Markay

What does a Kronos sound like? It has 9 different synth engines, some highly editable, not to mention sampling....which can sound like anything. By that logic, main stage always sounds like main stage. You miss the point, in a Kronos the AP or Hammond emulation is always going to sound like that Korg engine. In MainStage or any host for that matter, it will sound like your AP of choice, be it Pianoteq or Ravenscroft or any of the other 30 or so AP's on the market. Same with Hammond, your choice of B-5, or VB3 wrapped in 32 Lives, Blue 3 or several others. Plus 30 or more EP's and 100's of synths.

I swapped from Cantabile and Windows to OSX and MainStage just so I could use MainStage and in particular the screen display in Perform mode. Being able to see the active controls, drawbar settings etc. and set list at glance is the thing that sets MainStage apart from its peers. It has worked seamlessly for me ever since. No other host comes with the range of built-in virtual instruments and effects that are included in MainStage. Interesting how these get very little recognition. Take for example Alchemy, when it was multi platform it was one of the most highly regarded synths available, once Apple bought it and included it in its built-in range of VI's it now gets almost zero recognition. As David points out once you have built a patch or channel strip it is always there to pull into another concert, to easy. Another factor to take into account when comparing OSX and Windows is that OSX has CoreAudio and CoreMidi built-in. This means I get a low latency plug and play solution out of the box. I spend my time playing not optimising drivers and system settings.

Paul, as you say in your post the venue would not be sold out at this stage, so Viagogo are purely trading in futures on your gig. For those who do not know what I mean by "futures" if anyone is naive enough to buy a ticket from Viagogo for your gig then Viagogo will then buy a ticket and resell it at a significant profit. Otherwise they are available at normal price from the venue or its official reseller. Don't stress, you have done good in alerting NSW Fair Trading who will pass it on to the ACCC to get this type of predatory behaviour banned eventually, with the support of artists and punters. Venues who support live music are scarce in Australia and closing by the day, driving punters away with predatory pricing is the last thing we need. Maybe worthwhile forwarding to Wendy Harmer on 702 here who knows gigging inside out as a stand up comedienne, and would be sympathetic to publicly outing of this sort of exploitation.

The NSW Dept of Fair Trading has called Viagogo out on their ticket reselling practises see HERE Note Viagogo is based in Colorado, US, and will not respond to our local Authorities requests for information. Why should they when there are global suckers everywhere? viagogo.com.au is registered to TPP Wholesale, Sydney, good luck to any dissatisfied Aussie customer trying to find an Aussie address to get their money back from. From the NSW Dept of Fair Trading Website: "This is simply not good enough, when consumers buy a product they rightly expect to get what they pay for. Im putting consumers first and thats why Im issuing an urgent public warning about Viagogos unfair and unsatisfactory business services and practices. Sosume.

Interesting the amount of heat copyright issues raise. When I purchased a VCR it was illegal to record free to air TV programs. And the VCR came with a built-in tuner facilitating this breach of copyright. Most of it was for time shifted viewing. Then PVR's came along and TV's had PVR's built in to make it even easier. Now every free to air TV channel has an app that encourages you to time shift and view episodes in advance of their airing. Don't think the law has changed though but the licensees have finally got with the program. And Hollywood is still in business. I figure with YouTube that the rights owner can take the content down anytime they like. Every one knows that from the day after YT launched that downloader software has been available. If people downloading their YT content for later viewing or listening bothered the rights owner they would take it down. If they haven't then I take that as tacit approval that the content is in the public domain and the rights owner has accepted we now live in a different world, just as the free to air broadcasters have by now encouraging time shifted viewing.

Looking forward to comparisons IK's Leslie sim with: VB3 and its Leslie sim; B-5 and its Leslie sim; Blue 3 and its Leslie Sim; Logic Vintage B3 and its Leslie Sim; All of the above with: Melba's Rotory Sims; and PSP's L'otary; and UVI's rotary sim. Guess then we will an idea of how much IK have improved on these existing software Leslie Sims.

I think the only fully modeled APs in hardware are from Roland. First only in the pricey V-Piano, but now also in the RD2000. Maybe some/all of the RD800, FP90, FP60. And every one of the modeled acoustic pianos without fail still generate doubt in players as to their realism in timbre compared to sampling. Although good feeling latency wise and the way the timbre various throughout the velocity range. So, if they were to change their mind at a later time, I would suggest sticking with working on creating a sample based or hybrid instrument for the time being. Unless some killer advancement in acoustic piano modeling becomes open source. Sweeping generalisation based on other peoples comments. "If they don't like I don't like it". There is almost 100% acceptance of modelled Hammond, be it VB3, the Legend, UHL, Nord or Roland. Preferences vary as to which flavour of modelled organ they prefer. Do all these modelled efforts "without fail generate doubt in players"? Pianoteq generates as much praise as it does criticsm so as a mainstream modelled AP it is certainly not true that "without fail generates doubt in players". It is true that Pianoteq generates doubt in SOME players, but please let us have an example of a sampled AP that without fail NEVER generates doubt in players. None of the modelled Hammond's are open source. Why does a modelled piano have to be open source before it will be acceptable to you? What's the problem with developers owning their own code and how does code ownership influence the sound of the software? I think Crumar are to commended for innovating and introducing modelled AP's and EP's across the board and moving on from sampled instruments. Sampling has been with us for 40 or more years and the sounds still don't satisfy many. Time to move on to modelling and this initiative could not be in better hands than Guidos's, a proven skilled and expert developer.

I dropped in to Bonners several years ago when visiting relatives in Eastbourne. Well stocked shop. They also had Hammond Suzuki on display and nearly every Yamaha board.

This an excellent thread Busch, adding to the body of knowledge in the best possible way. Motivated me to get back to digging in to my synths of choice. Thanks for taking the time to post and share.

Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Smetna, Dvorak, Alan Price and everyone thereafter.

Been a fan of Sir Reg and his music from the time of his first release through to around the time of Don't Go Breaking My Heart. Seen him several times including his first tour. Although I have access to guaranteed seats at the venue he will play in here I think I will pass unless I am subjected to undue spousal coercion. At the risk of being blatantly ageist I find the type of audience attracted to see legends in high priced stadium concerts to be one that expects everyone to stay seated and politely clap. Seems to suck the energy out of the concert compared to say the audience at a U2 concert. Not compatible with the way we behaved back in the day to Benny or Saturday Nights Alright. Rather relive the memory than come away feeling like I did when I took my Mum to an Andre Rieu concert.

"A Labour of Love" getting behind schedule? Who woulda thunk. Interesting Uli didn't post his invitation to provide ongoing input into its development here.

The SSV3 creates a stereo image from a stereo signal through multiple speakers mounted in the same enclosure. Feeding a stereo signal to two speakers has been around longer than the SSV3 as have DSP's and software that simulate a stereo image from a mono signal through two speakers. And Omnipolar speakers which could easily be rewired to create a similar effect from a single enclosure. Already discussed earlier in season 2 of this thread. I don't think Aspen is in a position to close down Dolby Labs or any other mono to stereo vendor for patent infingement as that is not what the SSV3 does.

Midi over USB is notorious for midi ground hum - where is the evidence? How about 'raise your hands if you have experienced midi over USB ground loop hum'? Midi over USB has been used by EDM, Hip hop and other electronic bands live and in the studio for over 10 years, just as it is by every tablet or phone music app. Plus all those live muso's using controllers and laptops. There are probably at least 20 of those who regularly post here. No mention of midi ground issues. The issue of USB ground hum was recently raised here in a thread about how well a forumites laptop rig was working for him. 2 cases were offered as examples. One of those was using an old Yamaha board and the other using a PX-5S. These two both require their own power supply. A faulty component in the Yamaha given the age of the board when the issue arose was not ruled out, neither was plain poor design, as its primary purpose was not for use as a midi over USB controller. In the case of the PX-5S Mike Martin responded saying the attached computer was faulty. Given Mike's reputation and the fact that others here use a PX-5S as a controller with zero midi ground hum issues everything points to a faulty or poorly designed computer. Sure there is the possibility that it could occur, but the incidence seems to be so low it approachs zero, and attributable to poor design or component failure, no different then to the primary cause of failure in hardware boards. Same goes for EM noise on USB audio interfaces. USB is the most widely used connection available in an audio interface. If USB induced EM noise is notorious and widespread then the market for these would be dead by now. Companies like Focusrite, RME, Radial and 30 or more others would have long ago abandoned USB audio interfaces or gone out of business. DIN will have a life as a midi connector from the day Apple and Microsoft redesign their tablets, laptops and phones to incoporate a DIN port. Otherwise it will live on as a connector between hardware boards where some or all of the additional control items available in the HD Protocol are not required. On the other hand innovative controller manufacturers continue to embrace midi over USB 2, for example the Roli Seaboard Rise and Grand or the more traditional Kawai VPC1. None of this would be happening if midi or audio over USB were notorious for ground loop hum and EM noise.

Thanks Dan, yes I understand the difference between a physical layer and a protocol which is why I referred to midi and HD "protocols". My point was that USB is well capable of supporting the data transfer demands of the HD Protocol according to the Midi Manufacturers Association.

I don't understand your point that midi over USB is crippled by the need to maintain comparability with midi over DIN and should discarded in favour of Ethernet. According to midi.org USB 3 has the capacity to support transfer rates of 5GB/s. USB 2 is ubiquitous as an audio interface connector which involves transfer of vastly more data than the current midi 1 protocol requires. Plus midi allows the slave USB devices to be powered by USB connection, one connection provides the convenience of power supply and data transfer. Then there is the HD Protocol that has been developed by the Midi Manufacturers Association that is designed for use over USB or Ethernet. The HD Protocol caters for thousands of channels, high resolution controllers, time stamping, pitch and articulation data and to be backward compatible with the current Midi 1 protocol. While Ethernet may be useful for studios and long runs at live shows in Stadiums or Arenas the humble USB and/or Thunderbolt 3 with USB-C ports are going to remain the most common connector on phones, tablets, laptops and computers for the foreseeable future.

Not a Mojo owner but I do wonder why folks will spend $1,500 on a board and plug a 10 year old expression pedal in to it rather than spend $100 on an expression pedal from the same manufacturer which is guaranteed to work with board. And if it doesn't its on the manufacturer to fix it.

Hanging out for the predictability of delay spec?

Don't have any experience with the HX3 but lots of experience with midi and software. So the power up sequence for the HX3 requires the controller to be on first so the HX3 can sense it, identify the type of controller and configure itself for it as part of the HX3 boot sequence. If the HX3 doesn't sense the type of controller if the HX3 is powered up first then that just means the HX3 is not "plug and play", although I guess you could go into the HX3 settings and select the connected controller. No big deal as Dave said, keep to the power on sequence of controller first then HX3 and all good. No different to the recommended sequence for booting a board, mixer and powered speaker.

Mark V head took 6 weeks from time of order little while ago.

Well according to this site they supply 3D printers that use a nickel alloy suited for the following: "Applications include: High termperature applications such as : - Components for liquid fueled rockets, - Rings, casings and formed sheet metal parts for aircraft and land-based gas turbine engines, - Cryogenic tankage, - Fasteners and instrumentation parts." Overkill for the MI industry but surely lower cost suitable materials can be used. And this manufacturer has a 3D machine they claim makes "100% Additive Printed Circuit Boards".

Not my field but wasn't 3D printing designed to facilitate affordable low volume manufacturing?

Excellent article by Stephen, ironically the Ableton Live analogy made it easier for me grasp the midi pattern function that could be applied to sounds of the users choice. Look forward to the next installment.

Late to the party but I was here in spirit.

Securing a laptop to a B3, were you planning to add midi to the B3 so you can run midi to the laptop and trigger software? As to perceptions about cost of software and hardware all that is irrelevant to this thread. Arrangers are what they are, people buy em and perform live as one person bands. They are happy, their audiences are happy, job done.