Conference napalm::commusic_v1

    I have a 512K MAC, 2 400K drives, running OPCODE MIDImac. Yes, 
    I occasionally find the 25,000 NOTE limit, uh, limiting. I'm 
    considering getting an 800K drive from Apple and another 512K
    3rd party memory. Although since I'm SYNCing to multitrack tape 
    I can do as many or as few tracks in the Mac at a time as I choose.
    (did that syntax scan?) That is, I don't HAVE to have ALL tracks
    present in the Mac's memory at once.
    
    Don't even consider ONE drive (unless it's a hard disk). The prices
    for the 512K Mac have been plummeting.. without having done a cost
    analysis, I feel that getting a 512K Mac and then upgrading as I
    plan to would be more cost-effective than buying a newer one.
    
    Regarding upward-downward compatibility.. once the ROMs have been
    upgraded to drive an 800K Apple drive, it ought to run all software
    no problem.. at least that's what I was told.
    
    karl moeller

Well, I work with a bunch of Mac fanatics, and most of them have moved from
the 512K Mac to the Mac+ due to the memory limitation.  Although they don't
use music applications (are you gonna use more than just music applications?),
they do use "Switcher" which allows more than one application to be present 
in memory at a time, and gives the capability of switching from one to the 
other at the press of a button.  I believe the MAC+ has faster disk access,
but I'm not sure (does the 512K MAC support SCSI drives?).
Can a 512K Mac be upgraded memorywise in the future if desired?

The MAC notes file will probably help you more than I will, but I had to
give it a shot...

Oh, I should note that the switcher application mentioned in -.1 would probably
come in handy in switching between a sequencer application and a patch
editor/librarian for musical applications, thus an advantage of having lots
of memory.

Todd.

    Y'know Todd, that's just what I was thinking when I read your first
    reply.  In fact, it's exactly what I want to do.  However, has anyone
    tried this?  Is there any problem with two separate applications
    `sharing' the MIDI interface?  (Clearly, switching in the middle
    of a send/receive action would cause all sorts of disruption, but
    assume you are treating it nicely.)
    
    Richard
    

I have a Mac Plus, which I use occasionally to talk MIDI to my Mirage and
CZ-101. I do use Switcher to switch quickly between MIDI applications, and
it works fine for most of them. It doesn't work with MegaTrack XL and
MIDIWorks from MusicWorks, since they configure memory strangely and aren't
Switcher compatible.

I have used DMCS, Digidesign, and several public domain MIDI programs
successfully with Switcher.

As to which Mac to buy (assuming Mac II is out of the question), it depends
what you need:

	Mac 512K	old 64K ROM, 400K drive, no SCSI, 9-pin serial ports
			with power, 512K RAM.

	Mac 512Ke	"new" 128K ROM, 800K drive, no SCSI, 9-pin serial
			ports with power, 512K RAM.

	Mac Plus	"new" 128K ROM, 800K drive, SCSI, 8-pin serial ports
			without power, 1M RAM.

	Mac SE		newer 256K ROM, 2 800K drives (or 1 and internal
			hard disk), SCSI, internal expansion slot, 8-pin
			serial ports, 1M RAM, new keyboards.

The 128K ROM causes a small speedup over the 64K ROM. In addition,
applications are now appearing that require the 128K ROM to run. The SE is
about 25% faster than the Plus, due to both ROM and hardware changes. A SCSI
port is strongly recommended. You will want to get a hard disk eventually.
Any of these models can be expanded to up to 4M RAM. The serial port is an
issue, since some MIDI interfaces draw their power from the Mac. Adaptors
are available for using these with the new 8-pin, powerless ports. The SE
has the new Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) for plugging in the mouse, keyboard,
joysticks, etc. The new keyboards for it are, in my opinion, nicer than the
old ones.

Those are some of the features to compare.  Good luck.

-Mark

Thank you for your advice.

I have decided that I want the following features:

1 Meg of Memory minimum
2 800K floppies
SCSI port for hard disk later on

......................................
Now, I could get this two ways:

Mac Plus               ~$1700
External 800K Floppy    ~$300
                     ---------
                        $2000

OR


Mac SE                 ~$2200
.......................................

I have come to think that the extra $200 for the Mac SE is worth the
extra features. Namely, the floppy drive is built in, beefed up power
supply, built in fan (I could do without the noise), faster SCSI port,
newer keyboard, Apple Desktop Bus ports, higher reliability logic board
(incorporation of gate array, fan).

The last new feature is the one that makes me indecisive: Newer ROMs.

My bottom line question is: Are there any sequencers for the Mac SE?

All the ads I see for Performer, Master Tracks Pro, Total Music, etc.,
all say "for the Mac 512K or Mac Plus". Does anyone know if Any of these
sequencers are running on the SE with NO NEW BUGS?

I had called Passport to ask if Master Tracks Pro runs on the SE.
The salesman couldn't answer me right away. He went away from the phone
for a few minutes, then came back and said "Yes". I don't think this
guy would tell me if there were any problems with it running on the SE.
He wanted me to buy it right then and there.

Has anyone run any of the sequencers on the Mac SE?

Thank You,
 Mitchell Norcross

>All the ads I see for Performer, Master Tracks Pro, Total Music, etc.,
>all say "for the Mac 512K or Mac Plus". Does anyone know if Any of these
>sequencers are running on the SE with NO NEW BUGS?
>
>Has anyone run any of the sequencers on the Mac SE?

I have been running Master Tracks Pro version 1.10 on a Mac SE
for several months now without a crash.

BTW,  I ended up purchasing a Mac SE with one internal 800K floppy
     and one internal 20M hard drive. As a student, I was able to
    buy it for ~$2400. The hard drive is a great convenience.

/Mitch :-)

Of interest to Mac SE users:

Tired of  the  old  9-inch  window  into  your  sequence?   Find yourself
squinting alot? Not enough space to spread out and arrange songs?

Enter Mobius Technologies  -  MultiScreen video card.  Drives an external
monitor at same resolution and approximate speed of  the  Mac  SE screen.
Use both the Mac screen and the external monitor  at the same time.  Drag
windows from one to the other.  $349 from MacConnection.

Enter  Princeton  Graphic  Systems  - MAX 15  monitor.    15"  Monochrome
monitor, works with MultiScreen.    Easy  on  the  eyes  B&W.   $215 from
PCConnection.

-----
I took the plunge.  Master Tracks Pro is real  good  for this setup since
it 'remembers' window positions and sizes in your own 'preferences file'.
Now (with  Pro  4)  I  have  24  tracks and lotsa measures visible on the
screen at once,  plus  the  transport,  conductor,  memory,  and  markers
windows, and Finder icons too!

See note 2748 in the Macintosh Conference for more info.

/Mitch

        Again, which MAC should I buy?

        How about Macintosh Classic, bland-new one.

        Does Plus + D-10(20) work well? If it's no problem, Classic will do 
        better(with HD + 2MB). Then I'll get Classic and second-hand D*.

        What sequencer s/w suitable for above setting? I'm planning EZ-Vision.
        It's not so expensive. Is there any other recommendation?

        /sugimoto

    You might want a bit more CPU, particularly if you are running
    MultiFinder, which slows things down a bit when it lets background
    tasks run.  I don't think this would be a problem unless you have very
    busy sequences, and then you could fall back to uniFinder.  A Classic
    really isn't much more powerful than a Plus, which you could get used,
    unless you need the superdrive floppy.
    
    I'm doing fine with a Plus and a 68020 accelerator.
    
    	Eirikur
    

Does a Classic have slots to put in a MIDI card?

Burns

    Mac MIDI adaptors are typically external, attaching to the serial
    ports.  I expect that some NuBuss cards will become available, but I
    haven't personally heard about them.  Even the expensive rack-mount pro
    interfaces with all kinds of synch options attach to the serial ports.
    
    	Eirikur