Reezekeys

Understood! I agree with this. Believe it or not there is a youtuber that upgrades SSDs on new Mac laptops - a procedure far above the pay grade of most electronics tinkerers!

Don't want to bust on you, but research - or asking here - would have told you there is no Kontakt for iPads, and no way to directly load Kontakt instruments to an iPad. Roland Cloud I know nothing about, but haven't heard of an iOS app associated with it. Again, I don't mean to knock you on this; I think you'll eventually be fine with your iPad. It took me a while to get my iPad system to the point where I could leave my laptop home. There are new apps coming out and developers doing some very cool things on the platform. You didn't waste your money. There is an indirect way to get Kontakt sounds onto in iPad but unfortunately you're on the wrong computer platfform. Logic and Mainstage include a plugin called Autosampler. You can create a Logic sampler instrument (.exs) from any virtual instrument plugin that runs in Logic or Mainstage. The iOS app AudioLayer can import .exs instruments. That's how I got my Native Instruments piano into my iPad. Of course you don't get 100% Kontakt functionality, with their UI, scripting, etc. but for a lot of sounds it works fine.

I see these Sweetwater scams on FB all the time - usually it's a "shipping mistake" where you click a link to get a FREE keyboard. The comments are all fake accounts, some with the exact same text ("I love my new keyboard", etc.). Just looked and found this (doesn't mention Sweetwater but you get the idea). It sure says something about the intelligence of a population that these kinds of ads exist and some people actually think they're for real. Sad.

So you already have a laptop? Or you're considering a different one to use for gigs? It's not too clear. And - Reaper (or any DAW) is not what you want for a gig setup. DAWs are not built to do the things you would typically need to do on a gig. As to all the reccs so far: all I can say is that when I'm doing a gig with my laptop, I only have the software I need to make music running. Once again the choir is here, worrying about memory swapping, needing Thunderbolt speeds, etc. etc. I'll bet anything a refurb M1 Mac Air with the minimum config would make an excellent music machine for 90% or more of folks here doing a typical gig. If you do studio work, soundtracks, stuff with large orchestral libraries, etc. you probably want more juice, but for playing a cover band or tribute gig, some of the comments seem to be making much ado about not too much. IMO. As far as regretting spending the bucks on your iPad rig, you seem to think it's not much of an advantage over a laptop. Sound-wise that's probably true, although there are plenty of good VIs for iOS now. For me it's all about ease of transport and setup. I carried an SKB Studio Flyer for the laptop, and a laptop bag to hold the computer and all my cables - now I leave both of those home. I have the lightest and easiest rig to schlep I've ever had in my entire working life, and it sounds great. Then again, I purposely went for the older iPad 9G for the headphone jack so I could connect it directly to my speakers. And I only have a bumper case for the iPad - it fits onto a clip stand I put on my keyboard stand. No more bringing a music stand and stand light either! Simple is better imo. iPad apps like AUM and Midiflow or Midi Layers will let you set up as elaborate a rig as you probably need. If you honestly can't find the sounds you need on an iPad, I guess that makes your decision easy - but I'm betting they're out there.

Found this on another forum - seems to be confirmation that if you have AUM and Midi Layers (or Midiflow as I do), you really don't need Module "Pro" - go with the free version and only add the expansions that work for you. I'm a little skeptical of those 130 programs you get with the Pro version vs the one with non-pro. My guess is that it's not 130 separate instruments - more like a few instruments, each with multiple presets having different eq and efx settings. I unlocked their basic strings and clav when I plugged in my nanoKontroller. They're nothing special; GM player quality is how I'd put it, but that's just my opinion. The one sound you get with the non-pro Module is a basic acoustic piano. When I first got into iOS device music-making I posted here about how impressed I was with that sound, considering it was a freebie. A few years later and I have to say it hasn't aged that well! It'll get you by in a pinch.

I'm tempted to get this Liano just for the keybed as I'm toying with going to 88 keys for some local gigs, but severely allergic to schlep. USB to my iPad for all the sounds, unless I like the built-in piano more than my current one. I'm curious if the USB audio connection makes any difference in latency for iPad sounds vs using the iPad's own headphone out. Thanks for the report!

Those Korg Module expansion packs still give you a demo period? It was at least a week iirc - so no need to purchase it right away. That's pretty rare in the VI world. I tried the Ivory and it didn't do it for me either. Same with the Wurli. The Scarbee rhodes is pretty good though. I also bought Pure Piano and vTines but they're both in my digital dustbin.

Also - you said you're considering the NanoKontrol 2 right? You know it comes with coupons to download free software bundles? Check this page for details. I just remembered that when I plugged my older nanoKontrol 1 into my iPad with the free Module running, it automatically added some of the "pro" features!

I got the free version of the Korg Module. Pretty sure it will load any of the expansion packs. I have Scarbee Rhodes. It's OK but doesn't have that top bark layer. When I really dig in there is some finger-ear disconnection, I have to say - but for more "normal" playing it sounds nice. I'm generally satisfied with it on gigs. I think AUM will replicate the splitting, cc learning and other details you get with the Module Pro, so if you were already going with AUM you might be fine with the free version of Module. I'm running four instances of it in AUM.

Either you're extremely sensitive to latency or there might be a problem with your setup - with Ravenscroft (which I havent tried) or maybe something in the chain of software to audio output (or the audio device, if you use an external one). I'm mainly a piano player and all my local gigs are on an iPad 9G with a 64 or 128 buffer. I hear no discernable latency, using Virsyn's AudioLayer inside AUM. Could be me for sure, but I don't feel any lagging at all. On topic - the apps that make iOS music-making happen for me are AUM, Midiflow, Streambyter, and the aforementioned AudioLayer - a quite full-featured sampler that reads Logic .exs instruments. My piano is an older Native Intruments piano I used Logic's autosampler to render to .exs, then imported to AudioLayer in my iPad and iPhone. I love it.

What does the amount of ram in the computer have to do with its ability to stream samples off a SD card or USB stick? The very definition of "streaming" means the audio data is playing directly off the card or stick - going through a buffer of course, but that's not comparable to loading samples fully into ram. Until it failed (after a year of use), I was streaming samples from my USB3 stick on my late-2013 MacBook Pro with 8GB of ram without an issue.

I bought a hub for my new Air that has an SD card slot, among other things. However, using a card or USB stick to stream samples may not be the best idea. It didn't work for me - one of my very few on-the-gig failures years ago (it was a USB3 stick with more than adequate transfer speeds). I used it instead of an external SSD because it was tiny and I didn't have to deal with a cable - plug it in and go. After it failed I read that flash memory and true SSD memory chips are not always the same.

I got one of the first batches of XP50s and it died the first gig I used it on. The store took it back and sent me a new one and that lasted me the whole 11 year run I had with it (1995-2006). The keybed was pretty crappy! I got used to the feel though, and was actually pretty happy with it, especially after I loaded all four expansion slots.

Understood. I don't do those kinds of gigs (anymore) but if I did, I'd use whatever synth resources I had to get as close as I could to those sounds. I know there have been threads with the subject of cover bands that insist on note-for-note faithfulness to original recordings, which I assume would also mean sound-for-sound faithfulness. Hey if that floats your boat, great. I do think it's a bit of a stretch to think that in 2024, a keyboardist would want to schlep a rack with old JV modules just to get the exact sound on Jump or Beat It. Is this a thing though? Am I out of it and are cover bands' keyboardists actually doing this?

To clarify, I have no actual need for "Roland sounds." When you're playing mostly jazz & r&b (i.e., old music!), it's 90% bread & butter acoustic and electromechanical emulations I require - what most any 1990s-era keyboard couldn't do very well (compared to today). Synth-wise, I use KV331's SynthMaster One on my i-devices - I find that a really nice sounding iOS synth with lots of sonic possibilities. Whether or not it can recreate any "Roland sound", I wouldn't know. I do know I'm covered for anything I need - at least for now. And those two expansion boards I forgot - pretty sure they're the World and Pop. The Session piano was my first stereo-sampled piano and made me happy to lug my XP50 and two Mackie SRM450s to any gig I had back in those days! The Roland sounds served me well back then. Today - well I'm not the nostalgic type, I guess.

When I said "my eight-year-old iPhone can give me everything I ever got from my XP50", I was speaking in general terms as to the kinds of sounds - not specific sounds from those early Roland machines that I could duplicate in the phone! Although, If there was an old JV1080 sound I had to have, I would use Logic's autosampler to turn it into a Logic sampler instrument (.exs), which Virsyn's AudioLayer iOS app can import.

Absolutely. I think these Roland recreations are all great If you're the nostalgic type. However, technology wrt electronic music instruments has advanced, oh, a tiny bit since the 1990s! Sound-wise, my eight-year-old iPhone can give me everything I ever got from my XP50, with either better, or at minimum, similar quality. I understand that some keyboardists and producers need, or just want, to recreate the "sounds of yore" or Roland wouldn't be offering them up today. Great to have the choice.

I used an XP50 as my main board for over ten years. Fully stuffed with expansion boards (Session, Keyboards of the 60s & 70s, forgot the other two!). I remember the keybed as being pretty bad - "mushy" would be my description, if that conveys anything. I got used to it though. When I first switched to a laptop/controller setup I bought a JV1010 module as a backup - it fit nicely in my accessory case. I still have that 1010, and set it up every few years to make sure it still works and run through some of the patches. Unfortunately it must be edited from a computer, and sw options for modern Macs are very limited. It's surprising to me how many of those JV patches still sound pretty good - usually the more synth-like ones (ironic since it's a rompler). The acoustic instrument emulations don't hold up as well compared to what we're used to hearing now, of course.

USB3. $80 at Amazon.

Strange: I have the less expensive Crucial X6 2TB drive, which I use for Time Machine backups. I'm getting 928 MB/s read, 945 MB/s write on my M2 MacBook Air. Regardless, any of these speeds are more than fast enough for streaming samples to your Air! Thunderbolt is way overkill for this. Even for video work, USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) is fast enough for most folks who aren't pro video editors.

IMO, the "mud zone" is actually a frequency range higher than what a sub is meant to reinforce. However, the point remains - again imo, using a subwoofer in a keyboard rig might make sense in some circumstances - organ pedals doing bass duties in a TOP-like horn band? EDM? Maybe I'm too old to be commenting in this thread!

Something sounds wrong to me - I've owned original K8s for 15 years, done a decent amount of LH bass with them, and I've always had to roll off lows. My K8s produce way more than enough low end (I do use two, I'm stereo). And you're talking about not getting enough bottom on a duo gig with a saxophone?! I might understand if you were part of a 10-piece horn band with a guitarist & stack of Marshalls but at typical duo volumes those K8.2 should be able to deliver (trio, quartet, quintets too!). They have eq presets, correct? I would check to make sure you don't have one set where low end is being rolled off. My K8s don't have that, but they do have a "vocal boost" switch I've accidentally engaged a few times that makes them sound pretty bad with my piano.

I always thought they had the same sound engine - the JV1080. The sound data was certainly compatible, notwhithstanding some model-specific diffs, e.g. # of outputs.

Glad you liked it, Reezekeys, and thanks for the new tip. I'm gonna try it out in my next synth bass programming adventure. I meant to say put a delay on the onset of the LFO, not the "offset." 🙂 This is done with the "LFO Delay" parameter.

Nice fat sound you got there! Three basses seems like enough to do the job too. There's another way to do this – a small amount of LFO modulating pitch at slightly different rates on each synth voice. I would put a delay on the offset of the LFO so the attacks are all together and in tune.