Proposal: Update/ upgrade for Presonus bundle users

[Fishoow]

Hello all,

I'm writing in this forum to see which Receptor Qu4tro and Tr3o (and I'm not sure, but VIP) users would be interested in a Receptor upgrade to use their bundled Persons 1818VSL more effectively.

Right now, with all the benefits and clarity of moving to Muse's new format of Rack mode, there is a downside that has been expressed by a few users, and that is the inability to stack or run plugins in series. For those who use the bundled devices this is a particular challenge because with any live audio source like acoustic guitar, vocal, percussion and drums (a big culprit with overheads), or any other acoustic instrument you would live to mic up and effect in a live setting, it will need some kind of EQ and likely some compression, gate, limiting. This is demonstrated in Presonus' newish FatChannel plugin. Indeed, all major companies have newer, better versions of live audio conditioning.

As a selling point of the, now three-year old, bundle series Recepters you can run your whole band on these machines. I will attest I have done this and look forward to having the opportunity at this point to have the system tweaked by a sound guy in the audience though a VNC viewer.

Curiously, soon after I bought my Tr3o with the joyous prospect of being able to affect my three-piece ensemble live and then go to my other various musical jobs and load in an entire stage setup with one click, I saw that Presons came out with a 3u rack mixer that ran their software wirelessly. I took this as a sign that Muse was on the leading edge of where the music industry was headed; and, indeed, it is going that way. Everyone from Peavey to Behringer have their versions of live, wirelessly controlled, mixing.

That, however, is not what Receptor is. It is not what it was born to be. This is a plugin player. Some of the greatest, Grammy-winning musicians have used this device. It is an instrument in and of itself for instrumentalists who wish to push musical boundaries. But, this is the fork in the road which must be addressed by those who wish to have the power and control to do what Muse claims is possible. Personally, my Tr3o feels as though it was sold as a personal instrument to insert in to a house mixing board and the infrastructure is not really set up to be a mixer for a whole band. In other words, the Musebox has enough physical inputs for what the Rack Mode software can handle.

My proposal is that Muse focus on its own native software and further develop the Rack Mode interface by working with Presonus as it has done with Camel Audio (now with Logic) and Peavey.
Apparently, the Audiobox 1818VSL that is bundled with the Qu4tro and Tr3o has a firmware update that will allow users of the interface (on Mac) to also use their VSL or Virtual Studio Live Remote software http://www.presonus.com/products/Virtual-StudioLive
Though I understand that this is software with its own driver and things don't usually work with Receptor like that, I am wondering if Muse would be willing to work with Presonus to further their products into the new decade.

What would be remedied is the ability to load in any sound conditioning necessary for up to 8 (XMAX preeamped) live acoustic sources which would free up the Rack Mode audio channel to use whatever plugin the artist would like to play with such as any of the Camel Audio, MadShifter, delays, ALL the plugins that come with Receptor when you buy it. It would free the Aux Sends to instantiate an overall room EQ, or to have separate monitor mixes, or other uses that are more standard for an Aux Send on a typical mixing board. Also, Receptor owners would have peace of mind that their bundled device firmware is up to date. The sound guy you hire to walk around and make sure everyone's levels are OK would be able to control the individual musician's sound. OR! Even better, if you don't have a sound guy, you will be able to control the sound yourself, easily, while in the middle of trying to jam with with your mates.

I understand there are many issues with software, firmware, and business-wise, at play and that all concerned parties will need to do what's right for them. I'm just hoping to get a discussion started. I use Presonus recording software and, like all other companies, they offer upgrades for their existing equipment and charge you a discounted upgrade price. I am about to upgrade to their Studio One 3 as I have been able to multitrack live recordings from my Receptor and they've really got a straight forward format. Actually, their plugins are pretty awesome too. I use them for my daily class i play for.

Thanks for reading.

[nathankingcole]

Thanks for the in depth proposal and though process that you lay out! I am in full support of this request-I feel like the possibilities of the presonus are very underutilized with rack/live mode.

[jkuehlin]

Well, I would have loved to have seen developments like that as well. Unfortunately with Muse going down the drain, and unable to develop much of anything, they I guess we'll just have to find other ways to make do with out soon-to-be dinosaurs. Oh well. RIP little receptor. It was fun while it lasted.

[nathankingcole]

I am concerned about your Muse Research folding talk. I don't know if it is substantiated, or if you are receiving no support because of the model of Receptor you have. I have gotten great support over the years while upgrading through the iterations of the Receptor and paying the yearly support fee. I can understand that eventually support has to fall off for older models, and I have found that the investment in the newer technology has been worth it. Muse needs to keep income rolling in to be able to provide support. At the same time, you are absolutely right that the closed system for things like Kontakt updates requires Muse put their resources towards making it possible for users to have flexibility with their platform. I am very unhappy about the Kontakt update issue, and I am not satisfied with the answer that it is all on Naitve Instruments to make it work.

[jkuehlin]

Regarding the company...Unfortunately you have the same non-support as the rest of us. Namely that you have no current plugins that can be installed, you have no 64 bit unwire, nor do you have any firmware, hardware, or license protocol updates. Because none of us do. Nor will we ever, according to them. They might respond when you e-mail them. But those e-mails verified that nothing is ever going to be done to these receptors to bring them current. They are letting the product die. Again, that came from them.

Look at the artist endorsements on their site. Looks at the site itself. Browse through Plugorama. Check release date for the last OS (or whatever you call it) upgrade. Look at how they withdrew their buy-back upgrade options. Look at the lack of players and studios using these, because Vienna and MainStage do the same thing, but do it better, and THEIR PLUGINS WORK. Muse is selling off a product that can't compete anymore, but they threw in the towel. Instead of ramping their motherboards up and spec-ing their receptors out to where they can go head to head with a modern mac, they're intentionally letting their systems fall to the wayside. Peavey fronted some cash, made a Muse Box, and they didn't work either. I STILL think the receptor is a great concept. But the concept and even the invention are only as good as the execution of the idea.

I've been on here the last few days trying to figure out a use for these in light of what I've learned recently...not being a troll. Not here to piss anyone off unnecessarily. And I know its sad news to a lot of people. I'll continue to check back on here to see if anyone is making use of these, because I just can't bear the thought of donating mine to the salvation army because Guitar Center wouldn't even give up $50 to take it back. I can not sell it locally, no one can use it.

[nathankingcole]

I hear all of that and it concerns me greatly-some mUse reassurance would be nice-I could use a hug right now after the thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours I have invested in this platform! I still love my receptor when things are working well-once it is set I have not had many issues with performances. I am trying to reconfigure some presets this morning and have had 5 freeze ups and had to restart at least 10 times to get things where I wanted, then still ran out of ram in live mode (only 70% of 16gb is usable-how much ram does the system really need?)then had to go back and reconfigure again to be able to load all the presets I want for the set at once.
Nonetheless-this is way less headaches and much more performance than I had in my laptop days, and a way more solid setup for live use- hit start load the live set, bam.
I want Muse Research to live long and prosper!

[Fishoow]

I am trying to reconfigure some presets this morning and have had 5 freeze ups and had to restart at least 10 times to get things where I wanted, then still ran out of ram in live mode (only 70% of 16gb is usable-how much ram does the system really need?)then had to go back and reconfigure again to be able to load all the presets I want for the set at once.

Nathan, you were very helpful in my first days of getting my T3io by calming down my frustration in trying to configure this device to my performance goals. Thanks for that, so I hope that this little glitch you experienced was an easy fix and doesn't come around again.

@jkeuhlin I saw your posts soon after you got them up and have been trying to thin of a way to address them. At the same time I want to keep on the positive and hopeful side, I have had countless issues which have cost me work. A lot of work.

But, when it's working, I have had EDM DJ's, engineers, musicians, and choreographers wonder how I do what I'm doing and really appreciate the sounds coming out. I am still using the stock plugins from 2014. Alchemy (moved to Logic and not even offered on the new Q4/T3) has been great! Peavey for my guitar and EQ/FX for my other mic inputs. Apparently, if I were to get NI K9 I would have lots more options. I'm hesitant to spend money there when I may have to buy a whole new rig.

I'm not sure what to do. I'm tired of sitting down to my rig and having to problem solve before making music. The forum is not exactly packed with flowing ideas and I always thought that the hundreds of $ for added support was kinda weird. Especially when Presonus has been EXTEMELY helpful. Truth be known, I might've sold my Receptor for a Studio Live AI16 and a new Macbook Pro. Since I have to keep a screen up at all times with Receptor (antithetical to the original idea of this thing), this setup makes more sense.

I check this forum nearly every day. I haven't touched my Receptor in a month. I play my daily classes on a 2008 Macbook with IOS 10.7. I'm about to shift to my new 2009 MBP IOS 10.9. Knowing me I will push the limits as soon as possible. I can only imaging what it would be if I spent my $2500 an i7 MBP instead of the Receptor.