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Getting To The Core of Audio In OS
X Tiger
OS X Tiger is a large upgrade for
the entire OS X operating system but also has some
serious new additions for us audio geeks. Beyond
that, it looks like Tiger will make development
of third-party software even easier with the addition
of some new Audio Units that plug-in and soft-synth
developers can take advantage of. Lets take a closer
look.
The Razzle Dazzle
Of course, the audio enhancements
are a small part of the entire
Tiger package. While many new
OS enhancements are meant for
general workflow a couple could
prove useful for anyone running
audio applications.
Shine A Light
Spotlight is a new Finder search
mechanism that will be accessible
from the Desktop menu bar.
Think of this as a “Google” search
for your computer and hard
drives. Type in a keyword
and Spotlight will hand you
back results in a simple,
single window interface.
The search results will be
grouped in different areas
like Folders, Images, Documents,
Emails, etc.
While this is a nice general
enhancement feature for any
Mac user, Spotlight could be
a dream come true for musicians
and artists with Gigabytes
upon Gigabytes of samples and
audio files. While most modern
DAW applications have some
sort of File Management system
for keeping track of your audio
files, it is not always full
proof. Spotlight should serve
as a welcome “last resort” to
find those missing audio files
from that project you started
months ago.
One powerful function of Spotlight
is that the keyword search
applies to hidden meta-data
of files –not just the
file name itself. Meta-data
is becoming more and more commonplace
with audio files –especially
those of the Apple Loop variety.
Another nice feature of Spotlight
is that it will open the file
you choose in a specified application.
So, if you have a large sample
library set to open up in an
editor program by default,
a double click of the Spotlight
search result file will open
the sample in your default
editor –say Peak or DSP
Quatro.
Making Quicker Time
For anyone working with visuals
and soundtrack work, Tiger’s
introduction of QuickTime
7 could be of interest. The
main reason is that QuickTime
7 has an “ultra-efficient
new video codec called H.264”.
This should give better video
quality at a lower CPU hit –which
is great as more CPU will
be available for the audio
application itself rather
than the QuickTime video
it is playing back.
64-Bit Has Arrived In OS X
Tiger will be able to handle
both 32 and 64-Bit applications.
This should prove most useful
when it comes to memory,
giving you “access
to as much physical memory
as you can install in PowerMac
G5 and Xserve G5 systems,
as well as highly optimized
64-bit math support for all
PowerPC G5 systems”.
This should give enhanced
performance to even 32-Bit
applications like Logic Pro,
especially if you have over
2GB’s of memory. How
much of an improvement is
yet to be seen.
What About Core Audio?
Don’t worry we didn’t
forget about the important
stuff. OS X Tiger will be introducing
a few new enhancements to its
Core Audio architecture. Here
are the biggies:
ADS is Here!
What is ADS you ask? Well,
it stands for Aggregate Device
Support. This is one of the
big audio features we have
been waiting for. Simply
put, this function will allow
you to select more than one
audio interface from the
Audio/MIDI Setup window.
This will allow you to easily
add more I/O and functionality
to your DAW system. In any
Core Audio application the
multiple interfaces will
look and act like one large
AD/DA interface. Pretty cool
and glad it is finally here.
64-Bit Audio
Core Audio will now support
recording of more than 4
Gigabytes in a single audio
file with the 64-Bit Audio
File Format.
New Audio Units
Two new Audio Units will be
available with Tiger. One
is a file playback AU and
the other is a Pitch/Time
Transform –allowing
for the length to be changed
without affecting the pitch.
Both of these are meant to
help AU plug-in developers
easily add these features
to their own creations.
And Other Stuff
Other enhancements to Core
Audio also look like they
focus on the developer side
of things. We should see
better MTC and MIDI Sync,
easier audio file format
changes, and a better developer
tool for creating and testing
Audio Units.
The Real Question –Should
I Upgrade?
With any new operating system
users would be wise to err
on the side of patience. After
all, potential bugs that may
bring your DAW to a screeching
halt are never good. That being
said, if you have multiple
audio interfaces the Tiger
upgrade should be a big deal.
If you are worried about the
stability of Tiger with audio
applications, wait a few days
to read “early adopters” accounts
on forums like www.osxaudio.com and www.macmusic.org. When
you’re ready to order
OS X Tiger than look no further
than audioMIDI.com. With every
purchase of OS
X Tiger you
will receive a free copy of
our own The Loops: Vol. 1 Apple
Loops CD, which also has content
from the M-Audio ProSessions
library. Now isn’t that
better than a long line at
your local reseller?
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