Macintosh - (apple) Users On Gmc Options

[Todd Simpson]

If you are using an sort of Apple device to make music, then this thread is for you I'm a "Mac Guy" myself as most folks know. We are quite the minority in general with only about 10 percent or so of the market of computers being Apple products. So it can feel like you are the only one. Good news, YOU'RE NOT!!!

In this first post, I'd like to talk about EL CAPITAN the new free operating system from Apple. I have been reluctant to upgrade for many reasons. Not the least of which is all the bad things about incompatibility with my 11 Rack and other issues relating to the new OS. Here is a video with 5 Reasons NOT TO UPGRADE.



The new iphoto called PHOTO is a real HOG. I have a quad core i7 system with 16 gb of ram and just using the app maxes out all of my cpus and most of my ram. And this is just a simple photo program. So if you have a dual core machine, or older machine, you may want to hold off. It can really slow down anything lower than a quad i7. I have it on my dual i5 machine and installed an SSD drive to help the performance. It helped a TON. So if you have an older system, put an SSD hard drive in BEFORE upgrading.

Now that I have upgraded I've noticed that the side bar in many applications and finder is gone by default. Ugghh. You can get it back with a click or two though. Thankfully. There is also a new 11 rack driver thank God. If you do upgrade, here is a vid showing some of the new features. None of which are like WOW imho, but the integration with "The Cloud" is nice. Here is a vid on some new features.




If you are a mac user, please let me know if you have upgraded or not, plan to, plan not to, etc

Todd
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[Rammikin]

That video is full of vague innuendo. Since when does: "I googled and found somebody who complained" constitute proof a problem exists? I don't buy that El Cap is the disaster he claims it is.

That said, Apple does indeed have a problem. They've put themselves on a 12 month release cycle for OSX. That, combined with the fact they've moved so many people to ios development means it's impossible to have compelling benefits in each update. And, yes, the goal of merging ios and osx apps does mean there has been a disappointing downward trend in app capabilities for some time now. I think you once commented on the dumbing down of FCP.

For testing purposes, I have to maintain partitions with all recent versions of OSX. But, like in the video, I find the sweet spot to be Mavericks, and primarily use that. Plus, I use even older versions of some apps like iWeb and iMovie.

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[Todd Simpson]

Sadly, it did hit on a few points that I thought I should share which is why I included it. El Cap is not a "disaster" IMHO, just had some birthing issues. For example, firewire audio interfaces stopped working for a while and many vendors were slow to issue new drivers. I was happy to see drivers for the 11 rack finally come out a bit back which is why I upgraded The video takes a bit of an extreme view. I posted just as a general warning as some folks did feel that way.

Also, you are spot on in your analysis of os x and the release sched. They have shifted so much toward mobile that the rest of the company is having to "make do with less" and even the flagship OS is starting to look/feel like a mobile thing imho. They get rid of the left hand panel on many apps (e.g. iphoto) by default now so there is very little you can click on to make things happen unless you unhide it. This would be fine on a phone/tablet, not on a full os IMHO.

I fear this trend will continue as mobile continues to be the bulk of Apple revenue. They are stepping back a bit from the "Pro" market as that market just doesn't provide the rich profits that mobile has, and it's a relatively small market by comparison. So the apps, even the hardware (.e.g. mac laptops with the memory soldered on) is starting to drift more toward "mobile"

Smart Idea to maintain bootable partitions with all versions even for a studio person I think this would be a good idea. One wrong update and your entire rig may not work properly and during a session you need it to work, so being able to go to another version of the OS that does work would be handy. I was using three machines each with a variant of the OS for while.

I"m also a fan of Mavericks since it seemed to have very wide drive compatibility and was a bit speedier than el cap in general. Sadly, they seem to have bloated el cap just a pinch so as to encourage folks to buy faster hardware/new hardware.

You mentioned "for testing" what may I ask are you testing?

Todd

That video is full of vague innuendo. Since when does: "I googled and found somebody who complained" constitute proof a problem exists? I don't buy that El Cap is the disaster he claims it is.

That said, Apple does indeed have a problem. They've put themselves on a 12 month release cycle for OSX. That, combined with the fact they've moved so many people to ios development means it's impossible to have compelling benefits in each update. And, yes, the goal of merging ios and osx apps does mean there has been a disappointing downward trend in app capabilities for some time now. I think you once commented on the dumbing down of FCP.

For testing purposes, I have to maintain partitions with all recent versions of OSX. But, like in the video, I find the sweet spot to be Mavericks, and primarily use that. Plus, I use even older versions of some apps like iWeb and iMovie.

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net

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[Socky42]

The new features look fine, it's just stuff I'll don't need/ will never use. My rule of thumb is I never upgrade anything unless I absolutely have to; like some major security risk or whatever. Still rocking ol' iOS 7 on my iPhone. I just have too many plugins and programs I use that I don't want to mess up, especially since some of them are kinda old and won't get compatibility patches.

I know 90% of them will probably work in the new OS anyway but for me, don't fix what's not broke.

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[Todd Simpson]

I'm with ya there So far I can't see needing the new features. But maybe someday. Many are linked to features in the new mobile version of course. So without that, it's semi pointless but as you mention, the most important thing is compatibility. Especially if you are in the middle of a project, or if you have bits that won't work on a new system.

It wasn't until I was sure all my gear would work on the new OS (after waiting for patches/vendor drivers for months) did I make the switch and upgrade. I did notice that they seem to be trying to push folks toward it by nagging you every time you boot up your mac or phone saying TIME TO UPDATE!!! GET EL CAPITAIN!! IT"S FREE! which does get a bit annoying.

I"m on the latest IOS version as I don't use my phone for music much since I switched to using a tablet. The tablet is NOT getting upgraded anytime soon IT works just as it is.

If you do ever upgrade a desktop/laptop Mac, to el capitain, I would suggest an SSD drive if you don't already have one. The new os feels a bit bit bloated imho and made my dual core seem sluggish. Most of the new macs are leaning toward SSD drives it seems so maybe they wouldn't even notice the slow down.

The new features look fine, it's just stuff I'll don't need/ will never use. My rule of thumb is I never upgrade anything unless I absolutely have to; like some major security risk or whatever. Still rocking ol' iOS 7 on my iPhone. I just have too many plugins and programs I use that I don't want to mess up, especially since some of them are kinda old and won't get compatibility patches.

I know 90% of them will probably work in the new OS anyway but for me, don't fix what's not broke.

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net

Don't miss today's free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

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[Todd Simpson]

FOR USERS OF ICONNECTIVITY4+ on OS X EL CAPITAN

Finally upgraded my main audio Mac to El Capitan and heard pops/clicks right away using my iconnectivity4+ audio interface. Uggh. After some research found out that it's common and that there is a fix. You need to do the following per the iconnectivity web site. Afterwards, all was well


http://www.iconnectivity.com/blog/iconnect...tan-and-ios-902
We have noticed that when the Mac computer is NOT the clock master for audio, there is observable click and pops in outgoing audio for the Mac when using Music creation software. OCTOBER 6 UPDATE: This is only at 44.1kHz and 88.2kHz sample rates; 48kHz and 96kHz are fine. Playback from iTunes or streaming apps like Netflix have no issue. With iConnectivity interfaces, it is recommended to select the USB port with Mac running El Capitan as the clock master (in the Audio Info screen).

We have noticed that when the iOS device is NOT the clock master for audio, there is observable click and pops in outgoing audio for the iOS device when using Music creation software. Playback from iTunes or streaming apps like Netflix have no issue. With iConnectivity interfaces, it is recommended to select the USB port with iOS device running iOS9 as the clock master (in the Audio Info screen).
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If you guys run in to any issues using your Mac for audio, please do share the issue and if you need help with a solution, I'm sure we can work it out Many folks are having issues after upgrading to El Cap so you are not alone

Todd

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