CD Architect with Virtual PC

[kenandrews]

Since there doesn't seem to be anything like CD Architect for the Mac (except Peak which I've tried and don't like). Has anyone has tried using CD Architect with Virtual PC in Mac OSX? I would be using a G5 to run it.

I'm considering buying a PC just to run this program, which kind of seems ridiculous.

[Innominandum]

That does sound pretty ridiculous! Though it is a pretty nice program. I thought Mac guys used roxio Toast with Jam.

[kenandrews]

Jam does not seem to have the graphical waveform editing and slipping of tracks that CDA has. Is there a mac program that does have this besides Peak or Waveburner.

[Stizz]

I use PCs in my day-gig studio, but run Mac at home. I much prefer SoundForge over peak, so I installed that on my Virtual PC at home (single 1.25 G4). My computer HATED it - I don't think the emulation is good enough for audio processing. So I don't know if it would work with CD Architect.

[kenandrews]

That's what i was afraid of. Microsoft lets you download a trial version of Virtual PC but not for mac. I guess I'm going to start looking into buying a PC. Anybody have any recommendations? I'm thinking laptop. Dell 8600?

[jbuntz]

Ken (if it's the ken andrews I'm thinking of), I was listening to Magnified last night. Been a fan ever since I heard that album as a matter of fact. Very cool to see you on the forum. I'd love to see some posts about your engineering on Fantastic Planet.

[kenandrews]

What do you want to know?

The one thing that people always seem to freak out on is the fact that I recorded and mixed that album on a mackie 32X8 and 3 blackface ADATs.

Rented some outboard for the mix though. An ssl comp, 1176s and dbxs, and a 1/2" machine.

Its kinda funny because that is the record that launched me into producing/mixing and still gets me work now.

[Brad Blackwood]

Fantastic Planet - one of my top 10 favs of all time.

Easy.

Everything's just right.

[elninojesus]

Wow, I can definatly tell you that jbuntz loves failure. Our band almost covered a failure song years ago.

As for Peak, I didnt like it at first either but after some getting used to, I've warmed up to it. I mostly just use it for sound designing stuff.


Mark

[kenandrews]

The thing is, Peak just isn't very sexy at simply sequencing a CD. I want something that is like Sonic Solutions in terms of its interface but runs in OSX natively. Emagic's Waveburner is what I want but they stopped updating it back in OS9.

I don't even need any mastering plugs or anything, since I prep the tracks in PT, just simple graphical control of spacing, crossfades, index points, etc.

Why is this so hard to find for mac?

[hammer]

Hey Ken,
Maybe a PC is the way to go? They are very cheap to build (A bottom feeding celeron/athlon/duron with a burner should do the trick). or a second hand PC? You don't need a powerful computer for CDA, 600 mhz + should be fine. Old PCs are very cheap, so are CD burners.

Still...SURELY there is a simillar app for you MAC guys? Have you checked out the open-source stuff?

Hang on....What about wavelab? This looks like it could be just the thing.......
http://www.steinberg.net/Steinberg/C...06&Langue_ID=7

Good luck!
H.

[kenandrews]

Thanks for the PC advice. Wavelab is PC only though.

[elninojesus]

I would shoot a little higher than that for the PC. You could easily build an althlon 2500+ system for about $400-$500 and you'd have a pretty decent PC in the end.


Mark

[hammer]

you're right Ken Wavelab 5 is PC only! Unbelievable....
Anyway, I did a bit of sleuthing and think that I may have found what you're looking for.
It's a program called DSP Quattro. It's an audio editor and a CD architecht style CD burner.
Enjoy
http://www.i3net.it/Products/dspQuat...sp?Language=EN

[troubado]

Anybody else have a hard time believing this is Ken? I can't believe you guys are so fast to go with it...

A seasoned producer like Ken not being able to ask "real" producer friends about this stuff raises some questions with me.

But, maybe it is.

[kenandrews]

Well, I checked out the demo of DSP Quarttro and its the best I've found so far. But it still doesn't have the graphical waveform interface I'm looking for. You know, like Sonic Solutions, where odd numbered tracks are on the top and even numbered tracks are on the bottom. Very nice when doing delicate crossfades.

As far as me not being Ken Andrews, I don't really know what to say to that. My "real" producer friends and I use the gear boards all the time to look up stuff. I've posted and sold things on the Digi board several times, including a massive PT MIX rig to the band MXPX recently. I didn't know about gearslutz until recently though.

Anyway, its me. Flattered though.

[drew]

Ken,
I'm in the same boat as you. Wanting WBP for OSX. Have you looked at Jam 6? Jam 6 in the crossfade expanded view is the closest to WBP I've seen. And you can burn directly from the app now and don't need toast.
drew

[Wolfgang]

- Just grab a $600 Dell PC and be done with it. There is nothing like CD Architect for Mac ... i've tried them all ...

- Wolfy

[kenandrews]

Thanks to Drew I'm going with Jam6. Its not quite as cool as WBP or CD Architect, but its cheaper and less troublesome than buying a whole new computer.

Thanks for everybody's help with this.

[Fleaman]

I just talked to Ken Andrews today and indeed these are his posts.

Welcome to Gearslutz!

Fleaman

[audioboffin]

TC's Spark XL for OS X was a freebie waveform editor which also could run some plugins etc and output directly to an external burner app.

There's still mention of it at http://www.tcelectronic.com/SparkXL