Topic: Switching to Mac - rethinking post production tools / methods

[detroit lightning]

Have been a PC guy forever, and currently using my work PC for any editing (audacity, cd wav editor, foobar, traders littler helper, and izotope), but the company is cracking down on any unauthorized software...so I plan on getting another computer, probably a mac.

Seems like I can use everything I'm used to with mac, but figure this might be a good time to re-evaluate my post production process (my absolute least favorite part of taping).

Just wondering if there are any suggestions for mac based tools that I should look into using. Thanks!

[nulldogmas]

Audacity and iZotope for Mac both work great. I use an app called Tag for tagging, xACT for checksums, and Clementine for playback.

[opsopcopolis]

Pretty much any DAW > Audacity IMO. If you're interested in taking a step up in functionality, without the cost, I'd take a look at Reaper. All the Izotope stuff will work the same way. You'll need xACT to replace TLH (although Reaper can export straight to FLAC)

[mccordo]

I just made the jump from yet another laptop PC that crapped out on me to a MacBook and could't be happier. I hadn't used a Mac in years prior to this one but I've picked it back up pretty quickly. Hopefully you'll have a similar experience.

Looks like we used the same programs on PC, and I tried Audacity for Mac when I first got it. While it was nice to see a familiar face, I felt that I could do better. After separating the polywav files in Wav Agent, I'm currently using only Fission and xAct for everything else. My transfer process is: Wave Agent (Split PolyWav Files) > Fission (Tracking/Conversion to 16/44.1) > xACT (Fix SBEs/FLAC Level 8/Tagging).

If there's any Mac vets out there that can point me in a better direction that what I'm doing now, I'm all ears.

[AdamHuston]

Switched to MAC recently as well. Extremely happy with the performance so far!

[detroit lightning]

Thanks everyone!

I used Mac for a year @ work, and generally liked it. At this point i'm more or less aligned with apple in terms of devices, so i figure it just makes sense. Plus the mac mini looks like a pretty good deal for what it delivers...

[opsopcopolis]

Plus the mac mini looks like a pretty good deal for what it delivers...

The modern Mac minis are pretty great

[fotoralf.be]

Been using Mac OS since OS9 under Shapeshifter on an Amiga 3000/060 (the fastest 68k Mac Apple never built) and Mac hardware since the beige G3 desktop. Currenly on a Mac Studio M1.

Software currently in use:

- TwistedWave for audio editing, processing and conversion. Great at batch processing loads of files.
- various software from Rogue Amoeba for all things audio, from automatically recording internet radio programmes to routing audio between different apps
- Reaper for those rare cases where a 'real' DAW is required
- izotope RX9
- Library Monkey for organising my audio files
- DDI Codec (from the App Store) for decoding aged Dolby-encoded recordings that won't play back correctly on a cassette deck

Audacity unfortunately doesn't work with a number of VST/AU plug-ins I'm using all the time, most notably dearVR AMBI MICRO, and various other ambisonic plug-ins.

Ralf

[nulldogmas]

- various software from Rogue Amoeba for all things audio, from automatically recording internet radio programmes to routing audio between different apps

Audio Hijack (for recording audio from any app) and Airfoil (for sending audio from any app to a remote speaker) are both pretty indispensable to me as well.

[GLouie]

I'll mention that you don't need Wave Agent if you use Reaper; it can import the polywav directly and "explode" it into all the tracks, then I mix and master and render to stereo. Unfortunately, it has to rewrite the tracks and often seems to save them in weird places. And Wave Agent won't do 32bit float.

[mccordo]

I'll mention that you don't need Wave Agent if you use Reaper; it can import the polywav directly and "explode" it into all the tracks, then I mix and master and render to stereo. Unfortunately, it has to rewrite the tracks and often seems to save them in weird places. And Wave Agent won't do 32bit float.

Thanks for the tip. I'll look into Reaper this weekend. The lack of 32bit isn't a problem for me yet since I still have the original MixPre3 and 6 that don't do 32bit, but who knows what the future may bring?

[checht]

I've been using Apple computers since I was a developer for the Apple II, Macs since the SE.

Reaper seems well liked by many, but it doesn't have good skins for folks like me with poor vision.

I'm extremely happy using Audacity as primary DAW. It handles 32 bit poly waves with ease, exports marked regions as tracks without hassle, and accommodates the plugins I like. If there are VST plugins you like that don't work in Audacity, that could be a stopper. I've had to search a couple times to find alternatives for things like MSED, but did end up with plugins that do the job well.

Audacity gets a lot of shade, but it is well suited to importing from a recorder, joining segments, trimming, tracking out songs, and exporting. I've tried to switch to Logic and Reaper, but ended up back w Audacity.

RX for repair/improvement is a must.

I fancy Tag Editor for tagging.

And of course xACT.

Hope this helps!

[aaronji]

A few months ago, I replaced my Windows desktop with an M2 MacMini (16 GB RAM, 2 TB SSD). It's been fantastic, with a tremendous increase in speed compared to my old Windows machine. Since I was using Audition on the old computer, I got the Mac version for the mini. Luckily, I get an awesome deal on the license through my employer. I have been tracking using markers in Audition to replace CDWave (although I wish I could get a Mac version of that) and xACT has replaced foobar2000 (tagging) and TLH (flac and ffp).

[BlueSky71]

I changed over to Mac about 2 years ago as well Aaron min m1 at first now mii m2. What amazing processing speeds. I don't do video much, but for anyone that does I can't imagine the time savings.I  was missing CDWAV for a bit, but my buddy told me to try fission during my changeover. To me I like it better now, it can do some things CD wav cant, like normalize each track if you want to and also change output formats. I think it was 30 bucks.

[vibrioidxire]

The macOS equivalent to Exact Audio Copy is XLD, as it also converts to FLAC and gives an accurate log of the rip as well

[detroit lightning]

Tremendous stuff everyone! Will check back in once I’m up and running.

[morst]

I changed over to Mac about 2 years ago as well Aaron min m1 at first now mii m2. What amazing processing speeds. I don't do video much, but for anyone that does I can't imagine the time savings.I  was missing CDWAV for a bit, but my buddy told me to try fission during my changeover. To me I like it better now, it can do some things CD wav cant, like normalize each track if you want to and also change output formats. I think it was 30 bucks.

EW, I can't imagine wanting that, but if it doesn't leave an audible jump in volume between tracks, I guess it would be useful?


While I'm here I'll say I dig my M1 Mini (cheapest one, 8GB RAM, 256 GB drive) and I use a CRAP TON of drives via thunderbolt hub (OWC thunderbolt hub), USB-C hub (1 > 3 USB-A 3.2), and two Star Tech USB 3.0 hubs (1>4 and 1>7, industrial type. I power the 4 port with a 12V adaptor left over from all my external hard drives, and the 7 port, I leave unpowered and only use it for Desktop type USB drives, which have their own 12V wall warts)
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/owc-thunderbolt-hub Thunderbolt Hub from OWC (they have sales often if you get on mailing list and sell B-Stock units etc.)
https://www.startech.com/en-us/usb-hubs/hb30c4ab USB-C > USB 3.2 I got cheap off ebay
https://www.startech.com/en-us/usb-hubs/st7300usbme 7 port industrial hub cheap enough off ebay compared to original list


Audacity 2.4.2 still works on Ventura and doesn't "phone home"
XLD is very handy for FLAC encode on multiple files in multiple folders at once. It's also got a great feature where you can open a folder as a disc, look up song titles from gracenote/CDDB, and tag the files.
xACT is the classic, and I use it for almost everything it can do for me. Tagging, renaming, SHNTOOL readouts, FFP creation/verification... I'm using it less for encoding lately (audacity export direct to FLAC!) but xACT is slick for going to apple lossless or MP3 direct from flac, with tags.


Utilities:
NeoFinder https://www.cdfinder.de/
I use this to maintain an index my USB drives, so I can search my entire collection, and find out which drive to plug in to get the file I want. It's also great for comparing folder sizes across various backups, so I can see if a collection is the largest or latest. There's a mobile version too but it is not as useful to me as the desktop one. CD finder is their PC product, I think. That's the name of their website. The developer has been very friendly responding to my bug reports and issues.
It indexes up to ten drives for free, more than that, please purchase a license. (I bought one)


Grand Perspective https://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/
view a file tree of your drive with larger blocks representing larger files. Find what is taking up space. On a 256 mac mini this is essential to me!


And then there's my hard drive stack...
Fastest external: OWC Envoy Express ~ Thunderbolt Bus-Powered Portable NVMe M.2 Enclosure, with a cheap NVME stick
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TB3ENVXP00/
Next fastest: SATA SSD > USB-C
then: SATA SSD > USB-3.2
then: SATA > USB 3.1
and finally mechanical hard drives


I tried NVME via USB, but found it less than perfectly reliable. NVME draws a lot of juice. Wiggle the connector on an EXFAT drive and risk losing all contents. No thanks.

[TNTaper]

I'll mention that you don't need Wave Agent if you use Reaper; it can import the polywav directly and "explode" it into all the tracks, then I mix and master and render to stereo. Unfortunately, it has to rewrite the tracks and often seems to save them in weird places. And Wave Agent won't do 32bit float.

Thanks for the tip. I'll look into Reaper this weekend. The lack of 32bit isn't a problem for me yet since I still have the original MixPre3 and 6 that don't do 32bit, but who knows what the future may bring?

I have a mixpre 6 ii.  what's the best way to break up the poly wave if wave agent can't to the 32 bit?  I'm concerned I'm getting the mix only not the iSOs when mix is turned off [and of particular concern is Mid Side recording data loss].  I like being able to connect via USB C however directly to the mix pre for downloading for post.  For a newbie, I can trial and error different settings easily w/o having to remove the SD.  I'm so still learning SD -> 24b FLAC when recorded at 96kHz/32b float.  Also, I'm using the AKG 414XLII large diaphragm.

[kindms]

just chiming in and im sure not news to anyone in the thread but just mentioning the ability to dual boot macs and run VMs if you prefer to have access to a different OS

[DavidPuddy]

I'll mention that you don't need Wave Agent if you use Reaper; it can import the polywav directly and "explode" it into all the tracks, then I mix and master and render to stereo. Unfortunately, it has to rewrite the tracks and often seems to save them in weird places. And Wave Agent won't do 32bit float.

Thanks for the tip. I'll look into Reaper this weekend. The lack of 32bit isn't a problem for me yet since I still have the original MixPre3 and 6 that don't do 32bit, but who knows what the future may bring?

I have a mixpre 6 ii.  what's the best way to break up the poly wave if wave agent can't to the 32 bit?  I'm concerned I'm getting the mix only not the iSOs when mix is turned off [and of particular concern is Mid Side recording data loss].  I like being able to connect via USB C however directly to the mix pre for downloading for post.  For a newbie, I can trial and error different settings easily w/o having to remove the SD.  I'm so still learning SD -> 24b FLAC when recorded at 96kHz/32b float.  Also, I'm using the AKG 414XLII large diaphragm.

I open in audacity and export the stereo pairs from there

[guitard]

I changed over to Mac about 2 years ago as well Aaron min m1 at first now mii m2. What amazing processing speeds. I don't do video much, but for anyone that does I can't imagine the time savings.

I started out doing video and added audio along the way to use with my videos.  I have been making DVDs (and eventually blu-rays, and now mostly high quality 4K MKVs) for over 20 years.  I'd like to make the jump over to a Mac for video editing, especially since I shoot a lot of video with my iPhone 13 Pro Max.  But I have two really good video work stations (PCs) and I'm so familiar with PC video editing software (mostly Vegas Video).

One of these days I'm gonna take the dive and get a good Macbook.

[checht]

just chiming in and im sure not news to anyone in the thread but just mentioning the ability to dual boot macs and run VMs if you prefer to have access to a different OS

Dual boot gone on Apple silicon, but VMs looking good these days. So long Boot Camp...

[morst]

just chiming in and im sure not news to anyone in the thread but just mentioning the ability to dual boot macs and run VMs if you prefer to have access to a different OS

Get a lot of RAM if you wanna run large VMs, or especially if you want to run multiple VMs simultaneously!!

[TNTaper]

I found this link to be helpful re DAWs as I'm still evaluating myself from a MAC POV.

https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/how-to-choose-the-right-daw-for-songwriters.html

It reviews and has some pros and cons and links to the DAW builders.  Article is aimed at songwriters but I found it still had some good info.  Useful in that it identified several that aren't mentioned here and also not free however.  I'm finding it's also a matter of taste | GUI as well as certain performance characteristics as well.  As a newbie to taping, just started this year, I've been using nothing but a Mac so for and have gotten everything I need in Audacity or Amadeus re DAWs but then again my journey has just begun. I do Mid Side quite a bit and those tools handle that easily as well.  xACT for encoding, FOOBAR2000 for metadata are also helpful.

[morst]

I love Audacity for the fact that anyone with linux, PC, or mac can run it for free. (I don't love that v3 and later "phone home" so I use v2.4.2 which still works great on a mac M1)
I don't like the Audacity plugin interface as much as I like the one in my 2015 Mac version of Sony Sound Forge.
In my Sound Forge, I can play a stereo file, and make real-time "knob twisting" changes to plug-ins, and hear the results in real time.


Audacity forces me to use a "preview" function on effects before rendering.
Sound Forge lets me create an effects chain, and use fairly simple automation to adjust parameters at programmable points, such as volume fader level changes.
If Audacity has this function, I have not discovered it...

[RyanJ]

I have been tracking using markers in Audition to replace CDWave (although I wish I could get a Mac version of that)

Fission is what you want. https://rogueamoeba.com/fission/ - I only installed bootcamp so I could have CDWave. But this is Mac's version of it.

I love Adobe Audition. Although I'd love to outright own it. The subscription service isn't bad. It's got a lot of powerful tools and editing options that I use consistently.

[vibrioidxire]

I have been tracking using markers in Audition to replace CDWave (although I wish I could get a Mac version of that)

I love Adobe Audition. Although I'd love to outright own it. The subscription service isn't bad. It's got a lot of powerful tools and editing options that I use consistently.

Recently as of versions between 23.0-.6 it's been getting worse. They fix functions and ruin others. The shelf modes in the parametric equalizer is unresponsive despite three version updates! 

[RyanJ]

I have been tracking using markers in Audition to replace CDWave (although I wish I could get a Mac version of that)

I love Adobe Audition. Although I'd love to outright own it. The subscription service isn't bad. It's got a lot of powerful tools and editing options that I use consistently.

Recently as of versions between 23.0-.6 it's been getting worse. They fix functions and ruin others. The shelf modes in the parametric equalizer is unresponsive despite three version updates! 

Yeah, one thing I noticed is how I wasn’t able to use the trackpad for zooming in on my MacBook Pro. I reverted to the previous version and disabled updates.

[aaronji]

Fission is what you want. https://rogueamoeba.com/fission/ - I only installed bootcamp so I could have CDWave. But this is Mac's version of it.

I love Adobe Audition. Although I'd love to outright own it. The subscription service isn't bad. It's got a lot of powerful tools and editing options that I use consistently.

Thanks! I am going to give Fission a try.

I haven't had any issues with Audition. Both my laptop and desktop are quite new, though (both M2 and purchased in January and March), so maybe that is why. I am lucky with the subscription; I get a really awesome deal from my work (a fraction of the list price). 

[RyanJ]

Thanks! I am going to give Fission a try.

I haven't had any issues with Audition. Both my laptop and desktop are quite new, though (both M2 and purchased in January and March), so maybe that is why. I am lucky with the subscription; I get a really awesome deal from my work (a fraction of the list price).

Only happened on my M1 Pro Macbook. Had no issues on the M1 mini. But saw others were having the same issues with subsequent updates.