OSX Mavericks 10.9.1 update

The long awaited first update to OSX Mavericks is available. However it doesn’t fix the Firewire sleep issue with external drives.

Mac mini 2013/2014 coming

New Mac Pro was released only few weeks before holidays, as with pro users these timings don’t count. Also the mac mini isn’t what leads Apple (while more and more are buying it on refurb) and wasn’t updated during October’s update.

Then the new mac mini may be released at any time, and one forum user reported some information that may hint at an upcoming release in the following weeks, bringing Haswell and Iris graphics :

I work in an Apple Reseller and like many of you i’m waiting for the mini 2013 refresh.

From monday the two major Apple suppliers in Italy are suddenly and completely out of stock of minis. I know that this happen from time to time, but the timing is no coincidence.

Trust me, a new mini is coming next week, or at least we have solid evidence to believe it.

Bioshock Infinite : Burial at Sea review

Bioshock Infinite’s Burial at Sea provides about 4 hours of exploring famous Rapture world, before events from first game, using Unreal Engine 3 to achieve even greater immersion.

The story and details are more convincing than Bioshock’s Infinite ones (while fitting perfectly with events where it did close), and this DLC’s first episode ending opens way for even greater opportunities in gameplay and story/unveiling. Finally Rapture world is the best, and UE3 is better suited for underwater rendering.

Note : the DLC isn’t localized, then you have to turn on subtitles if required.

EZX Metal Machines : best sounding and efficient

During black friday we could get Metal Machines EZX extension for Toontrack’s EZDrummer and Superior Drummer for EUR 29. This library of only 850 MB installed size (and 300 MB used memory, instant loading from SSD) provides great snares and outstanding toms, plus nice kick and crash cymbal (ride cymbals however aren’t good and have to be replaced by other libraries).

Comparing with Superior Drummer’s stock drum set (20 GB), Native Instrument”s Studio Drummer, Best Service Artist Drums and other libraries, Metal Machines really stands out and is the most efficient and best sounding (also best convincing) drums library (either while playing – great response – or triggering built in patterns). Also Toontrack engine (EZX libraries work great in Superior Drummer) allows very low CPU load (while Kontakt would stall quickly) and adds this proprietary real time human feeling.