Advice on new live equipment!??PLEEEEEEASE

[Dunwho]

Hey guys...

Just a question for all you music minded Dirts, need a bit of advice concerning a near future purchase.

I am sorry this is so long, i have highlighted all the important parts ... any help would be great!

I am currently looking around the market for a piece of kit that will really tie down and lock in my complex live set up.

As it stands my set up is this..

• Reason 4 - controlled live with a midi controller (Korg Nanokontrol)
• Dual Numark CD Decks
• Roland Sp-606 (worst purchase ever)
• Guitar and vocals going through a combination of pedals all linked into a central loop station (Boss RC-50 - love this!)
• Also have a Korg Synth in there too... it is in and out depending on what kind of music im into playing at the time

All of this is controlled by a central mixer

What i want to do is idealy replace the SP-606 with a unit that will act as a solid drum machine/sampler and will set the tempo control for the rest of the setup. The sampler on the SP-606 is so bad that i avoid it at all costs, so it ends up simply acting as a metronome for everything else and takes up space and time (its tempermental too).

I am highly dependand on Reason to provide my Drum and the bulk of my synth patterns -this really exposes the limitations of my sound card and i have started to really get frustrated/held back by what i can get out of it. Ideally i would like to get something that will have its own sound, a good drum machine, and thus take the pressure off the computer sound card.

I was looking frustrated when seeing the lack of analogue or non computer dependant drum machines on the market... Roland have all but given up it seems, and a second hand Roland 909 will cost me roughly 1000e (something im going to have to save up for)

The Korg Electribe MX and SX seem to have a weak sound by what i have heard, and also seem more flashy than quality sounding... their interface does provide a lot of control however i am not convinced its sound will stand up to real intense drum patterns considering it also has a synth element.. and doesnt seem commited to drum production (if you get what im saying!?!?!)

Then i looked at the Electron MachineDrum which is also fairly expencive but has the added bonus of being a brand new product... however it seems to lack the control of the 909 and im worried i would spend more time straining my eyes at the little screen trying to tweek little things with nobs rather than getting down to some good beats. Also heard this drum machine is lacking in the bass department???

Lastly my third and cheaper option is to, at the very least, replace the SP606 and get a better, faster and more impressive "live" orientated sampler that will also offer my drum machine like qualities...and while it wont take pressure off my soundcard (or will it???) im thinking that "Maschine" by Native Instruments is my best option. Its not only affordable but endorsed by the one and only Darren Price .... im curious however as to whether it is 100% dependant on the computers output abilities for sound or whether it will output from the unit itself???

Im sorry this is so long and if you read all of this i would be chuffed.. like i said i tried to highlight all the important parts...

any advice would be handy

Thanks!

Dave

[Dunwho]

This was the "short tech interview with Pricey which first drew my attention to Maschine

http://www.darktrain.org/dirty/forum...light=maschine

[taoyoyo]

Hey Dunwho,

Firstly, I would go here: http://www.native-instruments.com/#/...ucer/maschine/ and have a thorough read through if you haven't already.

You're going to need a good audio interface to handle Maschine and a well-specc'ed computer. See below for what NI are recommending:

Windows® XP (SP2, 32-bit)/Vista (SP1, 32-bit, 64-bit), Pentium® or Athlon XP 2 GHz, 2 GB RAM

Mac OS® X 10.4, Intel® Core™ Duo 2 GHz, 2 GB RAM
USB 2.0 Port, DVD drive, 5 GB free disk space for full installation

It is very heavy on the CPU and is not going to take anything off of your existing soundcard.

At the moment Maschine is unable to send and receive much midi information so if you were looking to this to be a central hub to everything else I don't think it'll do the job. There's an update planned soon with more midi in/out functions but I wouldn't get it until after it's out and tested.

The inputs/outputs are all within the software so you won't be able to hook the controller up to your mixer.

If I'm correct Reason does not allow for third-party plug-ins so you would only be able to use it in standalone mode. It might be worth checking out another sequencer program that integrates more? (Cuckos Reaper might be worth checking out).

As for how it sounds and what it does... I've been very impressed. It certainly is possible to run whole tracks just using it but for live use that would mean a lot of stopping and reloading. I was planning on just using it for drum tracks.

It's a great beastie but I'm not sure how well it would integrate with your current setup.

Hope this helps a little... best to get reading up (and also visit the NI Maschine forum... there's a lot of info there).

Cheers,

Alan

[Dunwho]

Originally Posted by taoyoyo

Hey Dunwho,

Firstly, I would go here: http://www.native-instruments.com/#/...ucer/maschine/ and have a thorough read through if you haven't already.

You're going to need a good audio interface to handle Maschine and a well-specc'ed computer. See below for what NI are recommending:

Windows® XP (SP2, 32-bit)/Vista (SP1, 32-bit, 64-bit), Pentium® or Athlon XP 2 GHz, 2 GB RAM

Mac OS® X 10.4, Intel® Core™ Duo 2 GHz, 2 GB RAM
USB 2.0 Port, DVD drive, 5 GB free disk space for full installation

It is very heavy on the CPU and is not going to take anything off of your existing soundcard.

At the moment Maschine is unable to send and receive much midi information so if you were looking to this to be a central hub to everything else I don't think it'll do the job. There's an update planned soon with more midi in/out functions but I wouldn't get it until after it's out and tested.

The inputs/outputs are all within the software so you won't be able to hook the controller up to your mixer.

If I'm correct Reason does not allow for third-party plug-ins so you would only be able to use it in standalone mode. It might be worth checking out another sequencer program that integrates more? (Cuckos Reaper might be worth checking out).

As for how it sounds and what it does... I've been very impressed. It certainly is possible to run whole tracks just using it but for live use that would mean a lot of stopping and reloading. I was planning on just using it for drum tracks.

It's a great beastie but I'm not sure how well it would integrate with your current setup.

Hope this helps a little... best to get reading up (and also visit the NI Maschine forum... there's a lot of info there).

Cheers,

Alan

Thanks man, you answered a lot of important stuff there... a big issue that you have raised for me anyway is the amount of pressure it can put on my processor...

because the way i use reason is without the sequencer, simply by pressing play and controling all the separate instruments using a midi controller and my keyboard.. i fade in/out (with controller comanding the mixer) each track whenever i please....giving me complete control over every sound. its complex but it gives me complete control over every little sound and makes it unique every time.which is what i want.

My comp has excellent specs however it will need a good upgrading if it is going to take on even more

Therefore i cant simply go to a new sequencer, cus reason is essentially like an instrument... exactly why there is already so much pressure on the comp.

I will read into the specs more, and see if it suits but i think you are very much right... it may be too much to handle and will end up giving me less performance and cause more problems than solving them!


The search goes on!

thanks so much, ill keep you posted.


If anyone has any suggestions, id love em

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

Originally Posted by Dunwho

If anyone has any suggestions, id love em

Well, you could start by not being bitchy Miss Grammar.

[Dunwho]

Originally Posted by jOHN rODRIGUEZ

Well, you could start by not being bitchy Miss Grammar.

I didn't think you'd notice Madame Peculiar.

[King of Snake]

Underworld have replaced their real 909 with the Drumazon plugin now so that's probably recommended if you want to do 909 on a budget.
Jomox also make real analog 808/909-inspired hardware drummachines but you pay a price for real analogue.
For sampler/drummachine you should also check out the Akai MPC series of course, and the Yamaha RS7000. Although they're not drum-synths like a 909 or Machinedrum they are probably closest to the SP606 in terms of functionality (Phrase Sampler/Groovebox/Workstation/midi sequencer). Unlike Machine these are actual standalone units that don't need your computer to run.