Mac people - I have joined you. Now what?

[John Jeffers]

So, after years of thinking "I gotta get me one of those someday", I finally did. I picked up a dual 2.3 G5 at my local CompUSA. They gave me a really great deal because they were trying to get rid of the last of their G5's. I wanted a G5 anyway so I don't have to worry about compatibility problems with Intel. I sure hope that decision wasn't a mistake!

So, now that I'm in your club would any of you be so kind as to point out the cool tweaks, utilities, and micellany that recording folks such as ourselves might find useful? I'd sure appreciate it.

I already wiped, reinstalled, and updated, so I'm on a pristine install of 10.4.7. The only app I've added so far is Firefox. During the install, I opted not to install any of the optional software like Garage Band, iDVD, and whatnot.

This computer is going to be used exclusively for audio. PT LE 7 on a Digi 002 for now. I'll probably throw Cubase or Nuendo on there too, since that's what I'm most comfortable with. The biggest drag for me is that I can't use my beloved UAD-1's since they're PCI.

[Jonnystevens]

Yeah help out with configuration mac guys. I just got a Mac Dual 2.0 G5. From time to time I have a prompt that says i'm running out of CPU power and to remove some RTAS plugins. WTF? I thought i bought a lamborgini.

[Mark Alan Miller]

I'm not the best at this, but I think that dual processors are only taken advantage of by software that is written to do so. Other software will run on a dual processor machine pretty much like as if it was on a single-processor machine...
Something to consider.

[John Jeffers]

I'm a little surprised at the lack of response to this thread. I thought I'd bring the Mac people out of the woodwork on this one. Must be 'cause it's the weekend.

Let me try a few specific questions...what's your favorite app for CD burning? Toast seems to be the de facto standard for CD burning, but my experience with Roxio's products for the PC has me thinking that there's probably something better. It's too bad that "Burn Folders" can't create an audio CD. Is there some other built-in app that can?

What about more advanced CD authoring? I use Sony CD Architect on the PC. Bias Peak seems to be the one to get for OSX.

What about defragging?

[dokushoka]

Well...

The reason no one is really responding is because you don't really have to do much to a Mac...

Open up the terminal sometime and type in "top" (press "q" to quit it.) What you'll see is that OSX is extremely well optimized already on its own for running your DAW of choice. There isn't really anything to tweak. Maybe turn off your screensaver or animated desktop. If you're really economical, font smoothing, but who cares?

Toast is great for CD burning. I still use Spark just because I have and like it, but its not deadware.

Enjoy!

[John Jeffers]

The reason no one is really responding is because you don't really have to do much to a Mac...

Cool, thanks. Considering all the things you can do to WinXP to make it run better, I thought there must be *something* to tweak on a Mac.

[markmeat]

It's too bad that "Burn Folders" can't create an audio CD. Is there some other built-in app that can?

You mean besides iTunes?


MEAT

[Kevin S]

Go to the DUC. this is a excelent forum but not where your going to find all your awnsers plus digi's people read there forums and respond.

[John Jeffers]

It's too bad that "Burn Folders" can't create an audio CD. Is there some other built-in app that can?

You mean besides iTunes?

Thanks. I don't use iTunes on the PC, so it didn't occur to me to try that.

[pulse_divider]

---Firefox is the only program that ever crashes on me. I still use it, but it seems to be flaky for some reason. Just thought I'd mention it since it's the one non-OS program you installed.
---I use iTunes for burning audio CDs and it works pretty well.
---Garage Band is a hell of a lot of fun. I'd suggest installing it and playing with it.

[PublicMelody]

I'm not the best at this, but I think that dual processors are only taken advantage of by software that is written to do so. Other software will run on a dual processor machine pretty much like as if it was on a single-processor machine...
Something to consider.

This is correct. I would be surprised if the audio software wasn't written to take advantage of multi-processing.

As far as tweaks, I'm with those who say that Macs don't need tweaking. I think one of the few things you could do is turn-off Spotlight. There have been some Metric Halo users who claim that Spotlight can cause recording glitches when recording several tracks at once (heavy I/O).

You might also want to create at least two disk partitions to keep your audio files separate from the system/users files.

- Jim

[these_go211]

i second installing garageband. it's fun, easy, intuitive, and you may get some use out of the drum loops. i recently bough toast for cd burning and was impressed. that being said, for my own lo-fi needs itunes is probably good enough.

much of OS X is already optimized. spotlight may be a CPU hog but i'm not sure this is fact. one thing is i would wait a few weeks after release before doing any software updates. a few times updates have caused minor problems. *DO NOT* do OS upgrades before checking with digidesign to see if the new OS is compatible with your version of pro tools.

here are some helpful resources:
OS X audio forums
http://www.bigbluelounge.com/forums/index.php

Apple discussion forums:
http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa

welcome to the macworld! enjoy

[wszalva]

One way to keep things humming on a Mac is to regularly use the disk utility to 'repair disk permissions' on the computer. I do mine at least once a week. If you have two drives installed or two partiitons, I would recommend having dual boot setups so you can also do heavier duty disk maintenance using the Apple disk utiity and (third party app) Diskwarrior. I also use a program called Super Duper to duplicate my boot drive regualry in case of a drive crash (whcih has happened to me a few times).

Also - load the computer with as muich RAM as you can afford.

So, after years of thinking "I gotta get me one of those someday", I finally did. I picked up a dual 2.3 G5 at my local CompUSA. They gave me a really great deal because they were trying to get rid of the last of their G5's. I wanted a G5 anyway so I don't have to worry about compatibility problems with Intel. I sure hope that decision wasn't a mistake!

So, now that I'm in your club would any of you be so kind as to point out the cool tweaks, utilities, and micellany that recording folks such as ourselves might find useful? I'd sure appreciate it.

I already wiped, reinstalled, and updated, so I'm on a pristine install of 10.4.7. The only app I've added so far is Firefox. During the install, I opted not to install any of the optional software like Garage Band, iDVD, and whatnot.

This computer is going to be used exclusively for audio. PT LE 7 on a Digi 002 for now. I'll probably throw Cubase or Nuendo on there too, since that's what I'm most comfortable with. The biggest drag for me is that I can't use my beloved UAD-1's since they're PCI.

[John Jeffers]

One way to keep things humming on a Mac is to regularly use the disk utility to 'repair disk permissions' on the computer. I do mine at least once a week. If you have two drives installed or two partiitons, I would recommend having dual boot setups so you can also do heavier duty disk maintenance using the Apple disk utiity and (third party app) Diskwarrior. I also use a program called Super Duper to duplicate my boot drive regualry in case of a drive crash (whcih has happened to me a few times).

Thanks for the tip about "repair disk permissions". What sort of thing is likely to happen if I don't do that?

Also, could you clarify the purpose of a dual boot? I do have two disks, one for the OS/apps and one for audio, but I don't understand how I would benefit from being able to boot off the second disk (if that is what you're suggesting).

Also - load the computer with as muich RAM as you can afford.

I put in an extra 2 GB in addition to the 512 MB it shipped with. I figure 2.5 GB ought to be enough for now, esp. considering that I rarely use virtual instruments or samplers in my projects.

[wszalva]

AFAIK nothing earthshattering will happen without repairing permissions, it just tends to keep things running a bit smoother... a bit like cleaning the gunk out of your car engine valves, if you'll pardon the analogy. For detailed info on what repairing disk permissions actually does, Google 'repair disk permissions Mac' and you'll get more info.

As far as having a dual boot system goes, there are other repairs that can only be done when booting from either a DVD system or another drive. The DVD option is slow and cludgy, so I have opted to have a mirror system on another drive that I boot from. This allows me to boot from the mirror drive and then use various utilities to do repairs (such as Disk Utility and diskWarrior). I do this about once every two weeks. I'm always surprised to find how many ittle things 'need repair' when I do this on what appears to be a fully functional hard drive. One caveat: when using third party utility apps, make sure that you have the version that is compatible with whatever OSX version that you're dealing with, I've seen evil things happen if this precaution is not observed.

2.5 GB is good. Depending on what apps your using, more RAM can be better. I know that Logic maxes out with 4 GB, in terms of how it can be optimized.

One way to keep things humming on a Mac is to regularly use the disk utility to 'repair disk permissions' on the computer. I do mine at least once a week. If you have two drives installed or two partiitons, I would recommend having dual boot setups so you can also do heavier duty disk maintenance using the Apple disk utiity and (third party app) Diskwarrior. I also use a program called Super Duper to duplicate my boot drive regualry in case of a drive crash (whcih has happened to me a few times).

Thanks for the tip about "repair disk permissions". What sort of thing is likely to happen if I don't do that?



Also, could you clarify the purpose of a dual boot? I do have two disks, one for the OS/apps and one for audio, but I don't understand how I would benefit from being able to boot off the second disk (if that is what you're suggesting).

Also - load the computer with as muich RAM as you can afford.

I put in an extra 2 GB in addition to the 512 MB it shipped with. I figure 2.5 GB ought to be enough for now, esp. considering that I rarely use virtual instruments or samplers in my projects.