G2 Engine on it's way!

[Is.]

I'm so damn excited. Yes! Finally, my lifelong dream of owning a nord modular device will finally come true!

 

Also, the G2 engine marks my last major studio purchase for the forseeable future. Yup, I've decided that with that, I'll have pretty much all I need to make kickass music. I've got a sweet computer, a Command Station, a MIDI controller, and a good audio interface. I am emancipating myself from GAS!

[Analog Kid]

i hear you!

I've sworn off synths also.

 

I'm still niggling with my PC, but otherwise my studio is giving me exactly what i need to do anything, and its certainly beyond my wildest dreams of the kind of system i dreamt of when i started becoming serious about keyboards.

Still i wouldnt mind a few walls worth of modular

 

There's so much buzz surrounding the G2 i feel compelled to play Devil's Advocate and querry as to why you chose the engine over the Creamware 6dsp card? It seems to me the ModularIII app (especially with Flexar) is edging out the Clavia, and on top of that you have all the other synths and studio stuff...

-so, specifically did you compare that and why did you go with the Nord?

[Is.]

Well, I wasn't able to test out the actual Modular 3 software, the screenshots of it don't seem as well-laid out to me visually as the G2 software is, which I am already able to use and play with.

 

I already know and love the Nord sound, I don't really know the creamware sound very well and what I do know I don't love.

 

Also, you can't run a creamware card without a PC, the Engine you simply can't edit without a PC. I've got a good MIDI controller and hardware sequencer, so if I need to take the G2 somewhere, it's no problem.

 

The G2 has an extremely active mailing list with some amazing programmers who make their patches available to all. There is a lot to learn from in that.

 

I think the G2 is more advanced in the logic/control department, just from looking at the module list for creamware.

 

I honestly wouldn't use much of the other plugins available for the pulsar platform, they just don't interest me too much.

[Analog Kid]

thanks for the response.

 

i admit im tempted to get the engine

(or the Scope)

Im frustrated though with trying to run the VariOS editor, the Oasys editor and the MoogModularV software at the same time

they all run fine by themselves or paired with another, but im having trouble getting them all going at once.

I dont know if you know anything about ports under the Oasys software? seems like unlike most apps theres no method to choose the midi ports it operates from? also theres the onboard midi, but how do you feed it?

sorry to get OT, but you might know...

I suppose i could swap the VariOS editor over to the mac, but id just as soon keep the mac as sequencing only for now.

 

I think im gonna get a new mobo soon anyways, so hopefully that will help my cause and not hinder it. It will be a better chipset anyways. im also thinking another monitor for it...

ok, im just thinking aloud now-lol

 

so when will your box arrive? could you rate is as an fx proccessor when you get a chance to get your hands dirty? also could you rate it as a midi processor/step sequencer for use with external gear? and lastly could you compare its sound to the Oasys synths once you feel your way into it?

no hurry, if you can just have an answer for all that the day after you get your box, that would be peachy keen (to quote the Georgian venacular)

[Mike51]

What about a good mic pre and studio monitors?

[mildbill]

congrats, Is:

i'm still a little in awe of my G2 every time i use it - i think you'll love it.

[Is.]

 

Originally posted by Mike51 What about a good mic pre and studio monitors?

 

 

I don't use any mics, I don't record vocals or guitars or anything like that. I was sort of considering getting a mic eventually, like a Studio Projects condenser or something like that in the ~$200 range - just for whatever I might randomly need a mic for. But I think I'd be happy with the preamps on the 1820, they're TFPro (formerly joe meek), and they seem decent enough for my purposes.

 

Studio monitors...ahhh, I'd like some. But I've got some good monitoring headphones (7506's) for mixing and EQ, and the hi-fi speakers I use do well enough for a secondary check and more importanly, for stereo imaging. No, it's not ideal and some monitors would be great, but any monitors that would be significantly better than what I have now cost more than I will probably have anytime soon, as I'm heading off to college. Also, I don't have a good monitoring environment.

 

I would like to get some good cables, though.

[Stbean]

My GAS has deflated along time ago...

 

I'm only down to one hardware synth now(Virus KB)

and my computer which I mainly use for softsynths and

recording.

I'm so proud of myself...

 

 

*ahem*, I have been eyeing that nord 3 lead.

Hmmm..sounds like im in denial.

[spectralab]

all I really have to say is: congrats, Is. !!!

[Unfed]

wouldn't the midi out be for the internal midi modules that (i believe) can be used w/ the sequence modules to actually sequence external midi devices? like if you had a knob-box, you could make your own analog-style step sequencers, etc. all sorts of {censored}...

[Is.]

Originally posted by DodgingRain Second flaw in the G2 engine: You MUST use a midi cable. The driver does not transmit midi over the usb connection as far as I can tell. The G2 doesn't show up as a midi port in either cubase or midi-ox. I consider that a design flaw, at least they got that one right on the v-synth. Also what's the point of the midi out on the G2? There are no controls to transmit midi. Seems kinda retarded there as well. Sounds awsome though, poly-evolver sounds really really awsome too. It going to take a synth from something I don't use a lot to one I do use a lot just by adding a few voices.

 

USB works poorly for MIDI (generally speaking), and doesn't provide the greatest of timing. I would imagine this is especially true if the same USB connection were used to transmit MIDI data and editor data, it's only a USB 1.1 connection. Even if one could transmit MIDI over that cable, I probably wouldn't. Too much jitter. Granted, this is coming from somebody who owns and uses an Edirol PCR-50 interfaced to their PC via USB, but understand that even USB timing is multitudes tighter than my {censored}ty playing so I don't consider it a factor. For sequenced lines, timing is a bigger deal, for me anyway. But perhaps it would have been possible to implement some kind of MIDI communication over the USB cable, even if freaks like me would consider the timing to be abysmal. Maybe in a future OS update?

 

There is a very good point to MIDI out on the G2 - one can route MIDI output signals from anywhere in the engine. Want to build a CC LFO bank? No problem! How about a custom sequencer? What if you want to scale and transform MIDI input signals? There's a lot of cool stuff on the MIDI side of the G2 that doesn't require on-board hands-on control.

[Kirumamoru]

Also, Edirol does a pretty good job of dealing with USB timing issues, at least with their larger interfaces.

 

Kiru

[Mike51]

++Studio monitors...ahhh, I'd like some. But I've got some good monitoring headphones (7506's) for mixing and EQ, and the hi-fi speakers I use do well enough for a secondary check and more importanly, for stereo imaging. No, it's not ideal and some monitors would be great, but any monitors that would be significantly better than what I have now cost more than I will probably have anytime soon, as I'm heading off to college. Also, I don't have a good monitoring environment++

 

makes sense.

 

When you get out that, they are a must. Your synths will not shine until you get a decent pair of monitors. The listening enjoyment is much higher compared to headphones.

 

Using a good pair of monitors on your synths for the first time will blow you away, especially with something like a g2, virus or triton.

[Is.]

All in good time, my friend. All in good time. I live fairly healthy, I don't smoke, I try to eat right and excercise, so I've got a pretty damn good life expectancy. Right now I'm just trying to enjoy living life being broke and not having much except a dinky apartment with no real amenities and a fast food job. I just know I'm going to look back and reminisce...

 

I have heard good synths through nice monitors before (Triton, SIDstation, MC-505, Octave Cat). There is somewhat of a difference, but I can honestly say in some ways I like headphones better, unless the monitoring environment is near-perfect and dead silent. There is definitely more detail through good headphones, so for programming and tweaking I find this ideal. I think monitors provide a better feel and the ear fatigue is less, so for playing a synth monitors are superior.

 

Obviously, if I could replace my hi-fi speakers (Sonys, but not bad ones really, 3 ways with a wooden cabinet and either a 6 or an 8 inch woofer, certainly more natural sounding than the cheesy plastic ones these days) with some real monitors I would. But I don't think I'd stop using headphones (though if I could afford it I might drop 1k or so and get a nice headphone amp and some even nicer cans). I just like headphones.

[girevik]

Is, congrats on the G2! I'm using my $80 Altec Lansing 3-piece speaker system as my monitor system.

[Sinner6]

Congrats on your new synth. I cant wait to hear what this thing can do!

 

[sales pitch]

 

Monitors really do make a huge difference. Without them, mixing

is like painting with tinted sunglasses on. I remember how appaling is was to hear my old material through monitors once I got some.

 

The M-audio BX8's are a great low buget option.

 

[/sales pitch]

[Is.]

Heh, I apprectiate the advice, but I'm not new to this. I fully understand the advantages of using monitors. Seriously, MDR-7506s have good frequency response, so the only thing that's overly 'tinted', as you put it, is the stereo image. But doing a second check on my speakers fixes that, and it also provides a second reference. So it's really not that bad.

 

Some day, I will buy some monitors, and it will probably help my mixes out when I do. Right now, I really can't afford them or anything else. Maybe if I get a roommate and that phlebotomy job sometime this year, I can start saving some money. We'll see.

[Sinner6]

No worries man!

 

You're material sounds fine to me!

 

Really, I just want everyone to be happy and have fun with music. Sometimes I am guilty of forgetting that we all have individual wants and needs. Because I am happy with a particular choice, I cannot mistakenly conclude that others need to make the same choice to feel the same level of happiness.

 

I hope your G2 brings you many years of enjoyment.

 

Cheers!

[Is.]

 

Originally posted by Sinner6 No worries man! You're material sounds fine to me! Really, I just want everyone to be happy and have fun with music. Sometimes I am guilty of forgetting that we all have individual wants and needs. Because I am happy with a particular choice, I cannot mistakenly conclude that others need to make the same choice to feel the same level of happiness. I hope your G2 brings you many years of enjoyment. Cheers!

 

 

Thanks for the kind words.

 

Believe me though, some monitors would bring me a lot of enjoyment. But right now isn't the time, so I'm focusing my enjoyment towards things I can afford, like food and the occasional video game. I'm not worried about my studio, I think it will work quite well for me. It does everything I want it to do right now. Well, as soon as the G2E arrives it will. I don't have the expectation of producing pro-quality mixes out of my bedroom, so I'm not disappointed that I can't achieve that. It's like I said before, I plan on living for a long time, I don't have to hurry and worry too much about this kind of thing.

 

Yeah, I'm so excited, I'm pretty sure the G2 will come tomorrow, hopefully even in the morning. The UPS tracking says it's already in Omaha.

 

On a slightly different note, I won't actually be able to even play it with a keyboard (I'll have to MIDI sequence and play using the CS pads), because my PCR-50 had the 'increments of 3' problem and thus needed warranty work, and they only just sent it back today after almost a month of holding it*. So not until Monday or so will I be able to really get tweaking.

 

* I'm actually fairly pissed about this, they held onto it for a couple weeks after they fixed it because the guy said he didn't want to send it off without calling me to confirm that he should really send it back to the return address on the box, and that I didn't include a phone number. Fair enough, except that Edirol makes you submit all of your information online to receive any customer service, including my home address and phone number. Plus the guy actually called me a couple weeks ago to let me know that they were just waiting on a component that was scheduled to arrive like, the next day. Plus the return address was clearly labelled with my name, it wasn't a business address or a suite or anything. Not rocket science. Bah. Whatever. At least I'm getting back the $220 device, and hopefully it will work like it was supposed to in the first place.

[cybermooks]

I have a G2 rack on order, having used a Nord Modular for years. There is no doubt in my mind that you are far better off using devices with offboard processors, either rack units or PCI cards. Even the most powerful machine will start choking on multiple processor-hog virtual instruments. I just received the Korg Legacy- on a Mac to it recommends a 1.25mhz G4 processor to fully utilize all the features (oddly only a 1.5mhz Pentium-clearly optimized more for PC). Come on guys. It would have made more sense to put processors in the box.

 

As far as Creamware goes I highly recommend their cards. While relatively unknown (unless you read UK music publications) they have the best sounding synths hands down with no drain on your CPU. The mixing matrix is incredibly flexible and is the one place you can connect everything to everything else. You can run it, as I do most of the time, outside of your sequencer for virtually no latency. Construction and implementation are ultra high quality German and there is very good third party support for additional plugins. It isn't cheap stuff but bests Digidesign's overpriced line any day in my opinion.

 

When I first got them I ran them as VSTs in a sequencer. You can also do that, but once I looked at the power of the Creamware mixers and how you can route things everywhere I changed over to building around that, which bypasses any sequencer delay. I now have three Creamware boards in a PC running under their own software with some critical synths plugged into an A16 for ultraquiet conversion. All of this, plus any software on the PC can run through the excellent Creamware effects, all of which is output via ADAT cable to a MOTU 2408Mkiii on Mac running Logic with no audible latency whatsoever.

[Rellik]

 

Originally posted by Is. Thanks for the kind words. Believe me though, some monitors would bring me a lot of enjoyment. But right now isn't the time, so I'm focusing my enjoyment towards things I can afford, like food and the occasional video game. I'm not worried about my studio, I think it will work quite well for me. It does everything I want it to do right now. Well, as soon as the G2E arrives it will. I don't have the expectation of producing pro-quality mixes out of my bedroom, so I'm not disappointed that I can't achieve that. It's like I said before, I plan on living for a long time, I don't have to hurry and worry too much about this kind of thing. Yeah, I'm so excited, I'm pretty sure the G2 will come tomorrow, hopefully even in the morning. The UPS tracking says it's already in Omaha. On a slightly different note, I won't actually be able to even play it with a keyboard (I'll have to MIDI sequence and play using the CS pads), because my PCR-50 had the 'increments of 3' problem and thus needed warranty work, and they only just sent it back today after almost a month of holding it*. So not until Monday or so will I be able to really get tweaking. * I'm actually fairly pissed about this, they held onto it for a couple weeks after they fixed it because the guy said he didn't want to send it off without calling me to confirm that he should really send it back to the return address on the box, and that I didn't include a phone number. Fair enough, except that Edirol makes you submit all of your information online to receive any customer service, including my home address and phone number. Plus the guy actually called me a couple weeks ago to let me know that they were just waiting on a component that was scheduled to arrive like, the next day. Plus the return address was clearly labelled with my name, it wasn't a business address or a suite or anything. Not rocket science. Bah. Whatever. At least I'm getting back the $220 device, and hopefully it will work like it was supposed to in the first place.

 

 

This is sort of OT, but the "Increments of 3" problem is fixed on all PCR-50's currently being sold, correct? How do you like the PCR-50 overall? I've heard complaints about the key action, but I've heard that it's better than the Radium's.

[Is.]

Yeah, that problem has been fixed for some time, actually more than a year. The board I bought just happened to be very old stock. I sent it back, and got it fixed. Now it works quite well. I have no complaints with it whatsoever.

[Is.]

Oh, and the keys...I like the key action. It's not as nice as the K5000S I used to have, but it's not bad. Of course, I'm no keys player, so you're kind of asking the wrong hombre.

[Rellik]

Cool, thanks Is. That's ok, I don't really need the keys point of view, I just wanted to hear how they feel; sounds like they're ok.

 

If you've ever tried a Radium, could you compare what that feels like to the PCR? Sorry to bother you, but no place in my area seems to be selling the PCR (why doesn't Guitar Center carry it?), so I won't get the chance to try it out.

[Is.]

I've never used a Radium, so I can't comment. There are lots of user reviews around, though.