sarine

Cool it is. I mean, aside from being unusable, I love it! Water under the bridge..! In all seriousness, I thought I had gotten pretty apt at using the thing. I don't use pattern generation nor intelligent drummer features beyond the concept of the "virtual drummer" adhering to certain drummer's conventions such as keeping count of where to insert a break. I load a kit, perhaps tweak it a little - but not too much as often it turns out the kits are kits for a good reason, and I've found the sampling quality, layering etc. to mostly work out of the box - and then I manually craft the loops following the intro-beat/verse/chorus-break-outro idiom, mostly ignoring the purported correlation between rhythm intensity and complexity (i.e. "level" in MDrummer jargon) because I feel I don't understand drumming well enough from the drummer's perspective to design natural intensity build-up in terms of layering gradually increasing single-shots (e.g. introducing and accentuating hi-hats, tomtoms, adding the odd crash cymbal etc. according to "level"). It's a mouthful but the gist of it is I "Keep It Simple, Stupid" - until I learn to think like a drummer about all the sounds and rhythmic patterns. It makes it all the more infuriating when MDrummer seemingly fails to do the simple, stupid drumming jobs I expect from it. There is a bit in the manual about the sensitivity of MIDI timing when MDrummer is in the (default, channels 1-9) command mode, and that sometimes it helps to add a negative delay (the manual says 1ms should suffice) to the rhythm triggering MIDI track in the DAW to ensure that the commands are received on time. Otherwise, if MDrummer misses the mark it for some reason flat-out refuses to play anything. I suspect this has to do with the way MDrummer is synced with the host's tempo and how it tries to strictly adhere to the aforementioned rhythm conventions. However, I have been unable to solve this timing(?) issue despite trying different negative delays and even configuring the DAW to pre-emptively read ahead the MIDI so that the correct notes should be sent to MDrummer acutely even in situations like jumping back to a loop beginning. It shouldn't be the DAW crapping out as Vojtech (Mr. Melda) uses Cubase himself, and I am using Nuendo. So if anything this is the DAW I'd expect to handle this VST. I really hope I just don't know whaddafuk I'm doing or that there's a simple answer, or even just a counter-intuitive or insane solution, but some of the other odd things happening in MDrummer - which I haven't even mentioned - make me worry that it is just buggy software. I'm at a point where I'm ready to try reinstalling the whole thing. It would be a shame if I couldn't get this thing to function properly and had to go looking to replace it with something like Superior Drummer.

Somewhat off-topic; I wonder why the IRCAM Studio (MSRP $499) is priced at $339, while IRCAM Trax (MSRP $399) is priced $399. Studio includes Trax: https://shop.flux.audio/en_US/products/ircam-studio It's not tagged as a discount.

What runs through people's minds when they put down the pencil, lean back in the chair and stretch their arms as a gesture of closure; "Okay then, I've mapped all the possibilities, tied together all loose ends, and it's decided; I'm going to sample this whole library at 44.1kHz."

Ah, Acid. The oddball DAW that I hate to love. v7: pretty stable, but 32-bit v8: 64-bit, but somewhat unstable, sluggish GUI v9: GUI somewhat more responsive, MIDI Playable Chopper, a shitfest of crashes v10: my balls are not big enough - you try.

I wish I could actually use this thing. It refuses to do what I tell it to do, i.e. trigger loops. Looking for alternatives at the moment because I want to get back to making music instead of troubleshooting why a virtual drummer won't virtually drum on command.

You and me both. Although to be realistic, they are quite usable as is... The danger lies in delving deeper - just a few innocent clicks have the potential to summon the doomsday demon of eternal tinkering. Sometimes that multi-parameter-verse flirts with your left brain, the tail begins wagging the dog and your creativity died about four hours ago when you remember clicking "EDIT" that one last fatal time. I've found that with these tools I must constantly remind myself of what I was trying to accomplish, moreso than with most plugins. On the other hand, I have other kinds of problems with many skeuomorphic GUI's of analogue emulations. The arbitrary, quasi-random knob placement, form over function and color "coding" that makes zero sense are poison to my AD/HD.

elysia alpha is one of the two plugins I regret selling (the other being AAS String Studio VS-3), out of dozens.

Addiction Synth is the worst synth I've stupidly thrown money at, and a close competitor for the worst plugin overall. That was the first and last of Stagecraft for me.

Just saying all the updates and new products are free when they're included in bundles you own (not just MCompleteBundle). But yeah, if Mr. Melda would pack up his stuff today and move to South-East Asia never to work a single day again rendering his plugins abandonware, I'd still be good.

Applies to all MBundles AFAIK.

Hey, me neither. Like I said unless you're talking about orchestration or other heavy sample libraries, I have no idea what you're talking about. Clearly I had no idea what you were talking about. Perhaps that may in part be attributed to the fact that I don't use Kontakt. Maybe I'm nitpicking here, but it was your phrasing that elicited my response of a flat "No." If only you had said "could" instead of "would" and/or specified the type of VSTi, I might have shrugged and moved on. As it reads it's highly misleading to an observer who doesn't know the needs of the person you're advising here, let alone whether you even know, but may accept it as some general truth just because it's stated with such authority. To provide another frame of reference, I added all my currently installed VSTi to a fresh Nuendo project and checked RAM usage: I then loaded random patches in HALion 6 and SampleTank 4, in modest number of two for HALion, and 10 for SampleTank. For HALion I chose two patches that I would presume to be "expensive", one from HALion Symphonic Orchestra and one from Olympus Choir Elements: For SampleTank I loaded 10 random sound sets from the ST4 SE library: Loaded Monastery Grand in MSoundFactory: I generated a drumset for MDrummer: I loaded a random heavy pad patch in Iris 2, Avenger was left on init. RAM usage Empty project: Everything loaded and running: I checked RAM usage during playback of an exciting C major scale on all instruments in attempt to prevent any disk-swapping shenanigans from taking place. I'm assuming none did, as playback was relatively smooth (at 96kHz, 24bit, 256 samples buffered). MDrummer was triggering single-shots through MIDI channel 10, but I doubt the rhythm patterns would have made any difference. Empty project: 292MB Everything loaded: 9.4GB where "Everything" includes: 20 total VSTi instances, of which; 16 synths 4 sampler-synths, with 2 + 10 + 1 + 1 = 14 sound-sets loaded (HALion, SampleTank, MSoundFactory and MDrummer respectively) I then proceeded to remove samplers one by one: removed: SampleTank removed: SampleTank, HALion removed: SampleTank, HALion, MSoundFactory removed: SampleTank, HALion, MSoundFactory, MDrummer Finally, with the above and Iris 2 removed: We're left with 16 VSTi's (synths) consuming 3.9GB of RAM. If I find myself with diverse sound sets as this, it's usually time to start rendering to audio anyway. I always advise people to go for 16 or 32 GB of RAM if they're building a PC on which they intend to do any kind of "serious work," but that's not to say it's necessary. I know for my own use case 8GB would be enough. It depends on what you work with and how. The point about avoiding swapping to disk stands though. But in DAW use, in my actual projects, I've never seen RAM consumption exceed 8GB (mind you, doesn't mean that it has never occurred), and that entails experimental phases prior to cleaning up unused/redundant VSTi. YMMV.

Due to..?

No. Unless you're talking about orchestration or other heavy sample libraries, I have no idea what you're talking about. Yes.

Yeah, I get it. I just thought, "I shouldn't need to be doing this." (surgery) I found myself micromanaging frequencies too often just because I had arguably the best tool designed for that. I figured the tool was facilitating bad habits and I should direct my attention and efforts elsewhere. Whatever surgery I may need to do every now and then (mostly because I'm too lazy to treat the problem instead of the symptom), I can get done sufficiently. Mostly with that stock 4-band EQ with one band activated. If I need to actually match & invert spectrums to do detailed carving (which, I have to be honest, having to resort to always feels like a failure), Melda does that.

Aparillo and Cyclop here, use Cyclop often. I like both interfaces. Sugar Bytes' sound is not the most polished but hey, nothing a little filtering can't patch. I don't always need nor want the creamy softness of my better-sounding synths.

I don't think so. I had it and sold it. I now use mostly the 4-band stock EQ of my DAW, Melda, and random analogue emulation EQ's for coloration (in that order). Don't need posh FabFilter in my life. IMHO, if you find yourself often reaching for a surgical EQ to fix something, it might pay off to stop and think what is the actual problem to solve. The right approach to solving it likely doesn't even involve an equalizer.

8GB is enough for audio work more often than not. In general the size capacity is the least significant spec after a modest minimum is reached, and beyond that CAS latency (cycles) and bandwidth (Hz) start to matter more. What is more important out of those depends a lot on whether you're working on small or large (in context of desktop/workstation workloads) sets of data. With audio I'd wager to guess that latency matters more than bandwidth, whereas with video it is likely the opposite. But you better get a second opinion.

Two thunderbolt ports with (I assume) one DisplayPort source each + HDMI = three monitors. If you need to go DisplayPort to DVI/HDMI beyond ca. 1920*1200@60Hz you need a powered converter because the voltage has to be boosted from 3.3V to 5.0V. These are more expensive and are often called "active" although DVI/HDMI and DP protocols need "active" components to convert between in any case. The key difference is extra power. So if your adapter doesn't come with that extra power intake (e.g. via USB or TB) then it's likely limited to those lower bandwidths.

Sugar Bytes makes the sweetest GUI's, but I've been much less impressed with their DSP. Glitching, crackling, hissing and popping are commonplace in their instruments. Aparillo had a ridiculous bug where some oscillators/modulators would ramp up speed gradually. I only noticed this when I'd forgotten my project playback on for half an hour or so while I was AFK, and saw some parameters going ballistic on screen, probably due to some floating point rounding error accumulating uncontrollably. They're fine synths that can sound very good, but honestly I don't think they're better in that field than a random synth from SONiVOX. What distinguishes them is the graphic design and innovative UI's that facilitate unique workflows.

FX sequencers: Tantra MRhythmizer

Full Kontakt owners as viewed by... Full Kontakt owners: everyone else:

I would probably use Wusik Station a lot if it weren't glitchy, e.g. sounds staying on (not receiving note-off?). I'm not sure what "tiny, digital sound" means, but to me many of the presets were useable. IIRC it also supports SFZ.

Signed, - Every One

Time is more valuable than money - true. I just think that having the skill and understanding to emulate these effects without having to buy a context-specific plugin for each and every "coloration" is also valuable enough to deduct from the time spent dialing them in every now and then. I also much prefer generic interfaces (e.g. Melda) over skeuomorphic ones imitating hardware I have no ties with. YMMV!