Hackintosh

[digitaldeath]

Hey guys, I'm looking at putting together a Mac based Pro-Tools rig without having to fork out for an expensive Apple computer. I already have a Macbook but I have no idea what components I'd need for a stable Hackintosh desktop rig to be used entirely for music production. Has anyone got any personal experiences with putting together such a rig?
By the way, I'm mainly interested in Metric Halo CS hence the reason I wish to use Mac!

 

[mick thompson]

all the help you need is here: http://www.hackintosh.com/

list of supported hardware can be found here: http://www.insanelymac.com/osx86db/

go nuts you cheap knacker

if i were you now because you already own a macbook i would be setting up either the macbook or the hackintosh as a node. not sure if you can in protools but in logic studio you can. try offload part of your processing to the secondary mac os and rake in the benefits

 

[TheDriller]

I've been running a quad-core Hackintosh rig for just over a year now, i love it!

i dual boot it with Vista, and previously i dual booted with XP too, and OS X wipes the floor with both of them in terms of performance.

basically, you need to do some reading:
www.insanelymac.com
www.hackint0sh.org
http://www.hackintosh.com/
http://www.osx86project.org/

you need to buy an OS X install disk, and build a rig around a supported intel processor, on a supported motherboard with a supported graphics card.
once all thats sorted, your on easy street.

just do some reading and have fun.

 

[John_C]

the word hackintosh has almost become autdated now, seeing as if you buy cleverly you should be able to use boot132 and chameleon to install OSX straight from the retail DVD.

 

[digitaldeath]

Thanks for the tips guys!
Is there any company out there that sells a PC that happens to have all of the compatible hardware - I'm primarily interested in getting a good warranty on the rig. I know that Apple sued a company that sold them, but I haven't heard much since. Also, what kinda savings would I be looking at by going this route and not buying a Mac Pro?
An iMac is more within my budget compared to a Mac Pro...

 

[TheDriller]

Thanks for the tips guys!
Is there any company out there that sells a PC that happens to have all of the compatible hardware - I'm primarily interested in getting a good warranty on the rig. I know that Apple sued a company that sold them, but I haven't heard much since. Also, what kinda savings would I be looking at by going this route and not buying a Mac Pro?
An iMac is more within my budget compared to a Mac Pro...

https://www.pearc.de/

german company that sells Mac clones.

i've never dealt with them personally, so i can't vouch for them or anything.

the trick with Apple EULA is that it is considered null and void by European courts, but Apple have succesfully sued a company called Psystar in America for selling Mac clones.

whether PearC get sued too is still to be seen, and i think personally that its a little cheeky to be manufacturing and selling them.

my advice is to build your own, or failing that, a few Dell towers are nicely compatible with a bit of work.
take your time and do some reading before commiting to anything though,

and yes, as skeksis268 said, with the boot123 method that is in use now there is no "hacking" involved at all, it can be installed straight from the retail disk

 

[kev]

Do you still need somebody with a mac to inititate it?

 

[kramer1309]

i think so but i'd love to be proved wrong (so that i can actually go ahead and do it)

 

[TheDriller]

Do you still need somebody with a mac to inititate it?

Nope,

in most cases (if not all), it can be installed straight into a PC machine (with compatible hardware) from the Retail disk

 

[narcossintese]

Is there any company out there that sells a PC that happens to have all of the compatible hardware.

People have successfully made hackintoshes with the netbook Dell Mini10, but it doesn´t have enough CPU power for audio applications.

 

[Metaltastic]

Nope,

in most cases (if not all), it can be installed straight into a PC machine (with compatible hardware) from the Retail disk

That is so fucking awesome (totally serious )

 

[TheDriller]

That is so fucking awesome (totally serious )

Indeed it is

it takes a bit of work and patience but is soooo worth it!

you get the best of both worlds;
affordable (and customizable) PC hardware coupled with the most awesome OS ever.

 

[Metaltastic]

And you don't have to become one of "them"! (you know...them )

 

[kaomao]

https://www.pearc.de/

german company that sells Mac clones.

i've never dealt with them personally, so i can't vouch for them or anything.

the trick with Apple EULA is that it is considered null and void by European courts, but Apple have succesfully sued a company called Psystar in America for selling Mac clones.

whether PearC get sued too is still to be seen, and i think personally that its a little cheeky to be manufacturing and selling them.

my advice is to build your own, or failing that, a few Dell towers are nicely compatible with a bit of work.
take your time and do some reading before commiting to anything though,

and yes, as skeksis268 said, with the boot123 method that is in use now there is no "hacking" involved at all, it can be installed straight from the retail disk

they're overpriced as mac... goddamn too pricey I may say!

 

[cloy26]

So I'm in the market for a new desktop and quite frankly, I am rather nervous about doing this. I know computers somewhat well, but am sketched out a little. What are you guys using? Logic? PT? I'm using fp10s, so I assume I will use logic. But damn, logic is rather expensive. I also won't be able to use my favorite amp sims...

I am, however, attracted to the stability of OSX. I suppose I should start my reading. :Smug:

I can't use VSTs can I? AU only?

 

[TheDriller]

So I'm in the market for a new desktop and quite frankly, I am rather nervous about doing this. I know computers somewhat well, but am sketched out a little. What are you guys using? Logic? PT? I'm using fp10s, so I assume I will use logic. But damn, logic is rather expensive. I also won't be able to use my favorite amp sims...

I am, however, attracted to the stability of OSX. I suppose I should start my reading. :Smug:

I can't use VSTs can I? AU only?

In Logic, its AU only, but FXpansion make a VST-AU wrapper.

Macs also support VST, but only if the plugin itself is compatible, a lot of the good freeware VSTs available for PC are not mac compatible, as they are made by the Windows code-kiddies

most if not all commercial plugins come in AU versions and Mac-VST

 

[cloy26]

Damn. I just have to see if its worth the switch now. ugh.

Are there good amp sims for mac? Like obviously guitar rig and stuff, but any lik le45, 8505, etc. I messed around with the ones in logic and they sounded absolutely horrendous.

 

[TheDriller]

Damn. I just have to see if its worth the switch now. ugh.

Are there good amp sims for mac? Like obviously guitar rig and stuff, but any lik le45, 8505, etc. I messed around with the ones in logic and they sounded absolutely horrendous.

nope, not free ones anyway.
I use Podfarm Platinum myself so i'm not at all bothered.

the new Amp Designer and Pedalboard plugins in Logic 9 are damn good, but the high gain tones are severly lacking.

in Logic 8 you there was "Guitar Amp Pro" which sucked pretty bad.

 

[cloy26]

I suppose I would just make a dummy load for my 5150 then. Haha

 

[TheDriller]

I suppose I would just make a dummy load for my 5150 then. Haha

Frankly, unless you've got a serious boner for Logic 9, and have the money to buy some decent amp-sims then i would advise to stick with Windows for Audio work, at least for a while.

of course, if you are getting a new computer, there is no harm in getting one that is OS X compatible, and maybe running a dual boot to test the water.