V-Machine

[whyterabbyt]

It's WAY WAY WAY too early to be trashing this thing. Although a laptop can be had for the same money, the size, the concept of the thing, etc. fits nicely with what I'd like to use on-stage. So I'm hoping to see this a success. Let's evaluate it AFTER the software and firmware updates. I've seen a lot of stuff trashed and then a few upgrades and the thing is excellent.

i agree. it'd be a shame if it came out before it was properly ready, but that seems to happen with other gear these days. even my evolver is on rev3 of its software.

once its 'shaken out' will be the time to judge.

[tonAP]

btw. the RAM can be upgraded to 1 gig max. But there is no plug in out there which has a dll file which is bigger than let's say 30 mb.

its not the size of the .dll that matters, its the memory footprint while running.

I'm curious to read the smproaudio's reply about it..

[Acrobat]

btw. the RAM can be upgraded to 1 gig max. But there is no plug in out there which has a dll file which is bigger than let's say 30 mb.

its not the size of the .dll that matters, its the memory footprint while running.

I'm curious to read the smproaudio's reply about it..

Yeah that's very challenging, as it depnds on many resources.
I'd like to know also if SynthMaker plugins are compatible with this baby! ?

[ZioKiller]

My V-Machine arrived today. Oh... yes, I mean... my V-brick
I hope to have to VFX software soon as "mid-late" november is almost past.

For what I can see, it's very fast, boots up in about 15 seconds and swtiches between VSTs quite fast. Hey, you can't pretend it compares with the most powerful modern computer, but I'm sure you can have it play the most famous and used real-time plugins. I mean you can't probably run something like Garritan's or EW orchestras, but you can use it for B4, Pro53, MinimoogV, Synth1, Wusik, and many other "sit-down-and-play" instruments.
The cool feature is that it supports USB midi controllers so I only had to hook up my m-audio board with no need for a midi cable and another PSU

About the memory: the DLL file size is quite irrelevant. A plugin may take more or less memory according to the buffers it needs for wavetables or delay-based effects (reverbs, echoes, etc.) and, most importantly, the GUI. Many plugins take a lot of memory when the GUI is visible. Considering that the V-thing doesn't need to show a GUI, I suppose it saves a big amount of memory.

I was trying to manually install a plugin, according to this procedure described in the manual:

12.3.3. Installing plug‐ins on the V‐Machine without the VFX Application
The V‐Machine will recognize certain raw VST .dll files when loaded onto the
V‐Machine. This method will not work with all plug‐ins as some plug‐ins have
much more complex installation requirements.
Example: Procedure for a plug‐in named plug1.dll
• Create a folder and rename it "Plug1"
• Copy the plug‐in file "Plug1.dll" to the folder "Plug1"
• Copy the folder "Plug1"onto a USB memory stick
• Insert the USB memory stick into the V‐Machine's USB connector
• Reboot V‐Machine to access a new Preset named Plug1

but when I boot up the V- with the usb stick plugged it, I get an error message after about 20 seconds, says that the boot has timed out and asks to disconnect any usb device and reboot.

Btw, I'm liking it very much

[RunBeerRun]

Yeah, they confirmed that it can run Se or sm.


[quote="Acrobat.
I'd like to know also if SynthMaker plugins are compatible with this baby! ?[/quote]

[amiga909]

still optimistic about this thing.
not windows, still we deal with a (linux-based) computer OS here, and I guess its a lot more complex than an ordinary VA-synth OS.
I suspect we can be sure that there will be a lot of bugs at least for the next months.

the demos looked good to me.
also I hope smpro can improve their credibility. not meeting the release dates is no problem for me, good things take time. yet unfinished beta manuals online, sold buggy first-batch betas and, sorry to say, incompetent answers here on the forum make me doubt a little. also the price seems to be too low for decent quality.

clearly we see an innovative product here, it promises to be what receptor never was: a slim, low-cost computer replacement. quite probable we'll see a boom on standalone vst players in near future.

[cimoc]

also the price seems to be too low for decent quality.

Oh, man.....!!!!!!!!!!

[invitia]

still optimistic about this thing.
not windows, still we deal with a (linux-based) computer OS here, and I guess its a lot more complex than an ordinary VA-synth OS.

From where have you got this information?

I read somewhere (in the early promotion material) that SMPro are using an embedded Windows version, therefore potentially should have less compatibility problems than Receptor, most things should work out of the box.

[amiga909]

also the price seems to be too low for decent quality.

Oh, man.....!!!!!!!!!!

how u mean?

di u mean the price is real?
I am well aware the price for the hardware of a v-machine isnt a dream: guessing: motherboard/cpu(1ghz)+ram(512mb) are <100$, hd/cooler <50$, display < 50$, controls <50$, soundcard <100$, interface(audio/usb/midi) <50$ (= 400$). much cheaper if mass-produced. linux based videorecorder/home cinema boxes might be a good comparison.

the real cost for a vst player is the compatibilty issue:
besides the technical problems to run windows (or mac) based registration routines on a linux derivat, think about this: I am Mr. Omnisphere or Mr. Linplug: why would I want my plug running on yet another platform? what if my name is Mr. NativeInstruments or Mr. Korg and I plan/have my own vst hardware? what about Neko and Muse? or what if the big industry plans to squeeze out the vst player market with propietary shit?
-> why not say the vst player only loads vst's that are installed on windows by drag+drop? plugins that require custom preinstalled engines (java-jvm,pluggo,infinity) will also (most likely) not work.
-> I dont think the v-machines will dominate the hardware market for major vst's. if a vst developer is interested in porting the dev or smpro could offer a special version that runs only on 1 v-machine of course.

imho, the usb dongle port is a bad idea. in my vst-player-of-dreams that usb port would act as a second data storage port (for presets, inactive vst's, more samples). better improve on player OS and conversion software and head for simple/free vst's, complex registration is a can of worms...
I image
- rock solid. tight sync.
- show dll.'s not used in any preset
- save external sample data within preset file
- ..

[gBeat2]

Can i use with NI B4 II? thanks

[cimoc]

to amiga909: your comments are valid, I have asked more or less the same regarding copy protection issues in this forum, and I haven't seen any answers. Nor was I able to find a compatibility list on the smrpo site. If anyone has spotted it, please provide a link. But this is not related to the price of the unit.

They way I understood your comment is like you were saying "if the cost ain't in the 4 figures, it ain't pro enough". If I misunderstood, I apologize.

The bottom line is, I want this product to deliver what it promises, because I cannot afford or justify a receptor, and I am willing to wait till it is ready and tested by real users. Obviously it will take some time. But let's not speculate on what it can or cannot do until then.

[Aural Chaos]

Does anyone know what the price for the pedal version is expected to be?

[amiga909]

to amiga909: your comments are valid, I have asked more or less the same regarding copy protection issues in this forum, and I haven't seen any answers. Nor was I able to find a compatibility list on the smrpo site. If anyone has spotted it, please provide a link. But this is not related to the price of the unit.

They way I understood your comment is like you were saying "if the cost ain't in the 4 figures, it ain't pro enough". If I misunderstood, I apologize.

not pro enough: no. meant, I see no technical reason why we should not have killer vst players for ~700$ in the low price segment. cpu/ram and other computer parts are cheap and still quality if cleverly assigned.

agree with u on getting this thing if it does what it promises and if it is more troublefree than a pc.

[mobilenator]

ok November it's gone

still waiting for the software......

[ZioKiller]

ok November it's gone

still waiting for the software......