Jim Roseberry

How is everyone liking this synth? On paper, it looks amazing... Is it capable of using multiple CPU cores?

Speaker Shaper sounds great. My favorite of all speaker-sim plugins. IMO, on par with the UA OX Amp Top Box (hardware)

At $500, the Poly-D is a lot of fun. You can program Mini-Moog type basses/leads quickly.

? It's a simple phrase... but certainly true Tosklink the the optical port used to carry either Optical S/PDIF or Lightpipe. I've used a LOT of different (Tosklink) Lightpipe/Optical-S/PDIF based gear over the past three decades (digital mixers, audio interfaces, external converters, keyboards, etc). It's always worked. If something is defective, that's an entirely different matter.

A single Lightpipe connection has enough bandwidth to carry 8-channels of 44.1k/48k audio. If you wish to work at 88.2k/96k, many devices allow you to use two Lightpipe ports together (called SMUX). IOW, It takes two Lightpipe ports to achieve 8-channels of either input or output at 88.2k or 96k. SMUX (88.2k or 96k) is the only reason you'd need two cables for either input or output. If the DP88 was setup as word-clock master at 44.1k or 48k: You'd need the DP88's clock setting to be set to Internal You'd need a Toslink cable from the DP88's Toslink output to the MOTU's Toslink Input. Both the DP88 and MOTU Toslink ports would need to be set to Lightpipe (not optical S/PDIF) The MOTU would need to be set to receive word-clock from its Toslink input As long as everything is properly functional, it has to work. These principles apply to any combination of gear connected via Lightpipe.

When you're connecting two devices digitally (via Lightpipe), the both must be sharing a single/common clock source. That means either the audio interface or the DP88 must be the master clock. Once you've decided which is the master... the other unit must look to its Lightpipe input port for word-clock. (Word-clock is imbedded in Lightpipe) Once both devices are running from a single/common clock, the small pops/ticks will be gone. If you try to merge two digital audio streams... each running on a separate clock, you will always experience small pops/ticks/etc.

I've been running an Orion Studio Synergy Core for a few months. Absolutely rock-solid When connected via Thunderbolt, current Antelope audio interfaces can yield sub 1ms total round-trip latency. (Obviously the machine has to be able to keep up with the load... or you'll hear glitches) I view the onboard DSP as a bonus (not the primary reason for choosing/using the interface) Antelope has a way of over-complicating things (names of products, manuals, etc) If you can get beyond that, the interfaces are excellent. The onboard DIs and preamps are the best I've heard from any audio interface. Ultra low-latency performance is amongst the best currently available. Routing/mixing flexibility is similar to RME's Total-Mix (but with more DSP options). Converters and clock are (IMO) the best you'll find in any current audio interface. Almost all of our professional composer clients are using Antelope audio interfaces.

You won't gain anything by managing the VM Swapfile manually. You don't want Windows to start using the VM Swapfile (in lieu of enough physical RAM). Even if it's on a SSD, it's terribly slow compared to physical RAM. This will kill performance...

It was sorted within 30 to 60 minutes. SQ80 sounds pretty good (messed with it for just a couple minutes).

Bought the upgrade to V Collection 8 + SQ80. Got the V Collection 8. Don't see anything in my account about the SQ80.

Got to meet Roger Linn at GearFest a few years back... and he demo'd the LinnStrument. It's an amazingly expressive controller.

Ryzen and Threadripper CPUs prior to Vermeer (Ryzen 9 5xxx series) are sub-par when it comes to low latency performance. Multi-threaded performance is good. For less than the Ryzen 7 5700G, you can get the i9-10850k (10 cores, 20 processing threads, and 5.2GHz max turbo frequency).

Behringer is making some pretty decent gear these days. The Poly-D is a whole lotta Mini-Moog'ish fun.

With a SSD, it's the finite number of writes that is somewhat a concern. For many scenarios, you won't be writing enough to the SSD to bump into the issue. In a scenario where you're using a single M.2 for the OS, projects, audio files, and sample libraries... you're much more likely bump into the finite number of writes. The (obvious) advantage of a custom machine is that you can make it exactly what's needed; no major compromises. I agree with your advice above. I'd want separate drives dedicated to OS, Projects/Audio, and Samples. If making heavy use of samples, multiple SSDs dedicated to that purpose. If using something like Keyscape (where the C7 piano loads S--L--O--W), I'd want that on a fast M.2 Ultra SSD. M.2 for OS drive is (IMO) a waste. Win10 loads/runs plenty fast on a SATA SSD. If you're writing a lot to a SSD (especially if it's doing triple-duty as the M.2 example above), make absolute sure you have a backup. The M1 Mac Mini uses a M.2 SSD as its one and only internal drive. Early on, there were issues with the M1 Mini constantly writing massive amounts of data to the VM Swapfile. This was particularly concerning... as the internal SSD could have reached the maximum number of writes in well under 2 years. Apple addressed the issue in an OSX update, but the M1 still relies heavily on writing to the VM Swapfile. SSDs are tools to be used. Most folks will replace a SSD long before hitting the finite number of writes. If you're in a more extreme use scenario, be aware of the limitation and periodically check the health of the drive. Have proper backup; use SSD/s as needed

MusicMan makes great instruments. About 10 years back, I bought a pair of Silhouette guitars (HH with FR Trem). They were blue and green translucent finished... with Ash bodies. Weight was about 7.5 lbs for each Nice looking, playing, sounding guitars. Can't give a good reason why I sold them. I got them new from GC for ~$1600 each. Those same guitars today would be ~$3500 each. MusicMan prices have gotten to the point where they're about even with PRS Core series. Love MusicMan Stingray basses. Some of the best (IMO) you can get. Live... they just work so well. The US made Sub series may already be collectable. If not already, I'm sure they will be at some point.

Yes, that's their import series.

https://www.diskpart.com/gpt-mbr/convert-system-disk-to-gpt-without-losing-data-3889.html

In Windows 10 v1703 and later, there's a command line application (MBR2GPT.exe) that'll convert the boot drive from MBR to GPT (without losing data). It's located in the Windows\System32 You can also use a 3rd-party (paid) application called AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional ($50) Before proceeding, make sure you have proper backup and read up on the necessary steps.

Hi Zo, Yes, With version 11... I'm finding performance at ultra low latency is less prone to ASIO peak buffer overloads.

Dirty Shirly or the BE-100 BE-100 is extremely versatile (real amp or model)

If you don't already have a copy of Cubase, the cross-grade is also on sale ($231.98).

FWIW, I've noticed that Cubase 11's ultra-low latency performance is a significant improvement vs. version 10. ie: With version 11, I can run Helix Native at 96k using a 32-sample ASIO buffer size (1ms total round-trip latency)... with zero glitches. Version 10 was more prone to ASIO buffer peak overloads (glitches).

Hope it works well for you! I had a 5059 Summing Mixer. Loved the sound and flexibility Couldn't get over the fan noise... so I returned it.

Looks like MS is talking later 2021 into 2022 for the Windows 11 upgrade roll-out. If you're not wanting to be a beta-tester, don't be an early adopter. There will be early issues that'll need driver updates, software patches, Windows updates, etc.

I'm aware of that... ? If you deal with enough quantity, you see a percentage of defective parts... across all computer components. Lately, and I think this is somewhat related to manufacturing during the pandemic, I've seen a higher percentage of defective Intel CPUs. The rate is still extremely low... but it's more common today than several years back.