I have a mid 2011 MacBook Pro. I bought 16Gb of RAM and a new HDD 1Tb 7200rpm. I know it's not much but is all I can do for the moment.

I am going to make a clean install of OSx and I don't know what version I should choose. I am currently using Mavericks but I think I have some compatibility issues, or my OS is already fucked up.

I use Ableton Live, Trillian, VST's mainly.
I have compatibility issues with Max 7 (always crashes) and I never could install Omnisphere.

I was thinking to install 10.8, because I think my computer used to work better before the upgrading. But I am open to any suggestion.

Cheers.

 

I keep my MBP (see my signature) always up to date and I only had issues with older versions of u-he products, Nexus 1.x and some older Sonnox plugs. 32 Lives (for Sylenth1), all NI, all Waves, Serum, Omnisphere 2 and all the major plugins I can think of work fine under Ableton Live and Logic Pro X.

In my opinion the OS is messing things just compatibility-wise (see u-he) not resource-wise. If you really need certain products which are not updated for the latest OSX versions, the only thing is to go back to the most recent OSX version that supports your software. If you can let aside the respective apps and/or plugins, stick to the most recent OSX - also the daily use of the mac (outside music production) is more easier.

Just make sure, reglardless the OSX version you use, that you close all the unnecessary apps when producing music - they will free up some CPU (although mid 2011 MBP could very well have an i7-Q processor which is super OK if you treat your machine responsibly).

PS: The new OSX update (El Capitan) will be tuned for lower-spec'd machines even more, so this is another reason to go to Yosemite now and upgrade to El Capitan in the autumn.

PS2: It may very well worth spending few days testing 2-3 OS-es until you find the one that works best with your essentials apps.

Cheers!

 

Thanks mate for your comments ;). May be I choose the Yosemite version. Or at least Mavericks again.

 

I`m running OSX Mavericks 10.9.5. and do not experience any problems with Max Version 7.0.4 which is the latest.

No problems with the plugins eighter.

 

Oh, great, so probably my problem is that my OS is damage.
Another vote for a newer version ;)

Thanks

 

If you are going to clean install, I say get the latest (Yosemite) so you don't have to worry about being too far behind to try newer plugins and software. Performance is great for me on my 2010 MBP, 2012 MBP, and hackintosh. I haven't had any issues other than the "completely empty plug-in windows" in 32-bit Live, but I've come to live with it (We have updated versions for most plugins that resolve the issue).

 

I would recommend Mavericks for a nice middle ground between new and old. New enough to run most of the software yet its not Yosemite which is full of bugs.