Geist or Battery 4?

VST, AU, AAX, CLAP, etc. Plugin Virtual Effects Discussion
RELATED
PRODUCTS

Post

I'm getting a bit fed up with the restrictions of Groove Agent one. Both Geist and Battery 4 are on sale at the moment. Which one would you go for?
Cubase user, House producer.

http://soundcloud.com/gavin-jackson

Post

Battery has a great library (although i speak to this while still on battery 3). I have been demoing Geist this week with a view to getting the great deal, and it has blown Battery out of the water, imo

Geist has all the features that Battery users have been waiting years for, that ended up in Maschine (though their are Maschine users who prefer the Geist workflow

The workflow for sampling, slicing, drag-to-pads in Geist (along with the great effects and resampling) is exactly as it should be i.e not getting in the way of creative flow. Battery doesn't sample, but this might not be a problem for you. You can drop all the audio you'll need into Battery, but bouncing stuff down to audio just to import it is a stage too many for me.

Geist definitely seems a little overwhelming at the start, but if you hone in on various sections and learn it seems to be fine. Not sure if I'll ever get to using the sequencing (or even much of the library), but the kit/sound design opportunities afforded by the sampler/slicer is worth the price of admission for me

I won't urge you to buy it unless you demo it though. Many people seem to not get on with it, so it is going to be a personal thing.

I know JRRSHOP have the sale till the end of December, so you have a good amount of time to work with that (with the fantastic manual). Of course, Battery will force your hand much sooner

There's definitely an argument for having both, especially at these prices, but i guess it depends on how rich you are :D

Post

[JMO] If you're not familiar with Battery, Geist would likely prove more intuitive in that "instant gratification" kinda way, and yet give you a depth that would keep you interested. Add-on packs/samples/loops abound, and relatively easy hardware integration, as well as some excellent video tutorials to get you up-to-speed.

[2c]
Last edited by Shabdahbriah on Fri Nov 29, 2013 11:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
I'm not a musician, but I've designed sounds that others use to make music. http://soundcloud.com/obsidiananvil

Post

Hi Shabdahbriah; I've sometimes googled 'Geist Tutorials' and the only ones I seem to find are the ones from FXpansion themselves. They are good but do you know of any other free or commercial tutorials you'd recommend?
www.drippycat.com - switchaball for iPhone, switchballHD for iPad

Post

simesf wrote:Hi Shabdahbriah; I've sometimes googled 'Geist Tutorials' and the only ones I seem to find are the ones from FXpansion themselves. They are good but do you know of any other free or commercial tutorials you'd recommend?
Damn... (I'll edit that part). Sorry, I guess I have to eat that one. :? It has been a while (like within days/weeks/months of its release) as I scored it immediately upon seeing the 'introduction' (promo) video's, but I could have sworn I'd seen some, if not bought them (LOL!) at:

http://www.groove3.com/str/home.php and/or http://www.macprovideo.com/

But no! :-o

I apologize for not having any to specifically recommend other than their in-house, which I personally like. That said; I hope some of the following prove fruitful. :wink:

http://video.search.yahoo.com/search/vi ... outube.com

http://www.loopblog.net/tutorials/studi ... st-review/

ATB
Last edited by Shabdahbriah on Fri Nov 29, 2013 11:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
I'm not a musician, but I've designed sounds that others use to make music. http://soundcloud.com/obsidiananvil

Post

Both have demos. I suggest you download the demos and spend some time with them. Also see the tutorials to have an idea about their usage.
For me, I chose Geist over Battery because I need the sequencing/workflow of Geist more than the kits/sound design in Battery. I'm very happy with my choice. The more I learn it, the more I believe it will become an essential part of my workflow!

Post

EnGee wrote:Both have demos. I suggest you download the demos and spend some time with them. Also see the tutorials to have an idea about their usage.
For me, I chose Geist over Battery because I need the sequencing/workflow of Geist more than the kits/sound design in Battery. I'm very happy with my choice. The more I learn it, the more I believe it will become an essential part of my workflow!
Ditto that ^^^ I had opted for Stylus RMX for 'triggering' loops/samples (until it ceased to be 'fixed'/updated, years ago) and several other older and intimately familiar things which I still use, like ZeroX BeatCreator, as I had been using/prefering, and retain Battery predominately as a "sound design" tool, even from its initial release.

Geist was an undeniable "love at first sight" event for me, and I still really enjoy working with it, and my MPD-32 loves it also. :D
Last edited by Shabdahbriah on Fri Nov 29, 2013 11:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
I'm not a musician, but I've designed sounds that others use to make music. http://soundcloud.com/obsidiananvil

Post

Shabdahbriah wrote:
simesf wrote:Hi Shabdahbriah; I've sometimes googled 'Geist Tutorials' and the only ones I seem to find are the ones from FXpansion themselves. They are good but do you know of any other free or commercial tutorials you'd recommend?
Damn... (I'll edit that part). Sorry, I guess I have to eat that one. :? It has been a while (like within days/weeks/months of its release) as I scored it immediately upon seeing the 'introduction' (promo) video's, but I could have sworn I'd seen some, if not bought them (LOL!) at:

http://www.groove3.com/str/home.php and/or http://www.macprovideo.com/

But no! :-o

I apologize for not having any to specifically recommend other than their in-house, which I personally like. That said; I hope some of the following prove fruitful. :wink:

http://video.search.yahoo.com/search/vi ... outube.com

http://www.loopblog.net/tutorials/studi ... st-review/

ATB
That made me smile! By coincidence I was just writing a review of Groove3's Monark Explained to be put onto here - http://www.muzoblog.net/ I took a break, came to this page and there was you recommending Groove3! I am a little surprised that no 3rd party took the time to release a set of videos for Geist, given it's market presence and relative complexity. Still, maybe one day...
www.drippycat.com - switchaball for iPhone, switchballHD for iPad

Post

Shabdahbriah wrote: Ditto that ^^^ I opted for Stylus RMX (until it ceased to be 'fixed'/updated, years ago) and several other older and intimtely familiar things which I still use, like ZeroX BeatCreator, as I had been using, and retained Battery predominately as a "sound design" tool, from its initial release.

Geist was an undeniable "love at first sight" event for me, and I still really enjoy working with it, and my MPD-32 loves it also. :D
To be honest, I was waiting the discount to buy Tremor. I also bought the tutorial about Tremor by Eli from Groove3.com ! But, just before I buy it, I said to myself, wait a minute! let's see why so many are talking very positive about Geist. I had the demo but I didn't know how to use it more than a basic drums sequencer, so I started to see the tutorials. Wow! Can I do that?! Then tried some things in the demo and it was "That's it! I'm sold". I have changed my mind and bought it instead of Tremor (well I bought DCAM synth instead of Tremor! :hihi: )

Can't feel happier! I feel my S1 has a new life and smiling at me today :D

Post

No slicer in Battery 4.
Intel Core2 Quad CPU + 4 GIG RAM

Post

This should be in Instruments.

Love jamming with Geist standalone. Makes a nice change from a DAW.

Post

Just letting everyone know geist is at it's cheapest currently at plug in discounts. Considering alot of people paid $249 for it, and many sold it S/H for $149, just over $83 is a steal. Geist is amazing, but it takes a lot of learning and patience. I never clicked with battery although i can't deny there are some fantastic kits. I actually think they are different things aimed at different markets, no? I know they are both drum samplers (with geist being a true drum or anything sampler for that matter) but the workflow is completely different. Geist for me has a lot of emphasis on slicing and has a sequencer, i don't know if that has changed in batter 4 but there isn't one in 3.

Wouldn't maschine vs geist be the closer comparison?

Post

Geist for two reasons.

1) It's a far more in depth drum solution, but as has been stated it will require some learning.

2) Everybody buys Komplete at some point, which means you'll end up with Battery anyway.


Before you make a decision however, it might be worth taking a look at the new version of Groove Agent in Cubase 7.5 as that might serve your purposes.

Post

TheoM wrote:Wouldn't maschine vs geist be the closer comparison?
Yes. Different workflows. Love Geist. For less than $100, it's a great deal. I got the mine in a deal like that last year.

Post

el-bo (formerly ebow) wrote:Battery has a great library (although i speak to this while still on battery 3).
Quite a lot of the Battery 3 library has been removed for version 4. And the newer samples are quite weak in my opinion. Battery 3 kits can be used in Battery 4 but obviously that's only for people who upgrade and who still have access to the old library on disc. So for newer users they only get the newer weaker library. NI really messed up here but I guess they are trying to get people to switch to maschine.

I've owned Geist too and the Geist library is far better than the Battery 4 library IMO.

Post Reply

Return to “Effects”