and with respect.

peace rage

[deleted]

The very title of this forum is an oxymoron.

There is no music on OS X, not in any meaningful and useful way across the spectrum of musical needs. You're hearing this opinion from a 10-year veteran die-hard Mac evangelist.

I must say i totally agree with you, yet... I've just installed Jaguar (1 week ago), and i must say i'm a bit frustrated concerning audio/MIDI.

Right now, we have:
1 pro sequencer (Logic), and 1 "specialized" sequencer (Live). You sure can make "pro" things with these, but, errh, i'm using DP...
We have 2 serious stereo editors (Peak 3.1 & Spark).
We have NO synth librarian (i've seen a java port, but not yet usable).
We have many small tools to play/convert audio files, but not a full featured one (ie like SoundApp for example).
We have Reason 2 as a virtual instrument (does NI made some annoucements? If they are part of the game, i'll be mind at rest).
CD-Xtract is on its way (Samples conversion betwenn Akai, EMU, Giga, etc.).
Drivers? Emi, MOTU, M-Audio, Tascam... Mhhh...

Period.

It's a bit short, i must admit. Please, correct me if i'm wrong.

Do YOU think the forum should be called "Limited Music with Macintosh on Mac OS X"? :-(

Still, everything is coming slowly (Pro Tools and Digital Performer will be there at the end of the year), probably many plugins with them, too. Because the real problem is here: plugins...

The names "Core MIDI" and "Core Audio" services must have been dreamed up by someone with a particularly malicious sense of humor, since it seems that what it means is that MIDI and audio access and usefulness have been surgically cored out of Apple, and replaced with some modern digital Tower of Musical Babel

Come on, this system's integration is a great thing, OMS vs FreeMIDI was a pain in the a**, IMHO... Same thing for VST/MAS/RTAS/AS plugins. Everybody made his "thing", incompatible with each others.
Let's move on, shall we?
I'll dig into AudioUnit and Core Audio/MIDI for more infos, functionalities, and what could be expected for a near future.

Don't leave the ship, we need every sailor ;-)
And OS 9 is perfectly usable for quite some years, i think.

Bye.