An intrepid development team is quietly bringing the power of
Linux audio to the ultimate flexibility of Mac OS X and Core Audio.
It's called JackOSX,
and if you haven't checked it out yet, now is the time: with this free
software, you can route audio between any Core Audio-based Mac apps
(that's basically everything except Pro Tools), and take advantage of
cool audio and music tools from the penguin.
0.6 was a major release, adding a graphical manager for connections.
Jack 0.61, just released, adds compatibility fixes for applications
like Skype (Internet calling utility) and Rax
(must-have AU host). You can even use Jack to synchronize apps (a la
ReWire) — hit play in one, and you'll start the transport of another
— though currently only Jack-native apps are supported. (Full CoreMIDI
support is planned.)
There's even more good news: thanks to Jack, free Linux apps like
Ardour, SuperLooper, and Hydrogen are all coming to Mac OS X. Many of
these are already running on OS X and will soon be ready for
prime-time. Stay tuned.
In brief, let me say that again:
- Route audio anywhere you want, and (soon) sync any apps
- Run new free Linux music apps on your Mac
- Free download
(Bonus points to anyone who got the Blues Brothers joke in my byline.)