Korg Zero4 and Snow Leopard 64-bit

Since I'm on this forum more hours than I spend watching the many timeshifted episodes of Family Guy and Iron Chef America on TV, this is a placeholder for findings with regards to Snow Leopard's compatibility with the Korg Zero4 in 64-bit mode. I'm personally pretty optimistic about SL working with the Zero4 as an external soundcard, but I'm pretty much prepared for defeat when it comes to the mixer working as a Traktor Scratch interface. Regardless since SL boots in 32-bit by default I'm not too worried as it works great with my Zero4 and Traktor Scratch in that mode anyway.

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It works. It freaking works. I can't believe it. I bumped the latency up a bit just in case, but it also works just fine in 2.5ms as I've just found out as well. Happy day indeed.

 

Id be cautiously optimistic on this one. You've got your system setup well so you won't be having users errors. Im guessing you have already tested Traktor with SL so its just down to the soundcard. Hopefully SL 32bit Mode is gonna be compatible with the current Korg Drivers.

I take Korg havent posted up any new drivers ?

Not to derail this already but im seeing a lot whinging about TSP and SL compatibility but just how many hardware manufactureres have got SL tested Drivers out there?

Good luck tonite, let us know the results and how drunk you got !

 

Yeah driver availability is gonna be a problem or the forseeable futureand 64 bit SL drivers.... hmmm good luck... I bet part of the problem is just how secretive Apple are when they are in their beta program not just to the outside but also to the external developers. There are plenty of developer gripes that stuff was changing build to build often with little to no notice or advice on how to work around the problems. I know of one guy who was doing contract development whose company just gave up a movewd him to a different project abanding their 32 and 64 bit driver development until Apple completed development. Its a shame it is that way but its the nature of Apples culture. It is what it is.

Its going to be an interesting time with people arguing over the merits of x64 vs x86 models both in Apples world and in Windows.There is MUCH faster x64 development in x64 Windows than x64 Apple and its in part due to both the time span that x64 for the O/S has been an issue and the number of adopters.

Face it, if you have 4 driver developers and as an engineering manager you are required to divine the best value for money from your developers you are going to look to provide updated drivers for the most sought after platforms first. Its a sad fact of life, if your O/S has 7% market adoption and even if every single user demanded x64 drivers, your development efforts are going to go to the O/S with 88% market adoption even if only 60% of that 88% were asking for x64 drivers. That, because in pure volume of customers, it will satisfy more users. Now granted there are more factors that this that will drive the decision but its a pretty compelling decider you have to argue against.

 

Thanks for the reality check boys, again I'm sure I'm gonna encounter a dealbreaking bust somewhere down the line but hey it's a long weekend, I'm NOT doing a wedding (for once) and I'm all out of weed, so I'm gonna be in this clearheaded and fully backed up.

Yes Karlos, I've had great success with Traktor on SL so far, so I'm gonna give this a go after backing up EVERYTHING. I had some problems with my Zero4 earlier this week that turned out to be due to a dead board or bad ground with the Innofader I have installed; some spare parts swapped out fixed that right up and now I'm up for a new challenge....it gets boring when things work too well. Maybe some of the complainy noobs can send me their setups to fix, LOL.

 

Update, I booted in 64-bit mode in Traktor (latest beta release) and using my Korg Zero4 banged out a quick 130bpm set; all MIDI works from both the Zero4 (firewire) and the Trigger Finger (USB). All 4 inputs work, and consequently all 4 outputs. Timecode runs as normal. No modifications were required to any files or permissions, just had to load MacOS while holding down the 6 and 4 keys.

Now I'm aware that this doesn't make Traktor 64-bit, it just means I don't NEED to boot in 32-bit mode if I don't want to. Not sure yet if I'm going to make this machine boot in 64-bit by default yet as I do have a couple of other applications I want to test out first. But this is a very good sign indeed. Very happy with this new development. See uploads in the first post for screenshots.

Oops forgot this one....

 

Looks and sounds very promising.
Even better (but for no real reason) is that booting up in 64-bit mode is not making anything go kaputt .

You are, of course lying and SL and Traktor dont work together and we ALL want our money back. Pah.

Good work TeLLy.

 

Just noticed my repetition of the word "yet" in a sentence. Disappointing.

Anyhoo, I've switched my MBP to boot up in 64-bit mode, and just came off an instrupella set with 3 decks, no problems there. Debating upgrading the Macbook now....the disc is in the drive, just need to give myself an excuse.

 

Nah using the word 'yet' is just a psychological safety net that your casting out. Don't say 'yet' and you would seem cocky and asking for trouble.

Had a chat with a guy in the Apple shop and when i finally stopped him talking about the new iPod range (just in time for Xmas folks) and the Apple Tablet laptop thingy out next year he said that there probably isnt gonna be another (or many) updates to the Macbook (and Pro) range for some time.

January is new Macbook Pro time for me so im currently doing all the nerdy over the top research about what i want. What happened to the aluminum Macbooks ? Seems like they have been discontinued and the Macbook Polycarb is the only option.

You thinking of getting another MBP to take advantage of the bigger Ram and 64-Bit?

This should probably be the topic of its own thread. What should I buy next?

 

Yeah I'm looking at getting rid of my polycarbonate Macbook and grabbing a 13" Pro for myself...just to keep things nice and backed up.

 

I'm thinking all 3 of us are in similar positions but with different needs. If I stay on Mac I'll also stay on the Pro and almost certainly the 17. For me a lot of the decision comes down to price. I hate the sticker numbers because I can't help but to stop and think that the equivalent in the PC space is hundreds cheaper. Is there enough gained in being able to boot both Windows and OSX. I have to factor in the cost of applecare too because despite the hype, my mac was not as reliable as other systems I've owned, I've replaced every single major component under warranty at least once except the Hard Drives. Size is not the issue for me that it is for others but capability is. If I could get my Gen 1 McBook Pro to support more than 2GB of Ram I would run this one until it didn't no more. I want to go up to x64 but I'm not going to waste any effort if my max system memory isn't at least 1 GB larger than the per process memory footprint.

decisions decisions....

Phil

 

I'm right there with you on the memory support PhilL. I can't have any less than 4GB of memory on these laptops.

I've had only one problem with my Macs, in that the DVD drive on my polycarbonate Macbook sometimes craps out on me. Started when my cat jumped on the thing while I was burning a CD.

The price used to bother me but considering once fully set up and configured all I need to do nowadays is throw the lappies in my trolley and off to the gig I go, it's worth every penny not having to worry about all the stuff that used to go wrong when Windows was my OS of choice.

I will say though that there are no good multitrack DJ mix applications (a la Vegas) for MacOS. If I wasn't so damned lazy I'd Bootcamp one of my lappies and install Vegas to do my studio mixes with.

Still debating SL on my polycarb Macbook...for beta testing I really should stay with a supported system but my Pro is running so well on 10.6.....

decisions decisions....

 

Big deal Macs are more expensive.... hold on, wait a minute 3 or 4 times the expense of the PC equivalent which also makes my head turn just a little . At twice the price i could deal with it when i got my first iBook but things have got out of control at Apple HQ when it comes to pricing.

Personally i have neither the skill, time or inclination to tweak a PC laptop and hanging around on this forum has made me build up an unhealthy distrust of PCs.

Still i know it will be a Mac and it will be a Pro. Im maxed out on my MBP at 3 gig (well done Apple for that decision in 2007) which, im reliably told is not a good idea.
A new 800quid logic board in the MBP in January of this year probably means that its good for another year or so of hard hard use but like TeLLy the SuperDrive is chewing up CDRs and making an ungodly sound at times.

Applecare... i scoffed, never needed it... my girl worked at an Apple Reseller, i got all repairs done for free or very little cost. She left the company and then the Logic Board went OUCH..! I will always buy Apple Care.

When she was working there she had people in tears on the phone with 13month old MBPs and MBs that needed new logic boards and the cost would almost equal what they paid in the first place (tears on the phone to the receptionist) . If theres one thing i know is that Logic Boards fail after around 2years of hard use.

My mate is holding out for an MBP with a larger Solid State drive. I dont want to wait that long. What i really want is a 2008 MBP (pre alu) made brand new from Apple. That aint gonna happen so...

decisions decisions...

 

If I still had my pre-unibody Pro I would gladly negotiate with you. However I sold it as I needed money to buy my honey some much-needed things.

 

The humongous diamond ring, an I do, and an undisclosed quantity of 'hogs n quiches' was a truly magnanimous gesture and will be remembered long after the lesser spotted Moon Dove [224bit] release of (OSX 10.1013.58) fixes the last known bug to ever be found in Apple software. A wise choice me 'ol son

 

LOL thanks PhilL me old cod. I actually got her the ring before this...she needed some medical things and I sorted her for her sanity and comfort.

 

Tis true though. As once mentioned to PhilL some time ago buying that "pair of gorgeous shoes" she wanted, as a surprise pressie was cushion enough to allow me to buy Traktor Scratch in the first place without getting howls of "not another fricking box".

Reap as thee sow. Though i feel TeLLys purchase may have been of a more pressing nature than shoes the lesson for the hitched, nearly hitched and the, may as well be hitched jocks is clear. Buy em stuff and they dont ask what the thing with the blinking lights is that wasnt there the day before.

 

Let's just say I made it possible for her to hear me practicing my 3-deck instrupella technique.

And now she never asks me what that new shiny thing is with the flashy lights that I'm trying to shoehorn an Innofader into. Happiness is a supportive and enthusiastic partner who doesn't check your bank balance. And to keep them supportive, make sure they get a pressie before you do.

 

Which is why her wardrobe is full and my studio is full of flashing and spinning things..!

Its all about balance and im not talking Gymnastics.

 

I've heard about your legendary flexibility....which is why I wake up screaming. Every night.