In Praise Of ACID (At Last)

[munchkin]

The latest version of ACID seems to have ironed out the VST problems I was having. There still isn't a VST troubleshooting option but at least my VST/VSTi's load and seem to work.

I've moved back to ACID and really enjoy it again now. PDC seems to work and my synths load ok. A proper midi piano roll wouldn't go amiss. Not too keen on the one loop (midi/audio) per track but it's not too annoying.

I like ACID because:

1. Everything is on one page.
2. It has great loop mangling tools.
3. It's pattern and loop orientated but uses a time line.
4. Most of the options are easily accessible and not hidden under layers of pages and menus.
5. The gui looks nice.
6. Everything seems to work now.
7. I don't have to spend ages twiddling or setting everything up (latency, soundcard, midi, effects options, beat slicing options etc.)

I guess you always go back to your first love especially if they've filled out and matured so seductively.

Yes, ACID is owned by Sony (SATAN! - there, I've said it ), it's not an all round host like the big three and Sony could give us more for the price (tight aholes.) But it does have a nice feel to it.

Cue the firestorm...

[Cabinfever]

congrats ! at least we know it works ok for one person. i wish i was brave enough to risk another try.

(now all we need is famous corporate spammer billybk1 to arrive with more cut & paste from the sony website)

[jsd]

First, a disclaimer: I do freelance sound design for Sony... Have two CDs in the Loops for Acid series. However, even before I got that gig I used Acid a lot and liked it. Version 5 is really quite good. Finally VST FX support. Finally you can reverse a clip! I really find it a great compositional environment. It's not perfect and I rarely complete a song 100% with Acid alone but it makes a great compliment to a more traditional (and loop challenged) sequencer like Cubase. It's just so quick and inspirational. Just mucking about by combining loops from different styles (electro drums + orchestral strings + country/western guitar, eg) can usually bust through writer's block.

If I'm writing a proper "song" with verse/chorus etc I tend to rough it out in Cubase, get most of the arrangement done, then do a stereo mix and use Acid to layer on loops and other fx. Then I render the Acid pieces to a mix and bring it back into the original Cubase project for the final mixdown. That seems to get me the best of all worlds. I haven't been brave enough to try Rewire mode yet. I suppose I really ought to.

[Reverse Engineer]

Acid , and i agree, a lot of problems have been ironed out (yet a few remain.) Saying that though, i've fallen in love with it and for all its flaws it's the one for me.

The weird things people complain about though really get to me. It can do a million more things than old skool cubase on an atari 512ST ever could, yet think of all the amazing music that was (and still is) produced using that.

A bad carpenter with the best tools will still make shite furniture (what a crap analogy .)

[Cabinfever]

yep, and bad tools will give everyone the shites

[Karma_tba]

Sony must LOVE the controversy that is swirling around Acid Pro!!!Even it's critics are helping to keep the product in the buying public's eyes.I just don't why it's detractors don't just use the product of their choice and stop hating.Kinda reminds me of the X-Box vs. PS2 arguements that vidiot fanboys have all the time...I mean who cares!!!If you have a product that works for you then shut up and make music.Damn elitists!!! Oh well even Sony knows that even bad press is good press.

[rbet]

yep, and bad tools will give everyone the shites

[Cabinfever]

karma_tba i post about acid because i loved what the program was and am angry at how sony has ruined it. mostly they are warnings in case anyone is silly enough to believe the sony propaganda.

[Jaeson Merrill]

blabla...Kinda reminds me of the X-Box vs. PS2 arguements that vidiot fanboys have all the time...I ....blablabla

XBOX compared to PS2?? gimme a break, this is nothing like it. Acid just sucks. Xbox and Ps2 are definetly comparable.
Acid doesnt even come close to other stuff.

[xander]

Acid Pro is a consumer-oriented product and is great for loopers, and it's also really great for loopers. Sometimes, I think most loopers like it, sometimes.

But that it even gets mentioned along side really decently thought-out professional tools like Ableton Live, Tracktion and Project Five (which are not merely looper oriented/capable but are so much more) makes me wanna hurl.

When the Sony 'marketeers' got ahold of Acid it left most musicians and musicians' needs behind, and there it remains. Sony HATES the VSTi specs and has only reluctantly encompassed them recently.

I can hear them now "I tell you, Hiphop is the future of the DAW!!!"

arf arf pant pant....

[GypsyJazz]

............it's not an all round host like the big three a.........

Just out of interest.

What are the "big 3" in your opinion?

[cold c]

Cue the firestorm...

I am tempted to take issue with every 'positive' point you made, and some of the negatives, but I'll try not to, for now.

I think ACID still has some redeeming features, for example:

1) They didn't break or remove the chopper+painting with audio feature.
2) The explorer+auditioning feature.
(I use the '+' because the strength lies in those features in combination)
3) The reverse feature in ACID PRO 5.
4) The Render As... >> Save each track as a separate file option saves some time when exportng the audio to other applications...

ACID is owned by Sony

Just to clarify, most of my negative comments have been towards what I perceive as flaws/weaknesses within the product.

bad carpenter with the best tools will still make shite

Good tools are extremely important to craftsmen.

Like many other individuals, I am not in a position to create or commission my own tools.

Sony built their reputation on an uncomprimising attitude to their products which some people feel is no longer valid outside the fields of digital photography and games consoles.

The constant improvement cycles that once led Sony to dominate and lead the markets they competed in and exceed customers' demands and expectations gave way to a kind of mediocrity where products fell short of customers' requirements.

An quick and obvious example is the Walkman brand of products -- whereas the original Walkman was constantly refined in terms of size, weight, sound quality, features etc, the modern Walkman branded products appear to be little more than a vehicle to, push Sony's compressed audio format and market their mobile phones, (and in the case of the mobile phone Walkman, sell more Sony memory sticks). How many years did it take them to produce a native mp3 playback solid-state or HD Walkman? Did they reduce the price of the product to make up for the lack of features?? (No.) Slightly behind customers' requirements there.

If any Sony/sonyfo official wants to contact me I would be happy to supply them with a more comprehensive list of shortcomings within ACID PRO 5 (given sufficient time to compile the list) .

[Jaeson Merrill]

(given sufficient time to compile the list) .

lol!!!

better take a couple weeks vacation sounds like!!!

[Karma_tba]

YADA YADA YADA YADA........YAWN!!!

[munchkin]

............it's not an all round host like the big three a.........

Just out of interest.

What are the "big 3" in your opinion?

Cubase, Logic and Sonar have traditionally been described as the big three. As audio/sequencing tools they're extremely powerful but power doesn't always equal ease of use.

I own ACID 5, Sonar 4 Pro, Abletone Live 4, eXT, MaxMSP/Jitter and Vegas 6. I've tried most of the other hosts and TBH the one I come back to is ACID. Why? (Like you all want to know, right?)

Sonar4 - great all rounder but clunky loop management, too many windows to open, the term, 'gapless audio', means something different in Cakewalkland.

Live 4 - great pattern management, gapless audio, clunky track based song construction, rudementary browser.

eXT - very versatile in a modular way but not exactly intuitive. Requires some setting up.

MaxMSP - it can do everything and my first year of Sonic Arts is devoted to 'learning' how to use it (gulp!)

Vegas 6 - Great for multimedia but lacking in the old audio department.

There's also Tracktion and a few other less well represented hosts for PC/Mac that didn't do it for me.

The reason I started this thread is to let people know that ACID is at last working for me and might be worth giving another whirl if you've had problems with it before.