Jim Roseberry

1 hour ago, kitekrazy said:

I found out it might be a good idea to restart your system after an upgrade because yesterday I had a licensne not found issue and a restart did it.

Also encountered "license not found" recently... and a restart resolved it.

23 hours ago, Sergio said:

Have you ever compared it with u-He Repro?

Almost bought Repro... but haven't (yet)... so I haven't compared them side-by-side.

The Pianos are modeled (not a large sample library).

As Abacab mentioned, the virtual-analog synths are component/circuit modeled.

The Prophet was ok before.  Now, it sounds much closer to the Prophet 5.

Had a Prophet 10 for a few weeks... and sold it to buy other gear.  It's a simple synth with a single mono out and no onboard effects.

Limited by today's standards... but it's fantastic within those limitations.  Slightly regret selling it...

The Arturia version is just good enough to (slightly) quell the G.A.S.

Just updated from 8 to 9... and paid full price.

A bit expensive for a 1 version upgrade, but I will say the Prophet was significantly improved.

If you don't already have a high-end piano library/plugin, the Steinway piano is pretty decent.

The new effects/modulation options are welcome.

Looks like development for Pigments is crossing over into the other instruments.

Next, I'd like to see the OB-Xa, Matrix 12, Mini, and Modular redone.  ?

FWIW, I think it goes without saying that you need proper tools to make top-tier Profiles/Captures/etc.

No different than mic'ing a real amp.

Some audio interfaces (ie: Antelope) have built-in "re-amp" capabilities.

Most audio interfaces don't.

For those that don't, you'll need to grab something like this Radial box (~$250):

https://www.radialeng.com/product/x-amp

"Holy Grail" amps are different for different users/uses.

Brad Paisley, John Patrucci , Joe Bonnamassa, Slash, Steve Vai would likely each have a different idea of perfection.

Thus far, I prefer Quad Cortex Captures vs. Kemper Profiles.  To my ears, they're more accurate.

Quad Cortex can run up to 9 simultaneous Captures (stereo rigs, individual boost/drive pedal captures, etc).

GE Labs (Mooer) to my ears isn't as accurate as Kemper/QC.

It'll be interesting to see how accurate the IK's Machine Modeling sounds.

If it's on-par with the Kemper/QC, it'll be a hit.

40 minutes ago, Tim Smith said:

An argument possibly in favor of physically modeled instruments?

I have both and can't tell the difference in sound. Sometimes physically modeled sounds better to my ears. 

Libraries OTOH will probably not be the best candidates for physical modeling. Seems more complex. If we take each instrument from a group to physically model and then combine them, but maybe not as bad as I'm thinking.

As to the present ordeal, I have run across it depending on the instrument and what other demands were being placed on the computer at the time. Freezing tracks always helped in most of those cases.

I have heard one singular SSD .vs multiple SSD really doesn't affect things much. I don't see how it wouldn't. 

Pianoteq is physically modeled... and sound great to my ears.

Not sure the technology/techniques are there yet... at least not for all instruments.

Physically modeled guitar sounds (that I've heard) sound more like a harpsichord.  Thinking of the Kronos 

FWIW, No libraries actually slow down a SSD.  

• SATA SSD sustains ~540MB/Sec.
• PCIe 3.0 M.2 SSDs sustain ~3500MB/Sec
• PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSDs can sustain up to 7000MB/Sec

These speeds don't change as the drive gets full... or because any specific library.

Some libraries load faster than others.

A sample-playback plugin like Kontakt has to buffer the initial transient of every sample.

Otherwise, disk-streaming would be subject to additional latency.

If the library has say 40 thousand samples, each of those has to be buffered (the transient) using RAM.

IE: Keyscape's C7 Grand loads *really* slow.

Put it on a PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSD... and it loads... well... "less slow".

If you're looking for a nice Ribbon mic, don't overlook the Royer R10 ($500).

I actually prefer it to the R121.

R121 has a metric ton of proximity-effect... and the upper mids have a character I'm not overly crazy about.

That said, R121 combined with a SM57 is a classic combination.

R10 placed about a foot back off the guitar cab speaker (near center with a very slight angle down) results in a great balanced tone.

You can add a SM57... but (IMO) it's not absolutely necessary.

Phil was a long time friend and client.

Very sad to hear this...    

On 7/20/2022 at 2:03 PM, Tim Smith said:

I plan to also purchase the 88 key version of the MKII Keyscape. I am happy with the 61 until I get the 88.

If you can, try to play the 88-key version in person.

The action is a bit stiff (more so than Kronos, Montage, Fantom keybeds).

Otherwise, it's a great controller.

I'd like to see Yamaha, Roland, Korg, etc release a top-notch MIDI controller with the best keybed and controllers available.

Something equal to the best workstation keyboards/controllers

It would be expensive... but it would last 10-20 years.

I've had a QC for a few months.

Wait time from Sweetwater was ~4 months.

I use the QC primarily for Captures.

To my ears, Captures are more accurate than Kemper Profiles.

QC can run up to 9 simultaneous Captures.

If you have a collection of amps and drive/boost pedals, QC is the perfect means to "virtualize" them.

Neural bit off a lot moving into the hardware realm.

They're making progress... but development isn't at the same pace as Fractal.

As long as you're getting the QC for what it is (not what was originally promised), you'll likely be happy with it.

The Sweetwater Captures are a good place to start.

These Captures were made with a mic'd cabinet... so the Cab is "baked-into" the Capture (Amp/Cab in a single block).

I've done Captures both DI and with mic'd cabinet.

Both sound good... 

Though not as flexible as DI Captures, (to my ears) Captures with mic'd cabinet sound a bit more lively/responsive.  

I Captured a Revv Generator 120 mk3 (various mics) and posted them to the Cortex Cloud.

Helios, TriAmp, and 20th XTC are ready/waiting to be Captured.  I'll get to them as time allows.

FWIW, I chose to download the Orchestra Anthology volume 1 to D:\Roland.

It downloaded the installer to that location.

Running the installer from that location, the library was not installed in D:\Roland.

1 hour ago, azslow3 said:

I am still periodically look into direction "free" from "Roland"... Well. I have tried Tera piano. Just to find out that: (a) "concerto" is unable to work with 64 samples buffer (all cores start do "something", even so nothing is played; and no, my computer is not so slow), check under 2 DAWs, with 2 different interfaces, with 128 samples everything ok and consumes no CPU (b) there is almost no dynamics (tried all presets), I mean fff is still mf-f.

So, to render some piano MIDI for free it is good (for me better then other free piano solutions I have tried). But there are good reasons why it is "discontinued"...

You posted this right as I was typing the same exact finding.?

Loaded the Tera Piano.

For the file size, it's not particularly great.  I can't hear much (any?) velocity switching.

Running in VST Live (new live host from Steinberg), the Concerto instrument (with Tera Piano loaded) overloads the CPU at small ASIO buffer sizes.

I'm testing on a machine running an i9 12900ks CPU  (16 cores, 5.5GHz).  That's the fastest CPU (for DAW purposes) currently available.

Just loaded the first Orchestra Anthology Volume 1... and it loads/runs just fine.

Pretty sure the issue with Tera Piano is a bug.

The Orchestral Anthology Volume 1 sound pretty decent.

The Patch browsing (compared to Zenology) is tedious.

ie:  You can't use the arrow keys on a keyboard to move up/down the list of patches.   Mouse only (unless I've missed something)

10 minutes ago, TW5011 said:

If I recall correctly, there is talk of there being some type of wrapper that compiles CLAP plugins into VST3 and AU without any extra work,

Whenever I see "wrapper"... I think potential performance/stability issues.

Time will tell...

1 hour ago, Magic Russ said:

Ron Kuper used to brag that the DX format supported all that stuff years before as well.

I'm worried that CLAP is going to turn into just another format that more people have to support.  AAX and AU aren't going away, and I doubt VST will.  CLAP is going to have to be so much better to even make a dent.

Yeah, I remember Ron saying the same things.

My feelings about CLAP mirror yours.  I think it'll have to be vastly superior to actually take hold.

I've got a Suhr Modern Select with Pau Ferro fingerboard.  It (not I) sounds and plays great.  

I would describe it exactly as above (right between Rosewood and Maple).

If you otherwise like the guitar, I wouldn't give it a second thought.

18 hours ago, Kevin Perry said:

They're on the list as interested...

I realize I'm coming off sounding negative, but "interested" (as in checking it out) isn't the same as supporting/adopting.

I remember Noel talking about how most (if not all) features/capabilities of VST3 could have been implemented in VST2.

VHS vs BETA:

BETA had some benefits... but few cared enough to embrace it over the much more popular VHS format.

2 hours ago, Pollux said:

Do you have data to support this ? I use DP10 alongside CbB, ProTools and Waveform, and I don't notice any major difference in low latency audio performance

I wouldn't make such a claim without first-hand experience.  ?

I'm always looking to push the limits of low-latency audio performance (that's my job).

With that in mind, I'm running both 12900ks and 5050x based DAWs (fastest ultra low latency performance currently available).

Antelope Thunderbolt interfaces yield super low round-trip latency.

ie: The Orion Studio Synergy Core yields 1ms total roundtrip latency at 96k using a 32-sample ASIO buffer size.

At those settings, open up an instance of Helix Native (Line-6 software plugin version of the Helix hardware guitar processor).

Load a substantial patch using something like the "Placater" (Friedman BE-100) amp model.

Run this quick test in all the major DAW applications:

• Digital Performer - audio glitches badly
• Cakewalk - audio is mostly clean
• Studio One - audio is completely clean
• Nuendo - audio is completely clean
• Cubase - audio is completely clean
• ProTools - audio is completely clean
• Reaper - audio is completely clean

This is a quick/easy way to get substantial load on the CPU... at extremely small buffer sizes.

DP is by far the worst performer of the bunch. 

So much so... I don't even bother installing DP on my machines.

43 minutes ago, abacab said:

You should consider that many developers have struggled with implementing the VST3 "standard" in a 100% stable and compatible fashion. They are the ones pushing for this change, not end users or management.

This standard appears to be more MIDI 2.0 and MPE friendly. There are no license fees, and if the development costs to write plugins with this method is the same or cheaper, it's a no-brainer for the business. Stay tuned...

Based on what I'm seeing (from current adopters), those pushing for CLAP are developers pushing the limits of polyphonic parameter modulation.

I'm certainly not against it... but that's not the vast majority of developers and end-users.

Look at MPE support with hardware instruments.  I'm all for it... but many folks use MIDI controllers without channel-aftertouch... let alone polyphonic.

What is Avid going to gain by supporting CLAP?  Keep in mind they never adopted VST as a plugin standard.

16 hours ago, ALC said:

I have Performer Lite that came with my M4.  Any compelling reason for me to use it?  I mainly using Studio One Pro.

If you're talking low latency audio performance, DP is the worst performing of all the major DAW apps.

Some cool features (especially for composers)... but terrible performance.

Terrible name...  (What were they thinking?)

While I have no doubt about the benefits, it's hard to bump an industry standard plugin format.

Bitwig and U-he are the only "major" software/plugin vendors currently onboard.

Bigger companies are going to be reluctant to make a change.

Unless the entire industry adopts "CLAP" (that just sounds wrong), it's over before it's begun.

Makes my lungs hurt just looking at that guitar.  ?

1 hour ago, Amicus717 said:

My Presonus gives me everything I need, at least right now. Really enjoy using it. 

I have heard Antelope has awesome hardware and converters, but I've also heard rumblings that Antelope's drivers can be a bit twitchy. Any truth to that?

Quantum is a great audio interface.  It literally set the bar for ultra low round-trip latency performance.

Antelope drivers (with current generation hardware) have been rock-solid.

My audio interface also functions as a mixer/patch-bay... so the extra DSP/routing comes in handy.

I have keyboards plugged-in, Helix and Quad Cortex guitar processors, etc.

Antelope has a way of making certain things more complicated than need be. 

The name Orion Studio Synergy Core says a lot...  ?

Once you understand patching/routing, the interfaces really aren't hard to operate.

Back on-topic to the 88m:

I'd expect those preamps to sound good... for onboard preamps.

If you're expecting them to sound like a 1073, Portico-II, or Shelford preamp... you're going to be disappointed.

The transformer from those preamps wouldn't fit in the 88m's chassis.

Even with 500 series preamps, Neve has mentioned preamp design (by comparison to their full-size counterparts) has compromises to keep size/cost down.

Whether that matters... is up to each individual.

To my ears, the transformer is a big part of the Neve sound.

33 minutes ago, Last Call said:

Those guys want to sell!

Neve and RME don't. 

I'm not looking to argue, but you do realize that there are vastly MORE machines that don't have a USB-C port, right?

Any machine made in the last decade has USB-3 type A.

That's why... when you buy a Focusrite Scarlet, it comes with a USB-C to USB-2 type A cable.    ?

I've got a new MBP here (16" display, 32GB RAM, 2TB SSD).

The latest series has three Thunderbolt ports (via USB-C), HDMI, and back to dedicated magnetic power-port.

You can get a nice "mini-hub" that takes one of the USB-C ports and provides four USB-3 ports.

The MBP is here to support VE Pro users (not used for any heavy-lifting as I have both 5950x and 12900ks based workstations).