Some of my favorite audio interfaces are now available for Windows Vista. The INSPIRE 1394, FireBox, FP10 and FirePod are now all available for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista. A bit late? Yes, but at this point, I care more about quality than punctuality. Anybody with the PreSonus boxes and Vista, we’d love to know how they’re working.

PreSonus Vista Downloads

Note that when you’re talking about FireWire, you’re talking ASIO and the new driver model under Vista. “WaveRT”, technology that allows greater audio performance of some hardware under Vista, is a feature that’s not supported by any FireWire or USB devices. (GearWire posted a splashy headline saying Native Instruments wasn’t supporting WaveRT, when really that just translated to “NI Only Makes USB Interfaces.” I can forgive the confusion, given the various Vista driver complexities, but let’s just say — look for Vista-compatible and leave it at that.)

I still can’t see running 64-bit Vista, even for a marginal performance gain, as it knocks out some significant hardware and software compatibility. But, as Craig Anderton just observed in his preview of Cakewalk SONAR 7 for EQ, one advantage of the new SONAR is that it’s basically a complete 64-bit music toolkit, with some decent bundled instruments and the awesome Z3ta+ synth.

If you haven’t been paying much attention to the leading open source DAW, Ardour, now might be a good time to start. Not only is this software fully open source and freely available for Mac OS X and Linux, but as it nears a major upgrade, it’s getting some significant feature support — and the endorsement of a studio recording heavyweight. Even if you never intend to use Ardour, this could have significant positive ramifications for commercial DAWs, too, like helping build a truly open interchange format and plug-in platform.

Live from the WWDC keynote with CDM’s own Lee Sherman, Apple has the latest on their new operating system release:

1. OS X is 64-bit, top to bottom: Here’s a real demonstration of the difference between Apple and Microsoft. Windows XP x64 has been a mess; virtually no one has adopted it (despite some advocacy on the part of music developer Cakewalk), and a lot of software isn’t compatible (like, notably, any music software that relies on PACE, as well as many drivers). Now Apple will make OS X 10.5 entirely 64-bit, with seamless compatibility for 32-bit apps. Hopefully that includes Core Audio; we’ll be asking more about the details on this.
2. Automatic backup: Time Machine provides automated backup of everything you do, answering a real need as Apple has found only 26% of users polled are backing up. (I’m guessing 75% of them were lying, too.) Restore everything or some things, locally on a hard drive or on a server. It even works with applications like iPhoto. It’ll be interesting to learn more details on this; this is a feature I’ve wanted Apple to add for years.
3. Time Lord: [Demonstrating the new Time Machine UI] “Time is a dimension that recedes into your desktop,” says Lee, a la Expose. A timeline on the right side flips through earlier iterations of a folder in Finder. This is a key point, because one of the oft-overlooked needs for backup is undoing human/user error, not just recovering from a drive failure. Everything works right within the Finder. “Best backup UI ever,” says Lee.
4. New Software Bundle: Leopard will now come right out of the box with Boot Camp (for Intel Macs booting Windows), Front Row (the multimedia app), and the fun photo app Photo Booth, plus, a new app –

While M-Audio is unveiling their new Intel Mac drivers, MOTU has a treat for Windows x64 users: fully 64-bit drivers for all USB2 and FireWire audio interfaces, from the original 828 to the newest UltraLite (which is so new I can’t even get my hands on one). This is no beta; MOTU has released final drivers. PCI-X and PCI Express drivers are in beta now, and USB MIDI drivers are coming soon. As the major interface vendors have embraced Intel driver development on the Mac, they’re way ahead of the curve on 64-bit on Windows. By the way, I love MOTU’s audio interfaces on PC. I think they have a reputation as being a Mac-centered company, but many Windows-using MOTU customers will tell you otherwise.

Important note for anyone thinking of taking the plunge: these drivers support 32-bit emulation, so you can mix and match 64-bit and 32-bit Windows audio/music applications on your machine. You don’t have to give up 32-bit music apps; they’ll run just fine.

Now, here’s my question: anyone out there actually got a 64-bit computer and Windows x64 OS running to try this stuff out? Alternatively, any PC manufacturers out there who want to ship me a new computer?

Cakewalk’s been busy: a free update to SONAR with 64-bit audio and 64-bit CPU support for VST plug-ins, among other features, and plenty of other goodness from Messe. And yes, you’ll be running 64-bit VST plug-ins — and/or taking advantage of your 64-bit CPU and Windows OS — on Cakewalk’s DAW before Steinberg’s. Details after the jump.

Windows Vista has been delayed to early 2007, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find Windows pro audio users who care. For me, the delays in Vista send a pretty clear message to PC audio users: go ahead and upgrade your machine now, rather than waiting for Microsoft. Get the PC you want, and take advantage of 64-bit computing with Windows x64 now rather than later, dual-booting if you have to. And, frankly, speaking as a cross-platform Mac/Windows user, I don’t seriously believe many PC users will flock to the Mac in the interim, any more than Microsoft is likely to tempt loyal Mac users to the PC with a shiny new OS. (Mac users have been chuckling at the absurdity of that thought for nearly a year now.)

The 64-bit Windows audio phenomenon does seem to be for real. In addition to 64-bit music computers and 64-bit Cakewalk software, drivers are starting to surface. M-Audio already has 64-bit betas, and today Edirol announced it was launching beta drivers (via Harmony Central).

Of course, meanwhile on the Mac, in addition to the G5 Power Mac, we
have the upcoming Tiger release which should generally optimize all
processes running on 64-bit (G5) machines.

It's all proof positive that the forward march of performance hasn't
stopped. That's good, because as you know I like an insane number of
tracks and convolution reverbs on everything.

Coyote R&D now has a 64-bit version of their 2-space, rack-mountable Two-Can PC. But what makes it really cool:

• Liquid-cooled (see image)
• 256 MIDI ports per machine with other PCs and Macs (OS 9/X), delivered over Ethernet
• 3700+ CPU speeds, up to 800 GB RAID-array storage
• Preinstalled options: Kontakt, GigaStudio, V-Stack

Yep, that's a server-class music computer. So, what will YOU do with 256 MIDI ports? (Via Harmony Central)

When Cakewalk launched the first digital audio workstation that's
natively 64-bit last month, everyone's question was — so what does
that do for me, exactly?

VP of Engineering Ron Kuper had to be converted, too, says Cakewalk,
but extensive performance testing showed benefits that made 64-bit
worthwhile. The company has just published a white paper
explaining in detail. For us laypeople, it comes down to two things,
though: more memory (meaning bigger samples!) and better performance
thanks to more registers and better designs. Plug-ins do need to be
ported to reap those benefits, but backwards compatibility should make
this an easy transition.

The only way to test for yourself is to try Cakewalk x64 on the 64-bit Windows. Ah, well — back to my humble 32-bit PC and Mac.