Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...

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Re: Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...
« Reply #300 on: March 19, 2017, 04:42:55 PM »
How about some of the more modern samplers such as older MPC models, the new MPC Live or the Elektron boxes such as Octatrack? They are of cause all Software With Knobs (TM) so its the same thing as a software solution. But there are there and work fairly well.

And yeah, a new sampler with analog filters would be awesome!
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Re: Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...
« Reply #301 on: March 20, 2017, 02:40:09 AM »
How about some of the more modern samplers such as older MPC models, the new MPC Live or the Elektron boxes such as Octatrack? They are of cause all Software With Knobs (TM) so its the same thing as a software solution. But there are there and work fairly well.

And yeah, a new sampler with analog filters would be awesome!

I never really caught on to the AKAI MPCs... honestly I never had one... I always liked E-MU because of their incredible audio quality. Most samplers have no intuitive way of browsing huge libraries of samples/banks... it is always something with entering a load menu, then choosing a bank, load it, and then see if it was the right sound... or you have to go back and find another one.... The E-MU's have internal HD with gigabytes of space, and when you use it's "soundsprint" mode, you can browse thru individual patches in saved banks on the HD, and it will load them temporarily into RAM so that you can play it while you browse... when you find a preset you like, you just merge it with the current bank you have in memory.... this way of doing it is the most intuitive way I've ever seen in a sampler... it saves so much time, and you end up with a bank that has ONLY the presets and samples you want in your project, and can save that easily for later recall.

Show me just ONE other sampler that has this feature, and I'll be VERY interested :D

Octatrack is out of the question.... I really do not like the workflow of Elektron machines... and their sysex is not for SoundDiver... Ultra samplers already have editors in SoundDiver ;) ... I am interrested in their newest and coming product though... the DIGITAKT... but when I learned it only does mono samples, it fell to the ground for me.... I did like the idear of having 1GB of internal drive in it... but still, no info on how these samples would be browsed... if I cannot browse and play the highlighted sample while browsing, I dont want it... it's that simple. :) ... yes I'm a demanding motherf..... I know :D

Besides... I could get two used E5000 Ultra's for the price of a single DIGITAKT... Elektron products are highly overpriced in my opinion, especially that DIGITAKT.... even if it's a new product aimed at a lower cost than their other gear, considdering it's just a simple sample trigger machine with a sequencer, it's too expensive in my point of view. A like product like the KORG Electribe 2 sampler will offer just as much for only half the price..
« Last Edit: March 20, 2017, 02:44:30 AM by Razmo »
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dslsynth

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Re: Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...
« Reply #302 on: March 20, 2017, 03:07:17 AM »
I do get what you are saying. User interface matter! And maybe a new design with analog filters show up one of these years. I seem to be aware of at least one manufacturer having that as a possible future product. And who knows what Dave Rossum may want to do in the future. It sounds like quite a huge undertaking to get both sound, features and UI right.
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Re: Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...
« Reply #303 on: April 13, 2017, 12:29:55 PM »
A small update... not much new has happened in my studio by means of more synths... in fact I'm currently selling most of what I have, because I am tired of never making any music at all... always waiting for something new... it has to stop.

Thus I'm selling Microwave II, FS1R, Proteus 2000, EVS-1 and Rack Attack... Blofeld will go as soon as the Quantum is on the market.

I decided to only have what I NEED... and not what I WANT... because I will always be wanting more synths, and it paralyze my music making... So I'm gathering the synths I NEED for the Ambeint genre I'm into, which will be; V-Synth XT, E-MU E5000 Ultra, Prophet 12, Quantum and one more which I do not yet know what will be... that's it... 5 synths... I also sell my mixers, and connect everything directly to my Audio card... even external FX will go, since I'll start using plugins instead for that which gives me more flexibility.

One of my major aims has been to get rid of using editors... I'm sick and tired of SoundDivers limitations, and 3rd party ugly editors that either don't work well, or just do not like... so my aim is to ONLY have synths where I actually like and use their interfaces, which would make me non-dependent on editors.... so no more SysEx shit here to deal with... this is why I've chosen the E-MU E5000 Ultra... it's the best hardware sampler around, and has a really cool interface... same goes for V-Synth XT... and the Quantum will feature a huge color touchpanel display too, so it will fit the bill.... Prophet 12 has a very intuitive interface too... fits the bill as well.

In addition, most of these synths have some sort of built in storage capability, so I'm not hindered by a certain amount of preset locations... Quantum will have SD storage, V-Synth XT has Compact Flash storage, and I just upgraded the E-MU with an internal Compact Flash card reader/writer as well... the P12 do not have any storage means, but at least it has so many preset slots I think it will do.

I'm really happy with this setup because it has much less cable cluttering, it's more intuitive to work with, and I can focus on fewer machines instead of too many.

So currently I am sampling a lot of sounds from the machines I'm selling, to have their timbres for use in the samplers... I've ordered a new display for the E-MU as well, a white on black display, giving me more contrast than the dull one they were born with... some expansions to my RME AIO soundcard for more analog inputs is on the way too.

A lot of my future music will be done with sampling in various ways... this is also why I want the Quantum, since it has granular sampling, a synthesis type I currently do not have... a lot of live recording of sounds will be done for the music as well, using microphones.

So... there you have it... a "small" update, but one I'm certainly looking forward to :)
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Re: Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...
« Reply #304 on: April 14, 2017, 01:05:31 PM »
Sounds like a reasonable move Razmo.   I'm thinking about getting a sampler.  I've never had one, but would want one that is hardware based with good sound quality.    Do you think something like the EMU's can sample a cymbal for instance?  I'd like to sample my acoustic drums just for the heck of it.   Also,  I'd like to sample some stringed instruments like a hammered dulcimer.   I haven't researched these much, but figured you'd know.   
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Re: Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...
« Reply #305 on: April 14, 2017, 02:36:46 PM »
Sounds like a reasonable move Razmo.   I'm thinking about getting a sampler.  I've never had one, but would want one that is hardware based with good sound quality.    Do you think something like the EMU's can sample a cymbal for instance?  I'd like to sample my acoustic drums just for the heck of it.   Also,  I'd like to sample some stringed instruments like a hammered dulcimer.   I haven't researched these much, but figured you'd know.

The E-MU Ultra samplers is the best hardware quality sampler in my opinion... E-MU was one of the leading sampler manufacturers when they still themselves (before Creative Labs bought them)... It is also the most intuitive of those I've tried, and has the best user interface.

If anything is bad about them, it is that it's hard to get samples from the computer and into the sampler... to do this you would have to have some sort of SCSI storage medium that can be connected to both computer and sampler, and SCSI is not exactly the most used interface anymore.

The easiest way to get samples back and forth is to get an Ultra sampler (must be ultra!) as these with their last OS, will be able to read FAT32 storage media which can also be read by a computer... with the Ultra samplers, this is OS 4.7

You can still purchase some SCSI PCMCIA card readers today, that will allow you to use Compact Flash cards with the Ultra samplers via a PCMCIA->CF card adapter, but these drives are pricey, and cost almost the same as an E-MU E5000 Ultra sampler... they are used with many old samplers and that is why they are so expensive... they are rare, and useful... I invested in one anyway because it eases the transferring of samples considerably.

You can of course also sample directly on the Ultra sampler via it's analog inputs, and it has really good converters... so if you do not need to transfer between computer and sampler, you can very well leave out an SCSI PCMCIA reader like above... the Ultra samplers can have both SCSI and IDE internal harddrives, but these are also getting harder and harder to find, though not as expensive since they are mostly obsolete now... but some kind of storage medium is needed for you to save your samplings.
And yes... of course you can sample a Cymbal... you can sample anything you want to... via microphone, or any other audio material... that is the whole purpose of a sampler ...

At the same time remember, that the E-MU sampler (Ultra) work as a synth... samples still go into a filter and into an amplifier afterwards, and you have modulation matrixes to modulate via LFO's and envelopes etc.. .the "oscillators" are just samplings... it gives many opportunities for creative work really, but be aware that these samplers are DEEP! ... they take some time to get around ;)
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Re: Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...
« Reply #306 on: April 14, 2017, 02:51:29 PM »
Show me just ONE other sampler that has this feature, and I'll be VERY interested :D


Nord Wave?  Software Samplers like Sample Tank or the Logic EXS24?
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Re: Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...
« Reply #307 on: April 14, 2017, 05:00:06 PM »
Show me just ONE other sampler that has this feature, and I'll be VERY interested :D


Nord Wave?  Software Samplers like Sample Tank or the Logic EXS24?

I believe that the Nord Wave is storing it's samples in flash like the Blofeld... I am not 100% though... software is not a choice for me, I'm a strict hardware guy :)

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Re: Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...
« Reply #308 on: April 17, 2017, 11:16:31 AM »
Thanks Razmo for the details.   I would not need to bring in any samples from computer,  just via analog microphone.  So this would work fine.   I'll study some videos and such and maybe end up shopping for one.
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Re: Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...
« Reply #309 on: April 18, 2017, 04:21:27 PM »
Thanks Razmo for the details.   I would not need to bring in any samples from computer,  just via analog microphone.  So this would work fine.   I'll study some videos and such and maybe end up shopping for one.

Just remember to watch out for the "Ultra" ... there are many earlier versions of the Emulator 4... the only one that will allow for FAT32 drives are the Ultra's with EOS 4.7

There are these models as far as I recall:

E4K
E64
E6400
E4XT
E4XT Turbo
E4XT Hollywood Gold
E4 ESynth

none of those are "Ultras".

The Ultra series consist of:

E5000 Ultra (64voices, 2 stereo outs, 1 MIDI I/O)
E6400 Ultra (64 voices, 4 stereo outs, 1 MIDI I/O)
E4XT Ultra (128 voices, 4 stereo outs, 2 MIDI I/O, ASCII connector, Digital AES/EBU I/O)
E4 Platinum (The flagship... has it all, including RFX effects option... very hard to find)

The easiest, and cheapest are the E5000, and that is the only one that cannot be upgraded to full Platinum status.. it is limited to max. 6 stereo outs and 64 voices... all other options can be installed, but the options are pretty rare, so go for the specs you want from the start, and assure they are in the sampler.
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Re: Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...
« Reply #310 on: April 20, 2017, 01:39:45 AM »
My setup got a lot of similarities with Razmo's approach. The main difference is I make my own software and am only limited to what the device supports as that is what an instrument should be. Don't need keys, just racks and desktops which have full programmable MIDI Sysex implementation and just focus only on a few devices and brands, like DSI's range. Not going the audio recording only on a DAW approach soon because automation is fun to play with on real hardware. Roland has recently fallen off my wish list due to their very poor MIDI support in their new products (it's just software, unbelievable..still hoping on a System 8 update). Stepped on many toes of people who believe you should only buy stuff with keys and one function per knob because that's what you need for playing (live).

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Re: Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...
« Reply #311 on: April 20, 2017, 04:14:43 PM »
I've recently had an interest in samplers starting to percolate. Certainly not a module that I'd need MIDI to play, but something for recording fragments from my modular and playing them from pads in real time. I've got a Roland MS-1 that I could press back into service, but its limitations as an improvisational instrument are crippling.

I almost think that an ancient Boss Dr. Sample would be perfect.
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Re: Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...
« Reply #312 on: April 20, 2017, 05:03:32 PM »
I would love to see an old Emulator II type sampler. It just seems like such a fast way to get sequences going and adjust ADSR of samples that it seems like such a missed opportunity that no one is doing it. Perhaps Pioneer and DSI could make something of this idea. Hell. I'm surprised Kurzweil is dropping the ball doing something similar with their lower priced stuff. Nord doesn't seem to be as immediate as an Emulator so you spend more time programming than playing.

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Re: Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...
« Reply #313 on: April 21, 2017, 12:47:26 AM »
I've recently had an interest in samplers starting to percolate. Certainly not a module that I'd need MIDI to play, but something for recording fragments from my modular and playing them from pads in real time. I've got a Roland MS-1 that I could press back into service, but its limitations as an improvisational instrument are crippling.

I almost think that an ancient Boss Dr. Sample would be perfect.

I understand that recording your modular would be cool... in fact I'm also going to record my other instruments, and mostly I'll be recording things with my SONY mobile recorder for digital manipulation later.

The reason a sampler is cool for my usage is, that it's extremely fast to get really dense pad sounds out of... you can more or less just sample something, and then throw it into the E5000 Ultra, within a template pad preset. The nice thing is, that I can have hundreds of samples in there quickly, and just scroll thru them in the template... it's fast, intuitive and lets me have extremely high quality ambient pads in a split second without even programing anything at all, all I need to do is transfer the samples in there from the DAW.

The internet is flooding with looped samples, and they are eası to create yourself as well... I've got software that can find seamless loop points quickly, so there is not even long times involved with sample editing... and if a sample prove difficult, you just crossfade it. Recording your own stuff is also lots of fun, and I'm thinking about getting a record player just for sampling old records found on flee markets etc. You can turn anything into a mush of pad soup with a little processing so you cannot even hear what the original was, and that is what intrigues me because you get something interesting really fast.

I could go a long way using only samplers... but they cannot do it all though, so I'll need a few other synths to do what samplers do not... this is why I will keep my Prophet 12, and buy a Waldorf Quantum when it arrives at the market... I may also get a few others, up to the limit of inputs of my RME AIO soundcard (which I may upgrade with an 8channel ADAT interface to get more inputs later).

Actually I've been searching for a sample trigger hardware machine as well in the past, but never really were satisfied with anything available... the worst problem is always the means to get samples in and out of the box, and if this is not a problem, then it's something else. It would be nice if DSI one day would do something like the E-MU SP1200 box (see? E-MU pop up again, they were king of the samplers ;) )... I think that would sell pretty well if priced right... and no... the Pioneer one does NOT cut it, it needs analog VCF/VCA for EVERY pad! :D
« Last Edit: April 21, 2017, 12:51:52 AM by Razmo »
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Re: Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...
« Reply #314 on: April 21, 2017, 12:59:18 AM »
Now that I think of it.... if DSI can make a 16voice REV2 at that pricepoint, that has 16 VCO/VCA with built in FX, and they proved that they could use the Curtis filter chips for drumsounds on the Tempest, then I really think they could also do a SP1200 like groovebox... they usually have 16 pads anyway, so it fits the REV2 numbers perfectly... 16 pads, 16 Curtis VCO's, 16 Curtis filters, 16 VCA's, Digital sample oscillators... just add a powerful sequencer to the mix, and a storage medium that allow for gigabytes of storage on a SD card, and allow for fast LIVE browsing of samples on the card, laid out in FAT format with full directory structure so that samples in your library can be neatly categorized. Make sure every pad has FX sends, and that Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Delay and Reverb is included.... an analog distortion curcuit on every pad would be welcome too. Now let every pad work on their OWN MIDI channel, so that a full SysEx spec can be made, and not that half-felt implementation of the Tempest. MIDI control should be complete.

Anyone?
« Last Edit: April 21, 2017, 01:02:28 AM by Razmo »
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Re: Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...
« Reply #315 on: April 21, 2017, 03:00:32 AM »
Now that I think of it.... if DSI can make a 16voice REV2 at that pricepoint, that has 16 VCO/VCA with built in FX, and they proved that they could use the Curtis filter chips for drumsounds on the Tempest, then I really think they could also do a SP1200 like groovebox... they usually have 16 pads anyway, so it fits the REV2 numbers perfectly... 16 pads, 16 Curtis VCO's, 16 Curtis filters, 16 VCA's, Digital sample oscillators... just add a powerful sequencer to the mix, and a storage medium that allow for gigabytes of storage on a SD card, and allow for fast LIVE browsing of samples on the card, laid out in FAT format with full directory structure so that samples in your library can be neatly categorized. Make sure every pad has FX sends, and that Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Delay and Reverb is included.... an analog distortion curcuit on every pad would be welcome too. Now let every pad work on their OWN MIDI channel, so that a full SysEx spec can be made, and not that half-felt implementation of the Tempest. MIDI control should be complete.

Anyone?

I'd rather have a keyboard based sampler than a drum machine or box sampler. Also the Rev2 has DCO not VCOs.

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Re: Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...
« Reply #316 on: April 21, 2017, 03:38:42 AM »
I really think they could also do a SP1200 like groovebox
Anyone?

DSI probably wouldn't step on Pioneer's toes by making something too close to the SP-16. They might even be contractually prohibited (alert: that's pure speculation).
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Re: Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...
« Reply #317 on: April 21, 2017, 06:04:01 AM »
I've been really disappointed with Kurzweil as of late. They've ditched their 5 Pin Midi connections on their lower priced synths, they seem to be ditching their PC line and it seems like they don't offer too much variety.

Nord should really be looking into a more hands on sampler themselves. An analog style interface, easier and faster way to sample (ala Korg's microsampler). They really should look into incorporating a sequencer into their stuff. I know most people use DAWs but honestly I always prefer using on board sequencers.

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Re: Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...
« Reply #318 on: April 21, 2017, 06:16:08 AM »
Now that I think of it.... if DSI can make a 16voice REV2 at that pricepoint, that has 16 VCO/VCA with built in FX, and they proved that they could use the Curtis filter chips for drumsounds on the Tempest, then I really think they could also do a SP1200 like groovebox... they usually have 16 pads anyway, so it fits the REV2 numbers perfectly... 16 pads, 16 Curtis VCO's, 16 Curtis filters, 16 VCA's, Digital sample oscillators... just add a powerful sequencer to the mix, and a storage medium that allow for gigabytes of storage on a SD card, and allow for fast LIVE browsing of samples on the card, laid out in FAT format with full directory structure so that samples in your library can be neatly categorized. Make sure every pad has FX sends, and that Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Delay and Reverb is included.... an analog distortion curcuit on every pad would be welcome too. Now let every pad work on their OWN MIDI channel, so that a full SysEx spec can be made, and not that half-felt implementation of the Tempest. MIDI control should be complete.

Anyone?

I'd rather have a keyboard based sampler than a drum machine or box sampler. Also the Rev2 has DCO not VCOs.

I also want a sampler synth (but without keys thank you!) ... I just gave the example of SP1200 because I was talking "sample trigger machines"
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Razmo

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Re: Razmo's Gear Rant Thread...
« Reply #319 on: April 21, 2017, 06:17:39 AM »
I really think they could also do a SP1200 like groovebox
Anyone?

DSI probably wouldn't step on Pioneer's toes by making something too close to the SP-16. They might even be contractually prohibited (alert: that's pure speculation).

But... the Pioneer is nowhere near what I'm talking about exept for being a sample trigger... it has ONE DSI filter global, and I want one with VCF/VCA etc. per pad... but you may be right... if that was to be real, Pioneer's would probably look dull in comparison.
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