Members JustinThyme Posted December 1, 2006 Members Share Posted December 1, 2006 I am a recent convert to Macs.....got a 13" MacBook. Overall, I like it. But here's my dilemma. I really like Reasons MIDI sequencing and it's built in tools. Yet, being a guitarist, I have a need to add audio to my creations. So I'm looking for an audio sequencer to use with Reason via ReWire, and needs to be compatible with the Intel Macs. I don't need extravagant audio features....probably don't need to have more than 16 tracks (and could probably live with 8), and don't need to record more than 1 stereo signal at a time. Additionally, I'm looking for a very inexpensive setup.....about $100 or less. I can live with using the onboard audio I/O in the short term. Here's my options as I see it now..... - GarageBand - Comes with the Mac. Frankly, not thrilled with how it works workflow wise, and even with 1.25GB RAM, after importing a 12 track MIDI file, I get memory warnings. Also, I have yet to be able to get Reason to play back through it, but that's probably just a learning issue. - Metro SE or Intuem 4 - I have the demo's, but I'm not familiar with them. Has anyone used these? - Upgrade my MBox with Pro Tools LE 7 - It appears I can reuse my MBox audio interface if I get the Upgrade. But it's more complex than I need, and I'd be a bit concerned about overhead of running the with Reason on my system. - Export Reason tune to audio, and put that in non-ReWire audio sequencer of choice (Audacity ?) - Obviously, I would prefer the flexibility to have the Reason stuff live, so I can adjust levels and balance and such. But I guess I could do this in a pinch. Any other ideas out there? Spending the bucks on Logic Express or Ableton Live are out of the question. However, I could get the Digidesigh Edition of Live for MacIntel. 4 audio and 4 MIDI tracks might be tough, but if a ReWire connection only uses 1 stereo connection, it might work in a pinch (short term). Does anyone have experience using ReWire with Live? Any ideers would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mook Posted December 1, 2006 Members Share Posted December 1, 2006 Originally posted by JustinThyme - Export Reason tune to audio, and put that in non-ReWire audio sequencer of choice (Audacity ?) - Obviously, I would prefer the flexibility to have the Reason stuff live, so I can adjust levels and balance and such. But I guess I could do this in a pinch. If you go this route (or with the 2-channel Rewire solutions) you could solo each instruments (or group of instruments) and export to audio, then line each one up in an audio editor for mixing. Having said that, I would have thought you'd want to go one of the LE versions of a host, but I think a lot of them have crippled Rewire if at all. The other consideration would be to use a host on XP using bootcamp. Ideally I think you'd want the full quota of Rewire inputs or the workaround my stifle your productivity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kooki_sf Posted December 2, 2006 Members Share Posted December 2, 2006 tracktion. also, rewire REALLY sucks, and is a huge pain in the ass. check out cycling74's soundflower if you want to pipe audio live between applications (its freee!!!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JustinThyme Posted December 2, 2006 Author Members Share Posted December 2, 2006 Originally posted by kooki_sf tracktion. also, rewire REALLY sucks, and is a huge pain in the ass. check out cycling74's soundflower if you want to pipe audio live between applications (its freee!!!!) Thanks for the tips. I'll check them out. I'm thinking my problem is more with Reason. Although I can get GarageBand and Intuem4 demo to synch via ReWire, I can't get any sound out of either. In both cases, it appears that the ReWire is pretty much limited to synching with the host, then you use the slave apps volume to balance with the host apps volume. There isn't a need (in the instructions I've been able to find, anyway) to create slave "tracks" in the host app. I think were this is getting FUBAR is that the host app has control of the audio card, and therefore, the slave apps output isn't getting out. I'm guessing it can be done, if you know the secret handshake. I even tried downloading the latest ReWire from the Props and updating it, just to be sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Lozada Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 ReWire... sucks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kazper Posted December 2, 2006 Members Share Posted December 2, 2006 That sound flower thing looks sweet... The upgrade for protools is only $75 and next to tracktion thats about the cheapest way you could go. Soundflower + PT7 you should be ok.. Mook thanks for pointing soundflower out man... that solves so many issues for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mook Posted December 2, 2006 Members Share Posted December 2, 2006 Originally posted by kazper Mook thanks for pointing soundflower out man... that solves so many issues for me! Don't thank me - that was Kooki's suggestion! I've never found Rewire too clever either, but I do get sound through it. The trick I've found is to open and close the programs in the right order. If I do that, the Rewire channels magically appear (in Cubase here) and the sound flows in to the mixer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kooki_sf Posted December 2, 2006 Members Share Posted December 2, 2006 Originally posted by Gus Lozada ReWire... sucks? it may seem decent if your using off the shelf software in a simple fashion. the instant you try to do any complicated interapplication work with it you begin to realise how awfull it is. the whole master/slave thing, the issues with running vsts on slaves, the limited number of tracks... its so evil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Synonym Music Posted December 2, 2006 Members Share Posted December 2, 2006 - GarageBand - Comes with the Mac. Frankly, not thrilled with how it works workflow wise, and even with 1.25GB RAM, after importing a 12 track MIDI file, I get memory warnings. Also, I have yet to be able to get Reason to play back through it, but that's probably just a learning issue. I don't know, I've seen ReWire incompatibility between the two quite a bit. I forget which is slaved when the problems occur though. You might try flip flopping the order you open them in since this determines the master/slave relationship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Lozada Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 Originally posted by kooki_sf it may seem decent if your using off the shelf software in a simple fashion.the instant you try to do any complicated interapplication work with it you begin to realise how awfull it is. the whole master/slave thing, the issues with running vsts on slaves, the limited number of tracks... its so evil. It may be true about the 64 channels limitation, somehow. My "off the shell" software goes from Pro Tools to Live, among others.Zero master/slave complications. I am interested about what problems do you actually have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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