Omnisphere/Softsynth & Oasys

[Sharp]

But regarding "hardware" like Neko and Liontracks .... what about when the CPU power in one/two years is not enough?

1 to 2 years is pretty short. Normally you will get many years out of the product before you need to upgrade it's CPU.

When it comes to Lionstracs I can sum things up pretty easy. My Mediastation is a 6 year old B-Stock model I purchased. Cost me only €250 to upgrade it to the latest spec. So as far as your investment goes, you can't buy better than an open keyboard.

Regards
Sharp.

[SoulBe]

But regarding "hardware" like Neko and Liontracks .... what about when the CPU power in one/two years is not enough?

1 to 2 years is pretty short. Normally you will get many years out of the product before you need to upgrade it's CPU.

When it comes to Lionstracs I can sum things up pretty easy. My Mediastation is a 6 year old B-Stock model I purchased. Cost me only €250 to upgrade it to the latest spec. So as far as your investment goes, you can't buy better than an open keyboard.

Regards
Sharp.

Thanks for that, I will consider ... and go to get some more infos at their website.

Regards
SoulBe

[Sharp]

Have a look at this video too.
http://www.youtube.com/irishacts#p/u/12/FwqnVgNO4bQ

From a live on stage performance point of view, look how I'm setting up my own personal sounds.

In COMBI mode you can have your sounds displayed in the exact same way, and up to 8 different sounds at the same time split and layered anyway you want.

The sounds inside your VSTi's are also displayed in the exact same way. At no point do you have to deal with a PC type interface. It's a musical instrument at heart and the Rack Unit will operate in the exact same way.

Regards
Sharp.

[maestrophillips]

Hi,

thanks for that further input.

But regarding "hardware" like Neko and Liontracks .... what about when the CPU power in one/two years is not enough? I mean the prices if you go with a comuter/notebook are not as high as a hardware solution. Or is Neko/liontracks expandable, exchanging motherboard/processors?

Regards
SoulBe

That is the beauty of a company like Open Labs. They walk you through all upgrades that you will ever need. There are numerous people who have older boards (Gen 4, Gen 5, etc.) that upgrade their systems. Even if Open Labs does (for some reason) go "belly-up," the way the keyboard is built makes is very easy to do upgrade components yourself (memory, hard drive, etc.). In fact, over the past 2 weeks, I just upgraded my operating system and memory. I am also going to put in an extra internal hard drive this week. As long as you have a screwdriver and reasonably know how to pop a component in and out, you are good to go. The best part is that Open Labs walks you through any software upgrades by logging into your machine via the internet. They then take control of your unit remotely and make sure that everything goes smoothly. Finally, if you have ANY technical issues in the future for your registered unit, you can call tech support and they will go into your system to fix it. Easy! That is one of the main reasons this company has a loyal following. Their goal is to make sure the unit does not become obsolete...unlike other companies that we know of (I am not saying names...). Disclaimer: stuff does happen and the company has issues like any other company, but at least they do try (again, unlike other companies that we know of...).

Go to the website (www.openlabs.com) and do 3 things: 1) Click on the "Artist" tab and see what other people are doing with the board, 2) Click on the "Support" tab and go to the "FAQs." That will answer maybe 85% of your questions, 3) Click on "Community" so you can get to the Forum (just like this forum), and 4) Go through the "Community" tab again to get to the Live Broadcast that occurs each week on the web.

Peace!

[SoulBe]

It's a musical instrument at heart and the Rack Unit will operate in the exact same way.

Regards
Sharp.

Tanks for that video. I´ll check out. The rack unit seems to be very interesting for me as I need it for live playing.
What do you think is the more "open" and stable system? A notebook or a say rack unit of f.e. Liontracks or OL?

best regards
SoulBe

[Sharp]

All 3 give you a device that can run samples and VSTi's. The problem is they are all different and picking the right one depends on your needs.

Personally I think it's a bad idea to go with a Laptop. They don't generally come with a sound card that supports AISO, so you have to buy additional PCMCIA or External USB Sound Cards/Interfaces. Then you need to get a HOST and install your software, while coming up with some means to use it all on-stage in a live situation. It's only my opinion but I think a laptop would take a bit of work, planning and additional investment to be suitable. A laptop is also not future proof as you can't upgrade them generally.

OpenLabs and Liosntracs on the other hand offer a shared idea done two completely different ways.

Both are ready to go out of the box as musical instruments you don't need to tweak, and they are both likely as “OPEN” as each other as far as future upgrades go. Although open labs are likely still on shaky ground since they went bankrupt, were bought out, and have since withdrawn certain products.

As musical instruments where they differ is how they do things. Lionstracs products operate more or less like traditional workstation as all your sounds and VSTi's are integrated with OS and displayed on the screen just like you see your Prog and COMBI sounds on any typical KORG workstaiton. This is very handy as you don't need to see the PC software running in the background at all if you don't want to. This also makes the system extremely user friendly and great for live use.

OpenLabs use a Windows based system so sounds are on a drop down lists under categories. You can create “Song blocks” on a grid that will store all the sounds and plug-ins your using for the selected song. Selecting one of those blocks recalls everything for the song you setup so that's likley what you would be using in a live setting.

You would really need to deeply research both systems though to get to know what they offer and how they function best for your needs. OpenLabs and Liosntracs systems are both equally as open as each other.

Regards
Sharp.

[SoulBe]

Love the product so much that I'm currently involved with Liosntracs on a new Rack that will be released at Messe. The Rack will have all the functions of their keyboards too.

Regards
Sharp.

This sounds very interesting to me.
If I find the time I maybe show up in Frankfurt and we may meet in real life haha, are you at the LT booth on a certain day?

best regards
SoulBe

[SoulBe]

Aah, just found the thread about the rack in the News section

best regards
SoulBe

[Sharp]

If I find the time I maybe show up in Frankfurt and we may meet in real life haha, are you at the LT booth on a certain day?

Don't know at this moment in time to be honest. I'm supposed to go and demo, but I might have a problem getting the time to go.

Rob & Dom will be there though for sure.

Regards
Sharp.

[SoulBe]

As musical instruments where they differ is how they do things. Lionstracs products operate more or less like traditional workstation as all your sounds and VSTi's are integrated with OS and displayed on the screen just like you see your Prog and COMBI sounds on any typical KORG workstaiton.

You would really need to deeply research both systems though to get to know what they offer and how they function best for your needs. OpenLabs and Liosntracs systems are both equally as open as each other.

Regards
Sharp.

Hi,

I did a little web research but it´s really hard for a vst newbie

1. Did I get this right with the Liontracks / openLab, it is possible to tweak/program the softsynths like they we´re running on a Pc not only play the preloaded patches?

2. Regarding investment: a notebook plus host software plus Interface in a good and quite futureproof condition may cost about 2000 to 3000 Euros, the LT expander will be about 1990 Euros and OL soundslate I could´t find a Euro price. Does anybody has experience with such a soundslate?

Thanks
SoulBe

[Dany]

1. Did I get this right with the Liontracks / openLab, it is possible to tweak/program the softsynths like they we´re running on a Pc not only play the preloaded patches?

Yes, of course.
-

Nachtrag:Soundslate ist im Prinzip dasselbe Produkt wie ein MiKo/Neko, .d.h. Du hast den Vorteil der für das Verwenden von Musikapplikationen optimierten "Windows Open Labs Edition" und hast ein komplett ideal abgestimmtes und vorkonfiguriertes System zum sofortigen Gebrauch zur Verfügung, das sehr stabil und verlässlich ist. Allerdings hast Du keinerlei integrierten Controller und keinen berührungsempfindlichen Bildschirm, weshalb ich Soundslate eher als einen reinen Expander betrachte, mit dem man seine Software Instrumente gut transportieren und auf die Bühne mitnehmen kann. Um Dir eine Idee zu geben: Ich habe einen Laptop gekauft und dazu dasselbe externe Presonus Audiointerface ( http://www.presonus.com/products/Detail ... oductId=58 ), das OpenLabs im Miko/Neko verbaut, welches Du auf der Frontseite links unten im MiKo/Neko sehen kannst und benutze erst noch dieselbe DAW-Software, die OpenLabs benutzt, nämlich REAPER, das Du gratis runterladen ( http://www.reaper.fm/ ) und für nur ca. 70 Dollar registrieren kannst, jedoch meiner Auffassung nach besser ist als z.B. das viel teurere Cubase. Ein OpenLabs Produkt ist im Prinzip nichts anders als ein Windows-PC/Laptop, wobei OpenLabs das Windowssystem unglaublich voroptimiert und alles ideal vorkonfiguriert. Wenn Du alles auf einem Laptop machen willst, dann hast Du eben ein normales Windowssystem, das seine Zwecke auch erfüllt. Mit i7 Prozessor und 8 GB RAM ist z.B. mein Laptop eine unglaublich leistungsfähige "Musikmaschine". Aber der MiKo bietet einfach den Comfort, das man eine Touchscreen und viele integrierte Controller hat. Ich steure die virtuellen Fader und Potis der einzelnen Kanäle auf dem Laptop mit den Controllern der OASYS an. Ein Laptop ist deshalb auch ein gangbarer Weg, aber Du musst mit einem sehr langwierigen Prozess der Konfiguration und Installation rechnen. Mir hat ein Freund, der ein Windows-Spezi ist, das Windows-7 dann auch noch so konfiguriert, das möglichst wenig sinnlose Windowsprozesse, die nichst mit Musik zu zun haben, unnötig Ressourcen verbrauchen, etc. All dies bleibt Dir beim Kauf eines OpenLabs (oder Liontracs) Produktes erspart. Und ein Laptop ist NIEMALS so absturzsicher wie ein OpanLabs Produkt und deshalb UNGEEIGNET für Live und Bühne! Da ist ein Soundslate oder ähnliches schon die bessere Antwort.

Meiner Meinung nach sind aber all diese Produkte nur eine vorübergehende Erscheinung, bis die iPads (und verwandte Produkte) leistungsfähiger und multitasking-fähig werden. Wie ich in diesem Thread bereits gesagt habe, deuten diese Produkte, die jetzt noch Spielzeugcharakter haben, den Weg in die Zukunft an:

http://www.akaipro.com/synthstation49
http://www.alesis.com/studiodock

[SoulBe]

Thanks for that Dany

- Danke -

best regards
SoulBe

[Dany]

I've just found this:

The new and incredible OMNISPHERE 1.5. FREE Update (incl. iPad as controller), presented by Eric Persing himself at NAMM 2011:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXIA8Njg8V8

...and of course not to forget the inevitable Jordan Rudess:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8IYI5BoxXw

-

[rrricky rrrecordo]

Nice find, Dany!

The sweetest synth just got sweeter! Can't wait for this update - free - that's customer support!

http://www.spectrasonics.net/news/2011/ ... namm-2011/

Freakin Orb kicks ass!

[Charlie]

Phew - it's getting more and more difficult to resist buying Omnisphere ...