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Broadwave wrote:

Sharp wrote: If Native Instruments ever brought out a PC or Mac based music Keyboard with a PC built in to run Kontakt, oh man.... I'd buy that in a heart beat. I've even considered having my own ATX Keyboard case produced. I see it as an investment that would last me a very long time. A keyboad that could easily be updated forever as the ATX standard never changes.

Already done (sort of)

It's as ugly as sin, but it works for me. I've used Bloxpander to host the VSTs, and an HP 23" touch screen as the interface. Both Kontakt and Reaktor work very well and I'm not tying up valuable resources on the Mac.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/arp2600cl ... 508597622/

That's not ugly! Very neat, nice job.

Sharp wrote:

Broadwave wrote: Already done (sort of)

It's as ugly as sin, but it works for me. I've used Bloxpander to host the VSTs, and an HP 23" touch screen as the interface. Both Kontakt and Reaktor work very well and I'm not tying up valuable resources on the Mac.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/arp2600cl ... 508597622/

Brilliant. That's fantastic.
I really need to build myself one of those too. Makes so much sense.

Thanks for sharing that.

Cheers
Sharp.

Why does the pc need to be inside the keyboard?

A 19” pc case in a rack would work just as well

What we need is a masterkeyboard with all the functionallity we love from our good old workstations... that has a interface that gives direct controll over sounds, arps and backings... preferably a modular piece of software that allows people to add those things they like...so that if you want to have an arranger type of backing, you can add that... and if you want a sequencer like live, you can add it...

But where the processes run, inside the keyboard or in the rack desktop case or laptop, is that really important?

But back on topic...

dave smith claims that his analogue filters (which are the reason the instrument is only 8 voice polyphonic). Are so much better then any digital/software filters out there..

I played the prophet X and tried to compare the filter quallity to a Kronos as well as Omnisphere and Diva and a Yamaha montage this afternoon..

Maybe its my ears, sure the filter of the Prophet X is really really high end, but so are the filters in my kronos and espescially in Omnisphere where there is a whole slew of different filter types available ..

Sure the Prophet X sounds great and is incredible nice to play with, the real time controllers are awesome. But then when do you use all those comtrollers, on stage? Or during sound creation? Personally, i use them during sound creation, and maybe one or 2 duringba performance(which can easilly be assigned to an assignable knob or controller..

So what makes that out of the DSI prophet, an innovative toy which has one major attraction factor, it looks cool on stage...

Why does the pc need to be inside the keyboard?

A 19” pc case in a rack would work just as well

True, but that's a more complicated setup than what I have in mind. I'd prefer a single self-contained instrument. Something about the size of an OASYS with an onboard screen mounted the exact same way the OASYS was built.

A simple setup. Plug in the power cord, two audio cables and your ready to go. Portable too.

What we need is a masterkeyboard with all the functionallity we love from our good old workstations... that has a interface that gives direct controll over sounds, arps and backings... preferably a modular piece of software that allows people to add those things they like...so that if you want to have an arranger type of backing, you can add that... and if you want a sequencer like live, you can add it...

That would be very nice. That being said, I find VST's already come with fantastic interfaces and most operate seamlessly with a Touch Screen.

The iPad is also a good example of that. I find touch screens very intuitive.

But where the processes run, inside the keyboard or in the rack desktop case or laptop, is that really important?

I'd say yes. There's no need to compromise given the level computers are at now.

Regards
Sharp.

Sharp wrote:

Why does the pc need to be inside the keyboard?

A 19” pc case in a rack would work just as well

True, but that's a more complicated setup than what I have in mind. I'd prefer a single self-contained instrument. Something about the size of an OASYS with an onboard screen mounted the exact same way the OASYS was built.

A simple setup. Plug in the power cord, two audio cables and your ready to go. Portable too.

What we need is a masterkeyboard with all the functionallity we love from our good old workstations... that has a interface that gives direct controll over sounds, arps and backings... preferably a modular piece of software that allows people to add those things they like...so that if you want to have an arranger type of backing, you can add that... and if you want a sequencer like live, you can add it...

That would be very nice. That being said, I find VST's already come with fantastic interfaces and most operate seamlessly with a Touch Screen.

The iPad is also a good example of that. I find touch screens very intuitive.

But where the processes run, inside the keyboard or in the rack desktop case or laptop, is that really important?

I'd say yes. There's no need to compromise given the level computers are at now.

Regards
Sharp.

What i currently prefer is a powerfull tablet with touchscreen .. (microsoft surface pro book) ... the biggest advantage of having that separated is that you can do a lot of the preperations and sound design from your lazy chair in the livingroom and don't have to spend hours in your home studio away from the family..

But i can see much of the charms and advantages of a single all in one on stage... altough if your key functions as audio and midi interface for your laptop/tablet.. you have overcome much of the disadvantages of all the cabling issues..

Still i think the problem lays with the software side of things... being a fervent fan of arrangement and arp's there is no single part of software doing it all... and there is no easy comfortable way to combine the few i use into the perfect setup..

What i currently prefer is a powerfull tablet with touchscreen .. (microsoft surface pro book) ... the biggest advantage of having that separated is that you can do a lot of the preperations and sound design from your lazy chair in the livingroom and don't have to spend hours in your home studio away from the family..

Very nice. The Surface Pro is amazing. I have an i5 Acer tablet myself but it's used for so many other non music related things that I can't afford to devote it to my music. Would love to have a Surface dedicated for music only. I'd want the 16GB RAM / 1TB version though. Expensive.....

But i can see much of the charms and advantages of a single all in one on stage... altough if your key functions as audio and midi interface for your laptop/tablet.. you have overcome much of the disadvantages of all the cabling issues

Yeah, I just think you would have more flexibility with a system like this. People who want just a single instrument can keep it configured that way, those who want it the center piece of their studio can use all manner of connectivity over USB 3 and so on.

Or, you can have both options at the same time. A single machine for gigging, and when your back in your Studio, connect it to everything.

There's not really much of a leap in any of these idea's. It's really as simply as stuffing a fast laptop in many ways into a Keyboard Case.

Heck, if I could buy a Keyboard that acted as a Surface Pro 4 dock, that would even do me. Just drop the surface into cavity where the screen would normally be on a keyboard.

lol.... A few strips of velcro could even come in handy for a quick hack job.

Still i think the problem lays with the software side of things... being a fervent fan of arrangement and arp's there is no single part of software doing it all... and there is no easy comfortable way to combine the few i use into the perfect setup.

Just thinking out loud here, but it sounds to me vArranger maybe of great interest to you.

https://www.varranger.com/

Built from the ground up to be operated by a touch screen and it seems to cover most things a high end arranger keyboard does. Supports VST's too, so it sounds like a great expandable platform that would offer you the simplicity to even play the system 100% live at a gig.

Regards
Sharp.

Bachus wrote:But back on topic...

dave smith claims that his analogue filters (which are the reason the instrument is only 8 voice polyphonic). Are so much better then any digital/software filters out there..

I played the prophet X and tried to compare the filter quallity to a Kronos as well as Omnisphere and Diva and a Yamaha montage this afternoon..

Maybe its my ears, sure the filter of the Prophet X is really really high end, but so are the filters in my kronos and espescially in Omnisphere where there is a whole slew of different filter types available ..

Sure the Prophet X sounds great and is incredible nice to play with, the real time controllers are awesome. But then when do you use all those comtrollers, on stage? Or during sound creation? Personally, i use them during sound creation, and maybe one or 2 duringba performance(which can easilly be assigned to an assignable knob or controller..

So what makes that out of the DSI prophet, an innovative toy which has one major attraction factor, it looks cool on stage...

I'm not a great believer in the Analog vs Digital filter argument either.

There is a difference with real time filtering if you really listen for it with two comparable filter types as digital filters cannot do instantaneous feedback and also in general work backwards through time which causes delays which causes irregularities in the audio.

Nowadays digital filters sound pretty good though, much effort (and cpu cycles) has gone into making them sound good.

DSI have made good from the resurgence in all things analog, but what they also offer is extremely well thought out synths. It's not just the oscillators and filters it is the whole system and DSI have nailed this in my opinion, they make nice instruments.

The filters in Diva though are far "better" then any you would find in the workstations you mention, so I guess it comes down to personal taste rather than filter "quality". For me my favourite filter is in the Octotrack and its no way near as good as the Diva filters, but it sure does sound nice.

Sequential Prophet X/XL Mapping Utility


https://8dio.com/instrument/sequential- ... 0zdrDmitZI