Alright I got a mac pro 1,1 - what can I do with it?

[keyman_sam]

I got a 1st gen Mac Pro (8 GB, quad xeon 2.6) for next to nothing, and I was thinking maybe I'll load up VE Pro and omnisphere in it. It runs Snow Leopard.

Are there any mac only plugins or something that I should ABSOLUTELY check out? (I'm a windows guy)

I was thinking I could get Logic but then there's no way to integrate it in my existing setup without shelling $$ for an adat soundcard.

[Sampleconstruct]

I got a 1st gen Mac Pro (8 GB, quad xeon 2.6) for next to nothing, and I was thinking maybe I'll load up VE Pro and omnisphere in it. It runs Snow Leopard.

Are there any mac only plugins or something that I should ABSOLUTELY check out? (I'm a windows guy)

I was thinking I could get Logic but then there's no way to integrate it in my existing setup without shelling $$ for an adat soundcard.

You can't run the current LogicX (including Alchemy 2) on Snow Leopard anyway, and most current plugins and software don't support it either, so either update the OS to 10.11 (if possible) - or you're stuck with something pretty useless. MetaSynth is a unique Mac only app, older versions supported Snow Leopard, then they updated that ancient but brilliant piece of software.

[keyman_sam]

But I could get the older Logic Pro 9 to run on it, yes? That would be enough for me mainly just for Rhodes, mic presets, loops and stuff.

[Sampleconstruct]

But I could get the older Logic Pro 9 to run on it, yes? That would be enough for me mainly just for Rhodes, mic presets, loops and stuff.

Sure, if you can get hold of Logic 9 somewhere (not possible from the app store unless you bought it there), it runs fine, I still have a 1st gen Intel Mac Pro here running Snow Leopard and L9 and other stuff and sometimes hook it up to my new Mac Pro as a slave.

[Nocturnal909]

Well in Snow Leopard you should have Garage Band and even Mainstage in there already. Maybe that might be enough before looking for Logic 9?

Also If you feel safe to upgrade for free and meet the requirements. Might want to back up first before upgrading.

http://www.apple.com/osx/how-to-upgrade/

[Sampleconstruct]

Well in Snow Leopard you should have Garage Band and even Mainstage in there already. Maybe that might be enough before looking for Logic 9?

Also If you feel safe to upgrade for free and meet the requirements. Might want to back up first before upgrading.

http://www.apple.com/osx/how-to-upgrade/

Garage Band was not included in Snow Leopard (nor where any of the other iLife apps as far as I can remember).

[keyman_sam]

Don't have garage band. I might possibly try logic with Dante via networked audio or maybe just keep it simple with omnisphere and ve pro.

[Nocturnal909]

Garage Band Is a 5 dollar app you can get right from Apple or the Logic X app for 200 download. That is perhaps if you can upgrade.

And thanks Samplecons for the correction. I don't even remember how I got GB way back then.

[sprnva]

You won't be able to get either of those onto a 32-bit EFI Mac. They can't run anything beyond 10.7 and the App Store versions of GB and LPX require 10.9 as a minimum I think.

It's possible to run later systems with a modified boot loader. That may open up the door to potential update problems down the line.

It's a typically annoying limitation from Apple as the hardware, although old, is still pretty powerful. You might need to replace the graphics card to get better support in a newer system. The MacRumors thread linked from the bootloader site should contain all the info you need if you want to go down that road.

You could run the older boxed versions of Logic and GB (the latter comes as part of iLife '11) no problem. But as time goes on, more software is dropping support for Snow Leopard and Lion.

[Michael L]

Boxed Logic Express for sale:
viewtopic.php?f=43&t=455935&hilit=logic
To check compatibility with El Capitan:
http://www.everymac.com/mac-answers/os- ... ments.html
No earlier OS is available from the App Store. If needed, you must find a friend who bought it once and borrow disks or ask her to download it from the App Store to a flash drive and you install from that.

[keyman_sam]

Hmm that hack to make it work is a bit more complicated than id like especially since I'm not at all familiar with macs.

Think I might just stick with it being an omni machine.

[keyman_sam]

Ok so on initial testing I'm happy to report it can run 5 omni multis comfortably under ve pro. 7 is where it starts to crack.

So fully loaded 4 instances simultaneous playback should be fine. That's close to my existing slave's performance which is pretty impressive.

If I do the cpu upgrade I'm guessing I can squeeze an instance or two more but I don't have the need for it currently. It's going to be my safety machine.

I would really love to get main stage but there is no simple way to route the audio to my primary daw running rme. Wish Ve pro had the facility to route inter app audio.

[keyman_sam]

(Dbl post)

[sprnva]

The good thing about these older Mac Pros is the Xeon upgrades can be got cheap online. The same chips are used in servers, which tend to get decommissioned every few years. So when you feel the need, you could get a nice boost for relatively little cost.

There's also a firmware hack you can do that will turn a 1,1 into a 2,1 to enable later model Xeons to run.

[keyman_sam]

The good thing about these older Mac Pros is the Xeon upgrades can be got cheap online. The same chips are used in servers, which tend to get decommissioned every few years. So when you feel the need, you could get a nice boost for relatively little cost.

There's also a firmware hack you can do that will turn a 1,1 into a 2,1 to enable later model Xeons to run.

Indeed. I was just reading about it and it turns out a $50 upgrade can DOUBLE the performance. This might give my slave windows i7 920 a run for its money.