SDS Drop for Mac - Better Sample Upload

Elektron Gear Analog Rytm
#242

hmm, hard to find actual numbers for this.

found this poll: http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2014/10/11/whats-the-best-os-for-doing-music-audio-production-poll/

(62% mac, 28% win, 2% Linux)

at the least the number of votes is more representative.

does not really matter, though.

I’m only using Windows because Bill Gates single-handedly invented Basic, graphical user interfaces, and probably the internet as well !11

EDIT:
If this is really true, it’s quite surprising. Mac OS X is a fine OS but the hardware dongle it is attached to is really expensive !

For example, I paid <600e for my 3,7GHz Quad Core i7 PC (last year). The Mac Pro that is roughly equivalent to that costs ~3000e (5 times as much!).

Anyways, did not mean to derail your thread.

Good luck with your app !

#243

Since I agree that Mac might be overpriced, I also see, when having a Mac, a machine that will last 5 years handling hard stuff (like my old Core2Duo MBP did, and it still does in a familiar’s hands, but now in a more friendly way). Add to that the small devaluation they have each year, so that’s futureproof.

Yeah, Mac has much worse specs compared to a Windows computer for the same price. The point is Mac OSX is more optimized for that hardware. That’s why we can see PS4 or XBO running games at greater FPS than a PC with similar hardware specs: those games were made on a very restricted hardware options, thus letting developers optimize them for that concrete hardware. That, obviously, doesn’t avoid having some problems, but those problems are smaller or easier to be detected (despite not being fixed for a great amount of time, i.e wifi problems)

About the nº of Macs vs the nº of Windows on live performances, maybe now is more a matter of snowballing the idea of reliability Mac has earned against Windows some years ago, or maybe there’s still some reasons for that, dunno. For example, my mate does lives with Windows, and never had a problem while doing the performance, but once we were on the studio and her laptop just got a “bluescreen” on Ableton while playing. No bridged plugins, only audio clips.
I guess there will be many Windows users that never had any problem on live, but those are the little things that make me (as a personal impression) prefer to use my Mac on the stage rather than a Windows, despite being really expensive.

EDIT: @bsp, well that’s a bit tricky since the Mac Pro CPU is a Xeon not an i7, which is quite more expensive despite getting only slightly better performance. Appart from that you have to add the dual GPU, which is also expensive.
All in all, the Mac Pro is one of the most adjusted “hardware/price” Apple product, being the new Macbook and the Macbook Pro one of the worst ones in terms of the hardware you get for each buck you pay.

===============

Back to the thread: I’ve recently bought SDSdrop on the App Store, and I have to say it not only works like charm, but it’s also great to test new things in a “fast” way while producing, just to get some fresh ideas (yeah, I’m more that kind) instead of preparing all your samples, transfering them via C6, etc.
And I say “fast” because the actual transfering protocol is pain slow, I just hope Elektron can sort it out in some way.

#244

Yup… my 2009 MBP is still kicking, even running the latest Mac OS. Plus, I plan to get 3 more years out of it for an even 10 years of service. $1500 seems like a lot but spread over 7 to 10 years it is actually quite reasonable.

#245

@HnT: For me computers are just tools, like a hammer or a pair of scissors. Windows has been rock solid in my experience (at least since XP). My daw (Reason) has only crashed once in all the time I’ve been using it (may have been a power grid fluctuation, had to hard-reset the machine).
I guess at least one of the reasons why some/many musicians use Macs is Apple’s marketing, i.e. b/c Apple seems to insinuate that young and hip people use Macs while PCs are just for old office geeks (remember the commercials?).
From a technical point of view, the builtin audio interface aggregation feature of MacOS looks like a plus (does that really work well, i.e. with low latencies?), although Asio4All for Windows can do similar things (has never worked well for me but it did for others).
Saying that MacOS is “more optimized for the hardware” is most likely an urban myth. Operating systems usually consume far less than 1% of the hardware resources, at least the ones I’ve seen/worked with.
The main difference is the 3rd party software. It could very well be that the Mac version of DAW ‘x’ runs better than its PC counterpart (or the other way around).
Like you said, in the end it’s all a matter of preference. If you are willing to spend the extra money, or if a less powerful machine suits your needs, so be it.
Personally, I don’t use notebooks for music production since I like to do a lot of post processing “in the box”, and I hit the CPU limit quite often, even on my quad i7 PC (the next one is going to be an eight core!).

@AdamJay: I bought my notebook in 2010 (a Vaio, cost me ~900e back then!). I’m still using it and it’s still fast enough for the things I need it for when I’m traveling. It’s quite the piece of luxury equipment, though, not unlike a Macbook :wink:
I usually buy a new desktop PC (well, at least certain new components) every 3 to 4 years, then I donate the old one to someone who can’t afford one on their own (usually extends the lifetime by another 5 years).

Now for something completely different :slight_smile: I was looking for an additional pure-analog drum machine and you suggested the Drumatix on several occasions, I was contemplating getting the Vermona DRM1-MK3. I ended up with an MFB Tanzbär, just received it yesterday. Here’s a small live jam I recorded yesterday evening, in case you want to hear how it sounds: https://soundcloud.com/bsp604/tanzbaer-first-try-01apr2016-a-take2-nl
It’s a really nice machine and I’ll probably keep it. It’s definitely no substitute for the Rytm (which offers a lot more sound variety and has a much(!) better UI), but I really like its sound.

I hope that void does not mind a bit of “noise” / chatter in his thread :smiley:

#246

I don’t mind noise, but I also don’t really understand what you’re trying to say.

For me it boils down to aesthetics. It’s a thing many Windows users (and in fact, MSFT as a company) don’t seem to value as highly (or, frankly, don’t understand). You say it’s about marketing, I say it’s about design. :joy:

Anyway this is a thread about SDS Drop for Mac, there is no Windows version planned.

#247

just going to fan the flames here…

:wink:


all in good fun.

#248

fixed that for you!

#249

errr… no, you didn’t “fix that for me”.

it’s kind of obvious that you have - let me put this nicely - “unique” ideas about UI, so maybe this is a topic where you shouldn’t insist on having the last word? think about it. :wink:

#250

fixed that for you![/quote]
All that apple feng-shui doesn’t come for free :wink:

#251

Quoted for future reference.

#252

@void: you have absolutely no idea about the GUI’s I’ve made professionally. They have been tested on Mac users, and they were quite pleased, to say the least. So I’d suggest you think about that for a minute :wink:

I absolutely don’t care about having the last word. I am not even sure how we got here. I was agreeing with you (see last page), and then this turned into a somehow heated platform discussion, complete with pictures of very tiny people in wheel chairs.

Well, we all had our fun I guess (…although I still can’t get that aesthetic picture of a Mac Pro out of my head. I can’t really say if it reminds me more of an ash tray, or a trash can…)
…just kidding :smiley: Carry on! I won’t bother you in this thread anymore :smiley:

As a goodwill gesture, here are the most recent on-topic posts:

#253

After three different “high end” laptops from the more reliable Windows-based laptop companies over the last few years (Lenovo, Sony, Asus), my girlfriend’s MBP from 2009 runs better than all of them. Planning to get a NOS 2014 MBP and I will still probably be using it eight-ten years from now.

The Lenovo Yoga I was using would crash using Pure Data with a 30% CPU load.

I can build a Windows desktop fine enough, and would feel confident building a windows desk that runs sturdy, but for laptops I will never not use a Mac again. For how finnicky a laptop can be, in general, having the OS developed concurrently with a specific set of hardware makes a difference I feel.

#254

Dood. Yes. Thank you! This is sooo much better than c6, take my money!!!

#255

Just got this. Awesome! Thank you!

#256

you’re welcome.

as always, there are never enough stars & reviews on the App Store :slight_smile:

#257

Not going to be able to read through this thread for a while, so apologies if this has already been answered;

Is a Mavericks fix on the horizon? As I’m not likely to update OSX, but would like to buy this app…

#258

ah almost forgot about this…

the app works on mavericks, but there’s an issue with the preferences window where you can’t select the different preference panes.

unfortunately I still don’t have a mavericks mac to test against, if I had access to one for a few hours it would actually be an easy fix.

so this means:

right now, you can use the app almost fully on 10.9.

the most important preferences have dedicated buttons on the main window. the only thing you can’t do is use the name-transform options, e.g. uppercase, truncate, prefix…

1 Like
#259

I’d be happy to test for you, if that’s possible/helpful?

#260

thanks, but hm I believe that would not be a fun time for either of us :slight_smile:

I’d need to:
compile, send app to you, you launch & test it, send feedback back to me, I make changes, rinse repeat until it works…

much faster if I can do this locally, just need to find a 10.9 computer

#261

Ok, understood :slight_smile: