MOTU has a comprehensive update page, and I’ve added the news to the http://createdigitalmusic.com/snowleopard round-up page.

That said, while MOTU has the greatest level of out-of-the-gate support I’ve seen from any vendor for 10.6, even they have run into a showstopper issue. Their Ethno Instrument isn’t yet compatible; an update is expected. Sure, that’s just one instrument. But the lesson here? If you don’t mind the occasional wrinkle, you can live on the bleeding edge. But if you want to keep your software up and running, your best bet is to be patient and wait to upgrade. That’s not to discourage you from testing the latest-and-greatest, it just means you need to have the expectations to match.

The news remains, though: MOTU does have updated drivers for those of you with MOTU hardware or software who want to get a head start on setting up Snow Leopard.

That does not seem to be the case with other hardware vendors (Pro Tools, M-Audio, Tascam, and PreSonus all suggest waiting), and even some of the drivers that will initially become available should be considered “beta.” That is, they may even be designed to work with 10.6, but could use additional testing. I think that could probably generally be said of this update for musicians – just as with any significant operating system update on any platform.

MOTU is now shipping Volta, the software plug-in seen exclusively here on CDM at the beginning of the year. The Mac-only plug-in finally brings together two distant technologies: virtual software instruments and control voltage are together at last. (You can just forget all about that MIDI and digital business in the middle.) With it, everything from Moog guitar pedals to the Rolls of modern synths, the mind-bogglingly pricey Buchla 200e, can be easily controlled with a computer rig.

You know that cheezy Disney movie, with the astronaut in King Arthur’s Court? It’s sort of like that, as the 21st Century meets the 1960s.

Volta isn’t just about having more flexible control, either: calibration, routing, and automation all become possible.

For more details, it’s best to look back at our January interview with Matthew Davidson of MOTU, as he revealed this creation to the world:

Analog, Meet Digital: MOTU Volta Connects the Mac to CV Synths, Effects Graphically

Pricing is now final, as well, at US$249.

More tutorials and details at MOTU:

http://www.motu.com/products/software/volta/

The key requirement: “An audio interface with DC-coupled outputs, such as any MOTU FireWire, USB2, or PCI audio interface with quarter-inch TRS outputs.” I believe that also includes the RME interfaces. Correction: at this point, I’m unsure which non-MOTU interfaces may work. But if you don’t own one of those interfaces, now’s an excellent excuse to buy a fantastic piece of gear. 

Sadly, Volta require an iLok for authorization. Okay, whoever is out there who would buy something like a 200e or a rack of Doepfers, then pirate this software, you and I need to have a little talk. (I’ve seen stranger things, however.)

I can look on at all of this with a sense of awe and mystery, because I’m staying in the digital realm these days. But you can check out extensive discussion on our previous story of how useful this is, and other ways of creating the effect (albeit less-elegant ones). Apparently Trash Audio already grabbed the domain createanalogmusic.com out of spite, though that means I’m safe from getting sucked into your addiction, analog lovers.

Volta and the Buchla 200e from Matthew Davidson on Vimeo.

Computers speak digital signal. Analog synths and modulars speak control voltage. (It’s sort of a “men are from Mars, women find these metaphors insulting” kind of situation.)

What if you could bridge the two elegantly and graphically, using a drag-and-drop, modular interface with calibration and control features? MOTU has developed a solution called Volta. It’s a plug-in that turns your audio interface into a control voltage device. It works with all MOTU audio interfaces that have quarter-inch outputs, and MOTU intends to make it work with any 3rd-party audio interface with DC-coupled quarter-inch outs.

In other words, one software plug-in does more than what a similar module would do, more easily, more elegantly, all from your Mac. It makes your computer a powerful tool for analog synths in a way that it hasn’t been before – arguably in a way that even digital synths can’t approximate.

I’m pleased to welcome Matthew Davidson of MOTU in a CDM exclusive on Volta’s launch. He describes in detail what Volta is about, and why MOTU developed it.

All photos courtesy MOTU.

A video demo follows, as well.

What is Volta?

Volta is software; a virtual instrument that turns your audio interface into a voltage control interface. Anything with a control voltage (CV) input can be automated from your DAW with Volta. This includes modulars, analog mono synths and even effects processors like the moogerfoogers.

Volta provides access to the automation system of your DAW through ramps. You can draw in whatever whacky timeline based automation you desire and use this high resolution data to control anything with a CV input. No stair-stepping or zipper noise. You can also route any MIDI controller to control voltages. Volta provides audio-rate rendered software LFOs, step and trigger sequencers.

Each instance of volta supports up to 24 slots of outputs, and you can have as many instances of Volta as your hardware allows. For example, a MOTU PCI-424 system with four 24io interfaces provides 96 channels of output.

Of course, you can also use Volta to send note information. MIDI information goes in, and control voltages go out. All control signals are running at audio rate, and MIDI note playback is pre-buffered. This provides sample accurate timing of your external hardware.

Volta First Look from Matthew Davidson on Vimeo.

(Click through to Vimeo for HD video)

How did Volta come about?

The limitations of hardware CV-MIDI converters are pretty frustrating. Their workflow…these things are programmed though tiny LCD windows and they’re designed to be a ’set up once and forget’ type of affair. So, you spend an evening with the manual in your lap (an abridged version, translated from German) and create what you think will be a good ‘general purpose’ patch. So, as long as you stick to that and nothing else, you’re set. Only… that never turns out to be the case. You want to reassign controllers. You want to turn an envelope into a trigger. You want to move outputs around. Total nightmare.

But usability is only one issue. There are annoying technical limitations to hardware MIDI to CV convertors. Resolution. Why should we be limited to 8-bit controllers? Why can’t we leverage the awesome automation system in our DAW? Latency/lag; it is critical to have events occur at the points you specify in your sequence. If an onset occurs before a massive controller jump, the results are disastrous.

We had a hunch that a software solution could solve all these issues, so we hatched a plan than became Volta…

Tell me about the calibration feature.

The calibration feature came about as a direct result of ensuring Volta would work on non-MOTU interfaces. In our research, we found output levels varied not only from model to model, but interface to interface and even output to output. We were nearly ready to give up by this point until we came up with the idea of a closed-loop calibration system. Most oscillators have multiple outputs, so why not plug one back into the interface and measure the frequencies coming out of it? Then you can create a complete profile that addresses any non-linearities in both the interface and the oscillator. You can even tune self-oscillating filters this way.

I’m curious if some non-tracking oscillators like the livewire Dalek modulator and the Blacet dark star chaos will track with Volta. We will test that out. You can walk away from your modular and come back hours later, hit ‘calibrate’ and you’re back in tune. It is like the tune button on a Prophet 5. Volta not only tunes and scales your oscillators, but when you hit a C4, you get a C4.

Some of my personal impressions of using Volta

It feels like a combination of some of the programming conveniences from MX4, like using multiple host-synced LFOs to create rhythmic effects, combined with everything I like about analog. As I write this, I’m modulating a filter with one Volta LFO, and modulating the waveform morph feature on a Plan B Model 15 VCO with another synced LFO to create a percolating effect. This really wasn’t easy or possible before.

Things I didn’t expect

The chicklets display at a glance what is assigned to what outputs. A hardware MIDI to CV convertor is a black box with no visual indication of what is coming out where. If you’re used to tracing cables with your eyes and fingers, this was an unexpected workflow bonus.

I can’t emphasize enough what a revelation it is to have everything in sync with your project. Syncing an LFO in the analog realm to your DAW usually involves sending a sync trigger to reset the onset of the LFO, then you have to manually tweak the period of the LFO to line up with the sync point. With Volta, you just drag on an LFO, set the metric period and you’re done.

The audio output of your modular gets returned back into the Volta instrument plug-in so you can easily apply host-based effects to the output. This naturally leads to a whole world of host-synced effects processing with delays, things like Automaton, etc. You can put real time MIDI effects on the MIDI input, like an arpeggiator.

So, in a nutshell, complete, accurate, precise digital control of your modular from your DAW via a virtual instrument interface. I would be curious to hear your reaction to what I’m describing.

How much is Volta?

Pricing has not yet been announced.

Do I need a MOTU audio interface?

Volta will work with any audio interface with DC-coupled outputs. All MOTU interfaces (PCI, Firewire and USB) with 1/4″ outputs will work.

Do I need Digital Performer?

No. Volta is an AU plug-in, so it will work in Logic, Live, Garage Band, Digital Performer – anything that supports AU instruments. Some features like sample-accurate timing require a sample-accurate host.

Will Volta work with 1.2v/oct gear?

Volta’s calibration feature supports different oscillator scaling standards.

Where can I buy Volta?

Visit motu.com for further info. You can sign up for an email alert when Volta is available.
http://www.motu.com/other/feedback/volta-information/

MOTU’s new drum machine is a new software sampler/synth workstation for drums, clearly influenced by beat production workstations like the legendary Akai MPC and EMU SP1200. With all today’s hardware/software talk, I initially thought this was hardware, too, but it’s not – meaning it’s got an uphill battle against integrated features in hosts like Live and new tools that integrate more closely with hardware, not to mention existing entries like FXpansion’s GURU. But don’t write it off just yet: an internal synth, a unique sampling plug-in, import workflows, and retro groove emulations could keep this in the game.

Oh, yeah – and, typical of MOTU, there’s always one feature that can make you forget every other complaint. For me, that’s the “Line templates” in the step sequencer that let you add your own Euclidian polyrhythms. Nice.

MOTU’s ad copy waxes poetic about the deeper meaning of all of this, as though pondering aloud:

“Sound libraries these days are awash with loops. And what is a loop, exactly? Someone else’s beat. Isn’t it time to take back creative ownership over your grooves?”

Yes, indeed, what is a loop? If you’re curious, you could check out the, um, loop content that ships with BPM in its 15 GB sound library.

The slightly self-contradictory philosophizing ad copy aside, though, I’m all about the creative possibilities of drum workstations, and there’s no question BPM has some potential. Look for a smackdown with NI’s own entry, which we get to talk about later today. Here’s a basic look at the BPM, which I’ll update once I can talk about Maschine oh, any software drum machine that might theoretically come out in the next two hours:

• A sampler – a real sampler, with import, slicing, and even live recording. There’s a convenient plug-in that you can use as an insert in any host to tap into recording sources – very nice – and you can sample directly into a pad
• A drum synthesizer (now this part I find especially cool) – looks basic but very accessible and friendly to the task at hand
• 15 GB sound library, including (fair enough) not just loops but patterns, slices, and instrument sounds
• Sample import capability with compatibility with MOTU’s libraries and UVI engine as well as REX, Apple Loops, etc., with drag-and-drop import (inherited from MOTU’s MachFive sampler)
• Record your own samples
• Step sequencer, graph editor, piano roll sequencer
• Grooves, including classic MPC, LinnDrum grooves, and edit and save your own. There’s even an SP1200 emulation.
• Live scene performance and playback, which you can also export to software for later use

Killer feature for geeks: A Euclidian line template. They didn’t have to, but they did. You get the rhythmic benefits. Awesome.

Today there’s new hardware from NI and Akai, but this is software-only: good, old-fashioned MIDI learn is how you get to control any of this live. It’s a mouse-based workflow, which to me undercuts some of the “program beats as fast as your mind can "hear" them” talk in the marketingspeak. The appeal of MPCs and the like is that hardware control, which is all about speed. In fact, when I first saw the image, I thought they actually were unveiling hardware, and wondered why there was a disc drive on the thing, but they’re not.

And there’s another problem: you’d need an extremely short memory not to recognize this has been done before. fxpansion’s GURU does this, and in a much cleaner interface that clearly integrates sampling and sequencing (which is what I suspect a lot of people would want). It doesn’t have synth capability, but it has the same basic pattern sequencing, direct sampling and real-time recording, slicing, and graphical automation options. (Heck, some of the views even look the same, although there are some established ways of doing some of these things.)

That said, MOTU has a very powerful sampling engine underneath, the import workflows are pretty powerful, I love the synth capabilities in particular (and MOTU has made some great soft synths), and I think the plug-in that you just use to sample is very clever. And if the groove options are better than other offerings out there, of course, it’ll win some converts. Vintage groove emulation + line templates on the step sequencer = happy rhythm geeks.

So BPM remains a contender for a software workflow. Now, can it stand up to integrated features in a host (Live), conventional hardware (MPC, etc.), or software-integrated hardware (Maschine)? This is going to be an interesting season for fans of this kind of tech.

Updated: As you’ll read in comments, it seems that bpm can’t slice audio itself – audio has to be sliced elsewhere. That’s an important part of the workflow for at least some of the potential users of this tool, and something some rival software (and even similar hardware) does. It’s odd, because MOTU’s own MachFive sampler has an extensive beat sampling tool; apparently the choice was to leave it out here, at least in this version.

Let’s start with the important bit: the Traveler really is a mobile interface. It weighs under four pounds and fits into a backpack; it’s actually a little lighter and more compact than a typical 15” laptop. Now, if your input and output needs are limited (a mic in, headphone out, and stereo out do suit a lot of folks just fine), your options are obviously many. But the Traveler manages to be this small and pack an absurd amount of I/O and functionality into that small space.

Audio interfaces tend not to get a whole lot of updates, but MOTU has been steadily upgrading the Traveler. New in mk3:

• Digital I/O expanded for a total of 28 simultaneous ins and 30 outs (including digital I/O), on top of the (existing) four XLR/TRS mic ins. Digital up to 96kHz and analog up to 192kHz – all eight.
• True high-impedance guitar ins
• Hardware limiter on the pre, plus a “soft clip” feature that “engages just before clipping occurs and helps reduce perceptible distortion.” (That’s “soft” as in the clip prevention – the process takes place in hardware. I inaccurately described this as being similar to a compressor; it’s not – it’s a different process, and combined with hardware limiting makes this ideal for live mic input.)
• 1 dB trim increments on all analog ins
• MIDI Time Code support
• Optical I/O: choose 16 channels ADAT, 8 channels of SMUX, or two pairs of TOSLink, or mix and match
• New software: CueMix FX software, which turns the Traveler into a mixer with compression, a modeled version of the Teletronix optical leveling amp, and real-time signal analysis
• … and you can access these features from the front panel

… just to name a few improvements. And lest you think FireWire is dead, have a good look at the Traveler. The whole package is powered by the FireWire bus, or you can add a field battery pack. On the Mac side, this is yet another reason not to get a non-Pro MacBook.

New CueMix FX software, which is also available for MOTU’s other interfaces.

A lot of these features are nice, but to my mind, the major draw is still that you get a ton of I/O in a nice, mobile box, now with four mic ins. For anyone doing surround, you also get front-panel monitoring controls, and enough actual outs to pull off various surround setups, with different setups nicely supported in the software. On Mac and Windows, you get full ASIO, WDM, Core Audio, and Core MIDI support. (Linux has been maturing as far as FireWire audio support, though I don’t know off-hand how this will do.)

MOTU isn’t shipping the new Traveler until Q1, but they promise the same pricing as the current model, which has a street around US$850.

MOTU Traveler mk 3 [Product page, which goes into some of the rather lovely effects in there]

If you own another MOTU unit, you’ll be relieved to know the CueMix software features will be available for download on other FireWire audio interfaces.

Bet this would look fantastic as a pillow, too.

Tim Hanlon of gizmag.com recently got an IdeaPad S10 – Lenovo’s lovely, $400 “netbook” – to test. He didn’t just do the usual benchmarks, though. His review also included the unlikely choice of Ableton Live and, thanks to a free ExpressCard slot, a MOTU Traveler FireWire interface.

The inclusion of an ExpressCard/34 slot opens the IdeaPad up to a range of high-bandwidth applications. The most relevant for me as a musician was the possibility of using one on stage alongside a professional audio interface. Taking your expensive (and for some, irreplaceable) main rig out on tour and having to constantly keep an eye out for people putting their beer down on the stage next to it is a stressful affair, and the thought of using a relatively cheap, incredibly portable, and ultimately replaceable machine instead was always incredibly attractive – and I’m very glad to say, now possible.

We used a Silicon Memory ExpressCard/34 adapter that added an additional USB 2.0 port and two FireWire 400 ports, although any adapter based on a Texas Instruments FireWire chipset should work with a vast majority with audio interfaces. Windows XP Home recognized the adapter and installed the drivers automatically without needing a driver CD, and we quickly had the MOTU Traveler interface up and running.

My current Ableton Live set sat at a perfectly manageable 15% CPU usage for a majority of the time, however you will need to watch the CPU intensive plugs. One particularly long reverb tail using Ableton’s built-in reverb used up 25% of the CPU on its own.

Check out the full story on Gizmag:

Lenovo’s IdeaPad S10 Reviewed

One major catch, before you get too excited: Tim has the same problem I have universally with these ExpressCards. They just stick our awkwardly. They’re even worse on the full-sized slots on bigger laptops. Chancing an audio interface popping out while playing pretty much kill the appeal for me, especially when there are plenty of workable USB2 audio interfaces out there (including from MOTU). MacBook, you’re not off the hook yet, because this just means I want more USB slots, but I digress.

The bigger message here to me: software developers ought to pick up a couple of these machines and think about what will run on them. With zillions of these netbooks now shipping, why not? They’re not going to replace even standard laptops, but it’s an opportunity to sell more software by targeting these boxes, or even testing lighter-weight software on them. (Imagine notation or quick drum machines.) I don’t really miss the days when we ran Ableton Live on 400MHz G3s, but, well, we did.

And Tim has a point: next time you’re playing a frightening club with chicken wire and angry drunks, here’s your machine! Actually, that S10 is cute. Maybe just bring a tarp and some tazers.

By now, you likely already know that Apple came out with new laptops today. I could talk about the new features at the existing price points or about how the new machines are very pretty, but you can easily find that elsewhere. Instead, I want to address some unfortunate details on the new laptops in terms of ports. After all, small details can make a big difference for audio users.

For connecting drives, audio interfaces, MIDI devices, and the like, you get:

• MacBook Pro: Two USB 2.0 port, one FireWire800 port, one ExpressCard/34 slot
• MacBook: Two USB 2.0 ports
• MacBook Air: One USB 2.0 port

Those are Pro specs for laptop ports, really?

So FireWire is gone from non-Pro models. FW400 is gone from the Pros, though that turns out not to be entirely a deal-breaker (you can use FW800). And eSATA is still missing, which I personally think is too bad given the increasing availability of great external drives. (eSATA is an external SATA connector. In the real world, it blows away USB2. In theory, it also blows away FW800, but in practice, they’re typically neck and neck and both pretty great. Problem is, having just one FW800 limits flexibility.)

Note: A holdout from the previous generation, the white polycarbonate MacBook and 17″ MacBook Pro live on — at least for now. The US$999 white MacBook is a good buy if you don’t need the NVIDIA 3D graphics, with a FireWire 400 port and (now) a SuperDrive. The US$2799, 17″ MacBook Pro has a third USB port and a FireWire 400 port the “improved” models lack. I would guess both models will be phased out soon, however.

With Apple leaving their price points more or less in place, that means now could be a great time to snap up some deals on used or refurb models if you’re thinking of upgrading and want to save some cash versus a new model. And it means the MacBook, for at least some users, just got less appealing, not more.

FireWire 800 vs. 400

First off, FireWire 400 is gone entirely. On the MacBook Pro, this doesn’t wind up being as bad as it sounds. The FireWire800 jack is still available, and using an adapter, that means fairly easy backwards-compatibility with FireWire 400 audio devices. Here’s what MOTU has said in the past about using their popular FireWire-400 audio interface with FW800:

Also, you can use a FireWire 800-to-400 adapter to plug a MOTU FireWire interface into a computer with a FireWire 800 port. As our FireWire interfaces are FW 400 devices, there will be no performance increase by connecting them to a FW 800 bus, but there will also be no detriment to MOTU FW performance either. Using a FW 800-to-400 adapter simply provides you with more connectivity options.

In fact, I believe you will still get the benefit of bus power via the FireWire 800 jack. That actually makes this less annoying than using FireWire on PC laptops, as most (though not all) PC laptops use a 4-pin jack that doesn’t use power. (The upside of the 4-pin jack is, because it doesn’t carry power, it’s also not likely to fry gear when hot-plugged. I have heard isolated incidents of that happening, at least with video cameras.)

I’m also really disappointed that Apple hasn’t added eSATA. This is widely available on PC laptops, and allows superb drive performance – ideal for recording – and doesn’t involve squeezing anything else on our overburdened USB ports. Sure, you could use FW800, but many drives include eSATA in place of FW800, and you’ve just taken up your FW800 port with your audio interface. See the problem?

The break for the MacBook Pro is that you can make use of the ExpressCard slot and add functionality you don’t get, though that is an extra investment and you only get one slot.

MacBook Deal Breaker?

But let me be clear: there’s really, really bad news for the MacBook. FireWire 400 is gone. There’s no way to add it back, because the non-Pro models lack ExpressCard. You can’t edit video from a DV camera, you can’t plug in audio interfaces from the likes of MOTU and RME, and you’ll have to do all audio, MIDI, and external storage through two USB 2.0 jacks.

In fact, given this, I think I have to revoke my recommendation of the MacBooks. I’d suggest getting a US$999 plastic MacBook, which is still available, if you’re on a budget. It’ll run software like Ableton Live and Logic Studio quite well, and it offers better connectivity than the new MacBook. Otherwise, if you want a Mac, you should opt for the US$1999 Pro – or, if you want something in between, look for a used or refurbished previous-generation MacBook Pro, which has none of these compromises.

Apple: Stop Killing Our Ports!

I think Apple deserves a lot of the great press they’ve gotten lately. I think there are real reasons people switch to the Mac that aren’t related to marketing or image, which is something Microsoft often fails to recognize. But this does reveal a weakness of the Mac platform, which is that you are constrained to what Apple gives you in hardware choice. It’s worth noting that this is a definite mark in the plus column for standard PCs running Windows and Linux. That might not change your mind on OS choice, but there is still a choice, and each platform choice involves tradeoffs.

And OS choice aside, I hope Apple reconsiders and finds a way to occasionally add a port and not just take them away.

Yes, there is a lot of other news on these models, and I’m sure for some, on balance, this will be great. Go have a look at the specs and decide for yourself. I’m going to pass on this one, though – just my personal call.
MacBook Pro Specs
MacBook Specs

Updated: It’s time to talk to Apple, say fellow Mac users. Eugenia of Eugenia’s Rants and Thoughts is encouraging unhappy Mac users to tell Apple they want FireWire back on the MacBook:

No firewire on new Macbooks
Apple – MacBook – Feedback

DP6 is here (or will be here soon, say commenters), with a badly-needed UI update and a number of new features. The results still look like DP – in the way that should appeal to current users, that is – but enhancements demonstrate that the ongoing DAW battles carry on.

DP6 New Features

In the usability category:

• Updated UI with vertical track resizing (about time, jeez!) and better zooming and resizing
• Window tabs, which are a pretty cool way of switching between windows and tabbing views a la Firefox, Safari, et al (I’m surprised we haven’t seen more tabs in music software, given their popularity in browsing)
• Inspector palettes
• Build comps by selecting from different takes, which would be exciting if we hadn’t just seen similar features elsewhere

New Effects

As welcome as these features will be, most of the buzz I’ve heard from DP users centers around the new effects plug-ins. The MasterWorks Leveler models the “Teletronix LA-2A optical leveling amplifier.” Translated into plain English, it’s an automatic gain adjustment that can have some of the dynamic-smoothing qualities of compression without their soul-sucking quality – it’s an arguably better way of adjusting dynamics. I know at least one very prominent Ableton Live and Logic lover who wants DP6 just to run this plug-in. See the full description on MOTU’s site.

The ProVerb convolution reverb joins convolution reverbs in various other DAWs, with a few twists. It claims to be more CPU-efficient, which is generally not something you associate with convolution. There’s drag-and-drop convolution support, which allows you to drag audio right into the reverb for convolution use. It’s not the first reverb to support using your own audio files, but drag-and-drop is very hot. And MOTU adds automatic ducking features, called Dynamic Mix. And there are surround features, including the ability to use the convolution reverb to upsample to surround.

Combined, these features should allow you to get cleaner, higher-fidelity mixes th…

Um, excuse me. I need a moment. I feel my Jekyl-like alterego coming on here. Let me put on my mad scientist outfit.

[evil murmuring cackle, growing into loud evil laugh] So, MOTU thinks we’ll use these sound features for good, do they? Drag and drop convolution, to destroy my sounds! Let the world cower in the shadow of the new–

Ahem. Okay, moving on. Other features.

Still-Improved Film Scoring Support

While Apple customers complain that there aren’t more extensive integration features between Final Cut and Logic, MOTU has gone and created their own, with a dynamic link system for translating edits in Final Cut to scores assembled in DP. DP already has a surprisingly-strong corner on the film scoring niche, and this is yet another reason. You can even output visual cues over FireWire. Logic doesn’t come anywhere close to DP’s capabilities here. There’s just no competition. For composers doing actual scores, DP will remain king. It’s not a very big niche, but it’s DP’s domain, period.

There’s also improved Pro Tools front-end support, which I expect may be important to this market, as well.

Plug-In Features

You might think that Apple would lead the industry with AU support in Logic given that it’s all in the same building in Cupertino, but don’t count out MOTU – after a rough start in the early Mac OS X days, they’ve been really close to the Audio Unit spec and development tools. In this version:

• AU side-chaining support (‘bout time)
• Sample-accurate timing
• Cocoa graphics support (I’m not actually sure which plug-ins are using Cocoa – anyone know?)
• Ramp automation
• Prioritized MIDI for support for plug-ins like Access Virus TI

Not terribly exciting, but good to have. The one feature I think people will find exciting is the new, integrated plug-in manager. Boy, would I like this in some other hosts.

There’s also improved soft synth hosting for more efficient CPU use. One trick here is really interesting: DP now pre-renders instrument tracks so that already-recorded soft synths are rendered in advance instead of playing live. Update: See comments; readers are divided about just how useful this will be, and there are still some complaints about the way DP routes instrument tracks. I think we’ll have to see it in practice.

The combination of the pre-rendering with some of the other features here means that DP may be your best choice on older hardware, not to mention a very strong choice for people who want to load up on lots of plug-ins and experiment with sound design.

Bottom Line (Preview)

DP may be a niche player at this point, but boy, does it rock out in its niche. For film scoring, it remains dominant. And I think that the combination of a better UI, CPU-efficient features, a plug-in manager, and the reverb and dynamics additions here could actually increase its appeal to people who want a host for doing creative sound design and scoring, too – as well as continuing to make it a favorite for backing tracks in live performance. I’m still personally happier in some other hosts for various reasons when it comes to creating stuff, but you have to give some props to the things DP does differently. And it’s a relief that DAW competition continues to remain heated-up, even in 2008. If you wonder why Logic hasn’t become the one and only DAW on Mac, look closely at some of the details here. Composers and producers are very picky about the finer points, and as long as that remains true, we’ll have more than one DAW.

Native Instruments Compatibility with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
Universal Installer Patch: direct download link

If you need to install NI software on a clean system — say, a machine you did a clean install on, or if you’re really lucky, a shiny, new MacBook Pro — this should make sure you’re in good shape.

Note there are still some bugs with NI software — be sure to read the whole guide. I’m not sure I’d jump into Leopard yet if I were a heavy user; I’d wait until a fix ships for some of the other issues.

Incidentally, as some people have asked, we’ll soon have a complete compatibility guide for Leopard and an ongoing guide to Windows Vista. And this time, we’re looking at making it editable so we can have even a small group of users keeping it up to date with more detailed information. Past coverage (worth checking comments on these, too):

Leopard Reports: Native Instruments, MOTU, Why Tiger Still Rocks, Java
Leopard Early Installers, How’s it Going?

Be sure to watch comments from readers for other helpful compatibility information — much of it positive at this point.

Native Instruments: Compatibility with OS X Leopard
NI’s latest versions of Kore, Traktor, Guitar Rig, and Kontakt are all good to go. But other software has some issues related to installation and dialog box operation. While it’s not reported on this page, we’ve also heard one person with a hardware problem. You should see patches over the coming weeks, with major updates in November and December.

Unleash a Leopard in your MOTU studio
Despite the title, actually, you might not want to unleash anything just yet. MOTU says testing is ongoing and hints updates for hardware and software may be likely. MOTU’s virtual instrument line is ready, though, and there are no significant issues reported yet. Best bet: bookmark that page and keep watch. That’s what we’ll be doing.

Tiger in your tank? I’ll say it now: while the issues are minor so far, I don’t recommend upgrading to Leopard on a critical machine. For folks with more than one Mac, many are having relatively smooth experiences, so on a second machine it could make sense. I’m expecting most of the rest of us will just wait a month or two; at least on the Mac updates are usually pretty speedy in coming and the OS itself looks solid.

Oh, yeah, and one other important thing: this is the first Mac OS X update that really doesn’t benefit music users, at least not out of the box. (There are some driver changes, but I don’t think there are yet devices that take advantage of them.) It’s actually good news, in that Core Audio and Core MIDI are mature at this point — you don’t want to regularly update the music and audio plumbing. But that means Tiger will be just fine for some time.

More Java bad news: While I know this interests a smaller audience, there’s been still more disappointments on the Mac Java front. First, Apple did not include Java 6 as expected, despite the fact that Windows, Linux, and other operating systems have had it since late last year and have even seen significant updates; Apple actually breaks their previous Java 6. It’s not just surviving with Java 5 that has people mad; it’s the sense that Apple has abandoned Java, once a priority for the company. At the very least, they’re not telling anyone what’s going on. Worse for music specifically, Apple’s broken, old JavaSound implementation hasn’t improved at all; it’s roughly equivalent to the ancient Java 1.3 implementation and has major playback issues. That’s really sad, because it knocks out the use of Java for sound, which could be really significant in education. I’ll be testing MIDI, as well, as I’ve been doing some development work with Java and Processing. There are some workarounds, but it’s still frustrating.

If we’re really lucky, we’ll see updates that fix one or both of these issues. And if we’re really, really lucky, someone will figure out how to get the open-source OpenJDK moving on Mac, which could eventually mean cross-platform, open-source Java on all platforms — and possibly with better multimedia result, which is what code artists most desperately need.