Hi folks, first off, I just wanted to say thank you for a marvellous forum. I've been reading several fascinating posts over the last few days and it's clear the knowledge and enthusiasm amongst the members is first class, I'm definitely in the right place.
Q: Is there any cabinet design software tools available for the Mac? I've had a search around online with no results and I haven't used a Windows PC for about 10 years. I still have an old PC kicking around, but thought I'd ask here first, if any Mac users have found any design software.
I have a couple of Eminence Lab 12C drivers and want to build an active bass bin for live use to replace a an existing single 12" bin, that doesn't really deliver the goodies. Would be great to drop the TS parameters into some software, in order to have a play around with some various cabinet design options.
Q: Is there any cabinet design software tools available for the Mac? I've had a search around online with no results and I haven't used a Windows PC for about 10 years. I still have an old PC kicking around, but thought I'd ask here first, if any Mac users have found any design software.
I have a couple of Eminence Lab 12C drivers and want to build an active bass bin for live use to replace a an existing single 12" bin, that doesn't really deliver the goodies. Would be great to drop the TS parameters into some software, in order to have a play around with some various cabinet design options.
If you look for Speaker Calc in the App store. It is very good and compared to windows tools, inexpensive, as all Mac software is.
Excellent Jon, thank you. After all my searches, that app never popped up!!
I'll buy it and have a play around. Thanks again.
P.S Just had a look at your website, great to see someone repairing tube amps, rather than discarding them - Kudos Jon 🙂
I'll buy it and have a play around. Thanks again.
P.S Just had a look at your website, great to see someone repairing tube amps, rather than discarding them - Kudos Jon 🙂
You may also be able to run some/all of the Windows programs using Wine or a similar tool. I know people run my turntable alignment template program that way.
Thanks Conrad, I might consider going that route also, as there is so much more Windows software available.
I run WINisd using PlayOnMac. Works very well. PlayOnMac is a front end and instatller for Wine on OSX.
Whats a Mac ?
I am a IBM pc man through and through and Microsoft Windows too.
This opens up billions of free software programs.
Just have good anti virus software and things are fine.
I am a IBM pc man through and through and Microsoft Windows too.
This opens up billions of free software programs.
Just have good anti virus software and things are fine.
VMware, Parallels, VirtualBox, etc. all allow you to run Windoze in a virtual machine on a Mac. VirtualBox is free. All of them require a Windoze license (which is pretty cheap if you're going for Windoze 7, for example).
Tom
Tom
What about .net framework installation ?
What about c++ runtimes ?
Will it cope with those ?
I sell software and had numerous people ask if it will run on a mac.
I don't have a mac so don't know.
VMware etc. set up a virtual machine. I.e. you get a "PC" with some amount of RAM, HDD, etc. that you specify. The first time you boot up your virtual machine, you have to install an operating system on it - just as you would on a physical machine. Once installed, you can run software under that OS natively just as you would on a physical machine. You can even share things between the virtual machine and the host OS - clipboard content, for example.
The tricky point is driver support. Standard devices, such as mice, keyboards, ethernet/wifi, sound gizmos, etc. are generally well-supported. ASIO support for your FireWire sound card ... not so much. Some of the fancy 3D graphics engines can be a bit tricky as well.
For running a Windows CAD program that doesn't require much beyond a keyboard, mouse, and maybe a digitizer/tablet, VMware will work. I do all my electronics work in that environment.
The only drawback is that you have to pay for VMware ($50ish) and Windows. You also get to maintain two systems. I like it, though. I love the user experience on the Mac, but need to run some Windows software from time to time. With VMware, I get the pleasant experience of the Mac 99% of the time and only deal with the idiosyncrasies of Windows when I have to.
I've tried VirtualBox in the past. While it did run, I found switching between the virtual machine and the host OS to be clunky. I also seem to recall that sharing clipboard information between the virtual machine and the host OS wasn't working or not working well. That was a while ago. Maybe it's been improved since then.
With VMware, I get Windows running in a separate desktop. I then just 3-finger swipe left/right to change from OSX to Windows. With two monitors, I can have Windows on one monitor and OSX on the other. Works great! I run this on a 2012 Mac Mini with 16 GB of RAM and 500 GB SSD.
Here's VMware's explanation: Virtualization Technology & Virtual Machine Software | CA
Tom
The tricky point is driver support. Standard devices, such as mice, keyboards, ethernet/wifi, sound gizmos, etc. are generally well-supported. ASIO support for your FireWire sound card ... not so much. Some of the fancy 3D graphics engines can be a bit tricky as well.
For running a Windows CAD program that doesn't require much beyond a keyboard, mouse, and maybe a digitizer/tablet, VMware will work. I do all my electronics work in that environment.
The only drawback is that you have to pay for VMware ($50ish) and Windows. You also get to maintain two systems. I like it, though. I love the user experience on the Mac, but need to run some Windows software from time to time. With VMware, I get the pleasant experience of the Mac 99% of the time and only deal with the idiosyncrasies of Windows when I have to.
I've tried VirtualBox in the past. While it did run, I found switching between the virtual machine and the host OS to be clunky. I also seem to recall that sharing clipboard information between the virtual machine and the host OS wasn't working or not working well. That was a while ago. Maybe it's been improved since then.
With VMware, I get Windows running in a separate desktop. I then just 3-finger swipe left/right to change from OSX to Windows. With two monitors, I can have Windows on one monitor and OSX on the other. Works great! I run this on a 2012 Mac Mini with 16 GB of RAM and 500 GB SSD.
Here's VMware's explanation: Virtualization Technology & Virtual Machine Software | CA
Tom
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So to answer your customer's question: I think the answer needs to be, "Not natively. However, you can run Windows in a virtual machine on your Mac using VMware, Parallels, VirtualBox, etc. and run my software on the virtual machine."
An alternative would be to use Bootcamp. This allows you to partition your Mac hard drive and create a partition for Windows. You then boot Windows directly and it runs as it would on any PC. The only drawback is that you have to reboot to switch OS and you can't share content between OSX and Windows with Bootcamp. OSX includes Bootcamp, so aside from a copy of Windows, there's nothing else to buy.
Tom
An alternative would be to use Bootcamp. This allows you to partition your Mac hard drive and create a partition for Windows. You then boot Windows directly and it runs as it would on any PC. The only drawback is that you have to reboot to switch OS and you can't share content between OSX and Windows with Bootcamp. OSX includes Bootcamp, so aside from a copy of Windows, there's nothing else to buy.
Tom
I use Parallel's Desktop, and run whatever OS I need in a Virtual Machine. There are a few (non-audio) apps I need to run and Parallel's works seamlessly and is very fast on a decent Intel Mac. I've been using VMs on Mac OS since the days of Sytem7.5 in the mid 1990's.
You might also have a look at VirtualBox, a free Virtual Machine application, to see if it will run your Windows apps. It's a bit tricky to set up, but it works and is priced right.
Wine also might be an option, if it doesn't run your chosen app then eMail the developers and they will look at supporting it in the future.
I have VMs for MacOS 10.6 Server, Windows XP, 7, 8, 10, FreeBSD, a couple of Linux distros, MacOS9, MacOS 7.5. Create a properly updated VM and then just copy it, install your chosen app, and run it.
That way you aren't spending hours updating the OS every time you want to run something, and you can create tightly configured Windows systems, which works best in any case.
I do have quite a few MacOS apps for audio but nothing for speaker design, as it's not part of my DIY work flow, so I can't help you specifically there. But you could have a look at the free Room EQ Wizard, as it has some value when designing speakers.
Another app that is valuable to someone designing speakers is FuzzMeasure, which is an extremely advanced MacOS application, possibly more than you need. Its not cheap either, but is widely used by professionals in Audio, Loudspeaker design, and related fields.
You might also have a look at VirtualBox, a free Virtual Machine application, to see if it will run your Windows apps. It's a bit tricky to set up, but it works and is priced right.
Wine also might be an option, if it doesn't run your chosen app then eMail the developers and they will look at supporting it in the future.
I have VMs for MacOS 10.6 Server, Windows XP, 7, 8, 10, FreeBSD, a couple of Linux distros, MacOS9, MacOS 7.5. Create a properly updated VM and then just copy it, install your chosen app, and run it.
That way you aren't spending hours updating the OS every time you want to run something, and you can create tightly configured Windows systems, which works best in any case.
I do have quite a few MacOS apps for audio but nothing for speaker design, as it's not part of my DIY work flow, so I can't help you specifically there. But you could have a look at the free Room EQ Wizard, as it has some value when designing speakers.
Another app that is valuable to someone designing speakers is FuzzMeasure, which is an extremely advanced MacOS application, possibly more than you need. Its not cheap either, but is widely used by professionals in Audio, Loudspeaker design, and related fields.
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FuzzMeasure is awesome. Looks like they/it was bought by RØDE. A personal license is $100. They even offer an educational license ($50). I'd consider that cheap for software of that quality - in particular in a specialized field such as speaker measurement.
Tom
Tom
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