Mac OS 9 Lives
Digital Audio Workstation & MIDI => Audio & MIDI Hardware => Topic started by: Europa on June 08, 2019, 07:13:13 AM
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I recently got an Arturia KeyLab and I have an M-Audio Fast Track as well as an Arturia MicroBrute. My question is if there are Mac OS 9 drivers for any or all of these devices or if I need to get a MIDI/Audio interface to use my keyboards with Mac OS 9.
I am using a Digital Audio Power Mac G4 and I would like to use Ableton Live 4.
Thanks! :D
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basically any devices released after 2005 have not had macos9 drivers made for them
as far as i know the last device that had proper macos9 drivers was from tascam in late 2005
tascam fw-1804 was the last i think
this is why im interested in learning how to create device drivers
i have posted alot of related material related to device drivers here
re: the related technologies, usb ddk, asio sdk, pci ddk, etc etc
all it takes is one intelligent skilled person with the time + effort to learn this
im really suprised that there isnt someone out there who already posesses the abilitys + knowledge required to make this happen but i guess without them getting a fat paycheck noone is willing to step up + do the work ijnvolved in supporting a "Dead os"
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Ok, thank you! :)
What would be a recommended MIDI/Audio interface (preferably all in one unit) for my setup?
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some of the top interfaces i can reccomend would be those from RME + MOTU
but it really depends on your needs and what you are trying to plug in...
and whether or not you need to record 2 / 4 or 8 tracks at a time;
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i always recommend using only PCI-based or firewire-based audio solutions for OS9; I always found USB audio in OS9 to be troublesome. for sure, the lack of USB 2.0 would have something to do with it. I second the recommendation for MOTU and RME, with an emphasis on MOTU because they are very old players in the Mac game and their drivers are rock solid across any Mac OS generation. I personally dont really remember RME being a major player, at least in the Mac space, until the G5 era, but their reputation is also great.
Having said that, MOTU still supports their legacy devices with their drivers so even the oldest MOTU 828 interface would still work in Mojave. That's part of why I love MOTU stuff. The 828 MK2 is probably your best bet in that regard; the original lacked MIDI. Doing a sold item search on ebay, it looks like if you're willing to be patient you can get one for around a hundred bucks, and its an interface that can grow with you thanks to the digital ADAT and SPDIF IO. MOTU also going to be cheaper on the used market because there's more of them running around; they're much more mainstream (and less high-end) than RME is.
this thread on oldschooldaw also talks specific interfaces with OS9 support, it may be useful. heck you could get one of the Trashcan, err Tascam (i keed) and have a mixer control surface!
http://www.oldschooldaw.com/forums/index.php?topic=9.0
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Ok, thanks to both of you! I'm hoping to get one with MIDI so I can use my Arturia products with it as well (or if you think discreet audio and MIDI interfaces would be better, I would be open to that as well). :)
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id say if you're going firewire there's no problem with an interface that combines both audio and midi. there's more than enough bandwidth to handle both.
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basically any devices released after 2005 have not had macos9 drivers made for them
as far as i know the last device that had proper macos9 drivers was from tascam in late 2005
tascam fw-1804 was the last i think
Actually I have tested unbranded china device "USB 7.1 Channel Sound USB 2.0" from 2012.
And it worked with class compliant audio drivers that comes with Mac OS 9.2.2. But only 2 channel playback.
But of course it's not proper driver for serious use.
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yes of course its possible for a device to be supported; but the manufacturers are not employing people to accomplish this task; because they deem it of little value for that work to be accomplished;
thats why its very important what brand/manufacturer you choose to support
some companies like MOTU continue to employ their driver support techs and provide excellent compatibility + value while other companies walk away from their own products (and customers)
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And it worked with class compliant audio drivers that comes with Mac OS 9.2.2. But only 2 channel playback.
But of course it's not proper driver for serious use.
in fact it is - all digital audio in MacOSX and IOS is based upon a class compliant 'driver' ;)
But your no name device didn't work because it's class compliant - it just happens to have a chipset that's equal or similiar to the one used to implement Apple's driver.
Class compliant (in it's current sense) means that hardware details don't matter. The device communicates it's in/out capabilities and then it's recognized by the OS.
Imho the main problem is the complexity of USB conventions and protocols.
Even RME (who originally dissed USB heavily) needed years to get their stuff right, after they couldn't ignore the demand for USB connections any longer.
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Even RME (who originally dissed USB heavily) needed years to get their stuff right, after they couldn't ignore the demand for USB connections any longer.
Well to be fair USB is a much more mature and developed technology than it was back then. I would not then nor now ever attempt audio work on a USB 1.1 connection.
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i believe it was ROLAND JAPAN who originally pushed the boundaries and deserves the credit
with the Edirol UA100g https://www.soundonsound.com/music-business/history-of-roland-part5
which was i believe the first ** USB1.1 **
and they also pushed the envelope with the 8 channel UA-1000 :
https://www.roland.com/ca/products/ua-1000/
which i believe was the first ** USB2.0 **
usb1.1 is fine for stereo channel work -- if it wasnt the mbox would never have been sold
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For USB 1.1 i can recommend the Tascam US428.
It has 4in/2out and 2x Midi In/Out ports and solid drivers for mac os 8.6/9.
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i believe it was ROLAND JAPAN who originally pushed the boundaries and deserves the credit
with the Edirol UA100g https://www.soundonsound.com/music-business/history-of-roland-part5
which was i believe the first ** USB1.1 **
and they also pushed the envelope with the 8 channel UA-1000 :
https://www.roland.com/ca/products/ua-1000/coreball (https://coreball.co)
which i believe was the first ** USB2.0 **
usb1.1 is fine for stereo channel work -- if it wasnt the mbox would never have been sold
This information is worth noting. It's very interesting.