johnchop

While I haven't been living under a rock, I'm still surprised to see 20%+ increases on newer gear over the past year. That A88 mk2 I've been considering--once $999--looks less attractive at over $1200. (My main audio interface, purchased four years ago for $450, now retails for $1,400. 😲 ) Anyone with a crystal ball out there who can see prices dropping back to last year's MSRP at least? Is anyone getting significant "call for best pricing" deals out there? -John

49 for synths and in a band situation I’m fine comping on 61. It’s not a limitation as much as a forced strategy for staying out of the bassist’s space.

+1 for getting more out of Kontakt libraries with an upgrade. I have SampleTank 4, but I don't feel like the sample quality is sort of hit and miss, and I've had some issues with crashes. As for UVI, you could always try Sonic Pass for a month if you don't mind burning $24. That's what I am doing, mostly to give Falcon a try. I didn't feel compelled to get a lot of other sample libraries as I already have Komplete AND Steinberg Absolute. I'd actually recommend a hard look at Absolute (or at least Halion) if it wasn't for the damn elicenser locking you to one device. I expect they'll address this in the near future given their shift in licensing schemes. Have you looked at any East-West offerings?

Assuming I could have the same with none of the issues I experienced? Kurz PC3, Matrix 6, Fantom XR (with expansions), Korg M3+Radias are all keeps. Nord Electro 3 is a waffle. Loved everything but the action, which I grew to hate with a mighty passion (and tendonitis to boot). Korg DW6000, Alesis Micron, Yamaha MO8, Roland JV1080, Yamaha P121 are pass.

Yeah, so without disk streaming, and with the relatively slow performance loads, I wonder how well this would work as a live performance device for a keyboard intensive gig with lots of patch changes, especially if it's not caching plugins between performance switches. For example, if there's the same piano preset playing across two performances, does it reload the same piano when you switch between them? That aside, there's certainly a TON there for use as an idea machine.

This is still the MPC OS. You can't run any VST. And even if they opened the platform, I can't imagine there's enough of a market to make it worth a third-party dev's time to develop for it. Also, what Akai did before (along with other inMusic brands M-Audio and Alesis) was create a controller (Advance) that integrated with VST hosting software, called VIP. THAT product had a ton of potential. Oh well. -John

Thanks for posting that. What a sweet remembrance.

Per Steinberg forum post, demo slated for end of August: https://forums.steinberg.net/t/demo-version-chords-lyrics/791822/6 Here's hoping it supports plugin caching as well as global patches (like a piano) that can be referenced/aliased in each preset. I would also expect this to be packaged into the next Absolute collection upgrade.

The STD branding issue did not go unnoticed by the working group! Someone on KVR suggested CLP. I don’t think there are fees for VST3 development, but I believe you have to sign an agreement with Steinberg. Legal issues aside, the CLAP devs were also frustrated by what they saw as limitations in existing plugin SDKs. I don’t see Steinberg or Apple adopting. But if Studio One and Live add support… 👍

Someone wise noted that "the great thing about standards is that there are so many of them." VST2, VST3, AAX, RTAS, AU, and now... CLAP This may actually have legs if they can get some additional high-profile devs on board.

And there it is. This was rumored a while back. Potentially killer for the DAW-less crowd.

I'd say reintroduced, not discovered. I was a teen in the 80s. She was a known quantity in my experience. (Thinking back... I had a Kate Bush poster on my freshman dorm wall!) Thanks to the "Stranger Things" soundtrack for signal boosting this stuff. My 16 year-old, who would have otherwise piled it in with "OLD people music my mom and dad listen to... WHATEVER" is totally into it now. What's next? Talking Heads? XTC?

Could something like this beast live again? Or are the Summits and Prophets and Polybrutes creating a crowded space? I'm sure you'd have to shave costs everywhere, but I could see keeping the voice architecture but slimming down the overall size and controls, e.g. collapsing envelope controls into a single row with a toggle between them.

Haha all good. At 50 'Murica width units, I think it will fit on my desk. Wheel placement seems ok. I'm considering ordering this through a big box guitar-oriented retailer who has a store here, as I don't want to ship a return. If the keys feel good and the body seems sturdy enough (i.e., no discernible flexing), I'll sell my 61 along with some other older gear. The rest of the unit is a known quantity for me. Good-enough pads, if a bit small, decent faders and buttons, good knobs. Just about everything can generate MIDI CCs. -John

Haha me neither. You did imbed a video, so you get style points for sure. I say we use this thread for positive feedback, and my thread for the requisite KC wingefest about all the things it doesn't do.😆

Dude. Do we arm wrestle to see who wins here?

I second Stokely here. I wouldn't sweat staying on Windows 10. I've got Win 10 as a VST box and Win 11 for my new DAW machine. I'm yet to see a particularly big boost from Win 11, despite running an Alder Lake i7 chip. And when I first thought the Alder Lake chip would smoke my 7700, it's... not? I'd need to benchmark it, of course, but I'm not seeing some sort of huge boost in VST performance. Enjoy what you've got!

Aw man... 72 is just too young. Loved his work with Yes.

This was my reaction to trying to learn guitar later in life. My brain is pretty wired to the keyboard layout and the physical memory of where notes are. It's essentially one axis. The note boundaries are visually obvious, given the arrangement of black and white keys. Want louder? Thwack harder. Practice scales and chords and your hands know where to land before you finish thinking about it. Guitar has your brain working across two axes--i.e. horizontally and vertically across strings. Even with dots I don't know where the hell I am most of the time. And I have to adjust for the B string breaking the interval pattern. "Oh but you can put a capo here, and you can tune it differently.." , further adding to the mental gymnastics. For me the only way into that headspace has been to repeat, repeat, repeat, and remind myself not to "translate" to the keyboard. Just learn it for what it is! One of the cooler aspects of the guitar has been the immediate, visceral connection with the actual sound generation. I like all the string control options, from different strums to mutes to slides. Piano translates key presses across complex mechanisms before any sound comes out. Sure, there's pedaling, and you can mute strings (while looking like you're changing a spark plug). It's just a very different feeling. At least both allow us to sing and play at the same time!

Oh totally understood. I perceive less tonal depth and less "woody" resonance in the modeled VIs. Rhodes is a whole different category. I think if it's vibey, with enough control over tine and bark, I'm good. I've thought a bit more about the "emulation" aspect of the package, at least where synths are concerned. They're giving you this toybox of synthesis models that are reminiscent of things no one will ever really touch anymore, let alone possess. That's... fun? But it could all just be marketing cleverness: create products that package existing modules into a skeuomorphic UI (cf: Cherry Audio). I should go back into Pigments and see if there are "Juno" or "SEM" templates that can replicate the sound of dedicated VIs. Maybe there is extra mojo in the instrument-specific VIs, e.g. envelope curves? -John

I actually find the piano and Rhodes to be more than serviceable, but hey, it's a big enough place for both opinions IMO the Wurli needs refresh, and the B3 still feels like an also-ran in a crowded field. There's always V10.

I thought there was a planned Arturia "event" tomorrow? So there you go. I'm in. Their improvements really have been improvements. (Maybe the Wurli will be reworked at some point? VCollection 10?) I applaud Arturia's commitment to evoking the founding and forerunning synths, while still offering Pigments and the Augmented series as their own thing. 👍

That would depend on the synthesis capability. If it's essentially a reissue with limited modulation options, I wouldn't feel like it's comparable, or at least not all that interesting.

Wishing you peace and comfort.

I have one. It’s fine. Not in love with it. For reference, I get along better with the Roland PHA4 and Kawaii actions than the GHS. Too bad there aren’t more affordable options with this same key range.