Mac OS 9 Lives

Classic Mac OS Software => Digital Audio Workstations & MIDI Applications => Cubase/Nuendo by Steinberg => Topic started by: fabiolimasiq on August 22, 2021, 06:09:47 PM

Title: best CuBase version for Digidesign Audiomedia III
Post by: fabiolimasiq on August 22, 2021, 06:09:47 PM
For Apple PowerMac G4 Quicksilver 933 w/ Digidesign Audiomedia III

what is the best version of CuBase to use?

thanks
Title: Re: best CuBase version for Digidesign Audiomedia III
Post by: fabiolimasiq on August 22, 2021, 06:38:17 PM
I tried CuBase VST32 51r1 and it appears that don't have DAE support

attached Steinberg ASIO driver for audiomedia III and Digi 001

ftp://ftp.steinberg.net/Archives/Hardware/ASIO_Digidesign_DirectIO/Mac/OS_9/

some more infos on an DUC post at link below:
https://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=137956
Title: Re: best CuBase version for Digidesign Audiomedia III
Post by: AtariMan on August 22, 2021, 07:44:30 PM
Cubase Audio XT
Title: Re: best CuBase version for Digidesign Audiomedia III
Post by: IIO on August 23, 2021, 02:56:25 AM
cubase never had any DAE support, but the AM III has an ASIO driver.
Title: Re: best CuBase version for Digidesign Audiomedia III
Post by: Protools5LEGuy on August 23, 2021, 08:20:57 AM
Be careful!.

This ASIO driver has a bug. The first time you select it it will send a 1kHz or similar sound wave to the speakers. Be ready to turn off the speakers.

After you select Digidesign ASIO, you can deselect and select it again and it will work with no trouble. Now you can turn on the speakers.

At least that has been my experience with the ASIO driver for AMIII/DIGI001 on Logic.
Title: Re: best CuBase version for Digidesign Audiomedia III
Post by: fabiolimasiq on August 23, 2021, 03:57:22 PM
Be careful!.

This ASIO driver has a bug. The first time you select it it will send a 1kHz or similar sound wave to the speakers. Be ready to turn off the speakers.

After you select Digidesign ASIO, you can deselect and select it again and it will work with no trouble. Now you can turn on the speakers.

At least that has been my experience with the ASIO driver for AMIII/DIGI001 on Logic.

Thank you so much
Title: Re: best CuBase version for Digidesign Audiomedia III
Post by: chrisNova777 on September 30, 2021, 06:42:57 AM
TBH the AMIII card, being that it is from 1996 http://www.oldschooldaw.com/forums/index.php?topic=154.0
isnt the best match for a quicksilver G4 from 2002 in my opinion anyway

those cards were literally made for the older beige Power Macintosh machines
the 8500, the 9500, and the 6400
https://everymac.com/systems/by_year/macs-released-in-1996.html

my first mac i ever which had was a stolen performa 6400/200
https://everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_performa/specs/mac_performa_6400_200.html
which was the stepping stone to the classic G3/G4 tower design




Title: Re: best CuBase version for Digidesign Audiomedia III
Post by: reeskm on October 15, 2021, 09:07:58 AM
I have an extremely similar setup, an AM III card in a PowerPC G4 450 AGP. It's got a ZIP100, SCSI and a video edit card running os9 exclusive.

I'm not having much luck because I can't locate the DAE/DSI drivers to make everything work. I also don't have a copy of ProTools 5.1.1...
Title: Re: best CuBase version for Digidesign Audiomedia III
Post by: AtariMan on October 15, 2021, 10:59:15 AM
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,2701.0.html
Title: Re: best CuBase version for Digidesign Audiomedia III
Post by: reeskm on October 15, 2021, 11:43:25 AM
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,2701.0.html

Sick! Thanks AtariMan!
I think I will install PT 5.1.1 and see if that gets me a working setup! I don't know if this AudioMedia III card I have is good, but I've checked and at least the onboard chips have the revision needed to work properly in a G4 PCI-based Mac! All I really cared about is ASIO support for other apps... I'm not sure if I need ProTools, but I have the disk space... So I might as well try it out. I'll do it this weekend when I have some spare time :)

Getting Sound Control Panel / input to work
I managed to get the DAE and DSI from Digidesign's archive (http://archive.digidesign.com/download/daedsi/ (http://archive.digidesign.com/download/daedsi/)), and removed the "ak" prefix at the front of the download URL, but it seems I still can't get a working setup with the Digidesign Control Panel (Error: "This machine is not supported"), or using the ASIO setup in Cubase VST/32 5.0 (Error: "Cannot load DigiSystem INIT!", even though it's in the extensions folder and loaded). I can select my card as an output device in the Sound CPNL, but no inputs show up. I've installed all the other driver extensions DigiDesign recommends. Anybody ever got that to work with their Sound Control Panel on OS 9.2.2?
Thoughts: Cubase VST/32 5.0 problem, Wrong combo of extensions, or I just need to install ProTools first!
Title: Re: best CuBase version for Digidesign Audiomedia III
Post by: reeskm on October 17, 2021, 09:47:49 AM
So I installed ProTools LE 5.1.1 and attempted to get my AudioMedia III card to work and... it looks like my card is dead :(
When launching ProTools, it simply says "Unable to create a DAE deck."

This might explain why I had so much trouble with the control panels and sound driver extensions I tried recently.
This card has been sitting in a box of random Mac parts for years, and who knows? Maybe static killed it, or it was bad when pulled.

Anybody ever fixed one of these cards before? I'm not even sure if it's worth it.
Title: Re: best CuBase version for Digidesign Audiomedia III
Post by: Protools5LEGuy on October 23, 2021, 11:18:58 AM
So I installed ProTools LE 5.1.1 and attempted to get my AudioMedia III card to work and... it looks like my card is dead :(
When launching ProTools, it simply says "Unable to create a DAE deck."

This might explain why I had so much trouble with the control panels and sound driver extensions I tried recently.
This card has been sitting in a box of random Mac parts for years, and who knows? Maybe static killed it, or it was bad when pulled.

Anybody ever fixed one of these cards before? I'm not even sure if it's worth it.

Clean the contacts from the card and also the motherboards with alcohol >92ยบ

Also try other PCI slots.

AMIII cards can survive EVERYTHING. First case I found of a broken one. I doubt is broken. I bought and abused 3 of them. I still have one on my MDD 867

But I have seen 001 card die.
Title: Re: best CuBase version for Digidesign Audiomedia III
Post by: AtariMan on October 23, 2021, 12:52:50 PM
I remembered the chip revision.
Audiomedia 3 can work in G4 only with the QE version,
but I don't remember the details already.
Title: Re: best CuBase version for Digidesign Audiomedia III
Post by: chrisNova777 on October 23, 2021, 06:25:43 PM
So I installed ProTools LE 5.1.1 and attempted to get my AudioMedia III card to work and... it looks like my card is dead :(
When launching ProTools, it simply says "Unable to create a DAE deck."

This might explain why I had so much trouble with the control panels and sound driver extensions I tried recently.
This card has been sitting in a box of random Mac parts for years, and who knows? Maybe static killed it, or it was bad when pulled.

Anybody ever fixed one of these cards before? I'm not even sure if it's worth it.

it really sucks when you realize a peice of gear/hardware is defective but at least u can move on to focusing on other things..
just dont make the mistake of not documenting things and having to repeat the same mistakes figuring out that it doesnt work by wasting more precious time

i remember seeing someone from asia selling a ton of amiii cards i was going to grab one but i still dont own one yet.

things get tricky back in the 1990s with components tho. there was pci bus revisions around that time new pci spec came + was quickly replaced again
like atariman says maybe try that AMIII card in a machine from before 1998 and it might magically work. theres many many documented "hardware incompatibilities" especially around 1999 like i said because of changes in the industry re: pci 2.2

PCI 1.0   1992   Original issue
PCI 2.0   1993   Incorporated connector and add-in card specification
PCI 2.1   1995   Incorporated clarifications and added 66 MHz chapter
PCI 2.2   1998   Incorporated ECNs, and improved readability
PCI 2.3   2002   Incorporated ECNs, errata, and deleted 5 volt only keyed add-in cards
PCI 3.0   2004   Removed support for 5.0 volt keyed system board connector
Title: Re: best CuBase version for Digidesign Audiomedia III
Post by: reeskm on October 24, 2021, 11:24:29 PM
I remembered the chip revision.
Audiomedia 3 can work in G4 only with the QE version,
but I don't remember the details already.


Yes, AtariMan, I did read that. My card's AMCC PCI Matchmaker chip ends in "QE". So, I think that's not the issue...
Title: Re: best CuBase version for Digidesign Audiomedia III
Post by: reeskm on October 24, 2021, 11:29:46 PM
Thanks so much for the advice everybody. I'll try cleaning contacts with ISO. I have 99% around all the time. There is a remote chance...

As for trying it in an older machine - great idea. However, the oldest PCI Mac I have is this G4... I'm not throwing the card out. It's too unusual to do that. At the very least I'll keep it around for when I need a Motorola 56k DSP for toying around with. They're fun to program and interface to.

I'll get to this in a bit... yes, sometimes it's not worth it. For G4 mac stuff, I have plenty of faster machines and interfaces, like a very nice Roland/Edirol FA101 firewire unit that pairs very nicely with my faster G4s and G5s... even intel Macs. But i like to keep it old-school :)
Title: Re: best CuBase version for Digidesign Audiomedia III
Post by: smilesdavis on January 29, 2023, 02:34:45 PM
New ASIO driver for use with Cubase VST Mac and the AudioMedia III card. Should solve problems with crackling noise on some configurations.

https://web.archive.org/web/19980120044925/ftp://ftp.steinberg.net/dist/product_updates/macintosh/asio/AM3ASIOv22.1.97.sea.hqx (https://web.archive.org/web/19980120044925/ftp://ftp.steinberg.net/dist/product_updates/macintosh/asio/AM3ASIOv22.1.97.sea.hqx) *DEAD*

ASIO driver for Digidesign AudioMedia II NuBus card

https://web.archive.org/web/19980120044531/ftp://ftp.steinberg.net/dist/product_updates/macintosh/asio/ASIO_Audio_Media_II.hqx (https://web.archive.org/web/19980120044531/ftp://ftp.steinberg.net/dist/product_updates/macintosh/asio/ASIO_Audio_Media_II.hqx)

New DAV ASIO Driver fixes problems with VST and the built-in output on some Power Macintoshes and clones

https://web.archive.org/web/19980120044925/ftp://ftp.steinberg.net/dist/product_updates/macintosh/asio/asio_dav_3.02b.hqx (https://web.archive.org/web/19980120044925/ftp://ftp.steinberg.net/dist/product_updates/macintosh/asio/asio_dav_3.02b.hqx)

lost to history.