the watmm GAS thread

[xox]

Behringer getting into modular:

 

http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2019/01/05/behringer-plans-40-eurorack-modules-in-the-next-2-years-priced-at-49-99/?fbclid=IwAR1fToJ1z-ygYTzLnI-rk_MQ2FG4v9Hx7pCp_U7f3NJ8D6FiBVX9H_wiwXE

Heh finally

[Braintree]

In the nuclear hellscape of the future, having any recyclable electronics will be way more valuable than a pile of paper money or a number on a hard disk that's long been vaporized.

 

 

Behringer getting into modular:

 

http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2019/01/05/behringer-plans-40-eurorack-modules-in-the-next-2-years-priced-at-49-99/?fbclid=IwAR1fToJ1z-ygYTzLnI-rk_MQ2FG4v9Hx7pCp_U7f3NJ8D6FiBVX9H_wiwXE

 

Even if the build quality isn't great, it will still affect the market and may lower prices on boutique modules. They did the same with their line of digital mixing consoles a few years ago.

[modey]

I think that's gonna be my push into eurorack.. being able to get some cheap utility modules to go with the specialty stuff would be great. My finger keeps hovering over the Arturia Rackbrute just because it's an easy solution.

Edited January 6, 2019 by modey

[thawkins]

 

In the nuclear hellscape of the future, having any recyclable electronics will be way more valuable than a pile of paper money or a number on a hard disk that's long been vaporized.

 

 

Behringer getting into modular:

 

http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2019/01/05/behringer-plans-40-eurorack-modules-in-the-next-2-years-priced-at-49-99/?fbclid=IwAR1fToJ1z-ygYTzLnI-rk_MQ2FG4v9Hx7pCp_U7f3NJ8D6FiBVX9H_wiwXE

 

Even if the build quality isn't great, it will still affect the market and may lower prices on boutique modules. They did the same with their line of digital mixing consoles a few years ago.

 

 

What's that from? I'm totally out of date on my post apocalyptic entertainment.

[auxien]

 

An evil, blind Jared Leto saying "replicants are the future!" is very fitting in relation to Behringer. 

 

[Guest]

Not really GAS-related... but studio related nonetheless... I bought a Blackmagic Multidock

SSD multidock which also functions as a RAID system and I'm able to stripe the hard drives together.

 

I didn't even know I wanted this. Thank you.

[Soloman Tump]

I think I want one of these:

 

https://www.rebeltech.org/product/owl-pedal/

 

 

Being able to reprogram the pedal is a big bonus

[Squee]

 

Not really GAS-related... but studio related nonetheless... I bought a Blackmagic Multidock

SSD multidock which also functions as a RAID system and I'm able to stripe the hard drives together.

I didn't even know I wanted this. Thank you.

You’re welcome! But remember, if an SSD drive breaks... it fucking breaks.

[Taupe Beats]

2 Roland-related things:

 

1. I got Roland support to actually acknowledge an issue! The current firmware on the JP-08 doesn't allow for patches to be saved with edits made from external CC's in Manual Mode (and I believe in any patch as well). Only from local stuff. Roland actually confirmed it. 

 

2. Picked up a Roland M-1000 recently. Amazes me there's not really any equivalent gear out there, at least in the price range of the M-1000 (there are very high-end S/PDIF splitters but yeah, not really what I was looking for). The M-1000 is great and a major convenience.

[xox]

if gas for the mduw is alive this seems like a good opportunity

 

https://reverb.com/item/17851848-elektron-machinedrum-sps-1-uw-mkll-2015 

[TubularCorporation]

It wasn't GAS at all but I had to break down and spend the last of my expendable income on one of those Expert SleepersUSAMO audio-to-MIDI interfaces becasue the MIDI timing in Windows is just unmanageable.  Like 4% or more clock jitter on a good day regardless of what software and interface I use (whether it's USB or firewire, doesn't matter) on a carefully optimized, dedicated music desktop, and that's the best I've ever gotten a Windows machien to perform.  I can't even get the sync correction firmware in the MidiGAL to lock to it consistently it's so bad.  I've been struggling with it for a few years since I went back to a hybrid setup rather than sequencing everything on an old MPC and recording straight to stereo like I was doing for a long time, but enough's enough.

[thawkins]

In the vein of MIDI issues I discovered yesterday that the cheap piece of trash USB-MIDI interface I got last year is truly a cheap piece of trash - a 1/16 100% gate arpeggio sent to the MS2000R results in total silence. Went back to connecting it directly with a MIDI cable.

[TubularCorporation]

Honestly, over the years the nicest MIDI interfaces I've used and the cheapest MIDI interfaces I've used have all performed more or less the same.  Badly. 

 

I'm probably going to actually disconnect my MOTU from the computer completely and just use it as a standalone patchbay/router once I get this thing.

 

The only way I've ever gotten stable clock from a computer is by slaving a hardware sequencer to SMPTE time code from the DAW, and then using it as the master MIDI clock. Maybe in the summer when I get my next big paycheck I'll pick up a second USAMO and a really  cheap USB stereo interface to dedicate to them, so I can get 32 channels on two ports with sample accurate timing. That should cover anything I'm likely to do for a long, long time.

Edited January 8, 2019 by RSP

[xox]

Ive never managed to achieve satisfying results with usamo. There are other similar and apparently much better boxes out there. I cant remember their names atm but i do remember they were pretty expensive, around 500 euro or even more

 

edit: 

https://www.e-rm.de/multiclock/

http://www.s-n-d.com/acme4e_b.html

https://www.roland.com/global/products/sbx-1/

 

 

also: http://www.expert-sleepers.co.uk/usamocompatibility.html

Edited January 8, 2019 by xox

[TubularCorporation]

Those are all sync boxes, I can already do that with SMPTE via the old MPC. USAMO sends all MIDI data including sysex, so you can actually use software to sequence hardware without the horrible loose timing, and that's pretty unique as far as I can tell. The only other option I could see was it of my price range, and that was also Expert Sleepers, but it would take a full version OS Silent Way, two Eurorack modules (plus a power supply since I don't have a Eurorack setup) and would be at least $400 total, probably closer to $600.

 

 

The timing soean't have to be MPC3000 perfect or anything, as long as I can get it consistently on par with an Elektron box, in the ×/- 0.5ms range, I'll be happy. Every non-Arari computer I've ever sequenced on has more like +/- 3ms to 6ms and that's just insane, bad enough some older machines can't even maintain sync.

[TubularCorporation]

Ebay just sent me an alert for this totally reasonable $600+ Casio MT-65:

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/183625890083?ul_noapp=true

 

What

[user]

Honestly, over the years the nicest MIDI interfaces I've used and the cheapest MIDI interfaces I've used have all performed more or less the same.  Badly. 

 

I'm probably going to actually disconnect my MOTU from the computer completely and just use it as a standalone patchbay/router once I get this thing.

 

The only way I've ever gotten stable clock from a computer is by slaving a hardware sequencer to SMPTE time code from the DAW, and then using it as the master MIDI clock. Maybe in the summer when I get my next big paycheck I'll pick up a second USAMO and a really  cheap USB stereo interface to dedicate to them, so I can get 32 channels on two ports with sample accurate timing. That should cover anything I'm likely to do for a long, long time.

 

Installed mine last week and couldn't be happier. Make sure to properly set it up using the test mode and looping the midi back to the plugin, I had to fiddle a bit with the pot on the usamo to get an error free stream.  

One thing to take into account if you want to daisychain/use midi thru for multiple channels is that because of the serial nature of midi there will be latency introduced as you go down the chain. But you'll actually be able to compensate for the latency as it's constant and not jittering all over the place.

[xox]

this is terriblol! i was planning to buy oto bam and later the bim too but now im thinking that i could buy a brand new elektron octatrack mk2 for the price of those to efx! i already have the mduw and the mnm but somehow i feel i could benefit with the ot. its biggest minus is the lack of ob connectivity and lack of separate analog outs (only has main stereo out + stereo cue)

 

still not sure what to do! but i'll have time to think while im gathering the money

 

gas off!

Edited January 8, 2019 by xox

[modey]

Tough call, but I'd always suggest getting an OT first, over almost anything else. It's a "forever" instrument for me.

[xox]

Tough call, but I'd always suggest getting an OT first, over almost anything else. It's a "forever" instrument for me.

 

wow that good ha?! do use for live gigs?

 

interestingly, im also planning to go completely max (+supercollider) in a few years from now but somehow in parallel im buying or planning to buy hw more than ever, like im in some kind of resistance :)

[TubularCorporation]

 

Honestly, over the years the nicest MIDI interfaces I've used and the cheapest MIDI interfaces I've used have all performed more or less the same.  Badly. 

 

I'm probably going to actually disconnect my MOTU from the computer completely and just use it as a standalone patchbay/router once I get this thing.

 

The only way I've ever gotten stable clock from a computer is by slaving a hardware sequencer to SMPTE time code from the DAW, and then using it as the master MIDI clock. Maybe in the summer when I get my next big paycheck I'll pick up a second USAMO and a really  cheap USB stereo interface to dedicate to them, so I can get 32 channels on two ports with sample accurate timing. That should cover anything I'm likely to do for a long, long time.

 

Installed mine last week and couldn't be happier. Make sure to properly set it up using the test mode and looping the midi back to the plugin, I had to fiddle a bit with the pot on the usamo to get an error free stream.  

One thing to take into account if you want to daisychain/use midi thru for multiple channels is that because of the serial nature of midi there will be latency introduced as you go down the chain. But you'll actually be able to compensate for the latency as it's constant and not jittering all over the place.

 

 

 

Yeah, MIDI latency is a given, I'm used to that.  It's just that in my experience the timing of general purpose computers is about 10 times less accurate than a decent hardware sequencer and that sounds awful with anything rhythmic, plus I can't get any MIDI clock to DINsync converters I've used to lock reliably. 

 

I doubt I'll use it for more than a handful of channels at any given time, since I do mostly work OTB, but even if I mainly use it as a clock output and do most of my sequencing in hardware, it'll be a lot more convenient than using SMPTE.

Edited January 8, 2019 by RSP

[modey]

 

Tough call, but I'd always suggest getting an OT first, over almost anything else. It's a "forever" instrument for me.

 

wow that good ha?! do use for live gigs?

 

interestingly, im also planning to go completely max (+supercollider) in a few years from now but somehow in parallel im buying or planning to buy hw more than ever, like im in some kind of resistance :)

 

Yeah, I don't play many gigs anymore, but it's always at least part of my setup, unless I'm doing a 1x nanoloop set. It pairs super well with the Monomachine; I'm definitely gonna have to play some more gigs with the two machines together.

 

Ha, completely max is tempting, but I'm the kind of person who needs limitations. I guess I could build limitations into my patches as well :D

[xox]

^ heh yes, limitations matter

 

...and you can limit your self in max, like ''jam with this simple patch for an hour'' :)

 

 

p.s. why don't you gig as often anymore?

[modey]

It was a conscious decision at the start of last year, but also seemed to coincide with the offers dying down! I decided to concentrate on my online content for a while, which is, in a way, more satisfying than playing gigs. Also, taking thousands of dollars of gear out of the studio, in order to play a 30 min set, to 20 people, with free beers often the only payment, just didn't seem worth it anymore.

 

Of course I still play in the chiptune scene whenever they ask me, and likewise when my friends organise gigs.. but if it's someone I don't know, I've decided to only play if it's a paid gig.

[thawkins]

Personally it's really weird to see someone preferring an online presence to the real thing. Maybe it's just me but I really miss the regular gigs at small cozy places with friends coming to see and people having a good time. My day job is already mostly sitting at a computer and doing stuff so it feels scary to want this as my hobby too.

 

As for the Octatrack, I finally watched the original presentation video for the thing yesterday and now I am finally beginning to understand what's it actually good for and considering what I have spent the last year trying to coax my computer & other gear to do with Live it does seem really appealing to just get that box, get the workflow and remove all other distractions that come with the laptop. Previously I though it wasn't so good for live experimentation because you had to load all the stuff onto the SD card before or something. It's always felt to me to be a thing that's too expensive to spend money on, but now I am not so sure anymore.