Any Macintosh users out there?

soren_ladegaard · Post by **soren_ladegaard** » 08/03/2006 - 0:24

Hi

I'm looking into creating a website that focuses on C64/Amiga emulation and SID/Protracker modules etc.

The main thing about the site though is, that it's all about doing the above on a Mac.

Just wanted to see if there's demand for a site focusing on Commodore emulation on the Mac.

Any Mac users out there?

Jan Lund Thomsen · Post by **Jan Lund Thomsen** » 08/03/2006 - 6:39

soren_ladegaard wrote:Any Mac users out there?

I swing both ways, OS-wise. SIDPlay X was one of the first apps I installed on my PowerBook, but I have yet to venture further into emulation territory.

Waz · Post by **Waz** » 08/03/2006 - 8:26

I use quite a few Macs at work, what with staff owning them and coming to me to sort their problems out :)

However, I've not yet played with any form of emulation on one as yet. Time to see if I can borrow a Mac mini from the office and hook it up to my Iiyama DVI enabled TFT monitor.

I do know that VICE is available for MacOS, albeit a few versions out of date (1.14 was last release). Like OpenOffice, you need the X11 component of MacOS installed. If you have 10.4 (Tiger), it's on the DVD as an optional install, or you can snag it free from Apple.

And SidplayX is rather lovely, I have seen that in action and it rocks.

CraigG · Post by **CraigG** » 08/03/2006 - 12:40

Amiga emulation on the Mac makes me cry. There is a version of UAE for OS X, but using it is like pulling teeth.

The C64 is better catered for. Although ports of VICE and Frodo exist, Power64 is far better than both. As others have said SIDPLAY X is excellent and may well be the best version of the application out there.

Lagerfeldt · Post by **Lagerfeldt** » 11/03/2006 - 0:07

Looking so much forward to it SÃƒÂ¸ren

soren_ladegaard · Post by **soren_ladegaard** » 11/03/2006 - 19:55

Lagerfeldt wrote:Looking so much forward to it SÃƒÂ¸ren

Thanks!

The site is at 50% know. It won't elaborate or go into to much detail about emulators, hardware etc. It's meant to be some sort of links collection or guide to Commodore emulation on the Mac. If people need in-depth information they can turn to the software/hardware vendors' websites etc.

Lagerfeldt · Post by **Lagerfeldt** » 12/03/2006 - 18:53

I think it would be great with some practical guide lines/tutorials to getting files from a Mac to a C64 or the other way around.

I have some plans about getting all the SIDs on a C64 and recording them from a real C64 onto CD, instead of using emulations for playback.

Waz · Post by **Waz** » 12/03/2006 - 20:56

Lagerfeldt wrote:I have some plans about getting all the SIDs on a C64 and recording them from a real C64 onto CD, instead of using emulations for playback.

Recording them all would take time, lots of time, there's over 30,000 SID files so imagine the number of hours you'd need just to record them?

However as I've got access to a real C64 rig plus transfer and recording facilities, I can always do a couple if you so wish. I've already done a few for the C64 Takeaway (Bogg's version of Axel F for example) and the quality's come out pretty well. I've also got access to 6581 and 8580 equipped C64s so whichever SID chip the tune was made on, there's something for you I hope.

tomsk · Post by **tomsk** » 12/03/2006 - 21:36

However as I've got access to a real C64 rig plus transfer and recording facilities, I can always do a couple if you so wish. I've already done a few for the C64 Takeaway (Bogg's version of Axel F for example) and the quality's come out pretty well. I've also got access to 6581 and 8580 equipped C64s so whichever SID chip the tune was made on, there's something for you I hope.

Ah Waz me old mucka ! I don't suppose you could rip Lightforce for me ? I've always wanted to hear it on a real c64, rather than emulated.
However, I'm not sure which chip you should be using - or even if the tune will sound significantly different to the Sidplay emulation I currently use.

Let me know if you think it's worthwhile, and whether you can rip a good quality mp3 for me.

Cheers

Tomsk

Lagerfeldt · Post by **Lagerfeldt** » 12/03/2006 - 23:17

Waz wrote:
Lagerfeldt wrote:I have some plans about getting all the SIDs on a C64 and recording them from a real C64 onto CD, instead of using emulations for playback.
Recording them all would take time, lots of time, there's over 30,000 SID files so imagine the number of hours you'd need just to record them?

However as I've got access to a real C64 rig plus transfer and recording facilities, I can always do a couple if you so wish. I've already done a few for the C64 Takeaway (Bogg's version of Axel F for example) and the quality's come out pretty well. I've also got access to 6581 and 8580 equipped C64s so whichever SID chip the tune was made on, there's something for you I hope.

Sorry, didn't actually mean ALL the SIDs, I just meant all of my favourites (200 or so).

Thanks a lot for offering to help. I want to do it myself though, since I wanted to go thru just (perhaps) a tad of esoteric tube preamp and into a truly high end mastering converter, Benchmark ADC-1 or Lavry Blue.

You are posing an interesting dilemma for me, I might actually need two C64s, one with a 6581 and one with a 8580.. how do you know which one to use? I guess that is quite difficult. Wouldn't the biggest difference be in the filters?

twilson · Post by **twilson** » 12/03/2006 - 23:19

Hey, count me in. Been doing the old SID on a Mac thing for a while.

Go for it I say, I'd certainly give it a listen.

Waz · Post by **Waz** » 13/03/2006 - 7:19

Lagerfeldt wrote: You are posing an interesting dilemma for me, I might actually need two C64s, one with a 6581 and one with a 8580.. how do you know which one to use?

Thanks to the HVSC folks, this process is considerably easier. If you are playing a SID file in HVSC, you can check the properties of the file you're playing. It should then tell you which SID chip (if known) the tune was composed on.

Windows users can do File / Properties when playing SID files in Sidplay2/w. The Info window in SidplayX doesn't do this AFAIK (yet) but I'm sure that'll be sorted out in the next release.

Post by **LMan** » 13/03/2006 - 8:25

Just glanced over the Sidplay Mac website, Sidplay X looks bloody amazing compared to the windows version, and has some nice features like the mixer and the composer photos from composers.c64.org.

Lagerfeldt · Post by **Lagerfeldt** » 13/03/2006 - 20:33

Waz wrote:
Lagerfeldt wrote:

Thanks to the HVSC folks, this process is considerably easier. If you are playing a SID file in HVSC, you can check the properties of the file you're playing. It should then tell you which SID chip (if known) the tune was composed on.

Ok, I hope they'll implement this on OS X, since I can't seem to find this info.

Jan Lund Thomsen · Post by **Jan Lund Thomsen** » 13/03/2006 - 22:28

Waz wrote:Windows users can do File / Properties when playing SID files in Sidplay2/w. The Info window in SidplayX doesn't do this AFAIK (yet) but I'm sure that'll be sorted out in the next release.

Nopes, its not in SIDPlay/X V3.3, so here's hoping for it to be included in the next release.

And speaking of the info window; its bloody annoying that you need to press Apple+Shift+I to get the info window to pop up when just about every other application that features an info window uses Apple+I.

Another thing I'm missing from the Windows version is the "copy path/filename to clipboard" function. Apart from that the OS X version totally rocks.

Any Macintosh users out there?

Any Macintosh users out there?

Re: Any Macintosh users out there?

Re: Any Macintosh users out there?