Different Startup Chime on Intel Macs?

[czardmitri]

Although it is true that not every Mac had it's own startup chime, and the chime did evolve over time, you are a bit muttled with respect to why, in what models and when.

The original Macintosh startup chime sounded different because it was based on an 8-bit, 22 kHz DAC. The chime remained pretty much the same until the 16-bit DACs and A/V models of Macintosh emerged in the early to mid-1990s. The chime was enhanced by adding more notes to the chord. The chord was still the same. The difference aurally between the standard 16-bit DACs in the Quadra series (and others with 16-bit DACs that came after) and the ones in the AV series was due to the DSP in the AV models. The DSP added spatial effects (reverb, sustain, etc.) to the chime. The other models lacked this DSP, so the chime 'sounded' different.

Since that time, and the time of the Power Mac, the chime has remained the same on all Macintosh models.
.

You seem to be forgetting that the PowerMacs 6100, 7100, and 8100 all had the Stanley Jordan plucked chord startup sound. I had a 6100 way back when...

-czardmitri

 

[rfoap]

Mac Laptop Chime Mute

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/16425

This mutes the startup chime. A must have, esp if you use your laptop in a classroom, etc where you don't particularly want it to make a noise when booting.

Sorry, this is a repeat ... Gimzotoy beat me to it ... but here it is again!

You don't need any fancy program to mute the chime on a Mac laptop, just hold down the mute key on the keyboard as you boot, and what do you know, no chime.

I know this works on my 12" Powerbook (Rev. C) as well as both the 12" and 14" ibooks (G4).

 

[jsalzer]

The Power of the Gods

Besides, when I bring over PC friends and turn up the volume before booting up my mac its like having the power of god emanating from the computer, "buhhhhhhhh!" and everyone's heart beats a little faster...

OK, so can I safely assume I'm not the only one who comes to a complete stand-still and raises his arms from his sides to the air like a phoenix rising during the startup chime, the power of the Apple Gods flowing through him?

Or is it just me?

I don't get to hear my Pismo's chime that much, but luckily for me, I have an iMac G5 that crashes on a regular basis, allowing me to hear the startup chime at least twice a day!!!

 

[lalcan]

IMHO the startup chime is insanely great, it's a statement as much as the original happy face, it tells everybody around that the master of all personal computers is in the building. It produces a space-time standstill and, yes, it makes my heart miss a beat.

Not that it couldn't be improved, perhaps something like the THX sound would be better, but it has to be elegant, please not anything like the cheap windos startup sound.

And thinking about it, would it be feasible to make the Macs play the startup sound when waking up from sleep? that would be cool...

 

[Sharewaredemon]

insanely great

I hope you did that on purpose!

 

[lalcan]

I hope you did that on purpose!

Hey! i didn't even notice, must have been some sort of divine inspiration

insanely great: adj.
[Mac community, from Steve Jobs; also BSD Unix people via Bill Joy] Something so incredibly elegant that it is imaginable only to someone possessing the most puissant of hacker-natures. Also, the internal name for the original Macintosh.

Wired Article

 

[bdkennedy1]

Viiv

I think it's going to be a new chime for Intel's VIIV. Let's see if I'm right. Intel is coming of age with its new chips, deal with Apple, and it's a huge deal. Makes sense. Intel can't use the same chime forever.

 

[spencecb]

Although it is true that not every Mac had it's own startup chime, and the chime did evolve over time, you are a bit muttled with respect to why, in what models and when.

The original Macintosh startup chime sounded different because it was based on an 8-bit, 22 kHz DAC. The chime remained pretty much the same until the 16-bit DACs and A/V models of Macintosh emerged in the early to mid-1990s. The chime was enhanced by adding more notes to the chord. The chord was still the same. The difference aurally between the standard 16-bit DACs in the Quadra series (and others with 16-bit DACs that came after) and the ones in the AV series was due to the DSP in the AV models. The DSP added spatial effects (reverb, sustain, etc.) to the chime. The other models lacked this DSP, so the chime 'sounded' different.

Since that time, and the time of the Power Mac, the chime has remained the same on all Macintosh models.

I think this rumor is unfounded. But, who knows what Steve will decide in the end.

I don't believe this is entirely accurate...at least not according to the version tracker application. There are some Macs that used the same chord as the one used today, but it had a clear (I believe it is called) metso forte at the beginning...a term in music where you strike the note louder and immediately soften to a crescendo. The current chord is just a slight crescendo...

And on a side note...This is a small point, but it irritates me. My iMac G5 does not access my external speakers until it is actually in the OS, and this really upset me when I first got it, because I made sure I had my speakers up to an ample volume so the first chime my iMac ever made was a memorable one My PowerBook accesses the external speakers right on startup if I have them connected. I think this is because the iMac uses a higher-quality connector, and therefor requires OS support to function...but I may have just made that up.

 

[cgc]

I have had my chime disabled now for a year...sweet silence...

 

[cait-sith]

Sunrunner is absolutely right -- you shouldn't be powering down your laptop!!!!!! There is no reason to! You should just close the lid and let it go to sleep. Why on earth would you power it down? The whole reason they invented the sleep function was to allow you to quickly stop/start working again.

From my powerbook:

% uptime
14:36 up 21 days, 3:20, 3 users, load averages: 0.27 0.25 0.33

 

[jono_3]

i know what the new chime is - "cha ching"

 

[homeward]

They slowed down the "playback" speed of the startup chime from what it was on my old Powerbook 1400. It's the same orchestral chord as then, only "slowed down" so that it plays back nearly a whole step lower, if my ears don't deceive me. Makes it sound like the orchestra is under water.

 

[jiv3turkey748]

no i love the start up sound

 

[Randall]

The new startup sound will be a toilet flushing, followed by somebody saying, "Has anybody seen my wallet?"

 

[RobHague]

Probably start it up and U2 belts out 'Original of the Species' and then 3 mins later the Mac starts up.

 

[Super Dave]

Well said, Gopher.

Bring back the Happy Mac!

View attachment 36756

And the Sad Mac! And the Picasso drawing... ok I am going overboard, but I do miss all of these things.

I really think that they should bring back the startup movie. Not one you can change, but one that Apple makes. Nothing tacky, just very subtle motion graphics surrounding the Apple logo or the Mac OS logo.

David

 

[macmax77]

if it's not the smoke on the water riff, just leave the one we have

 

[7on]

one could always take headphones and cut off everything but the nub and insert it into the headphone jack when you startup.

At least it isn't a PC and beeps and hisses when you turn it on.

 

[Rantipole]

Well said, Gopher.

Bring back the Happy Mac!

View attachment 36756

Yes!!

 

[Randall]

one could always take headphones and cut off everything but the nub and insert it into the headphone jack when you startup.

At least it isn't a PC and beeps and hisses when you turn it on.

Beeps and hisses? Are we talking about PCs built within the last 5 years? 'cause they don't do that...

 

[AUBPsych]

I downloaded the Mactracker application, and I must admit - the Death Chime modeled after the "Twilight Zone" theme song is a bit unsettling. It would be cool to bring the Happy Mac icon back; it's a classic.

I think the startup chime for the current Macs is A-OK

 

[notjustjay]

Besides, no one has ever put a hard drive into an MP3 player before Appl

I know you're probably trying to be sarcastic, but just to clarify the point: Creative beat Apple to bringing out a hard-drive-based MP3 player. The Nomad Jukebox. I had one.

 

[Kingsly]

Hey I had a nomad too. About the size of a discman and about as much memory as a mini.
I wish there was a way to have a custom startup sound that plays during the apple logo/spinning gear phase of startup, after the original OpenFirmware sound does its thing. Kind of like when I modded the login window to say "Mac OS XVIII" to freak out a PC friend...

 

[SilvorX]

The Apple chime is what tells everyone you have a Mac without being able to see it. It's one of those little cool touches.

exactly, I love starting up a mac and getting a "hello" from the bong sound, makes me feel at home

 

[Sunrunner]

Hey I had a nomad too. About the size of a discman and about as much memory as a mini.
I wish there was a way to have a custom startup sound that plays during the apple logo/spinning gear phase of startup, after the original OpenFirmware sound does its thing. Kind of like when I modded the login window to say "Mac OS XVIII" to freak out a PC friend...

That reminds me of all the different sound customization one could do with OS 9; startup sounds and several dozen other such options (all with third party software of course).