Atmosphere / Trilogy Intel Mac Wrappers

Table Of Contents

• Introduction
• What Does It Do & How Does It Work?
• Instructions
• Tutorial Videos
• How To Authorize
• Wrapper Features
• Song Compatibility
• Editing Sounds
• Performance
• OSX Tiger Vs. Leopard
• Sample Rates
• Multiple Instances
• Audio Quality
• Closing Windows
• Plug-In Settings
• Host Specific Notes
• FAQS
• Cubase 4 Performance Chart
• Digital Performer 5 Performance Chart
• Live 6 Performance Chart
• Logic 8 Performance Chart
• Pro Tools 7 Performance Chart
INTRODUCTION

Spectrasonics has developed a special, easy-to-use support solution that

allows Atmosphere and Trilogy users to use their original instruments on
Intel Mac computers. This software solution has been released as a free Public
Beta for all users. We welcome your feedback.

WHAT DOES IT DO?

This “wrapper” solution allows the existing Atmosphere and Trilogy virtual
instruments to be easily used on Intel Mac computers. It has been tested
with a variety of hosts, computers, versions of OSX, buffer settings, etc.
Included in the download are performance charts for each of the major hosts
and guidelines for users to get the most out of their computer setup.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

There are two key components that are installed in your system that work
together to provide this solution.

• An Intel Wrapper communication plug-in for Atmosphere or Trilogy

(AU/VST/RTAS).

• A specially designed Host application for the Power PC Atmosphere or Trilogy

plug-ins – which runs the Audio Unit versions in “Rosetta emulation” mode.

When you select the Atmosphere or Trilogy Wrapper plug-in in your DAW,
it will launch the corresponding Atmosphere Host or Trilogy Host
application. Youʼll see the applications appear in your Dock.

Inside of your DAW, the Intel Mac wrapper plug-in transmits MIDI
information to the Atmosphere/Trilogy Host, which in turn sends the
Atmosphere/Trilogy audio back to your DAW via the wrapper plug-in.

This solution is designed to be nearly identical to the native plug-in

experience - with the MIDI and Audio routing working automatically and
plug-in settings saved and recalled in the song.
WRAPPER HOST DIAGRAM
WRAPPER BLOCK DIAGRAM
INSTRUCTIONS

1) Install the original Atmosphere/Trilogy instrument from the DVD or

multi-CD installers.

NOTE: Make sure the 1.2.4 Audio Unit version of the original plug-in is
installed. This solution will not run on any DAW without this. The AU
updaters are included in the download for your convenience.

2) Run the Wrapper installer.

3) Start your DAW host, let it scan the new wrapper plugins, then exit and
restart the host.

4) To edit Atmosphere or Trilogy, click the Edit Button or select them in

the dock.

For installation help, see this thread in the Knowledge Base.

TUTORIAL VIDEOS

There are Quicktime tutorial videos posted in the support Knowledge Base on
how to use the Intel Wrappers in each major host.

HOW TO AUTHORIZE

You will need to authorize Atmosphere/Trilogy on the Intel Mac. The

Spectrasonics Knowledge Base has instructions on authorization procedures for
all the major OSX hosts.
WRAPPER FEATURES

• Works inside all Intel Mac DAW applications. The instruments appear as
standard plug-ins.

• All the sounds and features of the award-winning Atmosphere & Trilogy
instruments are available to Intel Mac users.

• The wrappers will remember Atmosphere/Trilogy edits made with the Intel
Mac DAWs, so you can save and recall projects created with these wrappers on
Intel Macs.

• Multiple instances can be accessed from inside the DAW.

• MIDI events for the Intel Mac Wrapper are recorded in the DAW, like any
other instrument plug-in.

• Audio from the instruments is routed back to the DAW, appearing like a
standard instrument plug-in. This allows full mixing of the instruments within the
DAW environment.

• Audio from the Wrappers can be frozen inside of the DAW, to optimize
performance.
IMPORTANT NOTES

• Song Compatibility

Songs created with the Intel Mac wrapper are only compatible with other Intel
Macs – songs made on other processors (G5, G4, G3, Windows PCs, etc) are
not compatible with this solution. For example - older songs created with the
PowerPC versions of Atmosphere & Trilogy will not load the Intel Mac wrappers.

• Editing Sounds

To select and edit sounds, you must switch to the Atmosphere Host or Trilogy
Host applications. When making adjustments to Atmosphere or Trilogy, you wonʼt
be able to control your DAW with your mouse or ASCII keyboard - until you
switch back your DAW. However, this process is made much easier via the Edit
button on the Wrapper GUI – which selects the corresponding Atmosphere/
Trilogy Host application for you. You can alternatively select the Atmosphere/
Trilogy host application in the Dock.

• Performance

CPU usage and audio performance is very sensitive to audio buffer size. Please
see the Performance Chart for your host for the recommended buffer sizes.

• OSX Versions

In some systems, there may be performance differences between Tiger and

Leopard operating systems, with Tiger having better performance. Please refer
to the host-specific Performance Chart for details regarding your system.

• Sample Rates

The Intel Mac Wrappers support operation at sample rates other than 44.1k, but
performance at sample rates higher than 48k will be greatly reduced.
IMPORTANT NOTES (continued)

• Multiple Instances

While itʼs possible to open multiple instances of the Wrappers for multitimbral
use, this “Rosetta-based” approach takes more CPU power than it does when
running these instruments natively on a PowerPC Mac. Freezing/rendering the
audio is recommended to save CPU resources.

• Audio Quality

When you initially send MIDI to the Wrappers, you may initially hear a pop or
clicks in Atmosphere/Trilogy - but then it should settle and perform better.
Additionally, you may experience these issues when you switch between
applications, save while the project is playing or do other edits on your DAW.
Therefore, we recommend avoiding extra computer activity when mixing,
bouncing or freezing your audio.

• Closing Windows

Closing the instrumentʼs plug-in window in the Atmopshere/Trilogy Host is

intentionally disabled. Please leave the window open and switch applications.

• Plug-In Settings

We donʼt recommend saving edits or custom patches using your hostʼs “plug-in
setting” feature, as it may not work properly with the wrapper. The wrapper
solution is also incompatible with “custom patches” that were originally created
with the native plug-ins.
HOST SPECIFIC NOTES

Digital Performer
------------------------
IMPORTANT: Read This Before You Install

There are some special procedures to follow when using these Public Beta
Wrappers with Digital Performer's AU Validation process.

We highly recommend watching the Video Tutorial for Digital Performer that is
available in the Support Knowledge Base before installing.
HOST SPECIFIC NOTES - DIGITAL PERFORMER (continued)

• Step 1: Install the original Atmosphere/Trilogy instrument first

• Step 2: Run the special "Digital Performer installer"

• Step 3. Authorize Atmosphere/Trilogy using Garageband

• Step 4. Launch DP to validate the Wrapper plug-ins

• The plug-ins can then be used as described in the documentation.

If you do not have Garageband, please consult the Video Tutorial for Digital
Performer for an alternate method of how to Authorize and Validate with DP.

NOTE: Even though the wrapper installed with this version will work after the
validation process is successful, it is still necessary to install the v06 wrapper to
be able to work at sample rates other than 44.1k
HOST SPECIFIC NOTES (continued)

Logic
--------
• In Logic, for best playback performance, do not select a track assigned to an
Intel wrapper during playback. Select any other track during playback for best
performance. Ideally, it's best to select an Instrument track with nothing assigned
to it.

• Closing a project in Logic doesn't quit the wrapper hosts until a new project is
created or opened.

Garageband
-----------------
• Under Audio/MIDI preferences, select the "Large Buffer Size" option
(Maximum number of simultaneous tracks)
HOST SPECIFIC NOTES (continued)

Pro Tools
-------------
• In The Playback Engine, use the following recommended settings.

• If you have a multi-processor system (such as a dual-core) itʼs important to limit

the Pro Tools RTAS Processors to “1 Processor” for this solution to work properly.

• Checking the “Ignore Errors During Playback/Record” button will allow for more
voices; however, listen carefully to check for any audio errors.

• Attempting to save a session while the transport in is motion may interrupt the
audio processing and produce an error message. Stop the transport before
saving the session.
FAQS - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Will I be able to load my Atmosphere/Trilogy patch settings that Iʼve saved

in my song?
Yes. The Intel Mac wrapper will remember your settings on any new song project
you create. However, you will not be able to load your saved patch information
from any song project created before the wrapper was released or from songs
created using other processors (G3/G4/G5/Windows computers). Likewise,
people using non-Intel Mac computers will not be able to recall your songʼs
Atmosphere/Trilogy custom settings.

I have a lot of Atmosphere & Trilogy tracks in my songs created on my G3/

G4/G5 system - will the new wrapper automatically work on those tracks?
No. You will need to reassign those tracks to new instances of the Atmosphere & Trilogy
wrappers and reselect the sounds in the instruments to match the original songs.

But I have a lot of custom Atmosphere/Trilogy settings on my tracks – and

since I canʼt load them with the wrapper, what do I do now?
We recommend that you bounce/render (or freeze) your original Atmosphere and
Trilogy sessions to audio tracks on a compatible, non-Intel Mac computer.

Is there going to be an Intel Wrapper for Classic Stylus?

No. There are no plans to make an Intel wrapper for Classic Stylus, since Stylus
RMX has superseded it. Stylus RMX is currently a native Intel Mac plug-in and
contains the entire Classic Stylus library.

Are the Atmosphere/Trilogy Intel Mac solutions “Universal Binary updates”?

No, these are not Universal Binary updates for Atmosphere or Trilogy, but a custom
support solution that enables the existing instruments to work on Intel Macs.

Why did you make this type of custom wrapper solution – why doesnʼt
Spectrasonics just make native Universal Binary versions, like many other
developers have done?
Our popular Atmosphere and Trilogy instruments use a special version of the UVI
engine, which Spectrasonics originally licensed from USB - not our own in-house
developed S.A.G.E. technology that Stylus RMX uses. The Intel Mac transition is a
major one for all music software companies to make, but it's much easier to make this
transition with in-house developed technology. This is one of the main reasons why we
were able to make the transition to Universal Binary for Stylus RMX so quickly.
FAQS - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (continued)

Therefore, it has taken much more time for our Atmosphere and Trilogy
customers to be able to make the transition to the Intel Mac world than it has for
Stylus RMX users.

We discovered that this custom Wrapper approach offered a viable solution for
our customers to be able to use the existing UVI-based plug-ins on Intel Macs
with good results. We are also pleased that we can make these Intel Mac support
solutions available to our users free of charge.

So is this all there is for the future of Atmosphere and Trilogy?

Not by a long shot! :-)

We are fully committed to the future development and long-term growth of these
instruments - and this future will of course be based on our own in-house
technology, with native Intel Mac/Universal Binary support.
PERFORMANCE CHARTS

Cubase 4
Atmosphere Trilogy
256 512 1024 256 512 1024
MacBook - Core2 Duo - 2.0Ghz Tiger Good Best Best Best Best Best
MacBook - Core2 Duo - 2.0Ghz Leopard Good Best Best Best Best Best

MacBook Pro - Core2 Duo - 2.4Ghz Tiger Good Best Best Best Best Best
MacBook Pro - Core2 Duo - 2.4Ghz Leopard Fair Best Best Best Best Best

iMac - Core Duo - 2.0Ghz Tiger Good Best Best Best Best Best
iMac - Core Duo - 2.0Ghz Leopard Good Best Best Best Best Best

iMac - Core2 Duo - 2.2Ghz Tiger Good Best Best Best Best Best
iMac - Core2 Duo - 2.2Ghz Leopard Good Best Best Best Best Best

Mac Pro - Quad Xeon - 3.0Ghz Tiger Best Best Best Best Best Best
Mac Pro - Quad Xeon - 3.0Ghz Leopard Best Best Best Best Best Best

KEY
Poor – unusable
Fair – limited usability
Good– acceptable performance
Best – highest performance

NA – host incompatible at time of testing

Tiger = OSX 10.4.10

Leopard = OSX 10.5

256, 512 & 1024 indicate hostʼs buffer setting

Version Tested – Cubase 4.0.2.2213

PERFORMANCE CHARTS (continued)

Digital Performer 5
Atmosphere Trilogy
256 512 1024 256 512 1024
MacBook - Core2 Duo - 2.0Ghz Tiger Good Best Best Best Best Best
MacBook - Core2 Duo - 2.0Ghz Leopard NA NA NA NA NA NA

MacBook Pro - Core2 Duo - 2.4Ghz Tiger Good Best Best Best Best Best
MacBook Pro - Core2 Duo - 2.4Ghz Leopard NA NA NA NA NA NA

iMac - Core Duo - 2.0Ghz Tiger Good Best Best Best Best Best
iMac - Core Duo - 2.0Ghz Leopard NA NA NA NA NA NA

iMac - Core2 Duo - 2.2Ghz Tiger Best Best Best Best Best Best
iMac - Core2 Duo - 2.2Ghz Leopard NA NA NA NA NA NA

Mac Pro - Quad Xeon - 3.0Ghz Tiger Best Best Best Best Best Best
Mac Pro - Quad Xeon - 3.0Ghz Leopard NA NA NA NA NA NA

KEY
Poor – unusable
Fair – limited usability
Good– acceptable performance
Best – highest performance

NA – host incompatible at time of testing

Tiger = OSX 10.4.10

Leopard = OSX 10.5

256, 512 & 1024 indicate hostʼs buffer setting

Version Tested – Digital Performer 5.12

PERFORMANCE CHARTS (continued)

Ableton Live 6
Atmosphere Trilogy
256 512 1024 256 512 1024
MacBook - Core2 Duo - 2.0Ghz Tiger Poor Good Good Fair Best Best
MacBook - Core2 Duo - 2.0Ghz Leopard Poor Fair Fair Fair Good Best

MacBook Pro - Core2 Duo - 2.4Ghz Tiger Fair Good Best Good Best Best
MacBook Pro - Core2 Duo - 2.4Ghz Leopard Poor Fair Good Fair Best Best

iMac - Core Duo - 2.0Ghz Tiger Fair Good Good Good Best Best
iMac - Core Duo - 2.0Ghz Leopard Poor Fair Best Good Best Best

iMac - Core2 Duo - 2.2Ghz Tiger Poor Good Best Good Best Best
iMac - Core2 Duo - 2.2Ghz Leopard Poor Good Best Good Best Best

Mac Pro - Quad Xeon - 3.0Ghz Tiger Best Best Best Best Best Best
Mac Pro - Quad Xeon - 3.0Ghz Leopard Fair Best Best Best Best Best

KEY
Poor – unusable
Fair – limited usability
Good– acceptable performance
Best – highest performance

NA – host incompatible at time of testing

Tiger = OSX 10.4.10

Leopard = OSX 10.5

256, 512 & 1024 indicate hostʼs buffer setting

Version Tested – Ableton Live 6.0.7

PERFORMANCE CHARTS (continued)

Logic 8
Atmosphere Trilogy
256 512 1024 256 512 1024
MacBook - Core2 Duo - 2.0Ghz Tiger Poor Good Best Good Best Best
MacBook - Core2 Duo - 2.0Ghz Leopard Poor Fair Best Fair Good Best

MacBook Pro - Core2 Duo - 2.4Ghz Tiger Fair Best Best Good Best Best
MacBook Pro - Core2 Duo - 2.4Ghz Leopard Poor Good Best Fair Best Best

iMac - Core Duo - 2.0Ghz Tiger Fair Good Best Good Best Best
iMac - Core Duo - 2.0Ghz Leopard Fair Good Best Good Best Best

iMac - Core2 Duo - 2.2Ghz Tiger Poor Best Best Good Best Best
iMac - Core2 Duo - 2.2Ghz Leopard Poor Fair Best Fair Best Best

Mac Pro - Quad Xeon - 3.0Ghz Tiger Best Best Best Best Best Best
Mac Pro - Quad Xeon - 3.0Ghz Leopard Best Best Best Best Best Best

KEY
Poor – unusable
Fair – limited usability
Good– acceptable performance
Best – highest performance

NA – host incompatible at time of testing

Tiger = OSX 10.4.10

Leopard = OSX 10.5

256, 512 & 1024 indicate hostʼs buffer setting

Version Tested – Apple Logic Studio 8.0.0

PERFORMANCE CHARTS (continued)

Pro Tools 7
Atmosphere Trilogy
256 512 1024 256 512 1024
MacBook - Core2 Duo - 2.0Ghz Tiger Poor Good Best Good Best Best
MacBook - Core2 Duo - 2.0Ghz Leopard NA NA NA NA NA NA

MacBook Pro - Core2 Duo - 2.4Ghz Tiger Poor Good Best Good Best Best
MacBook Pro - Core2 Duo - 2.4Ghz Leopard NA NA NA NA NA NA

iMac - Core Duo - 2.0Ghz Tiger Fair Good Good Good Best Best
iMac - Core Duo - 2.0Ghz Leopard NA NA NA NA NA NA

iMac - Core2 Duo - 2.2Ghz Tiger Fair Best Best Best Best Best
iMac - Core2 Duo - 2.2Ghz Leopard NA NA NA NA NA NA

Mac Pro - Quad Xeon - 3.0Ghz Tiger Best Best Best Best Best Best
Mac Pro - Quad Xeon - 3.0Ghz Leopard NA NA NA NA NA NA

KEY
Poor – unusable
Fair – limited usability
Good– acceptable performance
Best – highest performance

NA – host incompatible at time of testing

Tiger = OSX 10.4.10

Leopard = OSX 10.5

256, 512 & 1024 indicate hostʼs buffer setting

Version Tested – Pro Tool LE 7.3.1 cs5 with MBox