After a rocky start, Mac OS X is finally a serious audio and MIDI operatingsystem, offering significantly more power and stability than OS 9 and adramatically streamlined setup process. Now there are some signs we’ll all beable to start using that power.
In addition to audio processing and stereo and multitrack editing from BIAS and TC|Works, software synthesis from Propellerhead and BitHeadz, and music notation from Sibelius, Emagic’s Logic 5 for OS X is now shipping(Emagic is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Apple), and Steinberg and MOTU are promising CubaseSX and DigitalPerformer, respectively, this fall. (Cubase we should see late October / earlyNovember and we expect DP to be in our hands by December.) Mac mainstays MAXMSP from Cycling `74 and Digidesign Pro Tools are both underdevelopment, with release likely in 2003. Plug-ins are another story, buthaving these apps to test will probably mean plug-ins will start to appearvery rapidly. The question is no longer should you upgrade, simply a matter ofwhen — and for most customers, that will be when available OS X apps havereached critical mass (and an upgrade fits their budget, sicne switching ispotentially very expensive).
10.2 is bringing rapid improvements in the OS. Serious audio and music usersrunning 10.1 should unquestionably upgrade. The best new visible feature isAudio MIDI Setup (AMS), which now provides universal audio setup options forI/O settings for apps that don’t have setup of their own. AMS also containsglobal MIDI settings very similar to OMS (Open Music System from now-defunctOpcode) and FreeMIDI from MOTU in OS 9. The OMS – AMS acronym similarity can’tbe accidental. Users of MOTU multichannel FireWire audio interfaces: the betasoftware downloadablefrom MOTU works just fine with the new release, but if you use BIAS‘ Deck, be sure to grab a newJaguar-compatible driver.(Thanks to Steve Berkeley of BIAS for the tip!) More good news: Digigram has posted drivers for its line of audio interfaces, including the PCMCIA-based VXPocket (the only choice for legacy PowerBooks). And lastly, the expected release of 10.2.1 (which MacNN reports Apple posted Monday before quickly pulling it) is likely to bring a number of audio tweaks and fixes.
Stay tuned to the PowerPage for the next month for info/reviews/tips onSibelius, VBox, Peak, Reason, the MOTU 828, and more running under OS X!