Hackintosh for Music Production - a Few Questions

[NicoD]

Sure thing, thanks Nico.
I'm half tempted to leave Thunderbolt and go for a smaller, cheaper motherboard, especially as I don't currently have a use for it, and including is merely for future proofing. Maybe it's better to just pick up a board that will support TB PCI cards instead.

I was considering for a while getting a TB-ready mobo just in case I would buy a TB device in the future. The prospect of such current mobos being compatible with future versions of OS X was not very clear so I decided against this plan.
What are the TB devices on the market anyway? Apple monitors, some high-end sound interfaces and what else?

Am I right in thinking a board MUST have a TB header to allow TB PCI card expansions?

AFAIK no one can tell for sure.
Nick

 

[DavidPye]

I hear you, I had been wondering the very same thing, and actually have been looking at the very board you have, but I think I'm going to go with a cheaper Z170 so I can overclock.
Then if the TB3 thing gets worked out I'll switch out the mobo.

Yeah, it's the audio hardware I'm interested in as that's what I do. My interfaces are in need of an update, but I'd been thinking of going USB for that stuff anyway, for ease and compatibility.

 

[NicoD]

I hear you, I had been wondering the very same thing, and actually have been looking at the very board you have, but I think I'm going to go with a cheaper Z170 so I can overclock.

I decided against overclocking right from the beginning. I am on a budget, I don't play games and this investment is long term.

Then if the TB3 thing gets worked out I'll switch out the mobo.

Like you I might need to change the mobo and hence probably the CPU too.

Yeah, it's the audio hardware I'm interested in as that's what I do. My interfaces are in need of an update, but I'd been thinking of going USB for that stuff anyway, for ease and compatibility.

AFAIK with music what's paramount is stability of transmission rather than speed. Many audio devices are FW 400 only. The issue with USB, IMHO, is its extreme dependence on CPU activity and its low stability.
The reason why it's so is that, unlike other technologies such as FW, TB or the old SCSI (1), USB doesn't have its own controller. That's why it's much cheaper. That's why it's unidirectional too. So what's doing the control? The CPU, what else? Once I had just bought a new USB HD and started backing up large amounts of data. My Mac became practically unusable: performances would regularly collapse.
So USB is perfect for cheap and not demanding devices such as keyboard, mouse, USB sticks, light back-up disks, cameras, etc., but when it comes to serious stuff like music and large amount of data it's not up to the task. With a technology like FW, the controllers on both devices (computer and external disk for example) communicate directly with each other and access whatever component it needs (hard disk on computer for example) without interfering with the CPU.
If I had to replace my audio interface I wouldn't choose a USB one even though you find practically nothing else today. I would go for a used FW one.

Nick
1) I still own SCSI devices! they are just gathering dust on a shelf of course.

 

[DavidPye]

Yeah, I'm well aware of the differences between USB, Firewire and Thunderbolt.
I've done extensive testing in the past of the differences and merits of each platform.

BUT the problem is not one of which interface is BEST for audio, because as you say it's a low bandwidth (comparatively), but, it's a question of what connections do companies choose to put on their hardware.
The industry is following the fashions Apple creates, essentially.

If I wanted to buy a new interface for my own uses now, I'd be looking at something similar to an Antelope Orion, which ship with USB and Thunderbolt 2, it can easily transfer 32 i/o (i AND o) over USB 2/3.
Most interfaces with TB ports also carry an amount of DSP processing as well, which validates the use of TB.

I'm with you, honestly, but to buy hardware now, which will be worth using for the next 10 years (to make the cost worthwhile), I need to meet the manufacturers on a level and equip myself with whatever they're using.

On another note, I just had another tweet from Gigabyte saying that the standard Z170-UD3 is thunderbolt 3 enable now, if you download the latest drivers/BIOS.

 

[NicoD]

Yeah, I'm well aware of the differences between USB, Firewire and Thunderbolt.
I've done extensive testing in the past of the differences and merits of each platform.

BUT the problem is not one of which interface is BEST for audio, because as you say it's a low bandwidth (comparatively), but, it's a question of what connections do companies choose to put on their hardware.
The industry is following the fashions Apple creates, essentially.

You are right, now most of the devices are USB.

Just FYI, I am not in the music industry. I am just a amateur listener.
I bought my interface about 10 years ago because I was fed up with inadequate audio CD readers that whether didn't deliver a good sound (hence had a lousy D/A converter), were not able to read CDs with just a scratch or a dust, were outrageously expensive, or a combination of the three. I decided to put my CDs in an iTunes library and plug my Mac to my amp. Therefore I needed a good D/A converter since I couldn't count on the little chipset of my Mac to produce a signal up to my sound system. After a thorough research I opted for a semi-professional interface that I use only for one function. It was extremely cheap compared to audio CD readers and I have been elated by the sound it delivers.
The only worry I have is that M-Audio doesn't support the device any more and doesn't update the driver so some day it'll be incompatible with a version of OS X.
Hence, even though it's working like a charm, I may be obliged one day to replace it. Especially since I bought a FW card I'll try find a FW interface. There are some.

Since my interface has two S/PDIF ports, RCA type, I considered getting a mobo with such a port but the ones I found were optical so it needed yet another converter and since I had never tested S/PDIF with my interface it was unknown territory for me so I dropped the idea.

On another note, I just had another tweet from Gigabyte saying that the standard Z170-UD3 is thunderbolt 3 enable now, if you download the latest drivers/BIOS.

Great. I hope it'll work with the next OS X that supports TB3.