Posted
As is detailed in this article, coming this fall with the macOS 10.14 update, Synfire and HN2 will make the final move to 64-bit and no longer ship with any 32-bit components.
We would have liked to continue support for legacy 32-bit audio plugins, but time is moving on. In order to stay compatible with evolving operating systems, we have no choice but to eventually abandon 32-bit audio for good. On Windows 10, the transition will take a little longer, presumably until next year.
Questions, suggestions and discussion are welcome in this thread.
Sat, 2018-08-25 - 20:47 Permalink
We are making progress with the migration. Synfire is already running 64 bit and is now being fine-tuned and tested.
Most developers merely need to tick a box to make their software compile for 64 bit. Since Synfire is based on rather unusual programming languages (for their AI capabilities), it is more work for us. We are currently porting all software to a new generation of our development environment. Graphics interfaces and other details have changed a lot, so this migration is a bit time consuming.
Important
Synfire users should get rid of their 32 bit projects and migrate them to 64 bit racks at earliest convenience (https://users.cognitone.com/wiki/migrating-64-bit). The next update of Synfire will no longer be able to open 32 bit racks and arrangements.
Most likely though, you will be able to run Synfire 1.8.5 on macOS Mojave for a while. It is said to be the definitely last macOS to support 32 bit apps. This will give you the opportunity to migrate your racks and arrangements anytime next year.
Wed, 2018-08-29 - 22:10 Permalink
Steinberg is doing the same with their tools. I recently got the latest Cubase Elements which no longer supports 32-bit VSTs. (I found that, for me, Cubase seems to have the best percussion editor which I am using along with Addictive Drums now.) Curiously, the latest Wavelab Elements still seems to support 32-bit VSTs. So, I suspect Synfire and HN2 users will need to migrate anyway, if they are using the latest of other tools.
Thu, 2018-09-27 - 20:45 Permalink
Mojave is out now and Synfire 1.8.5 still works fine, as far as we tested. This will allow for a smooth transition to the 64 bit only platform.
As always however, we recommend waiting for at least the first macOS update after a new release, before upgrading a mission critical production system. At this early time, if you happen to have two Macs, we recommend upgrading only one machine for testing for now.
Sun, 2019-07-07 - 13:25 Permalink
The time has come: On macOS Catalina, due this fall, 32-bit code will no longer run.
Therefore our next update in the 1.9 series (due soon, possibly numbered 1.10), will no longer support 32-bit audio. There will be only a single 64-bit Audio Engine, Scanner, ReWire Transport and Synfire user interface. All plugins that come with Synfire will be 64-bit only too, including the DAW Drones.
In order to be consistent across platforms, we will also make this move on Windows, since most users have switched to a 64-bit tool chain now and a 64-bit Windows OS has been a system requirement for quite a while.
Migration
When a 32-bit global rack or arrangement is opened, a migration dialog will pop up where users can select the appropriate 64-bit versions of their plugins before loading continues. Once the file is saved, the migration is complete. We went to great lengths to make the transition as smooth as possible.
We're looking forward to a simplified user experience and smaller, faster downloads (about half the size).
If you encounter any issues, let us know.