TL;DR: Buy the Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter and the Thunderbolt 2 to Gigabit Ethernet while supplies last!

There are other alternatives in the market (A Sonnet adapter using the same Broadcom chip as the Apple Thunderbult-GbE costs as much as $200), and

out of curiosity I have ordered a D-Link adapter which is claimed to have a non-Realtek, much better controller. I will report back when it arrives.

The shocking thing is, I stumbled upon some advice from BJ Buchalter (Metric Halo) recommending to use a dongle processionary (Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter chained with a Thunderbolt 2 to Gigabit Ethernet one) instead of the usual hardware sold by Apple themselves. In my case, a Belkin adapter.

I have used Dante very little and I need to record a concert on Sunday, so of course I did my homework testing my Dante configuration, etc, in order to avoid pestering the FOH guy with stupid debugging time. 

I was a bit shocked, the timing was more jittery than I remembered. So just in case I ordered the Apple "processionary". It arrived today. 

Doing just a simple network performance test called, "iperf" these are the results:

10 minutes of bidirectional iperf3 test (TCP) on a clean GbE network, two ARUBA 2530 switches, to a HP server running FreeBSD 13.2
and Broadcom GbE interfaces. 

bge0: <Broadcom BCM5720 A0, ASIC rev. 0x5720000>

The processor is a Xeon e3-1260L at 2.4 GHz.

Belkin adapter:

[ ID][Role] Interval                  Transfer         Bitrate               Retr
[  5][TX-C]   0.00-600.00 sec  41.6 GBytes   596 Mbits/sec                  sender
[  5][TX-C]   0.00-600.00 sec  41.6 GBytes   596 Mbits/sec                  receiver
[  7][RX-C]   0.00-600.00 sec  21.6 GBytes   310 Mbits/sec  24422             sender
[  7][RX-C]   0.00-600.00 sec  21.6 GBytes   309 Mbits/sec                  receiver

Apple processionary:

[ ID][Role] Interval                  Transfer          Bitrate              Retr
[  5][TX-C]   0.00-600.00 sec  58.0 GBytes   830 Mbits/sec                  sender
[  5][TX-C]   0.00-600.00 sec  58.0 GBytes   830 Mbits/sec                  receiver
[  7][RX-C]   0.00-600.00 sec  63.8 GBytes   914 Mbits/sec  4             sender
[  7][RX-C]   0.00-600.00 sec  63.8 GBytes   914 Mbits/sec                  receiver

So, indeed, outrageous! Either the Realtek chip is extremely poor (I was told there was even profanity in the code comments
of a Realtek driver for FreeBSD) and I have indeed had horrible problems with them for other applications, and/or the 
USB-C subsystem is really poorly designed (the Apple interface is connected to PCIe) and/or the Realtek driver is awful.

Still, it feels like a high performance processor like a M1 Max should be able to cope with a mere gigabit without a hitch. The
Xeon inside the server was launched in Q2’11 (THIRTEEN YEARS OLD TECHNOLOGY!).

The Apple adapter lost FOUR packets in 10 minutes. The Belkin/Realtek TWENTY FOUR THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED
TWENTY TWO!

I just can’t understand why Apple doesn’t bother to release proper hardware. Charge me $50 or even $100 if they want, but
I demand properly working equipment instead of selling useless crap on their own online store. 
 

https://sammitrovic.com/infosec/gmail-account-takeover-super-realistic-ai-scam-call/

I enjoyed reading Jason Snell's post "Exile from Dongletown". MagSafe is back, more ports, improved keyboard after all their problems...

And an insane processor with more dramatic peformance increases than most people realize. The memory bandwidth of the Max version is incredible.

Any experiences after having it done?

Currently I am pondering which kind of monitor to be using, how to mount it, and if possible, leave it hooked up but maybe foldable, so that I don’t have to install it every time I want to use it. 

My current setup has all the “guts” of my cart in a rack mount case. 

Please share photos, links, and useful information. Thank you!

https://www.macrumors.com/2020/01/24/macintosh-36th-anniversary

I've got a 3 year old MacBook Pro that I use for playback work.  Pro Tools runs pretty much fine - but I've decided to upgrade the hard drive to an SSD and up the RAM because every now and then I get a hiccup with bigger sessions.  I can't quite decide though if I should upgrade my OS (still on 10.9.5) to the latest, which probably means needed to upgrade my Pro Tools from v10 up to 11 or 12.

Normally I'm pretty good with upgrading, but since I've largely stopped doing post work, I've not felt the need to always keep up with the upgrades.  I suppose I'm now at the point where I simply can't decide...Do I upgrade the OS and PT software - or just stay put?

I'm kind of sick and tired of always needing to upgrade all these devices (iPhone, etc...) when they generally seem to work just fine.  (Am I turning into old curmudgeon?)

I suppose this is more of a rant than anything - but I'm curious what y'all would do in this situation.

I am a happy user of a 2010 Mac Pro (I replaced the processor and I installed an improved graphics card) but so far the thing is kinking ass.

But anyway wondering. It's quite puzzling why they took such a long time to design a new modular computer given that it's not rocket science. Well, good desing is always rocket science but making it large and easy to upgrade is much easier than tiny, which has been their focus lately. 

There are two possible reasons I can imagine for such a long delay.

1) They were waiting for some new Intel processor series (or even AMD) they knew about in advance. I imagine they have a peek at their product roadmaps much earlier than us, common people.

2) Given that it's not so hard and it could offer enormous advantages, maybe they will announce a switch to their own ARM processors. 

So, why ARM processors? There are several good reasons.

1) Apple are control freaks. And they have been bitten several times by their reliance on CPU manufacturers (Motorola, IBM and Intel). The last big switching, Power PC G5 to Intel, was motivated by the PowerPC platform being stagnated both on raw computing power and, critically, power/energy consumption ratio. 

2) Intel's security track record has been a real disgrace. From a hidden computer running an obsolete version of Minix inside their control chips to serious design flaws in their processors.

3) They made huge investments on boutique processor design companies. It has paid off years ago with the excellent results obtained in the processors used in the iThings. Maybe it's time for the next leap.

4) It could even offer a cost advantage. Intel's processors (especially the high end ones) have been grossly overpriced because they hold a virtual monopoly. I guess these price reduction could be passed on to the customer. 

I know that some people will think that writing "their own ARM processors" is quite an overstatement, but it's not. ARM is an architecture for which Apple

has a license enabling they to design their own processors based on it. And yes, Apple outsources chip manufacturing to foundries like Samsung and TSMC (it's been

known recently that they approached Intel before launching the iPhone) but the designs are their own. Apple's A10, etc, are not Samsung or TSMC products. Claiming the contrary would be like saying that "1984" was written by Penguin Books  Except for Intel, Samsung and a bunch of other chip manufacturers, most are what is known as "fabless" firms. 

Well, time for the guesswork before Monday!

I have a question for the post production / computer experts here.

Our facility runs two ProTools HDX suites for audio post for Television. We mix in stereo only. The audio systems used to be synched to house black with an AVID Sync HD and the video satellite (AVID Media Composer with Mojo DX I/O) is also synched to house black . Since our workflow is entirely file based now I’m not sure if I still need to use the Sync HD and here’s the reason why I’m asking.

We bought an IZ Technologies RADAR Studio for our A suite about 2 years ago. It replaced an old MacPro. That machine is a high end 24 channel Multitrack in addition to a DAW workstation. In a nutshell, the system runs FANTASTIC, eight I-7 processors and 32 GB of RAM, SSDs, stripped down windows 8.1, it’s so fast and stable it’s amazing. I installed the HDX card in it and it works perfectly but truth be told, it runs equally good or better using the built-in ASIO I/O and run everything native off the CPU. I put massive sessions on this system with hundreds of instances of various plug-in in addition to using the Protools video track ( instead of the Video Satellite) in order to see if I can get it to choke but it handles everything with utmost ease, the system usage display in protools barely registers any activity, even less than using the HDX DSP accelerator.

Being so impressed with this system we bought a second RADAR Studio a year ago and it has been a bit more problematic. When I installed the HDX card in the open PCIe slot the computer couldn’t see it at all. I had to change the PCIe slot order to get the computer to even recognize it but now the RADAR side of things ( this is a dual boot machine, windows or RADAR mode) doesn’t work properly anymore. We contacted IZ technologies, even shipped the unit back, HDX card included for a complete overhaul and  motherboard replacement and that helped somewhat but it’s still not working properly. The slot order they used to make the computer see the HDX card doen’t match the other machine we own and, according to them the motherboards have been revised and processors have been upgraded ( from 3.6 MHz I-7 to 4MHz I-7). The way it currently sits here the RADAR side of things works perfectly but the DAW/ windows side doesn’t. It fails parts of the DigiTest ( before the overhaul it didn’t see the card at all, when installed in  this slot). As a result Protools can’t see the AVID sync HD unit ( which is connected via serial port ) and certain Plug-Ins ( McDSP ) can’t be run as DSP plug-ins. They won’t pass audio that way so I use them native.

We have discussed this at great length with the vendor and manufacturer and we are at a point where we need to decide whether to seek a full replacement ProTools system built around a new MacPro as a refund or if we can keep and use the RADAR Studio as is without shooting ourselves in the foot.

I mixed a couple of shows on it as is and it does work great. I use media composer as video satellite without synching either one to house black. It doesn’t seem to matter since no linear audio transfers are happening between machines, only file based audio is pushed back and forth.

My concern is that I’m missing something here. What are the negative consequences of running a post audio mixing suite without Sync reference and without DSP accelerators? What else am I going to find out later that would have influenced my decision whether to keep going with a new RADAR Studio running on less than all cylinders vs getting a mac based system.

Any comments are appreciated.

Thanks

The entire article is posted on my blog:  http://jwsound.net/WP/?page_id=32

-  Jeff Wexler

I've used a 7" Lilliput touchscreen monitor on my cart now for several years.  I run Metacorder on a MacMini and I absolutely love it -- powerful, steady, small footprint... just what I need.

Well, the 7" monitor is starting to have some intermittent problems so, long story short, I just replaced it with an 8" version -- same manufacturer, same mounting hardware, same remote, same wiring... pretty much identical to the 7"...

I set it up and the touch function is all backwards... so I try to run my TouchKit Utility program to calibrate the monitor and nothing works -- I push the buttons and nothing happens... the only buttons that work are the "quit" button and the "about" button.  I've never experienced anything like this and after searching for hours, the only drivers I've been able to find are actually older than the current driver I have.  I finally tried to replace the current driver with an older version -- just to see if it needed the older driver for some reason -- but 2 steps into the install, it's telling me I can't install it because there's nothing to install.

Does anyone know if there's a current downloadable driver (for Intel-based Mac) anywhere out there for Lilliput touch screens?  HELP!!!

I immediately noticed significant performance enhancements in several areas even on my 2010 Mac Pro. And this is what BJ Buchalter (Metric Halo) says about it:

"In fact, we have found that Mojave actually fixes a number of old macOS bugs and generally improves performance all-around (especially CPU load for graphics updates and Ethernet packet handling). 

It also appears that Apple has improved the user experience when installing new kernel extensions (drivers). High Sierra had a number of UX problems and bugs with third party driver installation that seem to have been improved with Mojave. For Metric Halo customers that rely on our drivers for their devices, this is an important improvement."

BJ's comment about Ethernet is really significant. While my "feelings" are not backed with actual, rigurous measurements, Metric Halo has adopted Ethernet as transport for their new 3d interfaces. Which means that they are examining Ethernet performance with a microscope, it's critical for them now and they need real time frame delivery.

Apart from all these improvements there is a new very significant twist in security and privacy: They are beginning to restrict the access from applications to several file system areas. In short, unless the user allows it, a vulnerable text editor (think about the typical Word security issues in Windows) will not have access to the address book and other important files.

I guess that in one or two future releases they will complete the isolation measures between applications. I have my own ideas on how to do it but it's a very major change from a multitasking operating system to a "multi application" one and they wlll do it step by step. They have been going this route for 10 years now, slowly but steadily.

So far so good, seems that this release is comparable to what Snow Leopard was. Very significant inside changes, all of them for good. Excellent news even if most of the improvements are barely noticeable by a user.

In the last years there have been several high profile intrusions in popular (and important) Internet services. Adobe and Dropbox to mention two of them. The intruders got a huge database of usernames and passwords.

The problem is, those usernames are often email addresses and most users reuse those passwords in other accounts. Which is very bad news for the user especially if the compromised password is used for the email account.

I mean: Imagine your email address is justme@gmail.com. You registered on Adobe and you used the same password. That means that the guys who stole the passwords from Adobe may have the password of your email account.

Maybe some of you have received a message from a place called https://haveibeenpwned.com warning abou the breach. The site I link is legit and you can check wether a username with your email address has been compromised. Note that, despite clueless news reports, your actual email account hasn´t been compromised unless you reused the same password.

The site promotes 1Password, which is a very good password manager, but Mac OS X has a decent password manager built in as well.

Now, the advice.

First: Do not reuse passwords. Nowadays there are good password managers. 

Second: If you need to reuse passwords, make sure that each one of your important accounts have a unique (and good!) password. Which ones are the important ones? Any account linked to financial data, credit cards, software licenses, or, of course, email accounts. Email accounts can be used for password recovery in other sites, so email security is critical. 

Third: If you are reusing passwords begin changing them right now. Prioritize according to the previous recommendation. Email, banks, Amazon, eBay, Paypal, etc.

You can also use the same website to check wether a password was found somewhere. It won't reveal the accounts to which it's linked, but it's a good way to know at least how unique the password is. 

Tsugi QuickAudio - Windows
http://tsugi-studio.com/web/en/products-quickaudio.html

AudioEase Snapper - Mac

https://www.audioease.com/snapper/

Interested how this came about and what kind of workflow it fit into.

My MBP has been a workhorse for many tasks, but in the last year or so has been very sluggish in the WiFi department - losing signal, etc. 

To my tech mind, obviously an antenna problem, but Apple support has been skirting around the issue for months. 

Gurus at Apple store not able to find issues with their extreme in-store wifi,

advisors from Apple having me go back to Mavericks, and re install everything, no improvement.

I will keep digging away, but I do find my reasonable concerns and experience in the RF world are being ignored.

Is this a systemic Apple thing, or the problem with the whole tech world at this point?

Anyone else experiencing this?

My Q and D solution will be to buy a USB adapter and disable airport card, rather not and get it resolved.

Curmudgeonly yours,

Jim Rillie

Production Sound Mixer Elder (new category)

Had to go sit on the basement stairs to send the topic - no send in the living room chair several feet from router