EWQLSO Goes 64-bit in July

labman · Post by **labman** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:58 am

Kubi wrote:
labman wrote:Can an 8 core be run on tiger? 10.4.11? We got a quad 2.66 in Dec and erased leopard and installed tiger instead, and it works just fine.

Regards,
DLevy
mgr, Legacy Lab
That's the last version that can run Tiger, AFAIK. The January 2008 crop needs Leo.

So far I'm thankfully still waiting for any 'issues' with my new 8-core MacPro... hoping it stays that way.

Thanks for the info Kubi

Our corporate mac rep was proposing new MacBook Pro's for us last week. When I stated I would want some to run on Tiger only, he researched it, and then sent me a cut and paste quote from the response he had received, that the MBP's can still run tiger. Is this an 8 core issue only?

Regards,
DLevy
mgr, Legacy Lab

Kubi · Post by **Kubi** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 12:00 pm

labman wrote:
Kubi wrote:
labman wrote:Can an 8 core be run on tiger? 10.4.11? We got a quad 2.66 in Dec and erased leopard and installed tiger instead, and it works just fine.

Regards,
DLevy
mgr, Legacy Lab
That's the last version that can run Tiger, AFAIK. The January 2008 crop needs Leo.

So far I'm thankfully still waiting for any 'issues' with my new 8-core MacPro... hoping it stays that way.
Thanks for the info Kubi

Our corporate mac rep was proposing new MacBook Pro's for us last week. When I stated I would want some to run on Tiger only, he researched it, and then sent me a cut and paste quote from the response he had received, that the MBP's can still run tiger. Is this an 8 core issue only?

Regards,
DLevy
mgr, Legacy Lab

AFAIK, it's only the newest desktops that require Leopard. But I only researched it as far as it pertained to me, so it may be a good idea to check with Apple. If you're in the LA area, these guys gave me thorough, competent advice and a great price. My new local source for all things Mac...

kgdrum · Post by **kgdrum** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 2:41 pm

in case any one missed the latest Soundsonline email about Play upgrades :
http://www.soundsonline-forums.com/show ... hp?t=13998
hope this brings everyone some clarity

KG

PrimeMover · Post by **PrimeMover** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:29 pm

Not sure if I should do this...

I've gotten used to the Kontakt3 interface and all... why would I want to shift away from it to a different platform? That said 64-bit would be great. I wish they'd give us time to decide/read reviews.

How simple/effective is the PLAY interface? I'm not in love with Kontakt's UI, but it's nice to have a whole integrated system.

Or should I just wait for Kontakt to go 64-bit, instead? I would guess that 64-bit Kontakt with EWQLSO samples would work just as well as 64-bit PLAY.

Frodo · Post by **Frodo** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:07 pm

PrimeMover wrote:Not sure if I should do this...

I've gotten used to the Kontakt3 interface and all... why would I want to shift away from it to a different platform? That said 64-bit would be great. I wish they'd give us time to decide/read reviews.

How simple/effective is the PLAY interface? I'm not in love with Kontakt's UI, but it's nice to have a whole integrated system.

That's a question many who already have Kontakt 2/3 are asking where the PPC-compatible Kompakt from the original library has clear limitations (8 patches per instance, etc.). For some, getting EW libraries to work on Intel necessitated the inconvenience of having to buy the library AND buying Kontakt on top of it.

But there is considerable appeal to having an engine and custom interface that is designed specifically for the library instead of using a universal playback system. It's nice to see knobs and buttons named for more specific purposes-- and, from what I can tell, the PLAY interface is just easier to use in many ways. For less malleable libraries like orchestras and pianos, Kontakt *can be* more of a playback interface than many people really need, although its features in total are amazing.

The more efficient 64-bit thingy is a definite plus, but if you already have Kontakt and intend to get its own 64-bit version and feel at home with it, then there's no real reason right now to do the swap to PLAY.... unless you don't mind waiting for Kontakt to go 64-bit.

For me, I'd sooner not have NI *and* EW to deal with when something goes wrong with one or the other. It's been such a ping-pong nightmare dealing with two tech supports, two authorization systems, etc. I actually appreciate that EW chose iLok for PLAY which has always worked well for me. NI's online registration tool has been somewhat of a joke.

I'm thinking of using Kontakt for other things at this point and just using EW's engine for EW's libraries. If nothing else, the very concept just sounds like it's easier to deal with.

PrimeMover · Post by **PrimeMover** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 1:00 am

Fair enough... that's a pretty good explanation. And yes, Kontakt can be pretty clunky, especially for EWQLSO. I just don't know whether it's worth the extra $99... I've got so much I'd like to buy right now (DP6 included). I think I'll wait on it.

Frodo · Post by **Frodo** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 1:49 am

PrimeMover wrote:Fair enough... that's a pretty good explanation. And yes, Kontakt can be pretty clunky, especially for EWQLSO. I just don't know whether it's worth the extra $99... I've got so much I'd like to buy right now (DP6 included). I think I'll wait on it.

Yes-- but what orchestra library can you get for $99?

I would say that EWQLSO-PLAY will ship well before DP6 even goes to press. That's my guess-- and you may want to wait until 6.1 anyway, if you know what I mean.

If you wait until after June 30th, you'll pay a lot more for the EWQLSO upgrade than $99 (from $50-200 more).... or hadn't you heard? They snuck this one on everyone of us this week-- so a lot of people are going into shock. There are countless others, no doubt, who don't even know about it yet and will miss out:

http://www.soundsonline-forums.com/show ... hp?t=13998

Money doesn't grow on trees. Gas prices are off the hook. But with the right combo of VIs, you can reduce your driving and your gas consumption by hours of intensive music making (or intensive troubleshooting).

How's that for reasoning?

chucks · Post by **chucks** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 4:52 am

They finally sent out an email detailing the upgrade.

Here are some examples of the pre-order savings:

From the NI bundle (original and Pro XP expansion) to the same PLAY version:

* Silver bundle to Silver PLAY: $99 ($149 after June 30 - SAVE $50)
* Gold bundle to Gold PLAY: $99 ($199 after June 30 - SAVE $100)
* Platinum bundle to Platinum PLAY: $99 ($199 after June 30 - SAVE $100)
* Platinum bundle to Platinum Plus PLAY: $199 ($299 after June 30 - SAVE $100)

Notice that these are just EXAMPLES of pre-order saving. I have Gold Original and when I plug in my serial number, it prices the upgrade at $199, not $99 as we were told when Play was announced over a year and a half ago or as the above would have you believe. Anyone else getting charged the extra C note?

I emailed tech support and got this as the response:

Hi

The upgrade from Gold original to Gold Play is $199 because the Gold Play is the Gold Bundle version. If you have the Gold Bundle already the upgrade is 99 dollars.

Regards

Make sense? As far as I recollect, there was no Gold Bundle when Play was announced and the upgrade price quoted at the time was only $49 if you gave up your NI license.

kgdrum · Post by **kgdrum** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 6:19 am

it seems like EW did 2 things.
after myself as well as many other people asked,why should we have to pay for a 2nd NI license just to keep the NI version working? as we already paid the license fee
they changed their mind and decided to include the $49 in the upgrade and added it to the price.
giving you the ability to use both NI and Play versions.
the 2nd thing EW did which kind of feels a bit smarmy, is the upgrade prices LOYAL customers have been patiently waiting for and has been delayed by many months......... are good for 2 weeks only!
it seems like they have changed the price structure as well as the cost a few times.
but all in all it looks like a VERY GOOD deal if you order it in the next 2 weeks

KG

kinnylandrum · Post by **kinnylandrum** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:33 am

I have a question which I haven't found an answer for definitively. I own Gold XP and may want to upgrade to Platinum XP before June 30. I don't really care about the surround samples and programs but I do want the close programs, the only reason I want to upgrade. Can you just install the Platinum close (C) programs and samples and not the surround (S) programs and samples? Or if you have to install them all, can you delete the surround programs and samples? I would appreciate an answer, mainly so I don't have to buy a new drive to accommodate samples I'll never use.
Thanks,
Kinny Landrum

kgdrum · Post by **kgdrum** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 10:57 am

if you mean the 3 mic positions.from my understanding you must have entire library installed.likewise if you get plat play plus you must install both 16 bit and 24 bit libraries.
thats how I understand it.
KG

mhschmieder · Post by **mhschmieder** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 2:04 pm

I can't quite get my head around how PLAY could be made 64-bits, when it's based on QT (cross-ploatform GUI toolkit from Trolltech, not QuickTime from Apple). QT, Swing, and IBM's SWT/Jface/RCP are all based on Carbon, and I have seen nothing about Cocoa ports except from the Eclipse org for the IBM Java GUI API's (but those are a ways off). My understanding is that Apple dropped 64-bit Carbon support last November.

Frodo · Post by **Frodo** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 3:44 pm

mhschmieder wrote:I can't quite get my head around how PLAY could be made 64-bits, when it's based on QT (cross-ploatform GUI toolkit from Trolltech, not QuickTime from Apple). QT, Swing, and IBM's SWT/Jface/RCP are all based on Carbon, and I have seen nothing about Cocoa ports except from the Eclipse org for the IBM Java GUI API's (but those are a ways off). My understanding is that Apple dropped 64-bit Carbon support last November.

It's kind of a mock 64-bit feature.

PLAY as a plugin: each instance accesses something like 3GB of data outside of DPs RAM allotment. This is a different approach from other plugins that borrow from DP's 3-4 GB RAM limit in plugin mode no matter how many instances are used.

So, if you have 16GB of RAM, you should be able to run four plugin instances easily with 3GB each running. That would make 12GB, plus the OS and DP would behave more or less as they would together if you only had 4GB installed-- making a total of 16GB--- theoretically.

Not sure how they did it, but it's nice that the plugin no longer robs the host of memory.

mhschmieder · Post by **mhschmieder** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 3:50 pm

Ah, it might be a trick similar to what VSL pulled off.

Good news, then, for probably most if not all PLAY customers.

chucks · Post by **chucks** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 5:09 pm

Check out the Kontact 3 crossgrade offer @ http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Kontakt3cg/

It may be a better choice than the Play upgrade for the Gold Original owners (or any of the other NI player 3rd party bundles). $199 for Play vs $249, but you get the Kontact 3 library, ability to load other sample libraries, and a sample editor.