Making Macs Faster? Need Feedback... Options

[E rouge]

hello everyone. I am a new apple user. I have been a PC user for years, and I made the swich about 1 week ago. I always heard that apples were better for audio, so now I get to ee for my self. I came here because I wanted feedback and help from the apple users who are more fimilar with macs. here are my systems specs.

dual 867 mhz g4
1 GB DDR ram
60 GB hard drive
motu 828
logic 4.8
os 9.2


I have to use OS 9, because the lac of support for os X drivers and stuff. Any ways, I wass using an

AMD 1600 Xp (1.4 ghz)
50 GB HD,
logic 5.3,
XP PRO
640 DDR ram
motu 828


I was finding that when using peak 3 , that it was slower then my PC when importing mp3, or converting wave and AIFF. I was wondering, how can I make my mac fast?

it seems to me, as my mac is slower then my PC. The fastest mac now is only a 1.25 GHz, compared to PC GHZ. yes I know abut the GHZ myth, I dont want to get into that, but how fast is my mac, compared to a PC?

Do other mac users find their macs slow? I guess maybe I am just use to the speed of my old PC. Is there anyway I can increase the speed of my mac> I have 1 GB DDR ram, that should be more then enough. Anyone have an tips or tricks, or links on how to make my mac faster for audio?

thanks in advance.

Erick Rouge

[BusError]

OS9 Doesn't support the two processors in your mac. Very few OS9 applications are able to use them both.
Also, those DDR machines are not supported by OS 9.2.2 (the latest OS9 'standalone') so there no guaranty it will work reliably at all!

[E rouge]

what d you mean its not supported in 89. logic 4.8 has the option to se multi processors.... Also, what is this I keep hearing about no more VST support fpr logic in OS x. That it just plain crazy...... I mean, i love using waves, and halion, both very easy to use, and now i wont be able to. Can someone please explain this, the emagic site is very vague on this...


so when using DDr ram, it doesnt work in os 9? thats onteresting to know.....

[E rouge]

what d you mean its not supported in 89. logic 4.8 has the option to se multi processors.... Also, what is this I keep hearing about no more VST support fpr logic in OS x. That it just plain crazy...... I mean, i love using waves, and halion, both very easy to use, and now i wont be able to. Can someone please explain this, the emagic site is very vague on this...


so when using DDr ram, it doesnt work in os 9? thats onteresting to know.....

[Synthetic]

note: when comparing PC speed to Apple speed.... be aware that mhz numbers don't show everything. Its possible to have a mac with slower mhz numbers that is just as fast or faster than a Pentium with higher mhz rating. Sometimes it really depends on what apps you are using as most Photoshop tests show that mhz for mhz... macs are usually faster.

Also, dual processors are nice but not every app takes advantage of them and not sure if Peak does so this may be part of the slower importing problem... also CDROM speed may be another issue. Apple CDROMs seem to be a bit slower than most PCs.

[E rouge]

yes this is might be true. well hoprfully the new apps that come out for macs will be able to use the dual CPU. its about time these companies did their jobs are produced the drivers... I am still waiting for my motu drivers.... the betas one crash OX S!

Anyways, thanks for all the help.

[rickenbacker]

The OS X version of Logic (currently at 5.4, although this requires OS 10.2 aka Jaguar) has been optimised for dual G4 processors and takes good advantage of them, so I hear.

As for OS X drivers etc, things are much better now than they were six months ago. You could definitely find an audio/midi interface that does the job.

But still no VST support. Never will be in Logic, either. You'd need Cubase SX if you want to stick with VST. I appreciate you will if you've got some favourite VST gear already, but why manufacturers can't agree on Audio Units is beyond me - every OS 9 VST app/plug has to be rewritten for OS X anyway.

[E rouge]

Yes, not vst support is horrible. I dont understand why apple wants to make our lives so hard. I love using halion and waves plugins. Now I cant. I doubt halion or steinburg are going to waste time on "audio units" when they have their VST.....

Now, all the people who have bought VST plugins and have learned them must switch and learn something else...

There is a huge learning curve when learning audio, and apple just made it harder. OS X and XP have been out for about the same time, and everything runs on XP flawless, even my motu 828, but not on apple. Motu is a mac friendly company yet they still have beta drivers for their firewire. I just dont understand. Alot of people have to make their living of this, and its becoming a real pain waiting half a year or long for companies to change.

After december 31, all new macs will not boot into os 9, and the OS window that pops up in OSX dont support logic, or apps like that. Plus the fact that OS X itself uses over 300 MB of your ram, on top of OS 9 , and on top of your app your running, performace is going to be very crippled if you buy a mac after december 31.

hmm...
i am currently a PC user shopping around for a used Mac. i have heard great things about using Macs for audio, dual processors, software support, etc.
this thread has me a little worried. are you saying dual processors aren't really worth it seeing as not all software supports dual? and what about OS X? it's not backwards compatible? and if VST is not useable on OS X, what are our other options?

thanks for your help,
semblance

[E rouge]

well, I just dont know.... they are switching everything up. I am still waiting for motu drivers for my 828. After jan 1, no more apples will boot in 9, and you cant use the apps in OSX. So we are in a rock and a hard place. In one hand you have apple wanted people to switch to OS X, and forcing people into OS X, on the other, you got companies with no support for OS X in site....