Jim Roseberry

Been using an Antelope Orion Studio Synergy Core for a couple years. Love it. Great fidelity Ultra low round-trip latency (sub 1ms) Good sounding onboard Preamps/DIs Onboard DSP for processing/routing/monitoring Proper re-amp outputs Rock solid performance

Just responded via Email. We'll get it squared away.

It's the configuration... not the video card. I've got a Gigabyte RTX-3060 running in the machine sitting next to me (the one I'm typing on). No DPC Latency issues. I've used RTX video cards many times for both myself and many clients.

I tend to prefer Asus and Gigabyte.

Some of the MSI cards do... but many do not stop the fans. The MSI cards with semi-passive cooling tend to be slightly more expensive.

I've had many Zildjian cymbals over the past 40 years. I understand paying a bit more for highest quality cymbals... and that they do sound fantastic. I had a 20" K dry ride that sounded/recorded beautiful. I believe I paid ~$300 for it (new). Also had a 22" Paiste Signature series Dry Ride that was amazing. It was maybe ~$500. 20 years ago, I bought a DW Edge Snare drum that was ~$1000. Probably the best snare drum I've seen/heard. I thought that was a crazy amount for a snare. ?

After the computer itself, the audio interface is the next most critical choice for a rock-solid DAW. USB mics are not what you want for recording music. Dedicated audio interface with proper ASIO driver Your choice of dedicated microphone/s, preamps, etc If you go with an audio interface that's proven to be rock-solid, you'll never give it a second thought. Then, you can focus on things like the song, parts, performance. ?

Generally speaking, faster is "better"... but I've never had an issue with 60Hz refresh. I'm not a fan of many MSI video cards... as the fans aren't semi-passive. Yes, you can control the speed... but that's not the same as dead-silent (not running). If the fans/cooling don't support shutting fully off, you won't be able to do that with Afterburner.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/A40020--zildjian-limited-edition-400th-anniversary-vault-ride-cymbal-20-inch I must really be getting old... but $2000 for a single cymbal? I have no doubt it's amazing... but wow!

Yeah, I was thinking the same. I wouldn't avoid using Reaper due to the above... but it does make one do a double-take and a head-shake. You find the same thing with Friedman Amps. Pink Taco, Dirty Shirly, Brown Eye, Hairy Brown Eye, Small Box I think Dave's amps are great (have owned several)... but the naming is a bit sophomoric.

I'd want to make sure the card has semi-passive cooling. IOW, The fans won't run while you're working with DAW software (meaning it's completely silent). Download drivers directly from Nvidia. Brand itself isn't much of a concern. Regarding using a TV as a monitor: Make sure the TV doesn't suffer from excessive lag. This will result in sluggish mouse movement/etc. Whatever the display, make sure it can do 4k with at least a 60Hz refresh. Slower refresh (30Hz) can cause eye-strain headaches. If you haven't suffered migraines, this is almost guaranteed to cause one. ? I tend to favor dedicated video monitors... as these issues are moot. You can even get "Smart Monitors" that have built-in TV Streaming.

I see Reaper as more of an engineer's tool than a music production tool. I tend to use Reaper for simpler projects (audio editing, learning songs, recording a VO for the wife, etc). I gave up trying different Theme's years ago. That rabbit-hole can burn hours of time... and doesn't seem to change much (anything?) function wise. Reaper is incredibly CPU efficient... and is particularly good for audio editing. The Item Editor is similar to Samplitude's Object Editor (lots of realtime control). I'd actually like to see the "road plan" or stated development goals for v7.

I'm saying you want to avoid AMD's latest video cards... especially if you're pushing the limits of ultra low latency audio performance. I use Nvidia RTX cards in many builds... including two of my own. They work just fine. ie: A 13900k based machine (with RTX video card) can run IK's ToneX (similar to Kemper but in a plugin) at sub 1ms total round-trip latency.

FWIW, If you're pushing the limits of ultra low latency audio, a machine will glitch sooner with an AMD RX6xxx/7xxx vs. Nvidia RTX-3xxx/4xxx.

Kemper (using Rig Manager) is a similar scenario. There are thousands of Profiles that sound terrible. I hear the new "Liquid Profiles"... with modeled Tone Stacks sound excellent. Pretty amazing coming from a 12+ year-old piece of hardware. FWIW, I didn't get ToneX to browse thru other peoples Captures. I got ToneX to Capture my own amps/pedals. IK should update ToneX so it can run multiple Captures simultaneously. ie: It would be great to run an Amp/Cab Capture... with a separate drive/boost Capture. If you use ToneX within Amplitube 5, it's a lot more flexible.

Nice keyboard rig! Nord Stage 3 and Kronos are two of the very best available. Spider keyboard stand is also great. My home rig has Nord Stage 4 (bottom) and Wave-2 (top) on a Spider stand. Only use the Stage 4 live (no top tier). It can take some time/doing... but if you can get to the point where you're hiring commercial sound/lights, it's a tremendous relief (mentally and physically). In Central OH, commercial sound/lights (with good engineer) is $300-$350. If you're typically charging say $800, that may seem impossible... but here's the thing: Without commercial sound/lights, an $800 band sounds/looks like an $800 band. With commercial sound/lights, you look and sound like a more expensive band. You ARE that $1100-$1200 a night band. Quality commercial sound/lights pay for themselves. Taking it even further, get the guitar and bass player to go with a DI rig. No carrying heavy amps... and no 100w tube-amps blasting on stage. Our guitar player uses a POD Go. Nobody misses his Marshall half-stack. No one questions his "tone". Bass player is using an Ampeg Scrambler (pedal preamp). This way, each player is responsible for his/her gear. Simple load-in and load-out... With adequate monitors... you'll never miss the amps. If you play festivals, the crews/engineers will love you. You can get on/off stage in literally 10 minutes... and without having a coronary. ? We all have day-jobs (careers)... so the gigs really aren't about money. But, it's pretty nice to play a gig where you walk away with decent pay. We wanted to have NYE off this year. One venue kept asking us to book it... so we threw out a high figure (hoping they'd say no). They agreed (facepalm emoji). Don't limit your possibilities.

Always like the original Omni Channel. Lots of useful tools in the plugin. ie: The two de-essers are great for multiple things... including reducing guitar string squeaks. I like the way Andrew Scheps goes thru the plugin in the demo video. Real-world examples showing the utility of the plugin. My Omni Channel isn't currently under WUP... but (IMO) it's worth the $29 to grab v2. Of late, it seems cheaper to just purchase a discounted (new) version... vs maintaining WUP.

If you're playing festivals or corporate events: Make sure the event provides some type of cover/canopy (this is important for both sun and potential rain). See if the event will provide some type of access to AC (an RV, trailer, building, etc). It won't help while performing, but it will provide some relief during breaks or pre/post. If you're playing in the hot sun, a fan on stage helps tremendously. I'd also have a cooler with damp cold towels (put them around your neck). Yesterday, we played a festival opening for Lynch Mob and Jackyl. Was raining during load-in... temperature was about 77-78. After we started, the sun came out and it was hot as hades. Since it was 60-70% chance of rain, I didn't worry about my fan or the cold damp towels. Had to play two hours straight (no break). Drank loads of water. Only used the restroom once. With a large stage/crowd, I try to move a lot and put out as much energy as possible. Totally and completely exhausted! Thankfully, we had a RV with the AC cranked... so pre/post show we could cool down. Get some rest..

I use RTX-3060Ti and RTX-3070 (separate machines). The 13900k sitting next to me can run IK's ToneX at 96k using a 16-sample ASIO buffer size (~0.5ms total round-trip latency). If there were DPC Latency issues, that wouldn't be possible.

Hi Jack, There have been Nvidia driver versions that were problematic... but the vast majority have been fine. If you do encounter a DPC Latency issue (specific to the Nvidia driver), there are both "Studio" and "Game Ready" drivers available... as well as being able to roll-back to a previous driver. I'm not a fan of current AMD RX video cards. At ultra low audio latency settings, you'll encounter audio glitches sooner (vs using a Nivida card).

Love my Orion Studio Synergy Core. I think the plugins are ok... but not superior to higher-end native offerings from UA, SSL, etc. One advantage of the hardware based plugins (like Apollo series) is that you can monitor with low round-trip latency (regardless of ASIO buffer size). Not crazy about the idea of paying yearly for native versions. Might have gone for a perpetual license.

Just went thru a similar scenario with a camera lens coming from B&H (overnight to OH from NJ). Overnight took 3 days.

I had the new OB-X8 ? It has both the Xa and 8 Filters and Envelopes. I'll probably grab the OB-X8 module when it's available. To me, nothing sounds quite like that filter (especially on lower notes).

Had an OB-X8 for a few months. The hardware filter has an almost angry character on low notes. Hard to describe in words, but you immediately know it's an Oberheim. To my ears, the filter on the plugin sounds nothing like this.

IMO, Much better than Gobler!