Mavericks 10.9.4 or 10.9.5

[JFreak]

It's not a joke, far from it. Avid blessing really means it has been tested well and they will support the software combination. I think it is great.

It is also no joke that PT 11.2.1 works very well on an unsupported latest Mavericks and even on the not yet released Yosemite. I have a secondary Yosemite partition and run it whenever there are no extra people behind my back. It feels better than Mavericks, whether unsupported.

[ronwasserman]

10.9.5 Better than 10.9.4 for me. Been composing away....runs a bit smoother.

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by JFreak

It's not a joke, far from it. Avid blessing really means it has been tested well and they will support the software combination.

With the important caveat that blessing does not mean perfect. There are still many bugs in each "approved" version of PT, and some are related to its interaction with the OS, so the PT/OS combination matters. Also, latest is not necessarily the greatest. PT10 is a prime example: the latest version is less usable for many people than the the previous version. A fatal bug exists in 10.3.9 and why many have regressed back to 10.3.8.

So although Avid's blessing is a good guideline it's not the final word in which configuration will operate best. For some people, using certain versions of PT, the latest approved OS is not the ideal option.

[RJSAudio]

I found myself in a similar situation back in November when I got two new Macs, both of which came with mavericks. Neither Pro Tools nor UAD supported mavericks and things were really rough for quite some time, but have stabilized greatly since 10.9.3. Haven't bothered with 10.9.5 yet, but plan to upgrade when a supported version of Pro Tools is released.

For what it's worth, my advice to Pro Tools users would be to always have two partitions on your work machine if possible - one for testing updates and/or personal usage and one where you only install what you are absolutely certain of. I've avoided a lot of headache by doing things this way.

[Marcel Risberg]

I'd say, 10.9.3 is the way to go as 10.9.4 is not approved, but more important; Pro Tools 11 is not stable under 10.9.4.

I would never download my OS or any business critical app from a torrent or a nonofficial site.

You're right, Apple won't allow downloads of older-than-the-latest version for the full OS installers. (There are however older-than-the-latest "combo updates" available - which won't help those who are on a different OS like 10.8 for instance, or if you're already on a later than approved version like 10.9.4 or 10.9.5.)

I solved this my own problem by going by car to my closest Apple store and asked one of the geniuses to help me out. 20 minutes later this genius stepped out of the shop with a smile and handed me the USB stick I handed him earlier - now as a bootable 10.9.3 installer.

[Cheesehead]

Just wondering Marcel why you say PT11 is unstable with 10.9.4?

I find it extremely stable, probably the most stable its been since PT7.

It might be system/ computer specific though?

[ronwasserman]

Originally Posted by Cheesehead

Just wondering Marcel why you say PT11 is unstable with 10.9.4?

I find it extremely stable, probably the most stable its been since PT7.

It might be system/ computer specific though?

Bet you it's because he appears to only be running 8GB Ram. That, sadly, is not enough for PT and Mavericks.

[Marcel Risberg]

Originally Posted by ronwasserman

Bet you it's because he appears to only be running 8GB Ram. That, sadly, is not enough for PT and Mavericks.

My machines are not qualified either. But to me 10.9.4 is not as stable with PT 11 as 10.9.3. I've also heard the same from other users, and read about at related sites.

[Marcel Risberg]

Originally Posted by Cheesehead

Just wondering Marcel why you say PT11 is unstable with 10.9.4?

I find it extremely stable, probably the most stable its been since PT7.

You're not working with video are you? 10 was a lot stabler than 11. I mean, you don't have to go back to as far as 7 to find a stable solution.

PT 11.2.1 crashes constantly under 10.9.4. 11.2 is sluggish and crashes a few times an hour under 10.9.4. I can work almost an entire day with 11.2 under 10.9.3.

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by Marcel Risberg

Pro Tools 11 is not stable under 10.9.4.

I just finished reading a long thread hailing PT11 / 10.9.4 as one of the most stable combinations in many years. I guess "YMMV" applies here.