Crushed dream (Korg Zero8)

As said in another thread, I have been eyeballing the Korg Zero8 for a while now, and everything seemed perfect until I had a real close look at how it is.

Now, to understand why it crushed my dream, let me explain what I want to do with it.

I want to mix both ableton and traktor on the same mixer (8 channels needed), I will be using 2 laptops for this. One will have a soundcards (For Traktor) and the other will use the soundcard in the Zero8, things then get synced via midi. OR when I play both live and dj, I dont have to make any changes directly in outputs etc etc.

Now, I though that this piece of hardware would make me able to use the buttons etc per channel as midi controls as well, but thats where my dream got crushed with having LESS equipment with me. If you are using an external soundcard (Not the internal one) "Line in" you can NOT use the channels knobs etc etc as midi controllers! ARRRRRRRRGH! :)

I am still going to buy one I think, cause I figured out that I could use the Korg Nano Control for Traktor Pro.

Now my question, would you think I could use 2 times Nano's together with the Mixer? I mean, the Firewire connector will be connected to the OTHER laptop (The Ableton Laptop). That should be possible, right? :) Since the nano's are so small, I meassured that I will actually not have problems stashing it in my bags which I had thought about bringing along.

Comments, suggestion etc etc are REALLY welcome, as I am thinking of getting the beast within the next few months :)

Aren't the Nanos on USB?

Don't see problems there. Unless you have no more USB ports left.
Also, are you sure about using two, not using a single controller, that is the equivalent of 2 Nanos?

yeah thats the thing. I mean, I want every single effect setup on the controller, and the nano just is not enough for 4 decks. If I was spinning 2 decks, it would be no problem :) But yeah, I will have:

MBP1: Audio 8 DJ on USBP1 and 2x Nano controllers on USBP2 with a USBHub (and a mouse), FW800 will be my music library.
MBP2: Korg Zero8, USBP1 Sample archive, USBP2 (mouse) :)

Thats as far as I have thought it up in my head

You think I will have problems with latency and read errors?

And you were considering a BCR once? ;)

Latency and read errors? Really can't tell. Though I don't think it should be that far apart from routing sound on 1 laptop nowadays.

I mean, guys like Richie Hawtin, Speedy J, Chris Liebing wouldn't be using two MBPs if it was bad. ;)

I have no problems with my MBP. :) I just need people that have had similar setups to tell me everything is going to be fine :D

And no, the BCR is nice and all, but its way to bulky for me to bring if I have the Korg. Otherwise, yeah maybe. :)

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Originally Posted by nemo

I have no problems with my MBP. :) I just need people that have had similar setups to tell me everything is going to be fine :D

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Same here man, same here! :D

Quote:

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And no, the BCR is nice and all, but its way to bulky for me to bring if I have the Korg. Otherwise, yeah maybe. :)

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That's something I can imagine.

Uhm... So you'd want something small with loadsa buttons.
Do you by chance have an iPhone, or a mobile phone with Windows Mobile?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nemo

Now, I though that this piece of hardware would make me able to use the buttons etc per channel as midi controls as well, but thats where my dream got crushed with having LESS equipment with me. If you are using an external soundcard (Not the internal one) "Line in" you can NOT use the channels knobs etc etc as midi controllers! ARRRRRRRRGH! :)

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Are you sure that this is true? And can I read this from a source somewhere?

I wanted to get this for TPro and use the Audio8 for the scratch and the Zero 8 for Midi control. I don't think that the Korg sound card is better than the Audio 8 Now I am not sure what I am going to do.

Hey Ilavoe,
if I am correct, nemo has a friend who also has a Korg Zero8.
(And nemo is known to have his knowledge straight before starting a rant on several occasions).

Nowadays I would just recommend the Akai APC 40 and an Audio8 or Audio4. :D

I am with Tekki on this one - I cant vouch for Nemo being correct in this instance but i can vouch for him being a reliable source of information, so this is probably true :)

the zero 4 has been known to have problems with traktor. But I am pretty sure from people I know that you can use the midi function without the internal sound card. I believe Sasha was one of those people. Once I have proof, I will repost. Thanks guys :) Nice forum here :)

No, this is true, only channels that are using the internal firewire connection can be split between Audio/Midi, so the Ableton laptop would be able to make use of these channels, but not the Traktor laptop.

Only 1 laptop can use the Zero8 onboard soundcard at a time.

What you could do though, is to use the midi output interface on the mixer to go back into Traktor, and by doing it this way, you could share some of the audio/midi channel controls, and also make use of the button/rotary banks to control Traktor with.

Personally, I'd do it the other way round - have the Traktor laptop using the Zero as a soundcard, it's Traktor Scratch Certified, and so long as you have the Scratch version of Pro, you can use the mixer without needing the Audio 8 with timecode control. Because the Zero is on the firewire bus, you get slightly better latency than with the A8 - mine is on 2.5ms compared to the 10ms I believe you get with the A8?

Fus

I just got my Zero8 today. For now I am only going to Use TPro without Scratch capabilities.

I have a zero 4 and its awesome.

Even without the midi capabilities its a very solid 4 channel, the effects are awesome especially used in combination with Tpro effects +10 for having the master fx dry wet on a fader.

I don't know why they are discontinuing these two mixers. Aside from the flimsy plastics they used for their loose faders, the mixer itself is very solid.

Discontinuing?

There was a rumour two or three months back, saying the same, but this was quickly brought back to being a hoax.

I highly doubt they would stop making these - they havent even been out that long.

Same here.

I hope it's not true either. I would like a few more firmware updates on my zero 8. In fact, the zero8 does not have an official driver for 64 bit operating systems. I am going to e-mail tech support to see if it is all true or not.