EMUSIC-L Digest Volume 39, Issue 09 This issue's topics: Hardware Q & A Comments on Quadraverb, SE-50, E-mu's MPS (2 messages) Digital sound/Hard Drives Experience w/voice to midi interfaces Keyboard controllers - Rhodes CV-60 Lexicon MRC (3 messages) MIDIverb II (2 messages) MTPro with SoundBlaster REQUEST: information on DACs and ADCs for NeXT Roland SCC-1 S100 computer music (2 messages) Studio consoles (3 messages) Wall-warts (2 messages) Wavestation info wanted, ed/lib, ftp, etc Your EMUSIC-L Digest moderator is Joe McMahon . You may subscribe to EMUSIC-L by sending mail to listserv@american.edu with the line "SUB EMUSIC-L your name" as the text. The EMUSIC-L archive is a service of SunSite (sunsite.unc.edu) at the University of North Carolina. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 17:21:26 EDT From: Keith Subject: Comments on Quadraverb, SE-50, E-mu's MPS Hi peoples, I was just wondering if the list could help me out. I getting ready to but some more equipment, and even though I have made up my mind (or at least I think I have) I always like to chat with other fellow musicians to hear their opinions- ok- ok... Now here we go... I am buying another keyboard- something along the controller lines- but with sounds. So that rules in my opinion rules out pieces like Rolands A series controller's. It also rules out the SY-22, which I have used a little. It would do but I'm trying to get more controller functions. So, now my attention points E-mu's Master Performance System (ergo MPS). I like the sound on the MPS and I does have more controller and it does have controller functions. Now recently, my co-engineer started raving about the Roland JV-80. I read the reviews- sounds decent but I haven't had a chance to check it out (I probably go this weekend). So, I like to hear you'll opinion on the too... Next... Ok, I also need an effect box. I was looking at the SE-50 and Quadra- Verb. This again is just what I have been really playing around with. I have'nt had a chance to extensively use the SE-50, but a friend of mine who has a MidiVerb III let me check it out one day... ...I saxaphone as well a keyboard, and when I play my horn though some of those reverb program on the MIdiVerb III, I was really hyped up. One program that I really liked gave the sound aspects of a small night club scene. Since I used to gig at jazz club (where a lot of the old guys don't use the electronic stuff), I was surprised that a box could create sound space so realistic. But how does this compare to the SE-50. And also that was a MidiVerb III- I'm thinking about the QuardraVerb are the programs any better. Somebody gimme some feedback... That's it. Feel free to be as subjective or objective as you want I know what I need for my set up so strong opinions one way or the other are wel- come. Also, I know I did not give any great list of equipment I have check- ed out here because I demo and check A HELL OF A LOT. So if you feel there's something else out there that I should SERIOUSLY consider, by all means let me know. In terms of money, I am look to spend no more that $1500 dollars on the keyboard and $800 of the effects processor. ...and if need be you could e-mail me privately at: perrykc@duvm.bitnet perrykc@duvm.ocs.drexel.edu (internet) Thank you for your time and patience... ...hope to hear from. -Keith ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1992 07:54:50 EST From: The Radio Gnome Subject: Re: Comments on Quadraverb, SE-50, E-mu's MPS Hi, Just a quick note about Midiverbs. My Midiverb II has almost no headroom to speak of. In order to maximize the effects I have to run the thing close to clipping. I dedicate one channel of an Audiologic compressor as a front end to the Midiverb. I don't know if Alesis fixed this problem with the III and the Quadraverb. The separate wall powerpack is a pain, too. Andy Wing ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 10:52:50 +0100 From: nick@DCS.EDINBURGH.AC.UK Subject: MIDIverb II > Just a quick note about Midiverbs. My Midiverb II has almost no headroom >to speak of. Mine has plenty. I hardly ever even hit the green "signal" LED, let alone the peak LED, and yet I can get quite wet return mixes without problems. >The separate wall powerpack is a pain, too. They always are. If only the damn things were standard, or there were some standard for isolated low-voltage DC so we could use a power rail or something. Nick. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 13:13:34 EST From: The Radio Gnome Subject: Re: MIDIverb II Hi, What I meant by headroom was the signal 'space' between when the green LED goes and clipping. The booklet explained that the 'best' sound is achieved when the green LED is on most of the time. This is especially critical with the triggered phasor and gate sound programs. Re: wall packs... I have in front of me a Mouser Electronics catalog with some interesting looking 'micro' transformers. Any caveats to mounting one of these inside the Midiverb unit? The pcb doesn't take up much space and I think I have room for a computer type 3 pin AC jack as well. Also, are there ROM revisions available for the Midiverb? I got mine in January of 88. I guess its out of date by now. Andy Wing ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1992 12:52:35 -0400 From: Robert Drake Subject: Re: MIDIverb II andy sez-- > Re: wall packs... I have in front of me a Mouser Electronics catalog >with some interesting looking 'micro' transformers. Any caveats to mounting >one of these inside the Midiverb unit? The pcb doesn't take up much space >and I think I have room for a computer type 3 pin AC jack as well. the reason for/advantage ov wall packs is the isolation of power supply from the rest of the circuitry, eliminating some sources of hum & noise, requiring less sheilding. putting the power supply back in the box is likely to make these problems worse. i agree the wall-warts are a pain, but they do save the manufacturer (us) a few bucks... lbd ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1992 14:16:07 MDT From: Adam Schabtach Subject: Wall-warts > the reason for/advantage ov wall packs is the isolation of power supply from > the rest of the circuitry, eliminating some sources of hum & noise, requiring > less sheilding. putting the power supply back in the box is likely to make > these > problems worse. i agree the wall-warts are a pain, but they do save the > manufacturer (us) a few bucks... Also, I've heard that it's easier to get UL-listing approval for wall-warts than for built-in supplies. I think that once a manufacturer gets their wall-wart approved, they can use it with any new device without having to get new approval. E.g. all Alesis Micro-effects, as well as the MV II, use the same transformer. My solution for dealing with the annoying little boxes is I go to the hardware store and get multi-outlet sockets that can be used to make extension cords. I also buy some zip cord and AC plugs, and build 1-foot extension cords with three sockets on the end. That way I can get three wall-warts in one outlet on a power strip. (I can hear Nick cringing from all the way over here in the Rockies. He just loves American AC wiring...) --Adam schabtac@stout.atd.ucar.edu ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Apr 1992 13:10:00 EDT From: rg8 Subject: Digital sound/Hard Drives I'm proposing a digital workstation for my department using a Mac IIci, digidesign's Audiomedia Card, and a large hard drive for the sound files generated by Csound. Is there any advantage to an external hard drive in this case (for sound files, or partitioned into volumes for all data storage)? I've heard some comments that suggest an internal drive may pose problems, but no specific reasons why this may be so. Thanks is advance for any help. Bob Gibson Department of Music University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 rg8@umail.umd.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 08:58:00 EST From: wbf1@CBEMA.ATT.COM Subject: Experience w/voice to midi interfaces I have the Roland VP-70 vocal processor. One of its modes IS pitch to MIDI conversion. It seems to work well, thought I haven't had recent need to use it. It can be set up to generate pitch bend to really follow your voice or monophonic instrument (like a saxophone). This feature can be turned off, if memory serves, so that the VP-70 will jump to another pitch if your voice goes too far off. It was quite expensive when I bought it for about $1200 (US). This device was so popular that its close out sale price was about somewhere in the $200 to $400 range! Bill Fox ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Apr 1992 08:50:12 EDT From: "Simon Weatherill" Subject: Keyboard controllers - Rhodes CV-60 I am looking for a keyboard controller and saw a couple that I liked. One was the Roland RS-300 (I'm not sure of those letters) and the other was the Rhodes CV-60 (again the letters may not be correct). The Roland has 88 lightly weighted keys (not quite as firm as a piano) and the Rhodes has 64 weighted keys (very much like a piano). I'm not too interested in the internal sounds, but since they're there, I want good ones. The Roland pianos lose a lot in the bass, whereas the Rhodes has a good sound all round. The guy at the store said the Rhodes was new, but it didn't look that new. The Roland I know to be 4 years old. Does anyone know what the MIDI implementation for either keyboard is? The Roland is going for $900. The Rhodes is going for $700. Which is the better deal? Thanks, simon_weatherill@coat.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 07:52:33 EDT From: "D. Yuen" Subject: Re: Lexicon MRC HI - This may have been posted before, but if you just bought an MRC or are thinking of buying one take note. This problem has been fixed on the newer stock, according to the Lexi tech but apparently there are still older pieces with this defect. I know cause I got one. In an effort to reduce static discharges causing problems Lexicon has put some conductive copper tape between the metal face plates and the plastic housing of the MRC. Some of these had this tape placed directly underneath the power plug and the ON-OFF switch. This can cause a short to the power supply with these symptoms. The MRC will power on but the On-Off switch has no effect. Eventually the power supply will snuff it. The fix is easy, and so is checking to see if your MRC might have this problem. Take out the 4 screws holding the case together and take a look. The offending tape will directly beneath the screwed down circuit board. You can see the copper shining out. If it is beneath the MIDI ports you're ok. If it's benaeth the power plug and switch, unscrew the MIDI port nuts and the circuit board and move the tape over so it's under the MIDI ports and close it back up. Greg the tech at Lexicon said this wont invalidate your warrantee, and it's faster then mailing it back to them. Dan Y. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 12:56:42 BST From: nick@DCS.EDINBURGH.AC.UK Subject: Lexicon MRC This problem has been fixed on the newer stock, according to the Lexi tech but apparently there are still older pieces with this defect. I know cause I got one. What particular defect is this? I bought my MRC just over a year ago and it's been fine. Nick. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 09:38:39 EDT From: "D. Yuen" Subject: Re: Lexicon MRC Nick Rothwell writes: Waht particular defect is this? I bought my MRC... a year ago and it's been fine. If your MRC works don't worry about it. The problem I had was a ground shield shorting out the Power Supply. The unit would turn on but the PS burned up in about 5 minutes. Unfortunately I wasn't anywhere near when it happened. The mod was to connect the case via conductive tape to the grounded metal face plates to try to prevent static electric discharges from causing harm. Dan Y Actually Nick used the word "what" not "waht" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 13:09:33 CST From: Jason Keeler Subject: MTPro with SoundBlaster Hi; I've recently heard that the new version of Master Tracks Pro now supports SoundBlaster; can anyone confirm this? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 23:50:17 GMT From: Abe Singer Subject: REQUEST: information on DACs and ADCs for NeXT I'm looking for information from people with experience using third-party DACs and ADCs for digital audio on the NeXT machine. I need high-quality equipment -- time-aligned, accurate repro levels, etc (no Digital Ears!). Specific products I'm interested in are Ariel ProPort, Stealth AD 1800, and Singular Solutions AD-64x. But if you are familiar with other comparable stuff, I'd like to hear from you too. Specific questions I'd like answered: * Is the product time aligned? * How accurate is it (does it reproduce a 0 dB signal at the same level in both channels? What about a -80 dB signal?) * Can it be calibrated? * Have you done any bench tests? What were the results? * What noise problems (if any) have you encountered? * How has the manufacturer support been? I heard that a coupla months ago there was a discussion of some of this stuff in one of the NeXT newsgroups. If anyone has a copy of that, feel free to forward it. Please send e-mail answers. I'm not a regular reader of this group (yet!). Thanx in advance, __ | Abe Singer abe@ucsd.edu / ) / |------------------------------------------------------ /__/ /_ __ | / / / ) /__) | "It ain't watcha do, it's the way how ya do it." / / (__/ (__ | --- Little Richard -- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 23:22:41 CST From: Jason Keeler Subject: Roland SCC-1 Hi; Anyone try the Roland SCC-1 (Sound Canvas in a card) yet? If so, what kind of sofware do you get with it for operations? For approx. $390US it seems like an ideal MIDI addition. Plus you get a MIDI interface with it. ...Jason ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 10:17:00 EDT From: WSCOTT@WOOSTER.BITNET Subject: S100 computer music I have an S100 system sitting around doing nothing and I've heard about a board called the Casheab or something like that. Does anyone know of any sources of information on boards built for computer music -- not the combination video and beep boards that could be programmed to play a tune but real (maybe analog) synths controlled from the S100 bus? Thanks. Bill Scott WSCOTT@WOOSTER.BITNET or WSCOTT@ACS.WOOSTER.EDU ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 09:07:47 -0700 From: Phil Burk Subject: Re: S100 computer music I don't know about the Casheab but Don Buchla built some synths that have a connector that plugs into an S-100. The Buchla 400 in particular is a waveshaping synth with digital oscillators. They may be hard to find. We used one connected to an ERG 68000 S-100 system way back to develop the first prototypes of HMSL. They sound pretty nice. In general I feel that these old systems are fun to hack on but have been so far surpassed by current technology that they are not worth the time spent. This does not apply to old modular analog synths which are still really useful. I have and old Z80/68000 system that runs off tape and does some pretty interesting guitar tracking but I could not imagine dusting it off except to kill time. -------------------------------------------------------------- | Phil Burk, Center for Contemporary Music at Mills College, | | Frog Peak Music, and Delta Research (HMSL and JForth) | | Email: phil@mills.edu Phone: (415) 461-1442 | -------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Apr 1992 23:29:25 PDT From: Steve Buck Subject: Studio consoles Anyone have any insight on Soundcraft vs. Tascam recording consoles? Mainly the Soundcraft Spirit Studio 16x8x2 and the Tascam m2516. Which, in your opinion, has the better price/performace ration. Anyone who has worked with either of these machines, please give me some pros/cons of the equipment as used on a day to day basis in the home studio. Thanks muchly. -- <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> < Steve Buck Internet: (sbuck@eddie.ee.vt.edu) > < > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Apr 1992 21:17:16 PDT From: jrusby@DARKWING.UOREGON.EDU Subject: Re: Studio consoles >Anyone have any insight on Soundcraft vs. Tascam recording consoles? Mainly >the Soundcraft Spirit Studio 16x8x2 and the Tascam m2516. Which, in your >opinion, has the better price/performace ration. Anyone who has worked with >either of these machines, please give me some pros/cons of the equipment >as used on a day to day basis in the home studio. Thanks muchly. The Spirit studio is outstanding, sonically the equivalent of a Soundcraft Delta except its not modular. Very quiet with some great switching and routing features. Tascam has some good products, but I've developed a cynical and distrustful streak. If you must compare, audition both. Ill bet the Mic preamps in the spirit are superior. I'm not a dealer Jim Rusby , audio engineer jrusby@darkwing.uoregon.edu University of Oregon School of Music Eugene Oregon 97403-1225 503-346-5659 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Apr 1992 09:42:50 CDT From: mike acklin Subject: Re: Studio consoles In response to your questions about consoles, I've used both the models you name: 1>Tascam: used it for past 3 years in studio and remote audio for tv applications, and found it adequate and fairly quiet, with a good user console that was actually quite a bit more flexible than other boards costing more. I consider it a kind of top-end semi pro, and for the money could consider buying it. 2>Soundcraft: used it to feed a Sony Rdat recording I made of my own act at a place called Blues du Nord in Paris last summer and got a _REAL_ quiet recording out of it. Never used it myself as an engineer, though Pablo (the eng. in France) seemed satisfied enough with it... I'd rather have an Amek Mozart myself, but my home studio has a Carvin, which I use both for sound reinforcement and recording...it's actually got a better noise-floor than either of the above in my experience, though most would find it totally unsuitable for studio use of any seriousness... (just an old blues-swing player myself ;8->) While you're shopping, also check out Yamaha and Ramsa, which are priced competitively with the above and often as good...good luck Michael Acklin Research Project Analyst Office of Institutional Research University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR Nobody holds my opinions but me.... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1992 14:05:13 CDT From: Mario Kefalopoulos Subject: Wavestation info wanted, ed/lib, ftp, etc Hello, A friend of mine just got a Wavestation and he has an Atari ST (a 1 Meg model, or something like that). He is not connected to the net so I'd like to help him with any information you have to offer. I'm looking for available editor/librarians for the Wavestation EX (?), either commercial or shareware/public domain. What you use, where you got it, how much it costs and possibly an opinion or two will be welcome. Also, are there any ftp sites with Wavestation related stuff? I'll take a look into a couple known ones but if you have definite sites with Atari ST related files, please, let me know. I'm looking for standard midi files too, with drum sequences or anything else, if available. He also has an IBM but he doesn't have a midi interface for it. He might be able to translate files from an IBM format to an Atari format, so if you have any info for IBM software for the Wavestation, let me know, too. Thank you very much. [:> Mario ______ ____ ______ ____ Mario Kefalopoulos u15708@uicvm.bitnet | __ | | _ | | __ | | _ | | pa vu ga di ke zo ni u15708@uicvm.uic.edu | | _| | | |__| | | _| | | |__| | | |____| |______| |____| |______| ------------------------------ End of the EMUSIC-L Digest ******************************