Forum: MAC Version Technical Support - Topic: bout to buy the the latest mac book or mbp..........

hello all! i want to buy either the latest mbp or mac book. Does anyone own either of these running vdj with tcv and video? I'll prolly use bootcamp and run vdj in windows cause from what i've read in here, i can't do tcv with my audio 8 in the latest mac version. when is that getting fixed btw?

The next macbook uses The NVIDIA GeForce 9400M that delivers up to 5x faster graphics performance than the old intel chip. Will that be enough to run video smoothly or should i get the mbp that combines that integrated video card along with The GeForce 9600M GT that delivers faster discrete graphics performance to high-end 3D games and pro applications.

I want the macbook cause its smaller and in my budget. Is anyone using the older 2.0ghz macbook with the intel video card running vdj, video, and tcv? If so, what kinda results do you get?


thanks

so i'm guessing that nobody here has the latest 2008 macbooks or macbook pros?

I am using the latest Macbook pro but it has not been a smooth ride at all

I got one of the new "Glassbooks." I had initially got the 2.8 maxed out Pro but took it back as I didn't see the need to spend a grand on a firewire port and graphics card. It's real hard to guage how this program will run on a Mac because there's no demo program yet. I found a version 5 beta program and tried running that with video and it literally felt like my Macbook was about to burst into flames. Both fans were going out of control. The audio was dodgy at best also. Granted, this is an unfair comparison because it was like a Version 5 beta and I'm sure they fixed alot of issues from that or else there would be alot more complaints on this board, but it definitely wasn't a vote of confidence and seeing as how I have absolutely no way of knowing how this program will run on my mac, well..... So far from what I've read on forums the one stable integrated video dj platform for Mac's is Serato TTM57 with the video option. That'll set you back around $1600-$1700, but how bad do you want to run video? And the funny thing is it's the flip side on their end. Video runs great on the Mac side, but not so great on the pc side, which is clearly virtualdj's strength. If they could get this program solid on a Mac and have it where you're able to demo I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

I got the late 2008 macbook specifically for DJ'ing as a replacement for my Dell M1330. The M1330 runs well enough now - but earlier on it had a number of driver issues/sound glitches. There's still the occasional little glitch but turning off wireless and closing basically everything else minimizes this. I really wanted something rock solid as I feel the Dell could pack it in with no notice (It's died twice whilst I've had it due to the well-known Nvidia GPU issue) - so decided to go for the 2.4Ghz macbook. Considered the pro - but didn't need the firewire and the smaller size is just perfect for ramming into a small spot in a booth.

Unfortunately my soundcard (Native Instruments Audio8 DJ) doesn't work with VDJ (for using TCV) on the macbook (if anyone's got it working please let me know). It works well with Traktor Scratch but as of now it just doesn't want to do it - regular output is ok after playing around with the config. Fingers crossed that the next VDJ update will support this soundcard fully for tcv as I read somewhere else in the forums that there will be more soundcards supported in "aggregate" mode or something. There's a maya44 usb card I've got too - which I'm yet to really troubleshoot to get working, but spent a bit of time with installing drivers for it, running some tests, etc - without any luck (apparently it does work - if anyone's got steps to get this working let me know please).

VDJ works well enough on the macbook with the internal mixer. There's a bit of a delay after dropping a track onto one of the decks and the fonts seem to be just a little too large - but it's pretty solid otherwise. For regular computing it's awesome - the multitouch works well for navigating around (scrolling, selecting works perfect in VDJ - it'd be great though if they supported some more of the advanced touch capabilities in VDJ - add to the wishlist...) and the backlit keyboard looks great. It's running windows XP smoothly in VMware Fusion should it need to run windows-only stuff and there's been no real issues with it as yet. Maybe it'd run with the Audio 8 through Fusion but haven't yet tried it (and then I'm missing the stability of MacOS and probably taking a performance hit). It would probably run pretty good with XP running natively through bootcamp too - but that'll be an experiment for when I get desperate.

As for looking to get a macbook only for VDJ - right now it would be good to check if your soundcard is fully mac version compatible (for TCV support), and if it is, then go for it. Hopefully when the next version is released it'll support more soundcards fully and the performance will be the same as the Windows version. Need that update now!

Hi juicenut, u can set up the aggregate device for ur audio 8 to use with vdj as normal soundcard. BUT you will not able to use it when doing timescodes atm.

Regards.

Hey Spinna

Yeah - for me not having TCV working is same as not working at all... I've got it running fine with aggregate mode with using the software and an iCDx but should have made it clear it was just the TCV not working. Have updated it now.

Is support for the Audio 8 DJ for TCV expected in the next version? And any idea when this update is coming along? Would kill to have it all running right now!

Cheers.

I use the Audio 8 soundcard myself on my new Mac Book Pro.

Sound seems actually better than when I was running it on my PC Laptop. However I am having problems with the new macbook pro losing connection to souncard mid gig.

I am just about to try the denon hc4500 this weekedn as an aggregate device so fingers crossesed.

In VDJ a get a momentary lift in CPU when loading a song but mostly it barely registers. I have not tried video yet.

As a laptop itself its simply asssume, design, feel, power everything is superb. Graphics and screnn is excellant.

I reserve judgement on the VDJ running on the new version because I think its the sotware rather than the laptoop