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Gonna dive into DAW - DP


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I think I am going to take the perilous plunge (for me) into DAW with a new mac G-4, Digital performer, 828 firewire. Is this a good way to go? I have zero experiance with this kind of stuff, but the Sweetwater guy has me on the hook.
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[quote]Originally posted by midispaceho: [b]...the Sweetwater guy has me on the hook.[/b][/quote]Sounds like a real good reason!!! :thu: Yeah...just buy the stuff... :D (Pssst...gimme your e-mail or telephone number...I might have some "stuff" that you could use too...) :p

miroslav - miroslavmusic.com

 

"Just because it happened to you, it doesn't mean it's important."

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Really though...that rig is not a "bad" way to go, but don't just "get hooked" into buying anything...there are a lot of other options out there. If you are being told that this is your best or only choice...well, I think you get the picture... You should check out a few other sources and see what they try and "hook you on", and then compare. :D

miroslav - miroslavmusic.com

 

"Just because it happened to you, it doesn't mean it's important."

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Sounds great. But why, if you're getting a G4, would you want the 828? You have a PCI slot in the G4. I might have others argue with me but PCI has a much broader bandwidth. Plus with say the 1224, the convertors are much better and the monitoring is better. I think with the 828,896 you're limited to monitoring through tracks 1-2 only, Which for now may be just fine but may prove ultimately limiting. 828 DOES have pres I think. Maybe that's the reasoning? Oh, yeah. WELLLL . . . if you want something that sounds MUCH better, has much better converters and much better mic pres, has a great cutomizable console and is bus powerable so you can take it out in a field or by the river with a Powerbook is the Metric Halo 2882 Firewire audio interface. It IS more expensive but is much better. They make one with DSP for porting over their great plug-ins. This hasn't been implemented yet. I don't work for them, I'm just a satisfied customer.

All the best,

 

Henry Robinett

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[b] [quote] But why, if you're getting a G4, would you want the 828? You have a PCI slot in the G4. I might have others argue with me but PCI has a much broader bandwidth. [/quote][/b] I agree with Henry. A dedicated soundcard will give you much better sound and power than a firewire interface. The 828/896 is the best choice for an imac or laptop, but I'd say to take advantage of the open pci slot. If installing a card is your concern, don't worry about it! Installing a soundcard in a mac is as simple as one screw and the placement of the card. Really is that easy! In terms of simplicity, you may want to go for the 828, but a 2408 mkII or 1296 would be my choice for a tower, hands down. Also, not to offend anyone on the forum who may work for sweetwater, but I think their prices stink. The service is great, but you can do better elsewhere. This is my opinion and experience, so please don't bash me for airing my greivances. No offense was intended.

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If you are going to go Mac(and why wouldn't any sane individual), then DP is an excellent choice. If you want to do midi DP is an excellent choice(i hear logic is really cool, but the manual puts me to sleep, when I am over at friends house looking at it while he try's to figure it out :) ) The audio portion is very deep. I bought a G4, 2408, midi timpiece, and DP 2.7, and was making music 30 minutes after the boxes were open! I love not having to spend my precious time hunting down info about computer hardware or drivers to make it work :) :) :) But of course I made my decision after searching, and trolling this site as well as the digidesign DUC(midi blows) DA7.com(great group of people, thought I might get one as a front end to the 2408), unicornation.com, all the audio production mags at the bookstore for six months, and of course all the marketing stuff from every manufacturer. The important question to answer to the group is what are you going to do with it? Talcott :thu:

Ahh! Let us proclaim absolute truths.

 

Let us dishonor war, No...glorious war does not exist.

 

-Victor Hugo

 

http://www.composerguitarist.com

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[b] [quote]Anyone have any opinions on the learning curve with DP? Is it user friendly to the novice [/quote][/b] Very user friendly. I use DP 2.72 and just ordered the 3.0 upgrade (which is supposedly even easier to navigate). I did the tutorial and ran a basic 4 track midi tune in about 15 minutes. The audio portion does have a lot of features to learn but in terms of just being able to record and lay some tracks down, it's pretty simple. I think you'll be pleased. :)

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MIDISPACEHO, First off..interesting name. Second...Digital Performer is GREAT! For the money, it can not be beat. Third...The only thing I question is why you would get an 828? You are so much better off with a 2408 unless you plan on traveling alot but then again with a G4 desktop...you won`t be doing that. The 2408 is just a better choice. Besides the stability of the PCI 324 card, the 2408 is the "ultimate patchbay" (24 Digital I/O, 8 Analog I/O, Word Clock, SPDIF I/O, etc...). Four... The learning curve on DP is relevant to what program you are coming from. I went from a PC based sequenced called "Sequencer Plus" from Voyetra which I loved and was very simple but nowhere near as powerful. After sitting down with DP for several months, I began to fly on it and you will too. Five... Check out the CD I did entirely within DP in January. Go to: [url=http://www.CultureVI.com]www.CultureVI.com[/url] and check out "RAP MUSIC". All done within DP. You don`t have to buy anything, just go listen. Peace, Ernest
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I love DP. I think it's a very gentle learning curve. There's a couple of user groups whose help is invaluable because the manual for DP 3 is pretty good as manuals go, but many things are left unexplained, or you simply have to be brilliant at reading between the lines. BTW I have a 2408MKII, 1224 and the Mobile I/O (Metric Halo 2882+DSP). I love all thoe units for different reasons. The converters in the 2408 aren't the greatest but it's a phenomenal unit.

All the best,

 

Henry Robinett

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[quote]Originally posted by Talcott: The important question to answer to the group is what are you going to do with it? Talcott :thu: [/QB][/quote]Probably make god awful noise to be perfectly honest
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[quote]Originally posted by ernest828@aol.com: [b]MIDISPACEHO, First off..interesting name. Thanks! Second...Digital Performer is GREAT! For the money, it can not be beat. Cool! Third...The only thing I question is why you would get an 828? You are so much better off with a 2408 unless you plan on traveling alot but then again with a G4 desktop...you won`t be doing that. The 2408 is just a better choice. Besides the stability of the PCI 324 card, the 2408 is the "ultimate patchbay" (24 Digital I/O, 8 Analog I/O, Word Clock, SPDIF I/O, etc...). I'm retarded and thought firewire was better. I will need to have my quote changed to the 2408. Four... The learning curve on DP is relevant to what program you are coming from. I went from a PC based sequenced called "Sequencer Plus" from Voyetra which I loved and was very simple but nowhere near as powerful. After sitting down with DP for several months, I began to fly on it and you will too. I have never used a DAW. I have several stand alone instruments. I have been to scared (and poor) to dive into DAW. Five... Check out the CD I did entirely within DP in January. Go to: [url=http://www.CultureVI.com]www.CultureVI.com[/url] and check out "RAP MUSIC". All done within DP. You don`t have to buy anything, just go listen. I'll check it out, thanks! Peace, Ernest[/b][/quote]
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[quote]Originally posted by nelz: [b][b] [QUOTE]Also, not to offend anyone on the forum who may work for sweetwater, but I think their prices stink. The service is great, but you can do better elsewhere. .[/b][/quote]Where do you suggest I look? The life time tech support would be good for me since I have virtually no experiance in this are.
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[b] [quote] Where do you suggest I look? [/quote][/b] Price wise, my experience has always been, make friends with someone in person. I have gotten 1/4 jacks, midi cables, items at cost, etc.. thrown in with a big purchase through buddies at Guitar center. If you'd rather go on-line, or by phone, check out [url=http://www.zzounds.com]www.zzounds.com[/url] I can pretty much guarantee their prices will beat sweetwater. Don't get me wrong, they are true audio professionals at SW, and if that's what you're after, pay the extra for the service. Once you get the MOTU system, though, you are entitled to MOTU on-line and phone tech support. Also, your MAC tech issues will be covered by Apple for a year. While I can't tell you for certain that this will work, it usually does for me...just say to your SW representative, "I'd like the [i]best[/i] price you can offer". It takes balls, but 9 time out of 10, they'll budge to stay in line with the competetion.

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[quote]Originally posted by midispaceho: [b]I think I am going to take the perilous plunge (for me) into DAW I have zero experiance with this kind of stuff, [/b][/quote]I don't know if you are still reading this far after all of the responses you've received, but here's my advise. Regardless of the platform you choose, if you REALLY have zero experience, then TAKE IT SLOW! You will likely save yourself a ton of headaches, and hundreds of $$$ by not diving in head first. Everyone here has already given you plenty to go on in terms of soft/hardware choices. Make certain it offers you room to grow to meet your needs. But, also beware of overkill. If you start small and grow big, you will not only have a system that is exactly what is right for YOU, but you will also likely be much more proficient in it's operation as well. Good luck

Super 8

 

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MIDI, You`re doing the right thing. Keep getting info and just be patient. What is truly remarkable about DP (and I guess Logic, Cubase, etc...) is the fact that these programs are incredibly powerful for the cash. And then when you are working on a project you will stop in the middle of a session and just smile because it is absolutely stunning how mucj technology has advanced. 10 years ago this 40+ track, complete automation stuff was a crazy-insane idea. So with all this said, do your research, take your time and enjoy the ride. You may just want to consider two more things: 1.What are most people using in the MAC world? 2. How is TECH support for each DAW company? Peace, Ernest
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Do lots of research.. it is worth it . the only thingyou may want to look at is a nuendo and RME system, there new line of multiface and digiface interfaces are nice, and they have a neat "toatl mix" software (free) that letss you do all your monitoring and stuff. if you need to hae a look go to [url=http://www.rme-audio.com]www.rme-audio.com[/url] ... RME makes good stuff, it the only stuff I will buy, and very compatible/stable.
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I'm delighted with DP on the Mac side. It helps to spring for the fastest Mac you can afford, as well as a big monitor. The program just makes TOO much sense, and the manual is terrific. There's an argument to be made for Sweetwater. A phone call to them if you're having problems will always be more rewarding than trying to contact MOTU tech support, not to mention driving to a "big box" M.I. retailer where you may or may not encounter someone who really knows what they're doing. They do offer good deals on things, watch the website. And of course, HAGGLE! As regards mail order in general, where I live (SoCal), shipping on a 1U or 2U rackmount item is always less than sales tax. If the music store is far away (I go from Santa Barbara to L.A. to shop sometimes), factor in gas prices and SW starts to look attractive. YMMV, obviously.

Stephen Fortner

Principal, Fortner Media

Former Editor in Chief, Keyboard Magazine

Digital Piano Consultant, Piano Buyer Magazine

 

Industry affiliations: Antares, Arturia, Giles Communications, MS Media, Polyverse

 

 

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I would suggest subscribing to computer music magazine, and downloading demos and trying them out. out of curiosity why did you decide to go mac if it's because your support base is mac oriented then that's a good Idea.
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Dp rocks! Buy the G4 and a MOTU interface and do some learning with AudioDesk. That's what I did. Moved up to DP about 6 months later. Depending on your experience DP should be pretty intuitive to learn.
Andrew Mazzocchi
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At the risk of sounding dumb, how close will Sonar II come to covering my DAW needs? Nothing professional any more, but I want my work to sound good before I distribute it. I'm slowly investing in plug-ins for audio improvement but am I waisting my money by not investing in plug-ins that will also work with DP or other DAW's? Robert

This post edited for speling.

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