sound cards

[Sheridan]

I am planning on getting a new G4 and I was wondering
if anyone had suggestions for a good sound card to get.

[marcin]

highly recommend you soundcards made by RME.
RME Hammerfall Multiface kicks ass:

24bit/96khz
8 analog I/O
1 x MIDI I/O
1 x ADAT
1 x SPDIF
1 x Wordclock + 1 x ADAT Sync In
etc...

check details at http://www.rme-audio.de

Also they produce very good A/D, D/A converters, comparable with apogee products
but cheaper...


Marcin

[FORMAT]

Yes, RME is highly rated among professionals, as is M-Audio's Delta 1010 which is the first with OSX drivers..... what applications are you planning on using? If Ableton Live is one of them, that one's available for Mac OSX.

The Multiface has the added advantage of being compatible with notebooks too, by the way.
Regards,
FORMAT

[FORMAT]

BTW, m-audio's website is www.midiman.com

FORMAT

[mr_chombee]

I'm also a satisfied rme user. high class soundcards & excellent support...

[FORMAT]

mr_chombee,

I would be interested what setup you're running and what software you're running it with? Do you use Ableton Live, for example? This software is GEIL, as we say in Krautland.

Greetz
FORMAT

[mr_chombee]

hehe...krautland ;)
isn't it also called the "weisswurscht-äquator" ??? lol

I've heard a lot good things about ableton live, but I didn't had any chance to test that yet. however I do most things with my hardware equipment, so I don't have that much software on my computer. I only use logic 4.8.1 platinum for sequencing, some plugin synths, some wave editors and my nord modular editor. I'm really happy that my setup works fine now, since I switched from my good old atari to a multitasking computer. it took a couple months until I could sort all that computer crap out.

here's my setup:

G4 400 Mhz,
768MB RAM (650 assigned to logic)
MacOS9.2.2, only audio programs, stripped down extensions
19" monitor
2 harddrives: 20GB IBM deskstar (system), 30GB western digital (audio)
adaptec scsi card
external scsi cd-burner (yamaha crw8824)
external 250mb scsi zip-drive
rme hammerfall dsp + multiface
gee three stealth serial port (replaces the internal modem)
midi interface: motu midi timepiece II (serial 8 in / 8 out)
OMS 2.3.8

this setup works great for me. rock solid, no midi timing or synchronization problems...just smooth like my old atari :)

[FORMAT]

Chombee,
Believe me, ableton is KILLER.... the realtime stretching/tuning capabilities are just unparalleled, in my view, by any other app....
a really new concept

I'm also very happy to hear that your system is rock..... this is something one doesn't here often in forums, does one? Mine is ok too, though I'm using a 600 Mhz Pentium....

Off-topi: You're from Berlin, right? I wanna get into playing out, which means live with notebook and myself strumming the guitar and with band etc... are there a few places that might be interested in that in Berlin? Here in München, those are few and far between, and whenever I'm in Berlin (which I am fairly often), the quantity of hole-in-the-wall clubs-cum-bars fascinates me.... often with few or no visitors and a DJ playing. I'm into jazzy drum'n'bass, so if you know anything..... I'll be in Berlin from 11 April, so I could visit places and give them my CD directly.

This post is getting to long.....
FORMAT

[mr_chombee]

there's a new drum'n'bass party series once a month at tresor. downstairs usually hard:edged stuff, upstairs more laid back, covering everything from electro to jazzy d&b, etc. could be something for you (?). as far as I know, the promoters of this party series come from hamburg. I can forward you the contact adress if you want.

unfortunately the d&b scene isn't that big in berlin, although we have lots of bars, clubs, etc. even WMF is closed again...

regarding ableton: can you also do midi stuff with it??? any experience about timing stability?

[FORMAT]

Thats a good tip; I didn't know that Tresor has DnB parties as well..... Yes the contact address would be very useful... although I wonder if any of them are into the "live" thing....

As far as Ableton goes: You can do Midi insofar as all the actions you can prompt with the mouse/keyboard (play clip, move fader on ANY plug-in, stop clip, change tuning of audio file.....) you can assign to a midi note, which makes it possible to really play "live"... They haven't implemented VST instruments yet, but are promising to do so in an update - that's one of the few things missing. I'm currently writing a review of the upcoming 1.5 version of Ableton for the German www.memi.com (Magazin für elektronische Musik im Internet) Website, so you might want to check that (my first review ever!) in early April.

Timing I have no complaints about.... I do wish there actually was a metronome click; they don't seem to have thought about that.

Cheers,
FORMAT

[FORMAT]

mr_chombee
the contact address for the tresor guys would be terrific! you can also mail it to me at format@gmx.co.uk

vielen dank im voraus

servus
FORMAT

[Sheridan]

Thanks for the info on sound cards.

I was planning on running reason for starters. but I was
also looking at some other programs like Logic.
I have not heard of Ableton, could you tell me what it is
best used for, pros, cons, price. any info would be great.
thanks.

[FORMAT]

hEEY

yOU BEST look at http://www.ableton.com/ for info... great program for calling up loops, modifying (time-stretch, tuning!!!!!!!) them in real-time, stopping them and doing live sets on the go....
even records all your actions (fader movements, mutes etc) so you can listen back to your live set later complete with automated controls, comes with great FX and you can use VST ones as well.

there is a review in English at http://www.em411.com/review-software_show.php?software_id= 85


check it out
FORMAT

[deccard]

with ableton live you can´t use midiinstruments or vsti´s.
so you need a second prog like reason or logic to sync with ableton.
they said they would make a vsti support in the next version tho.

[emef]

vsti support is what i`m waiting for

it will be a pretty perfect app when you can play keys as well as trashing audio

[phdbob]

vers 1.5 should be on your hd???
rawks!

[Sheridan]

thanks for the info, I will surely give it a look.