Electronic Music and the NeXTcube – Running Max on the Ircam Musical Workstation (opens in new tab)

The only Atari machine featuring a DSP (the same Motorola 56001 as in NeXT machines) was the Falcon, which was introduced in 1992 - four years after the introduction of the NeXT system (and one year before NeXT black hardware was discontinued). Less than 20,000 Falcons were produced [1], whereas around 50,000 NeXT machines were built.

AFAIK the only Amiga that would have come with a DSP in a default configuration is the never released A3000+ which used an AT&T DSP3210. Prototypes of the A3000+ existed in 1991.

The major contribution of the original Atari STs to music were the built-in MIDI ports, which made it easy and simple to connect digital synthesizers, keyboards, etc. The music capabilities of a regular ST were rather constrained due to its outdated AY-3-8910/YM2149 sound chip (the SID in a C64 was more capable). Only the STE introduced PCM audio.

I guess someone more knowledgable about Amigas than me can add some facts about its sound capabilities.

[1] https://stcarchiv.de/stc1993/10/interview-atari-bob-gleadow

Atari was used a lot by electronic musicians for sequencing because of its built-in MIDI ports. Amiga was popular with the tracking scene.

Not influencial in the way the Cube is described here, as the platforms were a class of apps was developed in, more used practical applications.

I think you're replying to the author of the linked article, and the comment appears to be a gentle rewording of the intro paragraph.

I do recognize that 'one of the first off-the-shelf devices for high-quality, real-time music applications' it is somewhat murky and a lot was happening in the late 80s, beginning 90s. This thread already contains pointers to other - more accessible alternatives. Giving more proper definitions helps: With real-time I mean that audio (or a MIDI event) can enter the system and, with a low latency in the order of 20ms, a sound can be produced. With high-quality I mean that it is capable to generate 16bit samples at 44.1kHz (CD-quality, at the level of human hearing). This combination made it one of the first (the first?) truly general systems for electronic music applications.

Influental in the hobby scene, for sure. He was talking about the revolution to do all this without extra DSP's, all in normal software, with standard HW.

And it was used in serious modern music, as practiced in the various modern music departments on the best universities, even when they did have the big money. In Graz they had this MAX/Next setup from IRCAM and simulated opera singers, in Paris at the IRCAM which did a famous movie with it, the Neitherlands, Gent and Montreal.

They continue to work on PureData, but it began taking over the industry with Ableton then. And with all it free clones.

I think it depends which type of 'electronic music' you're talking about.

You're probably right that approximately noone was making rave and jungle on NeXT machines, but on the other hand it's true that approximately noone was doing academic electronic composition on Amiga or Atari, which is really the tradition that this is referring to. And these were mostly separate worlds for another decade.

I'm confused by GP's comment. I think there should be a distinction, as people generally think of influence on music artistically, rather than technical. The NeXTCube might have been influential on the technical and academic side, but as you mentioned the Amiga and Atari were responsible for an artistic revolution by progressing and even creating whole genres.

Aphex Twin used Amigas, not NeXTCubes.

Well, the Fairlight wasn't exactly for the general market, as it cost as much as a house (and people like Gabriel had custom ones built, and hired assistants to operate them).