DP Users should hold off on High Sierra (9/18/17)

[James Steele]

I'm none-to-eager to move up from the "cheesegrater" MacPros, because for what I do, they're plenty powerful... especially when I finally get that 4,1 8-core successfully upgraded to a 12-core. Not to mention, I've got an investment in PCI audio interfaces (HD192 and 24 I/O) and don't feel like shelling out more money. I know the newer AVB series interfaces have better converters, but I can make do with my HD192.

[mikehalloran]

IF I can run Adobe CS 5 and 6, DP and Finale, I'll upgrade. All deal breakers for me.Word? Meh...

As long as JRE 6 2015-001 is installed, none that I know.

I'm running Acrobat Pro X and Elements 6 with no problem. I don't use CS6 but I've heard of no problems other than the incessant "it says I have to install Java — do I have to?" — unchanged since Mavericks.

Finale 2014.5 runs the same as Sierra with the same issues but I don't use the Movie window — it opens, though. PrintMusic 2014.5 and even NotePad 2012 works. I'm going to guess that they will no longer install, however. 2011 is dead and I don't know about 2012.

DP 7.24 will no longer install (since Sierra) but runs if APFS is not installed. APFS screws up the Authorization file and it won't read the CD. I still had it installed so I checked.

None of the above will run in OS 10.14 if Apple makes good on the threat to stop supporting 32 bit. We'll see next year...

[HCMarkus]

IF I can run Adobe CS 5 and 6, DP and Finale, I'll upgrade. All deal breakers for me.Word? Meh...

As long as JTE 6 2015-001 is installed, none that I know.

I"ve read there are issues with Illustrator and InDesign, but have not confirmed.

InDesign is a must-have for me, but not necessarily on my studio machine.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

InDesign is useful and as I hone my drawing skills, Illustrator may become critical. I'll stay put and let others test the waters. Thanks for the info guys, and Mike, thanks for the very detailed report. Much appreciated!

[Lulu-german]

Does anyone know what would be a compelling reason to update to HS from El Cap. From a performance or security point of view?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[HCMarkus]

Does anyone know what would be a compelling reason to update to HS from El Cap. From a performance or security point of view?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If Apple is still providing security updates for El Cap, then not an issue. But the day when security updates are no longer provided will come sooner for El Cap than Sierra and HS.

As I am running a computer for which High Sierra will probably be the last Apple-supported version of macOS, I plan to update from Sierra once we hit .2 or .3 unless, as noted previously, grave issues are found for software I need to keep working.

[mongoose]

[
Really? I’ve not had problems except for older 32 bit plugs with a Carbon GUI. 32Lives has been the wrapper. OS 10.13 has dropped Carbon altogether. SoundRadix is saying that, if you are still using any of those, don’t go to High Sierra which makes sense. I don’t see how they’ll get around this.

For the less technically-minded of us, can you clarify: will that basically mean all plugins that one was using under 32Lives, or were some old 32 bit plugs using a more modern GUI? In particular I'm wondering about the old NI B4ii. I'm not code-savvy enough to know this.

Thanks.

[mikehalloran]

[
Really? I’ve not had problems except for older 32 bit plugs with a Carbon GUI. 32Lives has been the wrapper. OS 10.13 has dropped Carbon altogether. SoundRadix is saying that, if you are still using any of those, don’t go to High Sierra which makes sense. I don’t see how they’ll get around this.

For the less technically-minded of us, can you clarify: will that basically mean all plugins that one was using under 32Lives, or were some old 32 bit plugs using a more modern GUI? In particular I'm wondering about the old NI B4ii. I'm not code-savvy enough to know this.

Thanks.

Carbon only Graphic User Interface no longer worked beginning OS 10.8. 32Lives found a way to wrap those in a Cocoa interface that allowed them to still be used. At first AUs only, then VSTs with v.2.02.

Apple has removed all Carbon support from OS 10.13. So, if a plug’s GUI won’t work without 32Lives, do not upgrade the OS to High Sierra.

You can still hear an installed plugin but no longer have the ability to see or adjust its parameters.

Next year, Apple plans to drop all support for 32 bit applications anyway.

[bayswater]

This suggests that quite a few companies other than MOTU are saying not to update yet.

http://www.synth-expert.com/news-blog/2 ... w_1_page=1

[David Polich]

Here is the thing..if your living depends on moving
to High Sierra, then its in your best interests to
do so.

For me, I still cannot find any good reason to
move to H.S. I can however find a number of
good reasons not to.

I think its just good sense to wait until one gets
confirmation on compatability before moving to
a new operating system.

[mikehalloran]

I can however find a number of good reasons not to.

Plugs that depend on 32Lives, Finale 2011 & DP 7.24. Everything else I have installed works.

The license server glitch in DP 9 is not an issue for me. It takes a few seconds to copy/paste the activation info. Otherwise, DP loads faster and runs smoother for me.

This suggests that quite a few companies other than MOTU are saying not to update yet.
http://www.synth-expert.com/news-blog/2 ... w_1_page=1

Suggest is a good term for that list, actually. Having checked out the items on that list that I use, I can state that some of it is flat out wrong (Office 2011; Finale 2014.5 and others). But that's ok, whoever compiled that list did no testing at all.

If in doubt, test and verify for yourself.

The supplemental updater released day before yesterday did clear up annoying issues with Yahoo! Mail (for now, at least) that went back to the last few weeks of Sierra. YM has been squirrelly with behavior changing daily, sometimes every few hours. I hope that Verizon gets it together, something the former owners never really did.

[bayswater]

This suggests that quite a few companies other than MOTU are saying not to update yet.
http://www.synth-expert.com/news-blog/2 ... w_1_page=1

Suggest is a good term for that list, actually. Having checked out the items on that list that I use, I can state that some of it is flat out wrong (Office 2011; Finale 2014.5 and others). But that's ok, whoever compiled that list did no testing at all.

I don't know why Office is in the list. It's supposed to be about audio apps. And obviously they didn't test all of them -- their drill is to collect and report information from the suppliers. What they did, in most of the cases I looked at, is quote the supplier. And a lot of the suppliers say their product is not yet compatible, including many of the plugins I use. Many of them say they haven't tested HS yet. If the supplier says it's compatible, then I'll test it myself.

It also covers hardware. E.g. Focusrite reports for some of their units, the software they supply will not change sample rate, but AudioMIDI will.

I did set up my test partition on the iMac with HS yesterday. It did some sort of firmware update. So far, it's excellent. It looks really good, it's noticeably quicker, and a lot of under the hood stuff seems to have been improved or fixed.

[Rainman]

Down and dirty update on High Sierra: Ok, so like an idiot I upgraded even though i've always waited in the past. But having everything back-up via SuperDuper! I thought I'd mess around and could always go back to Yosemite if needed. Well, I somehow gassed my back-up, totally my fault and was left totally fscked. So, long story short, don't do it yet!! I had to fresh install not only the OS but everything else which took me better than a week and left me zombie-eyed. Here, however are the results on my system (and my system only,YMMV):

Firstly HS seems to be a solid build and having done a fresh install is if I may say, snappy. MOTU 9.5 loads without any issue on my system. The following apps, VI's etc. worked without any issue that I've been able to test SO FAR. Apple, obviously, Audio Ease Altiverb 7, Native Instruments Komplete 10, plus a few additional bits and pieces, PSP plugs, still great stuff, Positive Grid (the BIAS stuff), and this is weird, PG advises a wait but I dl'd anyway, they don't show in my Applications folder but passed the Motu examination and both show and work in the plug-ins folder. I use a lot of Toontrack including EX Drummer, EZ Keys, Superior Drummer 3 (and Sup 2), all work fine. My Waves stuff loads and works fine although I have fewer of these but if one loads, they should all load due to the shell Waves uses. Izotope Ozone 7, Alloy, Nectar and Neutron all work wonderfully. I use most plugs, VI's from IK International and all load/work no problem, should also mention DSP-Quattro as well, seems to work fine.

Now for the weird stuff:
Universal Audio plug-ins won't load, I get the following message: MAS, 1 errors reported by MAS Audio Unit Support:
Failure: Base:: New 160 -50 [ -50].
I'm currently using an Apollo Twin plus a UA Octo and while the plugs don't work the audio driver does in MOTU and any other VI in my kit. Where the audio driver won't work is in the Apple System Preferences "Sound" section whereby it recognizes it as Universal Audio Apollo Thunderbolt, the type comes up as a PCI card which, in an iMac is not possible.

The only other plug that is giving me grief is WaveMachine Labs Drumagog 5, I haven't messed much with this as I don't use it much these days.

So there it is, probably longer than shorter, just wanted to let you folks know my experiences in hopes it will help out. As I've said earlier, this was a clean install with the programs, apps and VI's I use, it may be different for you.

[Rainman]

P.S., just realized my Sig is horribly out of date, but not my Avatar

[Rainman]

One last mention at the risk of wearing out my welcome, anyone who uses Helix with the app (not the plug) can rest assured it works, just finished doing some edits for the next gig.