Jim Roseberry

My intention isn't to rain on anyone's parade. I've spent nearly my entire adult life using PC DAWs. Started with Quad Studio (virtually unusable), moved to S.A.W. (rock-solid), and then Cakewalk Pro Audio 4.0 (first version to support both MIDI and Audio recording). For those of us who lived thru the first 30 years of PC DAW development. Waiting for rock-solid super low round-trip latency Waiting for realtime plugins And then waiting for high quality realtime plugins And waiting even further for tools like Melodyne, Stem separation, etc Why step backward 30 years? Other than ideology, I can't think of any practical reason to consider Linux as a serious DAW platform. If you want to experiment, solve problems... it can be an interesting learning experience (similar to building a Hackintosh). If you're looking for a practical full-featured DAW (including top-tier virtual-instruments and plugins), you're going to be waiting for a LONG time. I've said this many times: Linux DAWs are a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. People complain about Windows as a DAW platform... because it's so wide-open (to support many different hardware/software configurations). Linux has many distros... and for the most part, you're left to problem-solve on your own. Another thing to think about is that there's no real profit in Linux plugin development (because the market is extremely niche). Factor in a tough business economy... and risk-management. If you're the head of a software company... and you're responsible for how development resources are spent, are you going to risk your career on Linux... or go with a larger proven market (Windows/OSX)? All that said, if you're willing to live with the limitations/quirks/eccentricities of Linux as a DAW platform, more power to you.

A lot of modern cases have drive cages in the lower section (right in front of the power-supply. This makes it hard to connect power-cables... as there's almost no room for clearance (or getting a hand/fingers in place to make connections). This type of remote-connection box (almost like a stage-box) could potentially be a nice solution.

If your audio interface doesn't provide/expose a WDM audio port/s, you won't be able to hear Windows Sounds (YouTube, WebAudio, etc) thru your audio interface. The solution is to use something like Vincent Burrel's "Voice Meeter" (provides/exposes a WDM port to Windows - routes to your audio interface using an ASIO port): https://voicemeeter.com/ Voice Meeter is essentially the reverse of ASIO4ALL. I use an Antelope Orion Studio Synergy Core audio interface. Has nearly every feature one could want... except... it doesn't provide/expose a WDM port for Windows Sounds. Voice Meeter is an easy work-around. If you have something like a keyboard, guitar processer, etc that also acts as an audio interface... these often provide/expose a WDM port to Windows. ie: I use a Yamaha Montage M8x keyboard... which does exactly this. If you're achieving better audio performance using ASIO4ALL (vs the audio interface's stock ASIO driver), it's almost surely because of extra buffering in ASIO4ALL. Extra buffers can help if the machine is pushing performance limits... but it comes at the expense of higher latency. It's essentially no different than raising the buffer size of the stock ASIO driver. The best solution for a DAW has always been (and always will be) an audio interface with a rock-solid ASIO driver. You'll never achieve better low-latency performance with ASIO4ALL.

Here's a link that'll shed some light on 23H2: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/whats-new/whats-new-windows-11-version-23h2 I wouldn't spend much time/energy worrying about 23H2. Most patches/fixes/features are already in the latest 22H2. If you're adamant about installing 23H2, you can use the Media Creation Tool (to install the update).

I've moved to Reflect Home v8 (from True Image). If you create a bootable rescue disk (USB Flash Drive), you can actually uninstall Reflect. You can boot any machine from this disk... and backup/restore with all the primary function of Reflect.

If quality of experience is worth anything, forget about USB>Audio Cable as an "audio interface". Latency will be terrible, audio quality sub-par, and you may encounter stability issues. Aside from the computer itself, the audio interface is the next most critical factor in a rock-solid recording (or amp-sim playing) experience. As was mentioned, the Behringer UMC series is inexpensive... and will be an infinitely better solution.

Big shoes are hard to fill. Drummer is literally the heart of it all. Positive thoughts/vibes for your drummer to make a full recovery.

Yep, that Generic ASIO Driver is annoying. You can uninstall it... but it should be an option. Sad to see Magix having financial issues. When SEK'D America was the distributor (Titus and Tilman the main developers), I almost took a job working with them in Santa Rosa, CA.

I've got a pair of WA-273-EQ units. For the cost, I think they're great.

Intriguing at that price point. If it's anywhere close to the 1073 sound-wise, it's a fantastic deal.

If you get into video editing, a RTX-4xxx card is nice. I've got that mini-ITX build with 14700k and a RTX-4060Ti (16GB). Amazing performance for the size...

If low latency performance is important to you, DP is the worst low-latency performer of all the major DAW applications.

The smallest PCs are using mobile CPUs. In short, they'll have the same performance limitations of a typical laptop. If you can work with a slightly larger Mini-ITX build, you can have a i7-14700k CPU... with zero performance limitation. As a point of reference (using Cinebench R23 multi-core benchmark): i9-14900k scores 40k i7-14-700k scores 33k You get most of the performance of the 14900k... at significantly lower cost... and zero performance compromise.

Friends don't let friends use USB Mics. ? Much better off with a decent audio interface (with robust ASIO driver)... and dedicated microphone/s.

Sounds like moderate gain tone... with chorus and delay (as was mentioned above). Alex Lifeson used a ton of chorus in the 80s... Andy Summers did as well. Probably be easier to list who wasn't using chorus in the 80s. ?

Go to register for an account Enter information Click the Register button The fields go blank... no confirmation that an account was created (or an Email verification link was sent) Been several minutes... no Email verification link. ? Edit: Turns out you can't have a space in your User Name. Edit2: Installed the plugin, it asks to login to my account. I enter my login credentials... and it says they're incorrect. So... I click on the Forgot My Password button... to sent a link to change the password. Haven't received an Email.

Atomic is ultimately going to release a hardware version.

FWIW, You do NOT want to disable Hyper-Threading. That was necessary many years back... with the very first implementation. Hasn't been necessary since Steinberg and other developers caught up (shortly after).

To each their own. The Montage M8x is a great piece of hardware. Only downside is the size/weight (it's HUGE). The ESP plugin adds even more value to the Montage M (allowing multiple instances, taking out just the VSTi to gigs, etc).

Note that this isn't an Editor, ESP has the full Montage M synth engine. At least currently, you have to have a Montage-M hardware synth to access the download (the download key comes in the bag with the manual). As Yamaha mentioned previously, this first version is limited to Quick Edits (can't do full/deep editing). Full editing will come in a second update release. Not a big deal as it's easy to transfer from ESP>Montage and vice-versa. I loaded my Montage-M backup file. Loaded super quick. All my custom samples and programs are now in ESP. Pretty cool to have them virtualized. ESP allows running multiple instances. This is especially nice with the AN-X engine... as the hardware is limited to 16-voices. It'll now be easy to work around this with a DAW. I've been busy today... so I haven't had a chance to thoroughly check it out... but what I've seen/heard thus far is impressive. It's nice to *finally* have a 1:1 virtual equivalent to a top-tier keyboard workstation. Sampletank and HALion are OK. This is an entirely different beast. The Montage M8x weighs over 60 pounds (sans case). Not super keen on schlepping it to shows. I may take out a mini-ITX build just to run ESP. That combined with the Nord Stage 4 (my normal gig keyboard) would feel nearly unlimited.

Some newer tech trickling in from the Nord Stage 4 (aside from the key-bed)

We opened for Dokken and Enuff Z'Nuff a couple years back. Opened for Lynch Mob last summer. Most of the guys are pretty stand-off. Don was more talkative than George. Jimmy (drummer for Lynch Mob) is a friend of a client. Got a pic with him... really cool guy.

For SSL subscribers, this and many other Harrison plugins are included. I know many aren't into the subscription model, but this (IMO) is one of the better offerings.

Nicest Gibson that I've played recently was a Les Paul Axcess Floyd Rose (at Sweetwater). Played and sounded (to me) better than several R9s... which were more than double its cost. While not cheap (in any sense), that Axcess was $3k (two thousand off normal price). Amazing deal for a Gibson Custom (about same cost as a Standard).

Haha! "Politicians, the Dung-Beatles of humanity."