Music Making

[ironbut]

If I had to choose an interface/soundcard today, it would be a tough choice IMHO.

It seems like every day a new enticing unit hits the market. 

SSL, Cranesong, Universal, Antelope, Focusrite, Apogee, RME,  Merging...

Even though I'm usually not the guy who asks for help, I would consider making a list of my "must haves" like connection choices and my "dream list" like what I "might" get into in the future, and call a reputable source like Vintage King Audio or Sweetwater for their opinion. 

I bug the guys at Vintage all the time and I'm usually glad I did.

Should say that I've got a coupe of Metric Halo interfaces that I love.

A LIO-8 3D (bought from Voltron and recently upgraded) and a ULN-2 I've had since 2009 (I use for location recording).

Edited July 3, 2020 by ironbut

[Kattefjaes]

On 7/3/2020 at 6:46 PM, Torpedo said:

Do the line outputs sound like a good DAC?

I absolutely haven't been too lazy to dig out 1/4 inch or XLR cables and run them into one of my headamps, to compare to the Gungnir Multibit. No siree.

Will report back when I have tried it- prediction is that it will be very clean and precise, very delta sigma flavoured.

[Torpedo]

2 hours ago, Kattefjaes said:

I absolutely haven't been too lazy to dig out 1/4 inch or XLR cables and run them into one of my headamps, to compare to the Gungnir Multibit. No siree.

Will report back when I have tried it- prediction is that it will be very clean and precise, very delta sigma flavoured.

OK, let us know

[ironbut]

Here's a nice (mac) tool for viewing MIDI messages (or the lack of,..) coming from devices in your system.

Logic shows midi messages but they go by so feakin fast that all you reliably see is that there is a signal coming in.

snoize MiDI Monitor is free and light.

Great for solving difficult midi issues.

https://www.snoize.com/MIDIMonitor/

[Dusty Chalk]

Lollers, I’ve just been playing my Prophet6 straight into headphones.  Unlike the Prophet5–which is monaural—it has stereo effects, which make it non-painful to listen to.

[acidbasement]

I kind of want to get the Arturia Keylab 61mkii, for controlling my Deluge. A secondary benefit of getting one is that it comes with a pretty great suite of softsynths too (Analog Lab collection). But I don't have a computer that will do it justice. 

Are standalone softsynths as demanding of computers as DAWs? Or can I improve an old PC by adding RAM and an SSD, and a low-latency interface, and be happy? I'll already have to save up for the Keylab, and a decently-spec'd computer like I'd need to run a DAW just isn't in the cards during pandemic.

Edited July 21, 2020 by acidbasement

[ironbut]

Funny you should mention the Keylab 61.

My faithful old Novation Impulse 61 (bought in 2013) started acting weird and after trying a number of things, I decided to retire it.

I tried a NI 61A keyboard but it was too clacky/noisy for me so I sent it back.

I ordered a black Keylab 61 mkII from Vintage King (couldn't find anyone who had any in stock).

That was the beginning of July and my sales rep said my order was added to an existing order that was made in June.

So far, no word on when I can expect it. 

Luckily my Impulse still works well enough so some workarounds make it useable for the time being (I do have to unplug it when using some Kontakt instruments that use CC#1/mod wheel for important controls such as dynamic layer choice).

Anywho, I'll let you know what I think when it gets here.

Regarding softsynths,..

They vary greatly. But newer ones aren't as cpu hungry as ones like Omnisphere or Stylus. 

I think that modern computers have plenty of grunt to run any standalone synth though. 

Of course, certain patches are worse than others (complex time based modulations) and you can bring just about any cpu to it's knees if you stack enough of them.

When I was in between houses and staying in an AirBB, I ran Pro Tools, Ableton, Logic or Reaper from my 2012 MacBook Pro in clamshell mode (closed with and external monitor).

It has a 4 core Intel i7 with 16G ram.

Here's a screenshot of a Reaper session I was working on at that time.

Not exactly a big project but I can't recall even thinking that it was putting a stain on my laptop (the laptop's fan noise makes it obvious when it is having a tough time).

[acidbasement]

Thanks, that's good to know. I had heard from someone in a synth group on FB that the Keylab will be available once again in September. Coincides well with me being (hopefully) slightly less poor.

[acidbasement]

Budget compact mixer recommendations anyone? I want a few stereo and four mono channels, bells and whistles not required. Prefer to avoid Behringer because Uli seems to be a jerk.

[VPI]

You said budget but you did not mention whose, so I would lean towards Neve.

[acidbasement]

And I didn't say how compact so you assumed like a car.

[Dusty Chalk]

https://islandmusicco.com/mackie-402vlz4-4-channel-mixer/

[ironbut]

Yamaha has a slew of lower cost mixers and their cost to quality ratio is usually pretty high for musical devices.

Once again, it pays to think about what you want to do with it (live-studio-both) what features are most important and then discuss it with a sales guy at somewhere like Sweetwater.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

50 minutes ago, ironbut said:

Yamaha has a slew of lower cost mixers and their cost to quality ratio is usually pretty high for musical devices.

Yeah, Yamaha is good, too.  I believe my Steinberg unit is rebranded Yamaha or Alesis, which is also good.

And I agree with getting advice from a professional -- I was looking at the Mackie offerings and they've bifurcated several times to the point where I can't keep track, and it's largely feature sets.  So you can probably find the exact combination of features you want, and not pay for anything you don't need.

[ironbut]

Tosin Abasi was mentioned in another thread and this is a nice interview that RB did a few months back.

A little "deep in the weeds" for a general listening thread so I thought it was more appropriate here.

Sorry for posting the same video Dusty. I was thinking that you'd posted one of the NAMM 2019 videos and not this one.

Must be gittin' soft in the head in my old age!

Edited August 6, 2020 by ironbut

[acidbasement]

On 7/31/2020 at 6:13 PM, acidbasement said:

Budget compact mixer recommendations anyone? I want a few stereo and four mono channels, bells and whistles not required. Prefer to avoid Behringer because Uli seems to be a jerk.

I ended up getting the Mackie ProFX10 v3. It does everything I need, plus a bit more, and they had it in stock in the brick and mortar independent store where I got my first drumkit at 14 years old.

[VPI]

Since I know of nowhere else to post this, I am going to put it here, after singing a song into it and auto tuning the fuck out of it. #MusicMaking. 
 

 

[acidbasement]

I'm trading my Minibrute and Circuit for an Elektron Digitone. Should be taking possession tonight. 

[VPI]

Okay, so I got the Moog thing that Iain recommended, who here is going to tell me how to work it???

[Dusty Chalk]

Press the white things

Press the black things

Turn the round things

etc.

[acidbasement]

I told you to get the Moog One 🤣

[VPI]

And I told you it was too big for my desk so you told me to get this thing.

[Torpedo]

Pictures or it didn't happen. Maybe some YT video.

[VPI]

2 hours ago, Torpedo said:

Pictures or it didn't happen. Maybe some YT video.

I did not film our conversation, but I guess I could get you a screen shot if it is that important. He certainly tried to convince me the $6k unit was the ideal starter Synch, but he did mention the cheap one I bought. 
 

 

Edited August 7, 2020 by VPI

[acidbasement]

I bought shares in Moog right after we had that conversation, so you'd better not be done shopping.

Edited August 8, 2020 by acidbasement