MachFive No More

[woodyreed]

MOTU has stopped supporting MachFive and it will not run on the new Mac Studio. It was my go to for old sample libraries. It read anything. Can anyone suggest a good replacement?

[mikehalloran]

If you type MachFive into the Search field, you will see many recent threads about this.

Depending on what you've done in the past and wish to continue doing, you'll find info about updates to UVI's Falcon II as well as workarounds for accessing old files.

[James Steele]

What Mike said. Do a search... it's been talked to almost to death recently.

Falcon is what you want to get and the word is that if you write to UVI and explain that you're a poor cut adrift MachFive owner and ask if they have any sort of competitive discount, then they'll help you out. You can also use UVI Workstation which is free, but won't give you many editing options and is more limited.

One caveat... unless you run DP in Rosetta mode, neither Falcon or UVI Workstation will be able to open the older MachFive libraries that are on iLok protected .ufs volumes. There is another workaround which will let you run DP native and open those older libraries. That is to get an older UVI Workstation installer that is EARLIER than version 3.1.0. This will HAVE to run in Rosetta 2 since it doesn't contain Apple Silicon native code. You can then open the older libraries.

Again... search is your friend. If the search built into this site isn't adequate you can go to Google or any search engine type in:
machfive site:motunation.com and it may give you better results. You can basically search for anything, just append "site:motunation.com"

[Killahurts]

It was my go to for old sample libraries. It read anything. Can anyone suggest a good replacement?

Falcon.

I used MachFive for many years to record and build my own sample libraries, as well as compiling libraries from my old Akai and Emu samplers.. like you wrote, MachFive read everything. I got UVI Falcon a few years ago, and it reads all the sample libraries that I created in M5, pretty much seamlessly. It is also very powerful under the hood, if you're willing to endure the learning curve.

[Michael Canavan]

Chiming in on Falcon, it's ridiculously powerful. It's a lot more than a sampler. Regardless of my love for MOTU and their great team, what UVI have done with the bones of MachFive 3 is pretty amazing. It's more like a possibly even more powerful than Omnisphere workstation that could be the only instrument plug in you need. FM, wavetable, analog, Supersaw, granular synthesis etc. are all there.

[woodyreed]

Thanks for all the info. I'll search for workarounds. It's a really hot mess. Falcon crashes DP, and Workstation won't up the MOTU libraries.

[Michael Canavan]

Thanks for all the info. I'll search for workarounds. It's a really hot mess. Falcon crashes DP, and Workstation won't up the MOTU libraries.

Falcon does not crash DP here. There’s descriptions in this thread of how to get Workstation working…

[James Steele]

Thanks for all the info. I'll search for workarounds. It's a really hot mess. Falcon crashes DP, and Workstation won't up the MOTU libraries.

It would be helpful if you might consider putting your system info in your signature. It's in your user control panel. It's helpful to see what model Mac you are using and what version of MacOS. Also sometimes it's helpful to list some of your hardware... especially your audio interface(s).

You should not be having any issues with Falcon. it's very well-maintained and current. I have never had any situation where Falcon caused crashing with DP, either when I was using my Intel MacPro5,1 or my current Mac Studio. I could see how it *might* cause a problem in DP 11.21 in Monterey if you were using a very old version of Falcon, but aside from that it shouldn't be causing an issue.

As far as opening old MachFive libraries, there is a caveat. If you are using a M1-based Mac, you will not be able to access those libraries that are on a .ufs disk image from Falcon plug in *IF* it is running in Apple Silicon native mode. The standalone Falcon app can access those libraries, and the plug-in can *IF* you are running DP is Rosetta 2 mode. One workaround I have used to avoid having to run DP in Rosetta is to install an older version of UVI Workstation (anything earlier 3.1.0). Those version do not contain Apple Silicon native code, so DP will run it in Rosetta 2 mode, thus allowing it to access those older MachFive library .ufs images.

Not even sure if that's the problem you're having with the libraries or not. We sort of need a little more info.

[mikehalloran]

Thanks for all the info. I'll search for workarounds. It's a really hot mess. Falcon crashes DP,…

It shouldn't. That's why one needs to read the previous threads on this.

[James Steele]

Thanks for all the info. I'll search for workarounds. It's a really hot mess. Falcon crashes DP,…

No it doesn't.

Well, I think there's a way we can say this more diplomatically. Obviously, there's something causing crashes for woodyreed. And I agree with you, that there's probably something else going on with his system that need to be ascertained. Because as you pointed out, Falcon is a very mature app from a very high quality developer, and unless something unusual is going on with a user's system, it does not crash DP in my experience.

Also, as I mentioned, the OP leaves out a lot of information about his system and OS version, Falcon version, DP version, etc. Some of that might be elsewhere in the thread, but it's really helpful to add that to one's signature in the UCP (User Control Panel). Just click the triangle to the right of your username at the upper right and corner of the board, choose "User Control Panel." Then choose "Profile" from the tabs across the top, then choose "Edit signature" on the left side panel.

[woodyreed]

Sorry all. I vanished for a while trying to figure this thing out. I finally have things somewhat stable and working.

System (should have given that before): Mac Studio. Apple M1 Ultra with 20-core CPU, 64-core GPU, 32-core Neural Engine. 128gb memory. 4g hard drive. macOS Monterey. DP11.21. Apollo X16. External Clock from Lavry SAVITR. MIDI Express 128. (I think that's all the pertinent stuff).

Finally got it all running with DP running in Rosetta. I'm able to use my MOTU instruments libraries that way with the UVI sampler included with DP. Also, Falcon will run with DP in Rosetta. Couldn't do that without Rosetta. Had to get the MIDI Express 128, as the MTP AV no longer works. Once I did all this, I was actually able to use my system.

Still having a few issues. Graphics get messed up in the consolidated menu. All of a sudden, one of the windows goes black. Also, drum samples start randomly firing in Model 12. The weird part is they are always in time. It's actually been a good mistake at times. It made me change the groove after hearing the randomness. Anyway, restarting the session resets everything. The biggest drag is the blacked-out windows. If I call up Velocity, as an example, the window often comes up black.

[James Steele]

You can actually run an older version of UVI Workstation that doesn’t have the AS native code and just that instance will run in Rosetta allowing you to open those libraries AND run DP itself in AS native mode.

I posted a link to the UVI Workstation 3.0.25 installer on another thread. Uninstall the latest UVI Workstation and install the older one and you won’t need to run DP in Rosetta.

[James Steele]

I posted the following in another topic:


Things to remember with this workaround:

1) First, uninstall the latest version of UVIWorkstation. You can do that from within UVI Portal.

2) Then download and install the UVIWorkstation 3.0.25 installer. If you own Falcon, you can stop there. Use Falcon for general use and use UVIWorkstation 3.0.25 just for accessing those problem .ufs images.

3) If you do NOT have Falcon, you can still use UVI Workstation 3.0.25 for the newer stuff, but if you want to get fancy, I think there's a way you can just *download* the latest UVIWorkstation installer, and then custom install ONLY THE VST3. When you re-launch DP, you can enable both the older AU *and* the newer VST3. DP will then see TWO UVIWorkstation plugs in the menu. One will be the old version, one will be the new VST3. You can then mix and match, using the newer version that runs native most of the time and then only use the older one, again, for the "problem" .ufs images. They will always appear in the same order in the menu, so it's up to you to remember which is which. There's no way to rename them or edit the plugs so they have different names in the menu. I tried and even enlisted the help of a programmer and it can't be done.

Here (will be) the UVIWorkstation 3.0.25 Installer:

https://motunation.com/files/uviworksta ... 25.dmg.zip


NOTICE:
I do not anticipate ANY issues from doing this, but in the litigious *blaming* culture we live in today, I have to issue the disclaimer that I am in no way responsible for any issues any one may have by installing this software.

[woodyreed]

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

[magicd]

I went to France to see the early beta versions of MachFive 1. By the time we got to MachFive3 I thought we had a really good program. I was talking to Hal Leonard about writing a book on the software. Sure, I'm biased and I know there were other great samplers out there. I really believed in MachFive. I used it live for gigging. I know it got used by some very heavy players at different times. As a sample and loop editor, it just did everything for me.

Sigh.

I now fall into the category of geezer. People like me don't spend enough money to make a difference to commercial development. I'm not screwed yet but I will be. At some point my computer will stop working. I'll have to buy a new one and all my old stuff will stop working. It will cost me money to get back up and running.

Same thing happened with my (iPhone5) cell phone. Worked fine and then Verizon told me I had to buy a new one or lose service.

DP10 and MachFive3 for now. I make my living with this stuff and have no desire to play upgrade games.

Dave