Pro Tools 7.4.2 is now fully tuned, qualified, and tested for Mac OS X Leopard. It’s a free download for users of Pro Tools 7.4 HD, LE, and M-Powered. (If you’re not yet on 7.4, you will need to purchase an upgrade to 7.4 first.) According to Digidesign, the update results from collaboration with Apple to acheive the expected levels of performance and stability under Apple’s newest operating system.

7.4.2 Announcement – download is right there [Digidesign]

That’s the good news. The bad news is, your plug-ins may not yet be along for the ride. Digidesign reports some current instruments and plug-ins may be “incompatible.” Based on other reports, I assume this means it’ll run, but may either cause instability or sub-par audio performance.

Digi is maintaining a plug-in compatibility page for Leopard.

Here’s the other bad news news: for the most part, that’s just plug-ins that Digidesign ships directly. Some of them at least have updates, but some of Digi’s flagship instruments (Hybrid, Strike, Structure, Velvet, and others) are awaiting updates as of press time. Your third-party plug-ins require a whole separate set of compatibility checks.

At least what we’re generally hearing from readers is that the situation is getting better, not worse. I’m still far from being able to recommend Leopard, however, especially given the fact that Tiger remains such an adequate OS. Update: Digidesign tells us that they’ll be monitoring other third-party plug-ins on that page, as well.

FireWire Fixes (Non-Digidesign)

Via PowerPage, some users of Leopard are having FireWire connection dropouts. At least for this issue, though, there are some suggested fixes. The symptoms, as reported at MacFixIt:

After the installation of software updates, the FireWire ports on various Mac models may cease to properly function, not recognizing devices or exhibiting other issues. For some users, this has occurred with printer driver updates and for others it has occurred with the latest QuickTime update. One MacFixIt reader reinstalled Leopard and the problem still occurred.

FireWire connection dropouts: more fixes [MacFixIt]

That’s a pretty nasty issue, but it sounds different than the intermittent audio issues users here were reporting, so I don’t know how widespread it is or whether it’s related to problems CDM readers have had.

I’ve actually seen less documentation of the audio issues, which means, brave CDM readers – it’s up to you. You’re the ones pushing your Mac’s audio. So if you are still having issues, even with current drivers and 10.5.3, be sure to let us know exactly what your hardware and software configuration is.

Ha, dual core? How last year can you get? It’s all about eight-core now, baby:

The Pro Tools HD 7.3.1 cs3 update can be installed over Pro Tools HD 7.3 or Pro Tools HD 7.3.1, and includes all updates that were previously made available in the 7.3.1, 7.3.1cs1 and 7.3.1cs2 releases. Pro Tools HD 7.3.1 cs3 is currently available as a free download for registered Pro Tools HD 7.3 users. For details visit the Digidesign support web page at: www.digidesign.com/support.

Given that Digidesign built their business on taking processing off the CPU and onto dedicated DSP hardware, it is pretty funny that they’re now pushing native processing — even if Pro Tools itself still benefits from enhanced computing power. That said, is there really anything stopping Digi from going native somewhere down the road? (Speaking of which, where’s the LE support, which would actually run native on these cores?) Either way, it’s nice to see Digi being aggressive in this space. Fully supporting additional cores does actually require some effort on the part of the developer. It’ll be interesting to see if all these extra cores can really benefit real-world situations. In the meantime, I find even a lower-end dual-core Intel chip — even on a laptop — to be plenty luxurious for music production, which is really good news for mobile music creation or going digital on a budget.

For all the talk of Apple needing to create a Pro Tools killer, though, this should remind you again that Apple wins either way. Even as Windows has made inroads in the audio market, Pro Tools users still lean Mac. Want Logic? Apple will sell you a computer. Want Pro Tools? Apple will sell you a computer. Want Ableton Live? Max/MSP? Ardour? Live coding in ChucK? Apple will … you get the idea. Plenty of PC musicians out there (I’m one of them, about half of the time), but Apple has a lucrative market in music creation. Nice to reflect on that, given at one point the company was in such trouble it looked like music might get jettisoned altogether. Apple can remain cozy with Avid, even as direct competitors.

On the video side: HD video is everywhere you look, but working with it live may seem like a far-off fantasy. Enter the Intensity video card. If you’ve got a supported PC or Mac with a free PCI-Express slot, you can mix HD video live for just US$249-349. Max/MSP/Jitter whiz Anton Marini tests the card for CDMusic’s sister site Create Digital Motion:

Review: Real-time, Uncompressed HD Mixing On the Cheap, with Decklink Intensity

The possibilities are tantalizing. Anton uses an HD converter to mix a Mac laptop with visuals generated by a Mac desktop. With the right configuration, you might also mix two external HD streams, and/or output to HD using the card. On the PC side, this could even be portable, using a lightweight SFF PC. Now, if they’d just give us ExpressCard. If you do video as well as music, let us know what you think of the story.

(Side note: the card lives at Polytechnic University, which has what’s turning into a powerhouse program for interactive media. As it happens, it’s also been host to regular Max “patching circles” for any of you in New York. Now, we did actually leave the building last night as a small fire had broken out in the building. We didn’t start the fire, though.)

For those of you anxiously awaiting new software to ship, here’s the latest on our radar:

Digidesign has announced Pro Tools HD 7.2 is shipping immediately, bringing new video support (QuickTime features and AVID integration), a new signal analysis/metering plug-in, and features for multi-channel field recorders. That’s all well and good, of course, but what we’re really waiting for is Intel Mac support as with LE; the prerequisite remains an Intel-based replacement for the Power Mac G5.

Incidentally, you don’t have to own HD to take advantage of the nifty new metering/analysis plug; there’s an RTAS version, too — see the free SignalTools download.

While the big news this week was Avid/Digidesign acquiring rival Sibelius, Finale 2007 now has an official launch date of Monday, August 7. New in this version: linked parts and scores, keystrokes for quickly changing expressions and articulations, Intel Mac support, and integrated video.

Any upgrades or new products that you’re waiting for? Let us know, and we’ll see if we can find out when you’re getting your love.

While we’re on the subject of VJing, curious what the future looks like? Think HD.

Amateur VJs need not apply. Edirol has unveiled pricing and availability on their new V-440 HD Multiformat Video Mixer, and it’s not for mortals: US$$12,995 — an incredible deal for HD mixing if you’ve ever priced pro video equipment, but, uh, probably out of reach of most readers.

That said, the V-440 is an amazing box, and a great glimpse of what’s to come. Up to full 1080i HD resolutions, multiple formats (standard, HD, computer RGB), blue and green chroma keying, daisy-chaining support, and everything you’d expect from an HD mixer from Edirol. And musicians are in the mix, too: thanks to V-LINK, you can control the mixer by playing any supported Roland or Edirol keyboard. So who’s snapping these up? Expect pro tours and (believe it or not) the religious market, which spends a lot of the dollars on this kind of equipment.

And, oh, it’s gorgeous.

V-440 HD Multiformat Video Mixer and Switcher [Edirol.com]