just a question about hardware/software integration

Anything about hardware musical instruments.
RELATED
PRODUCTS

Post

I see how total integration like in Virus may be pointless for people who are used to hardware synths or various HW/SW synth combos. But for 100% ITB guys like me Virus TI is godsent. With Studio One track transform function I treat Virus just like a CPU hungry native plugin - program -> freeze -> unfreeze if I need to make changes, that is as convenient and efficient workflow as it can be with a hardware synth in a native DAW environment.

However, when googling the TI related problems and discussions I discovered that Virus total integration is often referred to as "a good concept but never worked properly". I do have some issues with TI, but if I avoid certain situations Virus plugin seems to be stable and reliable so far. However for some people it is full of bugs and totally unusable. This is probably related to some obscure parameters of motherboard and USB configuration in each given case, which is virtually impossible for Access to trace. So I can imagine why other synth manufacturers don't want to deal with all these troubles at all.
You may think you can fly ... but you better not try

Post

What I would like to see more on HW is digital out, it would save me some clable management.
dedication to flying

Post

recursive one wrote:I see how total integration like in Virus may be pointless for people who are used to hardware synths or various HW/SW synth combos.
You just described me perfectly, and I love my Virus TI. I grew up on hardware synths, but have had a HW/SW hybrid studio for more than 10 years, and have had some version of a Virus TI the entire time. It's the centerpiece of my studio and my main controller. I use it mostly in TI/VC mode, but I still do much of my editing from the front panel. It's the perfect hybrid synth IMO, so I'd consider it anything but pointless. :D
Logic Pro | PolyBrute | MatrixBrute | MiniFreak | Prophet 6 | Trigon 6 | OB-6 | Rev2 | Pro 3 | SE-1X | Polar TI2 | Blofeld | RYTMmk2 | Digitone | Syntakt | Digitakt | SX7

Post

lots of informative comments in here.

sooo...whats the general consensus? they dont do it because its too costly? difficult? not in high enough demand to justify?...all of those?

i think im more surprised that its not a feature more people really want than anything else.
ImageImageImage

Post

I've always wondered why other companies haven't done this as well. My guess is that they don't believe that the market is big enough to warrant the risk of putting up that much capital and trying to compete with Access???

I thought for sure that Novation was going in that direction years ago with their X-Stations. They had most of the components in place already - a nice VA with a built-in USB soundcard and a nice Fatar keybed - but, were lacking the integration/editor. Maybe I'm way off here, but it seemed to me that it wouldn't have taken much to integrate the synth engine into the on-board soundcard's audio for direct real-time streaming ala the Virus TI and add an editor plugin. It probably still would have sold for far less than the Virus TIs, unless Novation decided to improve the synth engine (e.g., to SuperNova quality). As I recall, the X-Stations were discontinued about the time Novation took over, so maybe they saw a better market niche in MIDI/Ableton Push-like controllers and cheaper synths.
Logic Pro | PolyBrute | MatrixBrute | MiniFreak | Prophet 6 | Trigon 6 | OB-6 | Rev2 | Pro 3 | SE-1X | Polar TI2 | Blofeld | RYTMmk2 | Digitone | Syntakt | Digitakt | SX7

Post

i wonder...do the rolland plug outs work like how were discussing with the system 1 aira?

that thing looks pretty shmecksy to me.
ImageImageImage

Post

chaosWyrM wrote:i wonder...do the rolland plug outs work like how were discussing with the system 1 aira?

that thing looks pretty shmecksy to me.
To my understanding, you either run them as native plugins in your DAW (and you don't even need to have the System-1 hardware, you may buy them separately) or you load them into the hardware and play without a computer.

It seems that you can't use the hardware as a DSP platform to offload your CPU when you run these plugins in a DAW like TI, you may only load them into System-1 and hook it via MIDI, but I may be wrong. Also would like to see an input from an actual System-1 owner.
You may think you can fly ... but you better not try

Post

Indeed, Roland Plugin/outs don't offer total integration. They either run as a normal plugin with DSP done by the DAW, or as software running a hardware synth with a USB audio interface.

Post

db3 wrote:Indeed, Roland Plugin/outs don't offer total integration. They either run as a normal plugin with DSP done by the DAW, or as software running a hardware synth with a USB audio interface.

wait...this is getting confusing. so you cant have it sitting on your desk...hooked up and controlled by the plugin(out) running in your daw but the audio is coming from the synth?...or you can? that second bit makes it sound like you can :-?

if not, that seems like a missed opportunity.
ImageImageImage

Post

It's sounds similar, but it's not. Access TI and Elektron Overbridge are like hybrid technology allowing a plugin to fully control the external hardware and stream it's audio. I expect this is not easy, otherwise many others would be doing it by now.

Post

mikefellh wrote:Nord Modular, software hasn't been updated for newer operating systems...it's designed for Mac OS 9.x/XP.

Roland Gaia, they've discontinued the software as they don't want to upgrade it anymore...I had the toughest time getting a copy.

That's why!
How did you end up finding it and what did you pay? Are you on Mac or Win?

I recently only discovered the gaia and was very impressed with the sound and abundant polyphony.. so much so i was putting on my list for future purchase.. and now i read they stopped the editor and won't even allow it to be downloaded... that's so weird.. were there any updates of it or was it just a 1.0 release? Also, how many new patches did it add? Cheers

Post

chaosWyrM wrote:
db3 wrote:Indeed, Roland Plugin/outs don't offer total integration. They either run as a normal plugin with DSP done by the DAW, or as software running a hardware synth with a USB audio interface.

wait...this is getting confusing. so you cant have it sitting on your desk...hooked up and controlled by the plugin(out) running in your daw but the audio is coming from the synth?...or you can? that second bit makes it sound like you can :-?

if not, that seems like a missed opportunity.
With the system 1 and plugouts as vst you can have as many instances you like of the synths in your song and you can control them with the system 1 hw.

But to be able to do this you have to buy the plugouts and the system 1 plugin ;)

Post Reply

Return to “Hardware (Instruments and Effects)”