johnchop

I’m on Waves Soundgrid (ASIO). Indeed I get much better performance in Gig Performer than, say, Ableton Live. Still, it’s odd that the CPU doesn’t gradually ramp as I hold down more notes (as other plugins might). It sticks around 16% and there’s a CPU spike (presumably, because of the audible click) and then it’s back to 16%. It’s enough to set the CPU overload warning in Ableton, but not sustained enough such that I can see it register on the meter. As someone who owns too many plugins and has used them for years, the Roland stuff has been a bit of an odd duck in this regard. I feel like there’s a lot of promise there, but they need to SIMPLIFY. Give me an “SRX player” plug-in and then license libraries. Give me one drum machine with a superset of TR features and then allow me to switch modes based on which model I own. Ditch the “rack module” UI. For me, the sound is there, just not the overall experience.

Signed up for a month of Ultimate to see what’s what, and … I dunno. Running on 12th Gen Intel i7 and most of the plug-ins struggle at 128 sample buffer (my preferred setting for playing). I don’t mind the 15-16% CPU utilization with the plug-in idle, but there’s an intermittent spike that’s causing a noticeable click. The legendary plugins are pretty cool, but I’m not sure what I’m getting except for nostalgia factor. The UIs could be better (sliders for parameters that aren’t continuous?) . The several drum machine variants seem like a cash grab. A plug-in per SRX? Why? I’m just sort of whelmed. The sound is good—clearly Roland-y—but they have optimization to do. Id revisit if they ditched the skeuomorphic designs, too.

For me, since music is currently a hobby (albeit a truly necessary thing for happiness), the only plan is removing friction from whatever process I’m currently engaged in. I like to address recurring negatives in whatever I’m using (lackluster keyboard action, irritating sample artifacts, cumbersome user interfaces, etc.) and adjust with relatively small gear and setup changes. This has tamed the GAS beast a good bit. Were I so enlightened when I was younger… Anyway, the thing I want most - a dedicated playing/writing space - will set me back a bit more than a Nord Stage!

Saw that they’re offering retrofits too. Wow. Now to make it boot faster

I had the iRig 25 I/O for a bit, and only because of a promotion when getting the IK total studio package. It was surprisingly decent. Very plastic for sure, but the keys felt just fine, and it fits the bill for something highly portable.

This thread encouraged me to check how my PA-licensed copy of Gig Performer was affected. I don’t think I got the memo on the fact that Deskew is handling that license directly now, and the upgrade path is through them (with a trivial admin fee for anyone who paid full price, or with additional charge for folks like me who got it for a discount through PA). Not sure if there’s a grace period for this, but I’ll eat that cross-grade cost for the next significant update. Didn’t mean to derail, but yeah, hardware… software… buy it and use it for what it is now, because these consolidations are going to mean the end of <insert your favorite plugin here>.

I’ve got DC106 and Jun6V but demoed this a bit for fun. I don’t much care if it nails the original, just whether it has a nice character and can be a go-to “simple VA” that sounds good with little effort. Glad they added envelope to it! So far I prefer Jura’s overall tone to the Cherry Audio and Arturia versions. I have not tried the Softube Model 84 or any TAL stuff to see if there’s a clear cohort winner for me. I can say it uses a good bit more CPU in Ableton — around 30% in Live 11.3.2 on my Intel 12th gen i7 — compared to the others.

Do you want the Iridium to control the Peak in any way? if not, thru is fine. Of course, you have to have the Iridium switched on to get MIDI to your Peak. Out from your keyboard and into a splitter is another option, or for more flexibility, a MIDI router would help you move MIDI to/from anything in your setup.

Ya the MPE makes this sort of a Linnstrument-like thing, if that’s your jam.

MPE = makes Push expensive

- MPE pads - Standalone version or controller version with option to upgrade to standalone - built in audio I/O https://www.ableton.com/en/push/ and the always early loopop review: Ableton is my primary DAW, although I’ve held off on Push for a while. This could entice me to jump on board.

I wouldn’t mind a good portable keyboard “shell” that can hold a controller of my choice, a Mac mini, audio I/O, and a way to hold a small touchscreen monitor. I’d probably just get that custom built and call it done 👍

OpenLabs tried this and it didn’t take.

A BomeBox may be an option? Not cheap I know, and I think the MIDI translator software is an additional cost (?) If the MIDI Translator engine can do stuff like take a CC from one device and execute a Bank Change on another, that could be an option if you’re willing to invest the money and programming time. I’m thinking of getting one myself for other reasons (network MIDI to 5-pin) and now I’m curious to learn more about the translation features!

Yeah it’s a cheap controller that’s really best positioned for Ableton Live use. I have one — well, two at the moment: the 61 and 88 —and my expectations for standalone use were low. I do wish they’d take out stuff like dedicated chord/scale/arp features and buttons (plug-ins could handle that!) and put in a dedicated Tap Tempo button, session/clip toggle button, and expression pedal input or an XY pad. mk 4 anyone?

Just to be clear… this is an all hardware rig? No computer involved?

(Checks calendar…) 😀

Waves and Wizards of the Coast competing for JD Power “most harm to customer trust” award this year. I do wish they’d go for licensing more than one machine. If you’re going to limit authorizations, two should be the bare minimum these days, three is just right (for me), five (Arturia) is pretty generous I think.

Have the FP30x and I like it a lot for basic piano and as a dumb controller. I prefer it to the Yamaha P121 I had, both in feel and sound. The interface, such that it is, is pretty goofy though. I just set it and forget it, as I’m not trying to do more than turn it on and off make a couple of piano noises. I actually found the PHA50 on the RD2000 to be heavier, but it’s been a few years since I tried it. For GAS suppression reasons, I really don’t need to be thinking about that board.

@obxa just saw that policy reversal! Vox populi!

This whole kerfuffle has made me re-evaluate my plug-in stable for sure. - The Waves plug-ins I like aren’t all on the basic subscription. - They all have alternatives - I can subscribe when and if I need to, and I don’t need to right now. - I need to make better use of stock plugins, although that’s never a reason for me to buy one DAW over another or one edition over another. Frankly, no processing plug-in has been the difference between “alright” and “great” for me (as an inexperienced mixer). At best, they’ve been helpful shortcuts.

I believe there’s a pittance of a discount for existing customers? I agree there should be some discount if you’ve renewed a WUP in the past year. I don’t buy software with the expectation that it will work forever on all versions of an operating system or with whatever hardware upgrades I make. I just don’t. But for a big company not to do better, when other companies offer choice, well, they’re going to feel a reputation hit for sure. -John

The StudioVerse bit is kinda cool. I am not a mix engineer, so having some help in picking processing chains is welcome. They aren’t a substitute for taste, of course.

No more WUP that I can see. Stay on the version you have or subscribe. That’s it. Edit: DJkeys I see what you're saying. Yes, you still own the plugs you have, just at whatever version you have now.

Tired of Waves update plan? Not convinced that their “everything is $30” sales are really sales? (They’re like the Kohl’s of plug-ins!) Realize that it was a de facto subscription model all along? Welp… $250 a year for everything, $149 for a decent subset, more if you pay by the month. Still licensed per machine. Cue the pissed off userbase. I dunno… there’s some Waves stuff I really like. I would have spent more to keep the update plan going every year.