Breaking news! Allan L. Hoeltje has ported VSIGfile to the Mac. Find it at his web site.
VSIG is intended for use on a PC. However, I have had success running VSIG on several models of Macintosh under the PC emulation software Virtual PC.
This document is a BRIEF description of how I have set my system up. These are NOT step by step instructions. Note that I came to this hardware/software configuration by experimenting. The use of VSIG on a Macintosh and connecting a Mac to the Eventide line of effects is not officially supported. Use this cable and the implied software setup (running VSIG on Virtual PC on a Macintosh) at your own risk. No warranty is expressed or implied.
That being said, the system works like a charm for me and I understand that others have also had great success using these suggestions.
First, you will need a Macintosh with an "old" style Mac serial connection on it. Here I am referring to the 8 pin din connector that was standard on the Mac II through tan G3 and was also available on Mac laptops until USB took over. If you computer does not have this type of connection you must equip it with one. On Blue/White G3 desktop models and on G4 desktops I have had success using the Stealth Serial Port by Gee Three. This $50 device gets installed inside your machine where the built in Modem normally goes. This does mean that you cannot have a built in modem on your desktop machine. I have not had ANY success using other serial port adapters including USB to serial port adapters (such as the IMate). That being said, you might have more luck than I did. Please let me know if you do.
Once you have a Stealth Serial port installed you will need a special cable. This is used to connect from the Mac to the Eventide. Originally I used two modem cables (one Mac and one PC) stuck together. Eventually I figured out the pinout of that cable and had one several of these cables made. They worked like a charm. Here are the instructions I gave to my cable maker:
One end is a standard 9pin sub DIN connector, male, which connects to the Eventide. The pin numbers are numbered like this if you are looking at the connector from the front. (Sorry about the lack of graphics)
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
||||
|
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
The Mac end is a standard 8 pin D cable, male. I don't know the offical numbering for this cable's pins, but this is what I will be using for this description, again, looking from the front of the connector.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 4 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 7 | 8 |
The Pinout looks like this
| 9pin (242) | 8pin(232) | |
| 2 | Goes to | 6 |
| 3 | Goes to | 4 |
| 4 | Goes to | 7 |
Only these three cables need to be connected.
I then installed Virtual PC on my Mac (I happen to be running Windows 98 on it, but I have also had success with Windows 2000). In Virtual PC I assign my Mac Modem port (which is the Stealth Serial Port that I installed previously) to be the PC "COM-1" port. Then, in VSIG I set the system to use "COM-1" and VSIG magically starts communicating via the Stealth Serial Port.
Again, these are only the basics of the system setup, but the rest is fairly straightforward and is the same stuff you would have to do if VSIG was running on a PC (such as setting VSIG and the Eventide to communicate via Serial as opposed to MIDI and setting the parity, stop bits and speed of communication in the Eventide and in VSIG).
Best of luck,
Vance Galloway
Vance Galloway graciously gave us permission to post this result of his research. If you have any additions or emendations that will help Mac users, please let us know and we'll pass them along.
This, along with much helpful information, regularly appears on the Eventide User's Group, an internet discussion group which is neither sponsored nor censored by Eventide.
This page updated 26 October 2004