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Beginners Forum
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Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 3
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OP
Newbie
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 3 |
Hi All,
I'm considering buying BIAB for Mac. I currently use iReal Pro but am looking for better backing, just not sure if the 'Pro' version of BIAB is sufficient, being on a budget that's probably the only one I could afford. I just don't want to buy a $129 piece of software and find that I need to spend $100s more.
Additionally does BIAB Mac have all the features of the Windows version?
Thanks,
James
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Beginners Forum
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,503
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Posts: 27,503 |
Hello and welcome. I'm a jazz player and I have both Windows and Mac versions. The Mac version was just updated to version 2018 and it has MOST of the features of the Windows version. If there is something specific you need to know, we can answer. In addition, the piano roll which is one of the main differences is expected soon for the Mac version. The Windows version also comes with RealBand, a free DAW that integrates with BIAB. The Mac version does not have that, but you can drag tracks into Garageband.
The advice you will get here is to buy as much as you can, but the base program is the same no matter what version you buy. You can always add styles and RealTracks later. It's more expensive to add individual paks than to just get the UltraPak with them all.
+1 for Monk and Kenny Clarke
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Beginners Forum
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Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 10,794
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Yup.... my advice is to buy up the food chain as far as your budget allows....maybe even stretch it a bit. The main difference between the lower cost vs higher cost versions is the number of real tracks that are included. The basic version is essentially midi with a few real tracks included. Real tracks absolutely are the way to go. There's almost no way to tell it's not a real studio musician playing when you use real tracks because that's exactly what it is. Midi always sounds like midi..... and practically anyone can spot a midi track immediately. Not so with the Real Tracks. Listen to my music. I do not use Midi tracks in any of it with very few exceptions.
There is a 100% money back no questions guarantee offered by PG Music if you don't like it.
Very few people return the product.
I've found that BB does Jazz exceptionally well. I don't think you will be disappointed.
I've heard that the MAC version doesn't include Real Band.... which is where I create a lot of my real tracks that don't fit in a given style..... fiddle or steel guitar in a hard rock style for example. It might be worth getting a PC to run the music program if you really wanted to get the full power of BB/RB at your disposal. I know the PC version has thousands of styles and hundreds of real tracks and they keep adding more. I did this.... essentially, I built, but you could just as easily buy, a dedicated PC to run the music programs. Transfer the files and tracks from the PC into the MAC as waves and mix them in the Mac. I have a song where the singer was recorded in a studio running Pro Tools (Mac) and the file works perfectly well in my PC.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Beginners Forum
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Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 3
Newbie
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Newbie
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 3 |
Thanks for the responses. Is it possible to buy the pro version then upgrade to MegaPAK or UltraPAK, or indeed buy MegaPAK and then upgrade to UltraPAK for the cost difference, or close to the cost difference? Or is it upfront or much higher costs?
Re Mac vs PC I have Logic Pro (& obviously GarageBand) is there anything RealBand does that wouldn’t be abale to fairly easily do with those?
Thanks
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Beginners Forum
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 11,010
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 11,010 |
RealBand is a Windows only product so the program does not ship with Band-in-a-Box for Mac.
The Mega PAK includes all the material included in the Pro PAK plus additional content.
When you purchase the UltraPAK or Audiophile you purchase at a discounted, upgrade price instead of the first time purchase price. PG Music sales can better answer your pricing questions.
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Beginners Forum
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Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 3
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OP
Newbie
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 3 |
Thanks, I understand that RealBand is Windows only, Guitarhacker suggested buying a PC so I can run the windows version, which I’d rather not do if possible, my question is whether RealBand adds anything that I can’t do with my existing DAWs on the Mac instead.
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Beginners Forum
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Joined: Oct 2008
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Hi James, Many people who have Windows BIAB do not use Realband. While I do use Realband every once in a while, these days I mostly I do everything I want in BIAB. For what I do, I could live without Realband. I write songs and then arrange them. To this, my plan of attack is... 1. Write the song in BIAB. 2. Transfer audio tracks from BIAB to my DAW. 3. (This step I sometimes do. It's not necessary to use Realband here because I can also do what I want in BIAB.) Open the BIAB songfile in Realband and generate some additional tracks. 4. When all my audio is transferred to my DAW, I then mix the tracks in my DAW and add vocals, audio effects, etc. 5. I create a final, single (compiled) audio file using my DAW. In a nutshell, I use BIAB to generate instrumental and rhythm audio files. I then take those files to a DAW and mix them down into a final, single audio file. If you want to have a listen to some of my work and get an idea of how BIAB (Windows) sounds when I use it, go to... https://soundcloud.com/noel-adamsThe below link is to Janice and Bud Merritt's website. They are very productive with BIAB (Mac). https://soundcloud.com/mootsmanLastly, Alan and Di at the below website, obtain finished products straight from BIAB (no DAW is involved in most of their work as I understand it). https://soundcloud.com/alananddiHopefully this helps. Regards, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Beginners Forum
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,503
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RealBand reads BIAB files directly. No other DAW does that.
RealBand can regenerate part of a track. BIAB cannot do that; it regenerates the whole track.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 393
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 393 |
Re Mac vs PC I have Logic Pro (& obviously GarageBand) is there anything RealBand does that wouldn’t be abale to fairly easily do with those?
Thanks
In a word, no. As someone who moved to a Mac 5-10 years ago, the one thing I saw that you could do with Real Band was to regenerate a small part of a song rather than regenerate the whole thing. Say you were trying to generate a 12 bar sax solo, and were happy with all of it except the middle four bars of it. Real Band would allow you to just regenerate those middle 4 bars of the solo - over and over - until you got something you were happy with. With the BIAB and Logic combination now, I'd just have to regenerate the whole song and drag-and-drop the sax part into Logic over and over - where I can cut and paste to my heart's content. Bruce
Macbook Pro 2018
2.6 GHz 6-core Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM
OS Monterey
BIAB for Mac 2022
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Beginners Forum
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Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 3,414
PG Music Staff
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PG Music Staff
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 3,414 |
Thanks for the responses. Is it possible to buy the pro version then upgrade to MegaPAK or UltraPAK, or indeed buy MegaPAK and then upgrade to UltraPAK for the cost difference, or close to the cost difference? Or is it upfront or much higher costs? Hi Epistrophy  We're glad to hear you're considering Band-in-a-Box! The users posting in this subject have basically hit the nail on the head. For pricing inquiries, feel free to give us a call at 1-800-268-6272, or + 800-4746-8742 if you aren't in North America. You can use the Live Chat option on our site in the top right of the main page too if calling isn't ideal where you are.
Cheers,
Deryk
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