The Reason Why...

M

Mercenary

Guest
Ok, I hate to start another one of these hardware vs software discussions but I am kinda pissed right now and who better to vent on than you guys ? ;)

So friends (real friends, not net acquaintances) tell me for the last who knows how many months how great softsynths are, how good they sound, how versatilve they are, how programmable they are..and for all of those months but this last one I just shrugged em off. Then I copped SX2, and liked the interface so much that I decided to play with the VSTi's that came with it. Hmm..not bad, but not great...but in the process of "playing" with these VSTi's I found out something that for some reason I just didn't know: I can sequence the VSTi's in cubase with my mpc4k! Wow..well why not use some VSTi's to add to my synth racks? There's no reason to shun more power, right? WRONG!!!!! (i didn't find this out til 10 minutes ago)

So I go and cop a bunch of great sounding VSTi's..I mean they sound really good and the tweaks are nice and a lot of the presets are nice too...last night before I shut down the computer, everything is working fine, but I have yet to make a track with them. I wake up this morning with the intent to work on a couple samples I dug for on Saturday. But first...I've got to open cubase and setup some templates so that from here forward I can just open cubase, choose a template and get to work with the VSTi's already loaded. It takes me 5minutes to setup the templates..not bad. I set them up without testing, because I KNOW that everything worked last night and testing would waste time. So..when I finally get the last one up I go through and just tap a pad on the mpc as I'm swingin back around to get to work and...NO SOUND! WTF?!?! I troubleshoot for 20 minutes and realize that for whatever reason...when my comptuer started up this morning, the midi interface software decided to confuse itself with another USB application and the midi stopped working. Frustrating, but easily overcome. Twenty minutes, ok let's get to that sample. I fire cubase back up, load the template...IT FREEEZES!!!!! WTF..5 minutes of freeze! (I have 2.4Ghz P4 with 512MB of ram and a 64MB video card..dont' give me that slow computer ****..it aint' the fastest but it isn't near slow enough to be freezin like that for any other reason than software infidelity). Fine...5minutes of freeze...let's try this again. I load it again...everything loads! Hit a pad..NO SOUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Back to troubleshooting: is it that usb device again? nope..unplugged it (which is ridiculous in the first). Is it receiving midi in cubase, nope. At the interface? Yup. Interface can send to mpc? Yup. Will another app that uses midi work? nope. WTF!!! now it's a system wide problem. What do I have left to do? REBOOT. I reboot without touching a damn thing and voila it works. What the hell was all that about?? I didn't touch ANYTHING after last night's setup sessino which worked fine...and this morning I have to go through hoops just to get it back working again?!?! should I expect this every morning? By this time I'm no logner even thinking about making a track..I'm thinkin about murdering someone. And that's the reason why hardware, at this point, is better than software IMHO.
 
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I feel your pain. When it works ... it works great, when it doesn't, it's "who can I kill?"

Fortunately, everything I have is working.

One of the unspoken truths re: software, VSTs, etc. is that it just doesn't work on ANY combination of PC hardware. It takes a bit of planning to setup a good PC-based system. It's less work to assemble a Mac-based system, because there are fewer hardware options.
 
I know what you mean. I use my 2KXL with my computer and stuff and sometimes by the time you get everything set up the last thing you want to do is actually make music. Like when I wanted to use my XL with Reason and Pro Tools setting up the rewire was a pain. I was lucky enough to find some templaes on the web, but even then It took a year and a day to get everything working right. I love the possibilities the combo ives you but some days it is a love-hate relationship (boardering on I want to kick this F#$^#ing computer)
 
^^

yah...I still haven't gotten back in a music making mood cuz that just left a bad taste in my mouth. I tried to work on the sample a little earlier....not in the mood...next time I use VSTi's it'll be once the track is done and I'm looking to refine some parts...not during creation.
 
Mr. Mercenary

It has been MY experience that Mr. Mercenary is a bit low on the computer knowledge. So yes one would expect that his inability to get a USB device working properly would take some time. Here is a tip for you son: If it doesnt work REBOOT FIRST, ask Questions LATER!!!




LOL,


-Rets
 
Mercenary said:
By this time I'm no logner even thinking about making a track..I'm thinkin about murdering someone. And that's the reason why hardware, at this point, is better than software IMHO.
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I understand ya man. Your argument feels very similar to the PC gaming vs Console arguments. PCs should look better, run better, games cost less, online capabilities etc. But it rarely works that way with conflicts, dodgy installs and crashes. Whereas you can pay that extra £15 for a game on the PS2 and you can just hook that sh*t up and play. People have their preferences, but at the end of the day, both are generating the same result. If you're gonna play good, its down to you, not the platform. Just cause you pick up a ps2 pad instead of a mouse and keyboard doesnt mean you're gonna instant play better, and vice versa. (my analogy's not too bad is it?? :D)

You've probably given the most convincing argument for hardware vs software so far in all the threads ive sifted through, yours and balma's legendary description. Its in a thread called realization in the composing forum (i think), its definitely worth reading.
 
Re: Re: The Reason Why...

StopRushing said:

I understand ya man. Your argument feels very similar to the PC gaming vs Console arguments. PCs should look better, run better, games cost less, online capabilities etc. But it rarely works that way with conflicts, dodgy installs and crashes. Whereas you can pay that extra £15 for a game on the PS2 and you can just hook that sh*t up and play. People have their preferences, but at the end of the day, both are generating the same result. If you're gonna play good, its down to you, not the platform. Just cause you pick up a ps2 pad instead of a mouse and keyboard doesnt mean you're gonna instant play better, and vice versa. (my analogy's not too bad is it?? :D)

You've probably given the most convincing argument for hardware vs software so far in all the threads ive sifted through, yours and balma's legendary description. Its in a thread called realization in the composing forum (i think), its definitely worth reading.
Click to expand...

What's funny about that is...while I do love ps2...my heart is with pc gaming...hell I even like Halo for PC more than Halo on Xbox...and trust..I was addicted to the xbox version...sports are a different story, though. But any shooter...pc is where it's at for me hahaha just not w/music I guess..not right now anyway
 
U dont wanna go anywhere near me when im hittin up quake 2 with my (new cordless natural) keyboard and (new optical) mouse (with sideways scroller). :D Bodies dropping everywhere!!! haha!!

I had to resort to ps2 when my pc got outdated but im back with a new beast so im returning to my roots with pc gaming. But theres something about vice city on the PS2 that the PC version just cant get anywhere near. I really dont know what it is, that game hits me deep right at the bottom of my soul...
 
StopRushing said:
U dont wanna go anywhere near me when im hittin up quake 2 with my (new cordless natural) keyboard and (new optical) mouse (with sideways scroller). :D Bodies dropping everywhere!!! haha!!

I had to resort to ps2 when my pc got outdated but im back with a new beast so im returning to my roots with pc gaming. But theres something about vice city on the PS2 that the PC version just cant get anywhere near. I really dont know what it is, that game hits me deep right at the bottom of my soul...
Click to expand...

yah count vice city out of the shooters....vice city is strictly ps2 for me...
You might get me in Q2..but UT2k3? nope.
 
Tuning your instrument is fundamental for any Musician of any instrument

As a guitarist I learned long ago of the importance of tuning my instrument (no wise cracks ;-) and keeping it in good condition.

I can relate to the frustration and inspiration killer that technical problems can be (especially right now after a week of strugling with nVidia problems; AND now one of my updates has caused a mysteriuos midi recording problem!!!), However it helps me to keep things in perspective. Tuning and maintenance may be infinitely more complex for computers than they are for a guitar but then.. so are the possiblilities of sounds I can make with it.
Cheers :cheers:

By the way did I mention the time that my guitar got a hairline crack in it and it took about two or three weeks to figure out why it was buzzing when I played it. And it was a classical guitar! I won't even mention stories about my electric guitars and amps

Have you ever known anyone that played the saxophone?
 
An afterthought...

Just as a writer, who uses a word processor to write on, should have a pen and paper as a backup just in case the equipment fails, an electronic musician should have an instrument or two around the house to play around with when all else fails. Also a good way to get through power outages.
 
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