#22

I also like my mac(s) and as much as possible I try to use them and keep them as long as possible rather than buying another (often the new specs do not satisfy me: lack of simple USB ports, necessity to buy a ton of adapters etc). However, sometimes they does not age well, (screen, battery, magsafe connector problems, etc.). Right now I have my main imac 27 of 2012 in repair, this repair (new screen + thunderbolt ports) is going to cost me a third of the price of the original mac (i7 processor, 3T hybrid drive, it’s a good machine for audio).

My question is: are you trying to (diy) improve your old mac computers a bit or are you keeping them in their original state and factory specs ? For example, I have a white macbook core2duo from 2008, it has become very slow, I wonder if it would be worth to replace the hhd disk with an ssd, I’m not even sure this can be done. On top of that, it’s now impossible to find a secure (Up to date) web browser running on Mac Os Lion, I’m thinking about installing Linux on it only if it’s feasible.

What is possible to do in terms of hardware and software to keep these machines as long as possible? Do you have any tip ?

#23

I’m running a beige g3 hooked up via scsi to my Kurzweil k2000. I use a really nice wave editor called Alchemy to load samples via scsi and edit them. An ftp server is used to load samples onto the mac from my main daw. I’m also running Metasynth, Turbosynth and Recycle for making and mangling sounds.

3 Likes
#24

I got cloud generator running and it is ok for offline granulation. I couldn’t get pulsar to work. I prefer real time for granulation since it is such a trial and error kind of thing.

#25

Newbie/off-topic question but is this the same or an ancestor of « Alchemy » that Apple bought from Camel Audio which is now a synth plugin in Logic X ? (I wouldn’t be surprised because I used to know « Cool Edit Pro », known nowadays as « Audition » by Adobe :D)

#26

It is not related to that Alchemy.
https://web.archive.org/web/20150606120528/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1996_articles/jun96/passportalchemy.html

1 Like
#27

I know the older macs demanded less in the way of processing, but by a rule the older they are the more reliable. I still can boot up my PowerMac G3 desktop. (Love the thing, it has a few OS9 programs that still rock out pretty hard, including SoundDesigner and its awesome pitch bend envelope)

I’ve probably had about fifteen different mac systems. Raised with an Apple II and had a LC through school. Man I have loved every one of them.

I think the software system design has become pretty flawed, though. Macs were made to be open system.

Conversely, the older my newer Macs get, the less they functionally work. The shift to blacklist any 32-bit program in the name of progress is inane. There should just be a simple switch (A physical one! Maniacal laugh!) on the side of the machine that swaps back and forth from 32-bit, if needed. I have two iPads now for all the great 32-bit apps that will never get updated (and another iPad running later software to allow for the newer things) and soon will need two Macs as well, as they plan the same 32-bit ban on those with the next operating system upgrade. On the short list of things I expect will get murdered by that: Korg’s Microsampler application, a few other small midi tools, etc. There are countless useful 32-bit (and before) tools for making music that get killed by Apple’s egotistical move forward to make new operating systems.

And in the corner of the room, still happily running OS9 is my 20 year old G3. It has AFTER DARK on it, playing a wonderful bunch of screen savers. I still love the black and white elevator one.

1 Like
#28

I totally recommend upgrading them! OWC sells a lot of guaranteed-compatible upgrades for a wide variety of older models and with a bit of research you can find everything you need. Probably worth upgrading the RAM too, to as much as the system can utilize.

1 Like
#29

I have that lovely 12" beast of a PowerBook too!

1 Like
#30

Recently traded screens at work with someone who had a thunderbolt display. Love those displays. If I can’t have a genuine Apple retina screen I’m more than happy with the proportions of these pixels.

#31

I have a few old macs, and they all work (more or less) still.
The first one I got was a 2005 powerbook G4 12". My daughter used it as her first computer for a while in 2008 or so, and lost the power adapter, so I’m not sure if it still works, haven’t started it since then.
Soon after that one I got a 2007 black macbook, which was a powerhouse, and lasted a long time in regular use, and still works fine.
In 2012 I got my first macbook pro, which was great, but prone to the failing GPU problem that version had. Fortunately Apple stepped up their support for those, replacing the MB twice, and when it failed the third time while still in the support window, they replaced the whole thing outright, so it turned into a 2015 macbook pro, which still works fabulously.
In 2017 I bought a tricked out macbook pro, with all the bells and whistles, best specs you can get. Had some extra money to burn. Haven’t regretted it, it’s a powerhouse.

#32

Alright, I’m trying to use the old pulsar generator by Curtis Roads, which, according to his website, is to be run in OS9 Classic. It won’t open at all when booting into OS9 normally, though I’m not sure if I need anything particular to run it. I even got an OS9 version of Supercollider just to make sure it didn’t need that, but that wasn’t the case.

It opens fine in OS9 Classic, but I get errors when clicking START. ‘_SynthPlay’’ failed. I can see in the preferences menu that there is no hardware to choose from. No Sound manager or anything. So I’m thinking that might be the problem. As far as I can see, OS9 Classic is just OS9 with extensions disabled. But the sound manager is found in extensions - correct? So I’m not even sure how to run the software properly in OS9 Classic. Can anyone help me out here?

#33

i miss my Apple //e clone …

#34

I think generally audio software did not run in Classic mode, but I don’t remember the details.

The screenshots do not look like Classic to me. Cloud Generator is shown with System 7 window borders and in the Pulsar Generator one there’s drag thing and the OS 9 battery monitor, I wouldn’t expect to see those in Classic (rather in real OS 9).

#35

I recently brought my ancient PowerBook 190cs (running OS 7) down from the attic expecting to send it to the thrift store. After firing it up to see if there was still any personal data on it, I was shocked that it ran perfectly. I got sucked into playing Cyclone (a Star Castle knock-off) for a couple of hours and managed to beat my high score from 20 years ago. Muscle memory, baby!

Amazing that it works at all. Not sure of its potential as a music-making machine, but, since it runs fine, I put it back in the attic for now.

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10 Likes
#36

I have a 2008 macbook that’s still in service, now as a flatbed scanner machine. Probably the best computer I ever used, each upgrade felt like a new machine 2G-> 4G-> 8G ram and a small spinning hard drive to a SSD. This was my only work and personal machine for 10 years.

#37

I see. It’s my first time using Classic, so there’s a lot of unknowns. I’m pretty sure the window borders change when you highlight an application running under OS9.
I’m not sure why it would seem to open is Classic, but not in regular OS9.
Though I can see in the documents that the newest OS it has been tested on is 9.1, and I’m running 9.2.2.

#38

Is it the same computer? It is quite strange.

#39

Same computer.
There was a file that was unextractable when booting from OS9, which was extractable in Classic, so now I can actually open the pulsar generator interface from OS9, but I still get the same error message.
Still no hardware to choose from. I’m not sure if this means it defaults to the sound manager. But the sample rate is seemingly stuck at a whopping 11,025KHz. Again, I have no idea if this is relevant at all.
It’s a fresh install of everything, never connected to the internet, so I might be missing some drivers or other things.

#40

Useful forum for OS9 era macs - http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php

Someone on the noiseguide forum was recommending me “Arboretum Hyperprism” abandonware for Classic macs, this is it I think: https://www.macintoshrepository.org/654-hyperengine-2-41

#41

I tried Hyperengine, but it crashes when I try to load a soundfile. So there’s that.