Making Macs Faster? Need Feedback... Options

[rickenbacker]

Semblance: the future for music on the Mac platform is arguably the best it has ever been. I wouldn't worry about getting into it - OS X is an excellent system for music-making.

True, it got off to a shaky start, but now all the big guns like Logic, Cubase and Pro Tools are OS X-ready (only MOTU strangely has not announced a new version); other new-ish software like Reason, Live and Melodyne are all on OS X; there are lots of OS X-only apps and FX coming through now; and there is growing hardware/interface/driver support.

Granted, a lot of this is ideal only for people coming clean to the Mac, with no legacy hardware/software. For anyone who has been using a Mac and OS 9 for a couple of years, it's more awkward.

Personally (and at the risk of attracting a hefty does of criticism) I think VST should basically go the way of OMS - the Mac is better off without it in OS X. The new format (Audio Units) is much better and works at the system level, rather than being grafted on as a plug-in as VST is, so you get better stability and performance - the Holy Grail of computer musicians.

All OS 9 VST plugs/apps have to be re-written/re-compiled for OS X anyway - whether as VST or Audio Unit. So for the sake of Mac musicians everywhere, it would seem blindingly obvious to re-write them as Audio Units. Let's have one common format for all, which also happens to be the best solution. It's no more complicated than re-compiling a VST app for OS X, from what I gather, although I'm not a programmer myself.

But Steinberg are persisting with the VST format in CUbase SX (hey, no surprise there - they invented it) so the whole mess continues. This is a good thing, I suppose, if you want to use Cubase in the future. Live also uses VST, I think. If you choose Logic, they're siding with Audio Units - which in a recent poll of Mac musicians was the runaway choice for the future anyway.

Logic on a Mac = perfection. Dual processor support, very nice FX built-in and a solid future on the Mac. The main thing currently missing (for me at any rate) is ReWire support for other software, such as Live or Reason. "Coming soon", they say.

If you read other posts here from OS X musicians, they mostly say it's fantastic. There are issues, as there always will be, but I hate going back to OS 9 now for anything. OS X is unbelievably stable, fun to use and if you're coming to the Mac fresh, I wouldn't even bother with OS 9. CoreAudio and CoreMidi make Mac music much sweeter.

Rememebr - you can't use old VST plugs in OS X, even with Cubase SX. They have to be "new" VST plugs. If you get a couple of different programs, you can have both options - I have Logic Platinum and other stuff like Live and Reason, so I can use Audio Units in the future and VST, too.

So yes, get a Mac and I'd recommend getting OS X. If you have no legacy gear or apps for OS 9, don't even install it.