Atlas 2 or XO?

[killmaster]

I want to get one of these. I've tried the demos and lean a little towards XO but am wondering for those of you who've been using it quite a bit, which do you prefer and why?

Thanks!

Greg

[machinesworking]

I own both, and I prefer Atlas but a quick break down makes sense here.

XO has arguably a better AI algorithm, the way it maps out sounds with North South East West coordinates in terms of attack and length etc. is really smart. XO is also a bit better about the creation and maintenance of it's sound banks, I haven't tried making a 130 thousand strong sound bank in Atlas but XO handles it just fine and you can disable/enable different banks within that bank. It has some decent basic FX. Where it falls short is in it's sequencer, it's only capable of 4/4, it has got cool ideas on how to control dynamics, but it's super limited. It only has 8 slots for sounds, which is, weird considering 16 has been standard forever.

Atlas has a better sequencer, not even close, you can adjust the length of individual tracks, the random sound generating is top notch, it has multiple slot variations for your hardware, 2x8, 8x8, 4x4 etc. It works surprisingly well with the Sequencer in Beatstep Pro recording in while it's a plug in, in your DAW. The cloud is less logically laid out IMO, and it's not as initially intuitive as XO.

Basically I wish that Atlas had XO's cloud, FX and dynamics layout, but the rest is a win for Atlas IMO.

[zvenx]

A large database kills Atlas but XO works fine.
I have XO for the last few years and demoed Atlas around Black Friday.
For small databases it was fine, but when I introduced the whole database that works fine in XO, Atlas became slower than molasses.

rsp

[killmaster]

I own both, and I prefer Atlas but a quick break down makes sense here.

XO has arguably a better AI algorithm, the way it maps out sounds with North South East West coordinates in terms of attack and length etc. is really smart. XO is also a bit better about the creation and maintenance of it's sound banks, I haven't tried making a 130 thousand strong sound bank in Atlas but XO handles it just fine and you can disable/enable different banks within that bank. It has some decent basic FX. Where it falls short is in it's sequencer, it's only capable of 4/4, it has got cool ideas on how to control dynamics, but it's super limited. It only has 8 slots for sounds, which is, weird considering 16 has been standard forever.

Atlas has a better sequencer, not even close, you can adjust the length of individual tracks, the random sound generating is top notch, it has multiple slot variations for your hardware, 2x8, 8x8, 4x4 etc. It works surprisingly well with the Sequencer in Beatstep Pro recording in while it's a plug in, in your DAW. The cloud is less logically laid out IMO, and it's not as initially intuitive as XO.

Basically I wish that Atlas had XO's cloud, FX and dynamics layout, but the rest is a win for Atlas IMO.

Thanks you! Exactly what I was hoping to get for information. Much apprecited!

[killmaster]

A large database kills Atlas but XO works fine.
I have XO for the last few years and demoed Atlas around Black Friday.
For small databases it was fine, but when I introduced the whole database that works fine in XO, Atlas became slower than molasses.

rsp

Makes me wonder if they plan on making Atlas more efficient someday. hmmm... Could you just have it access smaller sets of sounds. If you can add links and just check the ones you want for a specific session?

[killmaster]

from the sound of it, it seems like they should just combine the best of each into one product.

[cryophonik]

I own both as well, and don’t even use XO since Atlas 2 was released. I’ve generated some HUGE maps with it and it handles them with ease (I’m on a Mac, in case that matters). Excellent sequencer, more pads, far better interface and better workflow (IMO, of course). I also like the developer much more in terms of transparency and listening to user feedback. Atlas 2 has dethroned Battery and Maschine as my go-to drum instruments.

[machinesworking]

I own both as well, and don’t even use XO since Atlas 2 was released. I’ve generated some HUGE maps with it and it handles them with ease (I’m on a Mac, in case that matters). Excellent sequencer, more pads, far better interface and better workflow (IMO, of course). I also like the developer much more in terms of transparency and listening to user feedback. Atlas 2 has dethroned Battery and Maschine as my go-to drum instruments.

Have to agree with that, I haven't tried adding my entire drum collection to Atlas, good to know I can. The developer is the best, I mean seriously right up there in terms of response to any bug etc.

[zvenx]

I own both as well, and don’t even use XO since Atlas 2 was released. I’ve generated some HUGE maps with it and it handles them with ease (I’m on a Mac, in case that matters). Excellent sequencer, more pads, far better interface and better workflow (IMO, of course). I also like the developer much more in terms of transparency and listening to user feedback. Atlas 2 has dethroned Battery and Maschine as my go-to drum instruments.

I actually tried on my mac. Never got around to trying it on PC.
Curious to know what size is your sample repository that you hooked into Atlas?

(Mine was about 1.3TB of data, which XO handled easily, but Atlas 2 (whatever version was around on black friday, completely choked)
Rsp

[cryophonik]

I own both as well, and don’t even use XO since Atlas 2 was released. I’ve generated some HUGE maps with it and it handles them with ease (I’m on a Mac, in case that matters). Excellent sequencer, more pads, far better interface and better workflow (IMO, of course). I also like the developer much more in terms of transparency and listening to user feedback. Atlas 2 has dethroned Battery and Maschine as my go-to drum instruments.

I actually tried on my mac. Never got around to trying it on PC.
Curious to know what size is your sample repository that you hooked into Atlas?
Rsp

I’d have to check when I get back to my computer for the number of samples in my largest maps. I keep my samples drive organized by developer, and I’ve made maps for all of my Wave Alchemy libraries (I have most of them) and another for Samples from Mars (I have every one of them). Both of those maps are huge. But, I should mention that I rarely use either of those maps and, instead, I found that I got better results (in terms of generating useful drum kits) by creating smaller and more focused maps by genre (e.g., downtempo, house, 80s, industrial, etc.) with my fav libraries. I’m hoping to see a way to combine maps in a future upgrade and I’ve seen a few people make that request.

[dune_rave]

I've checked Atlas, and it's cool.
But making map from all the wav files of NI Battery took 2 hours.
And of course the wav files in Battery are already categorized, so I don't really need a map with colour codes.
The polyrhythmic sequencer is cool, but i have better sequencers with midi out.

[vitocorleone123]

Atlas2 handles my map just fine, but it’s only around 150GB. Takes for freaking ever to build it, though.

[killmaster]

I own both as well, and don’t even use XO since Atlas 2 was released. I’ve generated some HUGE maps with it and it handles them with ease (I’m on a Mac, in case that matters). Excellent sequencer, more pads, far better interface and better workflow (IMO, of course). I also like the developer much more in terms of transparency and listening to user feedback. Atlas 2 has dethroned Battery and Maschine as my go-to drum instruments.

very good to hear!! Thanks!

[fisherKing]

i demo'd them both, went with atlas. but both seem great, and whatever one chooses, one uses........

[zvenx]

I own both as well, and don’t even use XO since Atlas 2 was released. I’ve generated some HUGE maps with it and it handles them with ease (I’m on a Mac, in case that matters). Excellent sequencer, more pads, far better interface and better workflow (IMO, of course). I also like the developer much more in terms of transparency and listening to user feedback. Atlas 2 has dethroned Battery and Maschine as my go-to drum instruments.

I actually tried on my mac. Never got around to trying it on PC.
Curious to know what size is your sample repository that you hooked into Atlas?
Rsp

I’d have to check when I get back to my computer for the number of samples in my largest maps. I keep my samples drive organized by developer, and I’ve made maps for all of my Wave Alchemy libraries (I have most of them) and another for Samples from Mars (I have every one of them). Both of those maps are huge. But, I should mention that I rarely use either of those maps and, instead, I found that I got better results (in terms of generating useful drum kits) by creating smaller and more focused maps by genre (e.g., downtempo, house, 80s, industrial, etc.) with my fav libraries. I’m hoping to see a way to combine maps in a future upgrade and I’ve seen a few people make that request.

I did find it worked better if I broke up the 1.5TB into smaller maps (I think that is what they are called) but that didn't fit my workflow.
rsp