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Hot new trend: abandoning hardware (pg. 3)
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| cryophonik |
| quote: | Originally posted by Raphie
Cryo, check the MOTIF XS of XF if you want Ti type workflow
got my MOTIF connected with firewire 16 individual outputs landing directly into Cubase |
Yeah, that's a good point. If I was still using Cubase, I would probably have purchased a Motif earlier this year when I was in the market for a new workstation. But, since I had sold Cubase, I went with the workstation that I liked more in terms of sounds, synthesis, and keyboard feel (Kurzweil PC3X). The new Motifs are very nice though - I was playing one in Guitar Center just last night. |
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| atxbigballer1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by cryophonik
I'm pretty surprised that more companies haven't followed the Virus TI model and developed more products that integrate hardware and software. |
Korg and Roland have.
Roland sh-201
Korg micro x some thing |
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| Raphie |
Ahh..ok, you don't know my studio, i understand.
Already got a MOOG Voyager, Prophet08 and Virus Ti
So not really interested in expansion boards, 16 induvidual outs is much more compelling for me.
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| atxbigballer1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Raphie
Ahh..ok, you don't know my studio, i understand.
Already got a MOOG Voyager, Prophet08 and Virus Ti
So not really interested in expansion boards, 16 induvidual outs is much more compelling for me. |
yo bro, what ever works for you.
not my studio.
just trying to give my 2c. |
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| aNYthing |
Its not a new trend. Liam Howlet was talking how AONO album was made purely in reason, on a laptop with bare minimum of outboard gear. SvD, Prydz, Axwell and many more are soft only. All depends what you want.
Hardware is more immediate in terms of control, however, something like a Maschine could very well be the norm for synths of the future, leaving true hardware to performers.
As far as Virus - its a perfect demo of how hw/sw concept can be executed half baked. Great synth, poor execution. The whole point of hardware was to avoid issues that software brings. Hybrid has to be rock solid or it loses one of its primary objectives. However, it seems like theres a new sw update for virus each time. I stopped updating years ago. Come to think of it, virus could be the first to go when I start selling off hardware.
How many sw updates for Jupe 8 of elka synthex in last 20 years? Zero, if you don't count revs of hw. Stability issues on a well maintained unit? Zero.
I personally love fiddling with controls and sliders and buttons and knobs. I get a lot of inspiration...
And as a testament to that... just bought a JD800 and plan to buy Moog Voyager XL along with Jon Bowen Solaris next year.
Lastly. Nearly all of my gear is worth something years later... whereas software is nearly worthless... can you see someone lusting after say... wavelabs plugin 20 years down the road? Do u think your multi thousand sw purchase will be worth anything in 20 years? The reason why sw is popular is because how easy it is to steal it and how cheap it is to produce it. You don't have to spend much on circuit design, prototype build, materials, etc. Time to deploy - much faster and cheaper.
One of my friends developed a delay plugin. Took him 4 months. Hardware version would have been impossible to produce within reasonable cost and would have taken years. That's the reality we all live in.
So, pick what suits you. There's no right or wrong approach, its about best tool for the job. |
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| Audio Scum |
| I have/had so much HW, but I am not using it anymore. The main reason I don`t use HW is. You don`t have to write down al your settings, no latency at all and software is easer in the work(flow). |
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| Audio Scum |
| And. If you buy a software compressor, or something like that, most of the times you can use it so many times till your CPU is screeming. If you buy it in HW you can use it ones at the time. |
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| Rodri Santos |
| i have some little pieces of hardware and they are getting dusted software is so close to hardware right now and you can have a better workflow with all the tools on the same place. |
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| Stu Cox |
I think we all agree that the gap between software and hardware in terms of audio quality is closing, but do you think hardware designers could have done more to keep hardware ahead?
The traditional benefits of hardware are instant control and processing power... maybe we just don't need any more processing power than we can get out of modern PCs, so there's nowhere for hardware to go there, so the only edge it's got is tactile control.
As aNYthing says, hardware-software combos like Maschine (hardware controller with a software synth) give that level of control we want from hardware but with the flexibility of software - and the same goes for just adding an off-the-shelf MIDI controller to your favourite softsynth.
So are there any benefits left which hardware designers could exploit? Anything you wish you could do with hardware which isn't possible with software? |
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| Kenny Rogers |
| quote: | Originally posted by aNYthing
Its not a new trend. Liam Howlet was talking how AONO album was made purely in reason, on a laptop with bare minimum of outboard gear. |
not true. he WROTE that album in Reason. Then changing almost all the sounds to hardware in protools or something. then through a hardware analog mixer. oh and it is the worst prodigy album of all time lol. whats interesting though is that he is now using two laptops with ableton only, for his livegigs. |
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| alanzo |
I'm still not convinced that any software can deliver the raw analog character of my Andromeda or the punchy techy awesomeness of a Nord Lead 3. But those are the soudns I want to make. Great music can be made with software, that's the bottom line and what is most important.
| quote: | Originally posted by cryophonik
That does seem to be the trend. I would imagine that it's related to numerous factors - convenience, cost (esp. in this economy), and the narrowing of the sound quality gap between software and hardware. I still prefer hardware for tactile control and for maintaining a resale value |
And also this. And the liability of owning expensive music equipment. Renters insurance can only do so much. Why bother when software can do what you need.
I love my hardware instruments but one thing I'll never get is a hardware FX processor. EQ, Comp, Phasor, filter, etc. I do have what I consider to be the best software processors, though.. UAD. |
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