Advice

Hi, long time reader first time poster.

i'm looking to buy some gear maybe just a controller/keyboard to start off with although im more interested in the beats side of things i'd still like to keep my options open.

i have no previous musical background or education and only am only familiar with the Fruity Loops software program and an MPC.

always been interested in mixing but have never got around to buying turntables as they are quite an investment...

so some advice on what to get would be more than appreiated.

You have the right idea with the controller.

You might find you get a "lag" between hitting a kay and hearing a note on a softsynth. If you think that's hindering your jamming, consider a cheap hardware synth of some sort.

  analogue wings said:

You might find you get a "lag" between hitting a kay and hearing a note on a softsynth. If you think that's hindering your jamming, consider a cheap hardware synth of some sort.

or an asio compatible soundcard (eg soundblaster live with kx drivers), or asio4all!

  modey said:

  analogue wings said:

You might find you get a "lag" between hitting a kay and hearing a note on a softsynth. If you think that's hindering your jamming, consider a cheap hardware synth of some sort.

or an asio compatible soundcard (eg soundblaster live with kx drivers), or asio4all!

dont event talk to be about the lag on a soundblaster live. fuck that was horrible. and the "1337" 3rd party drivers has horrible uis and random app support. of course, it had a built in emu hardware synth, so no lag required there.

  analogue wings said:

  modey said:

  analogue wings said:

You might find you get a "lag" between hitting a kay and hearing a note on a softsynth. If you think that's hindering your jamming, consider a cheap hardware synth of some sort.

or an asio compatible soundcard (eg soundblaster live with kx drivers), or asio4all!

 

dont event talk to be about the lag on a soundblaster live. fuck that was horrible. and the "1337" 3rd party drivers has horrible uis and random app support. of course, it had a built in emu hardware synth, so no lag required there.

i can safely get 4ms latency on my soundblaster live value with kx drivers, which is good enough to play electronic drums via midi into ezdrummer and have them sound almost like real drums. yes i'm talking to you about the lag on a sblive! i dunno what you mean by random app support, but the kx drivers asio has worked in every program i've tried it in - buzz, fl, ableton live, reason, reaktor, reaper, and some others that i can't be bothered remembering right now.

  NDB said:

Hi, long time reader first time poster.

 

i'm looking to buy some gear maybe just a controller/keyboard to start off with although im more interested in the beats side of things i'd still like to keep my options open.

 

i have no previous musical background or education and only am only familiar with the Fruity Loops software program and an MPC.

 

always been interested in mixing but have never got around to buying turntables as they are quite an investment...

 

so some advice on what to get would be more than appreiated.

novation remote 25 controller and renoise.

at this point, much as i love vinyl, unless you have a mountain of vinyl, i'd suggest just getting traktor and dj'ing on a laptop. i know it's heresy of sorts but fuck it, it's 2008.

thanks for the suggestions

am i guaranteed to get lag with a controller?

looked into those softwares will give them a go.

as for the novation remote 25 controller not looking to spend that much just yet, suggest something a little cheaper and i would definitely look at upgrading as i become more interested.

  NDB said:

thanks for the suggestions

 

am i guaranteed to get lag with a controller?

nope, just when the controller is controlling a software synth. you can reduce lag, but your mileage will vary depending on your soundcard and other factors.

your lag will completely depend on your machine/sound card. if you have a machine with adequate power and a decent sound card (with good drivers) you should be able to experience no lag whatsoever. the m-audio axiom series are good controllers, as they have weighted keys and MPC-like pads, plus, they are fully programmable.

you can always start with renoise and free vsts if you're looking to go on the cheap (you may not even need a controller, if you just want to edit midi by hand, which is what i often do).

but if you're really looking to get into the heavyweights, consider logic (mac), cubase (mac/pc), or sonar (pc). all of these DAWs require a significant amount of resources from your machine, so you'll have to have something upwards of 2GHz CPU and 2GBs RAM. 7200 RPM HDDs are nice too... and if you're really doing it right, you'll be using an external drive for all audio files (heat, backup, excessive processing, etc). the best drive to consider there is a GLYPH drive (IMO).

in terms of hardware... well, you've got to make the call on that one. what kind of sound do you want? the virus offers quite a wide range of sounds and also has vst support (so you can control every knob on the synth from your computer, but all the processing is done on the synth itself). its expensive though, and probably a bit too popular these days.

couple other good ones out there you can get cheaply these days are the Korg MS2000br, or a microkorg, both great introductory synths.

oh, and most importantly, get a good set of monitors.

anyway, if you have any further questions, hit me up on PM.

as mentioned the m-audio axiom might be what you're looking for.

i would definitely recommend getting something physical to play with (err). i finally bought a few controllers and i have a lot more fun in playing and creating than i did drawing in sequences.

as i said, hit the m-audio axiom series.

totally worth it.

After some extended research my choices are:

Novation Remote 25 LE

Edirol PCR300

Now i now your all going to suggest the novation but is this really my best option as far as functionality is concerned after all the edirol has more keys nobs sliders etc. to play with.

I have a pay day coming up and am desperate to get my hands on something to play with so this purchase is going to be definite.

Thanks

I have an Edirol controller keyboard. It's just fine. Lasted 5 years so far.

get a cheap audio interface for your computyer with 1 pair of stereo in and one pair of stereo out and midi in and out. m-audio makes some good ones...

download a version of ableton live ,

then buy a little keyboard , with sliders particularly. if you can afford it get a drum pad like a trigger finger as well.

then go to youtube and look up ableton and start watching the fan made video tutorials

Has anyone ever experienced these?

Wharfedale Digisonic DS5A

i heard them today and they sounded good to my ear but i dont have much experience in this area, they are well within my price range and are what i think would be a good starting point.

at this point this is what i would get unless someone advises against them or provides a better option.

Hah, they look like Lian Li ATX cases.

Is your budget big or small?

If you want to focus on drums you could always get something like a Machinedrum.

i have a large budget but i like to spend wisely

start with a good cheap soundcard (like m-audio audiophiles) and decent low budget near field studio monitors with a built in amplifier

oh yeah and an SH-101 ofcourse! :P

  Obelisong said:

  ET said:

what if it actually happens?

 

Then goodbye to you and your shitty posts.

How important are the acoustics of a room when considering the addition of a subwoofer? I've read that improperly treated spaces can result in inaccurate bass responses.