Mac OS X Native Version

[echols85]

I hope this does not make me sound like a fan boy, but from viewing the forums, there seem to be enough of us using Apple hardware (specifically MacBook Pros) to run Pyramix and I should at least mention that I would love to see a Mac OS version of Pyramix. There is much to be said about the stability of OS X, not to mention the superior handling of FireWire interfaces and drives. I am still relatively new to Pyramix and have been using both the MassCore system in studio and a Native system for mobile recording and editing. I love the editing capabilities of Pyramix and the sound of the mix bus but stability has been an issue in the Native version, both on my MacBook Pro and on an IBM Intellistation running Native.

I know that taking on a Mac version would be a monumental task, but many people I know would welcome a Mac version.

[fl]

Well, I never thought I would say this - and my tongue is turning black as I say it - but I think that a Mac version of Pyramix would not necessarily be as good as the current 'doze version.

Now, don't get me wrong, I detest the whole 'doze experience, and I'm very happy that I really only run the one program over on the Dark Side, and can scurry back to the safety of Mac-land when I want to do anything else. The XP interface looks about as bad as my old Atari (under Magic), with the crappy little icons and even tinier print, but once I'm launched into Pyramix - apart from the tiny print issue (for the hard of seeing) which I've complained about elsewhere - I'm a very happy guy. It's hard to credit that the Mac OS platform that once had ALL the sound editing DAW software written for it now has such a paucity of selection, and an over-abundance of unusable (for me) programs. Really, the only thing I'd look at seriously these days is Logic, but it's really not quite what I need (and too much of what I don't). And Vista? Thanks, I'll pass and wait for the next thing, where hopefully they'll have learned their lesson.

In the last year, I came up against some serious hardware and OS issues that were impacting my ability to record and play back material without glitching and noises - all turning out to be related to DPC Latency, and its interaction with the central processor load, and my RME interface's latency settings. This all had to do with mundane things like drivers and system optimization, but that's the point - once I did all the optimizations and updated all the drivers, I've got a far more stable and capable installation than ever.

The amount I've been able to customize Windows in order to optimize my performance for Pyramix is simply not available on the Mac OS - at least not within my meager skills. Yes, the best thing about 'doze is how you can simply turn parts of it off, and the more you turn off, the better it gets. I started out with the stock Bootcamp installation, but found out that the drivers provided by Apple for the internal hardware have been superseded by more efficient versions, and of course, I killed and then removed the Apple Keyboard Manager from both my systems, which gave me a tremendous performance boost (yeah, I wish I could still have my MacBook Pro's keyboard light up, but the performance hit I had to take in terms of its impact on DPC Latencies is just too heavy for a dedicated audio machine).

I'd recommend that you have a read through the whole thread over on the RME forum found here: http://www.rme-audio.de/forum/viewtopic.php?id=4320
Some recent posts suggest strongly that the same software written for both OS X and 'doze is not as capable or efficient on the Mac OS, particularly in terms of latency and number of tracks, when compared with what can be achieved under the dread menace from Seattle. Now I'm certain that the canny gang behind Pyramix could come up with something truly spectacular for the Mac OS if they truly wished to, but I fear that it would result in a version with too many compromises to live with. Really, what I'd prefer is for Merging to develop their own operating system, strictly tailored to running Pyramix in a stable environment - and isn't that really what the whole idea behind MassCore is about? (Of course, I wouldn't say no to a little utility that would let me preview .pmf files under the Mac OS, just for those times I want to check something but don't want to have to reboot - hey, they did it with .pmi files and the CD player thing, why not expand it to include .pmfs? - but I digress...)

Now I'd be the last guy to suggest that 'doze presents a worry free environment; the headaches I've experienced maintaining my Windows installation are gargantuan compared to what I need to do over on the Mac OS. The customization available in 'doze means that because you can, you have to, and it all takes time and a seemingly endless series of reboots. Windows simply does not reward the user with a smooth, trouble-free experience - at least not until you get things the way you like them, and then you have to weld it into place and never update or change anything ever! Once it's stable, and Pyramix runs, I know I've got a far more capable system, that probably sounds better in the long run, than anything I could have opted for under the Mac OS, no matter how much more I'd like it.

Sigh, I try not to hate myself..., but I really have to go now and wash...

[tas]

Surely though if PMX was developed for OSX those performance optimisations could have been programmed in the background. I think the Core Audio interface lets you do that.

Eitherway I remember reading somewhere in this forum a long time ago and before I bought PMX that Meriging just don't have the resources to do this. Makes sense but is still too bad for us Mac users.