A Few Questions....

[tkmattson]

Adding audio/music capability to my system, and the only thing I'm entirely sold on is SS2, and possibly ST2XL. That said I have a few questions....

1) As a Mac OSX user, I am seriously considering DP 4.5, which does both MAS & AU, but AU cannot do multiple outputs. I am very fond of IK/SR gear and am wondering why SS2 does not have MAS support, but StudioPhonik will/does?

2) T-Racks seems to have some sort of twiddly knob issue used in OSX, thought it was just my system, but it appears to have occured with other folks as well....

3) What can't SS2 do? Does it make (all / at least some) Virtual Analogs unnecessary? What about other sound libraries, say, the Drum Sonik Capsules, in particular? Is there an actual list of the sounds that are on on those capsules?

4) Will there be SS2 or STXL2 crossgrade prices for StudioPhonik and/or Philharmonik, and if so will they be comparable to the previous crossgrade prices?

Thanks....

[niversen]

3) What can't SS2 do? Does it make (all / at least some) Virtual Analogs unnecessary? What about other sound libraries, say, the Drum Sonik Capsules, in particular? Is there an actual list of the sounds that are on on those capsules?

It can't accept MIDI program change messages. It CAN however, allow to control all the synth parameters with MIDI if that is important to you. If you think of it as a workstation synth with the ultimate sound set, you'll be right on track. I'm having a hard time imagining someone feeling like they didn't get their $300 worth - it's a bargain, and I'm using about 20 sounds on a live gig right now.

[Kim Lajoie]

1) As a Mac OSX user, I am seriously considering DP 4.5, which does both MAS & AU, but AU cannot do multiple outputs. I am very fond of IK/SR gear and am wondering why SS2 does not have MAS support, but StudioPhonik will/does?

MAS is not supported probably because there's not much demand for it - it's only used by DP users, who are probably a minority. If the MAS userbase grew significantly, I think MAS would be added to the list of supported formats.

2) T-Racks seems to have some sort of twiddly knob issue used in OSX, thought it was just my system, but it appears to have occured with other folks as well....

I use T-RackS, but not on OSX... but I haven't heard about any problems with the knobs. It could be something with your system... have you tried IK's tech support? Log into your user area (when you registered T-RackS), and there will be a link that will give you priority access to tech support. Fill in the form and they'll get back to you via email to sort it out with you.

3) What can't SS2 do?

Tough question. There's an infinite number of things that SS2 doesn't do (such as make coffee, fill your refrigerator, etc).

Ok, seriously... Musically, SS2 can do almost anything. I often use SS2 as my only sound source when I'm composing (check out my work in this thread). It's probably more useful to think about the strengths, and if there's anything in particular that you want that's not a strength of SS2, then you might want to look at augmenting SS2 with another style of synth.

Does it make (all / at least some) Virtual Analogs unnecessary?

It does for me. SS2 is a sample-based instrument though, so obviously there are some things that it can't do (yet). However, I think the disadvantages of being sample-based are more than outweighed by the advantages of being sample-based (such as massive polyphony, wider range of sounds, STRETCH, etc).

What about other sound libraries, say, the Drum Sonik Capsules, in particular? Is there an actual list of the sounds that are on on those capsules?

There are patch lists on www.esoundz.com

4) Will there be SS2 or STXL2 crossgrade prices for StudioPhonik and/or Philharmonik, and if so will they be comparable to the previous crossgrade prices?

Yes, and yes.

Thanks....

No problem. I hope that helped.

Forever,




Kim.

[Squids]

Adding audio/music capability to my system, and the only thing I'm entirely sold on is SS2, and possibly ST2XL. That said I have a few questions....

1) As a Mac OSX user, I am seriously considering DP 4.5, which does both MAS & AU, but AU cannot do multiple outputs. I am very fond of IK/SR gear and am wondering why SS2 does not have MAS support, but StudioPhonik will/does?

Actually, the move is to axe OS9 support for all of them and thus MAS OS9 with it (as DP uses AU now for OSX). So, Studiophonik will not support MAS. But it will work with DP in AU.

2) T-Racks seems to have some sort of twiddly knob issue used in OSX, thought it was just my system, but it appears to have occured with other folks as well....

Not sure what a twiddly knob issue is.

3) What can't SS2 do? Does it make (all / at least some) Virtual Analogs unnecessary? What about other sound libraries, say, the Drum Sonik Capsules, in particular? Is there an actual list of the sounds that are on on those capsules?

There are lists of the sounds on the libraries and modules here: www.esoundz.com

Does it make Virtual Analogs unnecessary? That depends. In terms of the roles they play musically for most people's needs then maybe yes. But, in terms of what different virtual analogs can do and if you wanted a particular feature or sound then maybe not. Mainly what you get from virtual analogs is a particular synth architecture and then also a particular sound that is perhaps being emulated. Take Arturia Minimoogs and Arps and stuff like that. They are designed to operate the same way. If you like those synths then it's really cool to have virtual versions of them. But, it's also cool to have samples of the real thing to mix with thousands of other sounds (including non-analog) inside Sonik Synth 2. So, it's really a lot MORE than just some kind of replacement for virtual analogs or something.

4) Will there be SS2 or STXL2 crossgrade prices for StudioPhonik and/or Philharmonik, and if so will they be comparable to the previous crossgrade prices?

Hard to say for sure but so far it is planned. It is mainly centered around going to or from SampleTank 2 XL to promote the flagship technology that hosts it all.

[harmony gardens]

I have a couple Softsynths (Tassman 4, and FM7) which I purchased before getting SS2. While I don't have any plans to dump them from my system, I don't honestly find myself using them very often anymore. For "bread and butter" sounds, SS2 blows the Tassman away, and for Synth emulations and creating my own custom sounds, SS2 couldn't be easier. I am running SS2 under ST2, and find it to be an amazingly versitile system!

[tkmattson]

Not sure what a twiddly knob issue is.

First off thanks so much for your help on the other questions. Here's a link with a couple other folks describing the same problem I was having, whereby the T-Racks GUI becomes, um, err, gooey, whereby your can't use the knobs at all as they shake and stutter, and then slap themselves all the way down to zero or max. It's like you can't set the levels at all really. I should have been more specific. On the positive side, I really like how it sounds....anyway, here's the link from OSX audio, as it must be Mac isolated, because no one else here seems to have the problem. They were using DP, but it happened to me in Tracktion exactly the same way, but only with T-Racks...

http://www.osxaudio.com/forums/viewtopi ... ght=tracks

[Kim Lajoie]

Here's a link with a couple other folks describing the same problem I was having, whereby the T-Racks GUI becomes, um, err, gooey, whereby your can't use the knobs at all as they shake and stutter, and then slap themselves all the way down to zero or max. It's like you can't set the levels at all really. I should have been more specific. On the positive side, I really like how it sounds....anyway, here's the link from OSX audio, as it must be Mac isolated, because no one else here seems to have the problem. They were using DP, but it happened to me in Tracktion exactly the same way, but only with T-Racks...

http://www.osxaudio.com/forums/viewtopi ... ght=tracks

Looks like an isolated problem with the latest updates on some Macs. If you let tech support know, they can give you a copy of the previous version (which works fine) to use.

Forever,




Kim.