The Hardware Megathread

#4386

I get the whole “all white” thing but if it doesn’t match your other gear…

…but that blue just makes me want to defund the police even harder…lol

#4387

The only all white device that ever appealed to me was the Karp Odessey module, as it looked like it belongs on the Nostromo in “Mother” from the 1st Alien movie.

#4388

White is a hard sell. Its like white and gold or black and gold–it either looks cool as hell or tacky as shit.

#4389

I keep trying to like the “ultraviolet” and it’s just not working for me…

#4390

Making the physical controls the same color as everything else is really bothering me now too. It makes them look like a bad 3D computer model.

#4391

https://www.uaudio.com/audio-interfaces/volt.html?utm_source=gearspace&utm_medium=banner-spl&utm_campaign=desktop_volt_aw&utm_content=usa

These look interesting. But honestly…for $186 is it going to sound better than another $186 interface? I guess you get some UAD software with it.

Also, question. Should I be running an audio interface when using my DAW even though I’m not recording anything or syncing anything over MIDI? Will I get better performance out o my DAW?

#4392

If NI wanted a colour scheme that no competitor would ever use they nailed it.

They look like incomplete CGI renderings, like the guy working on it got bored halfway through and wandered off to work for Lego.

#4393

YES. Exactly. I can do tacky on purpose when you can see the tongue pressed to the cheek but this is just bad.

#4394

The latency will be better than “Realtek” or whatever built-in sound your computer has. You might be able to get away with ASIO4All though. In theory it should make the CPU work less. I used a Babyface for years and was all software at the time; the latency was super low. I’ve also used a MacBook Air’s built-in sound and headphones, too.

The converters in an audio interface are likely better than built-in sound, too. Your experience may of course vary. Obviously my Babyface shit all over anything built into a computer motherboard lol.

#4395

I just have a Focusrite Scarlett something something right now. But Ill just start using it. I do indeed have RealTek inside my shitty laptop lol thank you for the advice!

#4396

Even an entry level DAC will destroy any onboard sound or PCI sound card I’ve ever heard. It’s the noisefloor/interference, you have so many signals running around inside a PC that no shielding, grounding, or magic voodoo, can get rid of it all. Just plugging a cable into your PC and getting the DAC away from everything else is a huge improvement, no matter what DAC you choose.

Even my non-audiophile, non-musician friend noticed the difference when I sent him my dinosaur of a first DAC (a 1st gen schiit modi from about 10 years ago). I finally couldn’t use it anymore because I could hear the noisefloor about 90db down through the THX amp and Audeze headphones that I daily drive. He commented right away that it sounded way better than his pro whatever gaemer card, and his girlfriend noticed it too.

Moral of the story is if you care at all about sound, get your DAC the hell out of your computer yesterday. Everything else after that is gravy, but that is a huge first step.

#4397

I mean. I used a pretty good one for a long time MOTU 828 mkii. Its been so long though I forgot if it made all that much difference in any regard. Makes sense though.

#4398

Prepping some kits on the SP-16 to improvise with over my DJ sets and it is so hard to resist the urge to do lots of things ahead of time.

On the SP-16 a project has 16 scenes with 16 patterns each. I’m basically using scenes as “sound kits.” So far I’m just pre-programming the basic kick/hat pattern, 16 steps only, and then one other "major element), right now I’m working on a set that the other “main element” is a percussion pattern made either with live hand drum hits or unusual percussion sounds. I’ll improv the rest on top of that, sounds pre selected, gain staged and EQd. I will probably pre-program some transitional patterns in each scene (sound kit) but not sequenced. So I can either smash pads live or use the step sequencer.

Also in each scene (kit) I want to leave a pad/sound open so I can live record a loop internally or from the CDJs.

The next “project” I’ll start is one where the pre-programmed main element are basslines. Then probably a chord progression one. So each project (set of kits) will touch on the main flavors people expect in a house track.

I think this is going to work out nicely. I can mix in the SP-16 knowing I’ve got something basic but interesting laid down to get me started, then start to do some practiced improv on top.

Gonna hook the Mono Station up to my Mackie Mix8 so I can get some pedals on the aux send and run it through the Tone Beast before those Mono Station synth patches get recorded into the SP-16. Not going to try and screw with the Mono Station live (yet), it feels like too much.

EDIT: Running the Mono Station into the Tone Beast then a Nux Analog Delay pedal…DROOL

Edit edit: racked up an Alesis 3630. Gotta order a power adapter on pay day but gonna see what I can do w it strapped to the output of the SP-16. If I cant get something I like might have to finally get myself and FMC RNLA. Would love a Warm Audio stereo compressor but it aint in the budget.

#4399

Meh. Decided that my money was better spent on getting a new audio/midi interface for my iPad than buying a power adapter for a crappy old compressor or buying the RNLA. I can get bitching mastering chain going on the iPad since most of the good FabFilter stuff is on the app store for pennies on the dollar compared to VST.

Edit: You know what…I already have a bought and paid for a Digitakt that can process incoming audio…I might strap that to output of the SP-16 and see what all I can do with it. The reverb and delay are good and I’m fairly certain I can process incoming audio through the master bus compressor–yep, I can, just gotta update the OS. That’s pretty exciting actually. Curious if I can p-lock delay and reverb settings on the sequencer for incoming audio…I feel like overall its worth giving a go instead of moving into the dreadful buying selling shit.

I feel relieved and excited to try it. Everything has its place. The compressor on the DT, while not my favorite, is far better than the SP-16’s master bus compressor. I can also use both. Two compressors doing less work usually sounds better in my experience.

Also…dubby shit in coming…good reverb and delay on the FX loop…and I"m a bougie Millennial cunt and ordered some chroma caps for the DT to make sure I make a serious effort at using it this way…

#4401

Oh I don’t know any any secrets but surely that’ll cost me less than trying to buy some kind of hardware mastering chain lol

#4403

Now all you need is an analog heat and you’re all set.

:grin:

#onlyhalfjoking

#4404

Hahahaha. Right? We will see if the DT seem worth keeping for this purpose. Defo under kill usage of the box…but hey…I already have it!

#4406

Nah, in the digital realm we end up taking all sorts of measures in the box and not ITB to achieve “warm”

#4407

I’ll put it this way, Moog is a synth company where you can really hear where your money is going as far as having a certain desirable sound. And you can still hear all of that (most of that?) in a digital recording.

I also recently bought myself a boutique pre amp, as far as “coloring” or “warmth” or “saturation” or whatever you want to call it, it is subtle…but I’m always recording something through it for my tunes these days.

#4409

I was super obsessed with this topic for a long time–getting warmth and saturation in my music. I’ve tried expensive hardware, cheap hardware, expensive software, cheap software. They are all just different colors of paint or tints and shades of a color (which ever metaphor you prefer). I’ve landed on using a mixture of things. When I get a little bit of everything together in one tune (an analog monosynth bass, a U-he Repro lead patch, a vinyl sample, a mixture of synthesized and real percussion, hardware fx, software fx) I feel like that’s where the magic is, for me anyway : )

We aren’t going to escape that our music is most likely to be consumed digitally. But if I ever get down some tunes that I’m really, really happy with I would pull together the cash to get them pressed on vinyl for sure.

I mean, honestly, these days I spend a significant amount of time mixing my tunes through a RealTech onboard sound card connect to a Bose BT speaker through an aux cable–that’s kind of the final test since that’s pretty close to how a lot of people will hear it.