I've been using Pd for about three or four years and at times I've used Max/MSP/Jitter as well. I've looked around the internet for people's thoughts on each of these audio / video programming environments. I like them both, but...
I prefer the sound of Pd - this is mainly because of the kind of music I make with it - have a listen - because I can push it to the point of clipping and it won't cut out the way that Max will. That's not a big deal but I like the fact that it will go over the "edge" and sound really gritty and dirty.
Obviously I like the fact that Pd is Open Source and free to download and use. And I've never had it crash on me during a gig.
I like Max because I can create really simple, easy to use interfaces (in Presentation Mode - in Max 5) that are simple to build - Pd requires a little more thought in order to create a clear interface for live playing, but it's absolutely possible, it just takes me longer.
Max isn't Open Source and is pretty expensive. It also doesn't run on Linux - this isn't a huge problem at the moment as I currently use a Mac more often than not when I play live, but when it dies (which it is doing, slowly after only 18 months) I will probably move to Linux for audio stuff when playing live - I can't for recording and mixing at home as my soundcard (a MOTU 828mkII) has no driver support on Linux (for that matter it doesn't really work with Windows either).
As an aside, don't think I am an Apple fanboy - OK, I have two Macs here but that's it (I don't own any of their little toys beginning with "i"). I like OS X but that's because I used to have a programming job where I used OS X Server a lot, but that was alongside Solaris and Linux - all three are good in my eyes (Solaris being rock solid in my opinion). And OS X only got good around version 10.4. I'd been using Linux for years before I even contemplated looking OS X in the eye. And a lot of stuff I use on my Macs is OSS - via Mac Ports and Fink.
Back to Max and Pd.
I find Max 5 a real resource hog compared to Pd, ok it doesn't freeze my computer but it can get a bit rattly at times.
Jitter and GEM? Well they're very different. I managed to write an FM synth patch that is controlled using Jitter by taking the feed from my webcam and translating the luminosity of a point in the image via [random] objects to control the pitch and harmonic index of the operators in the synth (which is a very simple 4-OP affair). I've got to say it took me ages to work out how to do it. I managed to write a Pd/GEM patch using OpenCV to control a timestretched sample in about quarter of the time. I suspect Jitter probably offers much more sophisticated video manipulation than GEM as it seems more complex but I haven't really done enough programming in either to really find out yet.
As to which I prefer, well in terms of use it would be Pd by a long chalk - I don't have a license for Max on my laptop which is where I do 90% of my audio programming. I know I can use the Max/MSP Runtime to run patches that I have compiled on my desktop computer but in practice this doesn't work too well for me as I often edit patches during soundchecks to align my sounds more to the situation I am in - something that is really important when playing improvised music.
I like them both though, but Pd is winning me over at the moment.
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