Sorry to quote everything. I’m not 100% sober and this helps me keep my thoughts clearer.
Are you talking about the midi clocks just going off or setting tempos and forgetting them? 'cuz setting the clock should work…though I’m sure you’d have to re-sync it after a while. And Ableton is a bit weird about midi clocks like that…it restarts the first scene when it gets a play or clock start message, which is infuriating. And AFAIK, it can’t stop and then start a midi clock without just using the transport controls.
Also, what’s an interclock? Are you talking about word clocks, because those wouldn’t have anything to do with tempo syncing.
Most VSTs I’ve heard sound at least as good once you get them dialed in. They just might not sound identical to the hardware they may or may not be emulating. They’re still good, and there’s still awesome stuff happening. Synths like Razor would be very hard to do in analog hardware, if not impossible…unless there’s more funky math going on than I’m aware of.
That’s the vast majority of the reason I want to see if I can save up for a hardware synth and most of the reason I bought Maschine, even if it has its shortcomings (I can ignore the computer a lot of the time, but still have to use it occasionally).
The weird thing is that I’d seriously consider a VA synth. I just want knobs…and I don’t want to have to map them or ever hit a page button.
At this point, I own, have owned, or have demo’d Absynth, Massive, Komplete Elements, several free soft synths, Reason 3, 4, and 5, the included synths in Logic, Ableton, and Pro Tools 7.3, the producer pack, and 10…and somehow manage to always either work off a preset (usually making it worse) or make the same like 5 sounds that I don’t like………something doesn’t work b/t me and software synths.
The one time I played with a Virus TI Desktop…I actually liked the sounds I got.
There can’t be something magic about that synth. I’m very close to buying a microkorg or scouring the city for an ms2000 rack just to see if actually having labeled knobs makes the difference I think it would.
I guess having a few BCR-2000s sitting around would help (and probably be cheaper than getting into hardware synths), but Maschine can’t use other midi controllers, which means I’d have to run Logic or PT just to use them. And, well, I hate pages. I’d probably wind up covering it in console tape and buying another one when I ran out of knobs anyway.
And something reasonable like a MicroKorg could do a lot, even if I have to scroll though pages. At least they’re labeled on the thing.
[/quote][quote=“djfrogstar, post:12, topic:35000, username:djfrogstar”]
I’m glad you said that. I’ve been wondering whether the difference between the cards is actually noticeable or whether that extra $2-$300 doesn’t make a huge difference (especially when I don’t have professional grade mastering compressors / limters etc)
Any chance this is the review?: http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?2762705-Avid-Mbox-Pro-Computer-Interface-Now-with-Conclusions
I think it was the only one I came across with graphs
[/quote]
Yes, it was. Thank you.
And, yeah…the differences are tiny. When people say that one card sounds more “open” or “full” or that something else sounds “gritty” or “clynical”, it usually means that they suck at recording, they’re selling something, or they’re justifying a purchase to themselves.
Comparatively, the difference between 2 microphones of the same type is huge.
Really nice recording interfaces are mostly a game of features, professional appearance, and professional reliability. There are differences, but they’re small.
That doesn’t mean that I don’t think nicer stuff is worth it. I really do think an Mbox pro is worth twice as much as the normal price for a KA6. And I really do think that an Apogee Ensemble is worth more than twice that. But as for what you’re going to get out of the cards in a home studio recording maybe voice and a few synths…consider NI your “not crap” baseline and then buy to your needs/budget. And pay attention to analog vs. digital IO.
That actually caught me off guard, as the Mbox won’t record all the outs on that Tetra…2 of it’s input channels are digital, and I assumed that wasn’t the case.
If you’re recording anything acoustic (voice, drums, etc.), your choice in Microphone and Preamp matter way more than your choice in converter. If you’re just recording a synth…almost anything can do it.
There’s a reason I don’t own a dedicated recording interface. I don’t need one. I’m about to, and I’m seriously considering a Shure X2U, because it’s probably good enough for what I want (mono field recordings that are going to be processed to all hell). If I need anything serious–like voice for something I plan on releasing–I’ll book time in a recording studio. Even if I went out and bought an Ensemble today, I couldn’t afford the kind of Mic I could use for a couple bills an hour or less.
When I need to record a hardware synth, I’ll buy a converter that works well with it…and I’ll get something that’s not crap. But that very well might be a KA6 if I’m on a tight budget. I’d rather it be better and more capable, but it’d work just fine. Honestly, I’d probably buy the KA6 just because it’s cheap and wait and see what comes out for Thunderbolt and how well the bus deals with multi-channel audio and video going over the same cable, mostly because I’m terrified that Apple is going to drop firewire in the next year or so. That would really piss me off, because I’m not willing to use USB for hard drives…it’s too damn slow.
For that Ableton is perfect..[/QUOTE]
I think Pro Tools is a better choice, but that’s because I just like it better for everything except live performance, probably because their kool aid was next to Apple’s.