It's that time of year when new always seems "better". That new 8-core MacPro looks nice and shiny! Think of all the plugins I could run with an 8-core machine! It would stomp all over my dual G5, right?

Let's jump into a theoretical upgrade see what happens for a moment:

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Why do we have to have an endless number of audio plugin formats? I can't imagine being an audio developer today and having to support so many different formats and operating systems. You've got Windows, Mac, and now Linux for the OS's, but the plugins are ridiculous. When Apple bought Logic, they dropped support for Windows (which was the reason I switched to Apple!) but they also dropped VST support! Crazy ... A lot of developers only support VST.

VST, AudioUnit, MAS, 32bit, 64bit, PowerPC, MacTel, ohh my god! Look at a KVRAudio post by Zebra developer URS:

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A lot of people ask me when they first get started in building a home studio "what do you recommend I buy?" It's such a broad question! So many choices, options, and paths to walk down. Do you dance with Digidesign and the ProTools money pit? Or do you amalgamate a digital audio workstation from Logic and Motu gear? Or do you go analog and mix everything through a mackie board? Or a combo of both? Ahhh! Options!!!

A common mistake is when somebody drops $3,000 - $4,000 on a microphone and only spends $400 on a sound card (audio converters). Big mistake! Lots of records have been cut with cheap microphones, but the difference is they were cut using analog tape. With digital recording, you inherently lose definition because the sound waves become steps (16bit has about 65,000 steps. 24bit has a few million). Analog tape is not restricted by steps (or bit depth).

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I'm to the point now, where Logic Pro hasn't crashed in a long time. I'm sure it has to do with configuration, hardware, and plugins ... but man, why would I stick an OS upgrade into a machine that's doing exactly what it's suppose to!

I just recently read about a lot of people having difficulties with the latest OSX 10.4.10 upgrade. It's creating pops, snaps, and crackles in the audio lines!!! AHH!! That's a musicians nightmare (especially an engineer!) I remember days being incredibly frustrated with my equipment, because of crashes, config issues, etc. Why would I change anything now?? (more...)