davlan

Does anyone know how to record a VST instrument into an audio file within Cubase SX2? I know you can "freeze" the track but I want the convenience of working with WAV files and there doesn't appear to be any obvious way of doing this. Ditto VST FX. Thanks Dave

Mathew I'm sorry to hear about your troubles. I too had a l lot of aggro with one of their systems. They were not keen to admit liability instead blaming the courier and describining ny experiences as unlucky. I'm guessing that you are from the states whereas as I bought mine from their London outlet. The Audio PC is a complex piece of kit and it can be hugely frustrating when things don't work. But the idea is that you go to the "experts" to deal with all the techie stuff for you. The problem arises when the company will not accept responsibility. Has anyone else had any problems with Carillon. If so is there anything that can be done?

One of the things to remember about a piano is it's dynamic behavior i.e. the way it responds when you whack it. The point being is that a weighted action keyboard can make the sound more realistic than the actual quality of sample data. Try playing a really good sampled piano on plasticky keys and it can sound a bit silly. Admittedly this doesn't help your implied budgetry considerations. I did get a free cut down version of the Bosendorfer 290 samples. It was OK. It my be available as a download somewhere. Dave

Thanks for the votes of sympathy chaps. The whole things been depressing me a bit. But I have a working computer! I'm going to try one more time to make my case (will be a pain in the ass as I have to go through my emails and try to accurately evidence all the times I had to open up and workon the machine). Unfortunately been kinda busy recently (getting married next week!) Best Dave

Hi John, Your advice seems pretty clear and applicable to Cubase SX. An external wave editor not required though. After you have added the audio track you can simply record the cymbal straight onto that. Select the part - goto file menu - Audio/Process/Reverse - bingo! Dave

Olguu In fairness half the cost goes on a 15 DSP soundcard, 16in/out breakout box.(Which turns the computer into a virtual mixing desk. The computer is very high spec and the cost is about par with other music computer retailers. I went to a specialist to avoid all the hassle!!?? : If I had avoided it would have been reasonable value. D

Dubbing, I think!

Carillon just told me to bugger off! I bought the machine with hardware only and installed my own software: here is a list of the problems I faced: On receiving the unit in July 2003 I had the following issues quoted from my email to the company. On receiving the unit.: > > > >1. The modem card was lying loose inside the computer casing with no sign >of > >a screw ever having been put in place. > > > >2. Floppy drive unoperational. > > > >3. No mouse or keyboard. Sent separately when I phoned. > > > >4. No keycaps. As above but then was dismayed to find that the keycaps, > >costing £30, were plastic stickers. > > > >5. On installation of my software the machine became highly unstable; VST's > >would stutter and glitch, and machine would hard crash within 2-3 minutes. > > > >6. The machine was very noisy. > > > >At this point you agreed to have the machine back. > > > >When the machine was returned it refused to boot. After I took it apart > >and tested different components (with help from your phone support) it > >appeared that the main board was dead. Part of the silent drive casings for > >one of the drives was lying loose inside the machine and some of the >cooling > >fins on the CPU fan sink were bent. The machine was sent back again. > > > >On the second return my software had been installed and appeared to work > >correctly. However within a few minutes the machine automatically shut down > >because the CPU was overheating. After opening the machine up it appeared > >the Fan Mate was unplugged and thus the CPU fan were was unoperational. > >After resolving this the machine was fit for use. I still have the > >following concerns. > > > >1. Cubase dongle casing had been cracked and the USB connector bent. While > >it is still operational there is no guarantee as to its future reliability. > >This can be replaced by Steinberg but there will be at least a weeks > >turnaround. > > > >2. Floppy drive still unoperational despite being reassured to the >contrary. > > > >3. The system is now usable but still prone to intermittent system >failures. > >e.g. Cubase cannot detect the Scope ASIO drivers and hard crashes every 2-3 > >days. These can be minimised by avoiding the Scope platform. For a £1700 > >soundcard this is frustratingly inconvenient. > > > >4. There is general evidence of rough handling. As well as the dongle there > >was a dent on the rear casing. Supplied folders were ripped and appeared to > >have been ill treated. > > > >5. The machine, while better, is still noisier than expected. This is > >largely down to the Parhelia Graphics card having it's own built in fan. > >While I appreciate that this cannot be resolved without changing the card I > >was disappointed that this noise issue was not brought to my attention by > >the sales team, who should have some knowledge of this as the Parhelia card > >was advertised in your systems spec last year for a short period but then > >withdrawn presumably because of the noise issue. > > > >The machine was ordered in June 2003 and was not operational until December > >2003. That's six months. Carillon have said that they respnded quickly to these problems as and when I told them. They also installed all my software for free and that they are not resonsible for software misbehaviour that I installed. But I am claiming for my time with regard to hardware failure only! THere response to the hardware issues was that I was UNLUCKY! (Some suggestion was made that these problems arose in transit!) They say that the six month period is invalid as if I had been quicker to contact the company I would have been up and running quicker. But these machines are complex and it takes time for these issues to come to light. If I were a trained engineer carrying out a quality check I might have been faster to respond. But surely this was there job. I'm going to try again restating my case. I'll have to go over my emails and try to establish the exact number of times I had to pull the thing out the rack, open it up, check it out and then close and reinstall into the rack. Frustrated

Thanks for the replies. I have had a range of answers here and on another site. "You'll never get anything", Take them to the cleaners" John I appreciate that I might have had a case for more cash but I'm not wanting to be greedy here. The law is apparantly clear that I can make a legal claim for lost earnings IF I can prove it. This is difficult at the beginning of one's "career". The computer is running well at present with a slight instability of sound card software. I'm inclined to think that this might only be resolvable with an update from Creamware. It results in non fatal crashes maybe twice a week. But this isn't so bad and with regular backups I've lost nothing. Bong. Point taken but it makes no sense. The virtual studio has so many advantages that going back to my old analogue setup would be like going back to a banjo and tape recorder. I would miss: 1. Super sampler with almost limitless memory (think virtual orchestra in one box) 2. The entire studio saves to disk. (You can work on several projects easily at once) 3. The most advanced set of synthesisers and sound design tools I have ever worked with. Not to mention access to virtual copies of analogue classics - Pro 5, CS80 4. Easy digital sync and effortless video handling. This is an area that traditionaly demanded huge amounts of skill and time. 5. An incredibly advanced virtual studio. 6. Speed of work flow. 7. Massive upgradeability Everyone who works in the audio end of the media industry works with computer based systems (Pro Tools, Audio Vision etc.) because of the power and speed. If I were using an analogue studio, with the ever decreasing deadlines and increased competition , I am not sure if I could compete! The system was designed to work as a one stop audio DAW and as long as it works its brilliant.

Oh and thanks for your replies. Cheers guys

Phoned trading standards who advised that I might b liable for some sort of compensation but would I have to be specific about what I eant and why it is appropriate. I have asked for either £300 or a free upgrade of an external hard drive (£250). I'll wait and see what they say!

May I ask for an opinion? I bought a £5000 computer from Carillon which didn't work and had to be returned to factory twice. It took six months from ordering to receive a computer that was in usable form. Carillon were fast to respond to all the myriad problems and did install all my software free of charge but is this enough? I have personally spent considerable man hours trying to resolve the difficulties with the unit. Maybe 16-32 hours in total. And I have been setback for 6 months. Mucho stress and inconvenience. There are still some outstanding issues which I will have to resolve personaly - broken dongle , faulty floppy drive. Should I be asking for compensation? If so, how much? Cheers

STEEEEEVVVVVVE You are a gentleman, a scholar, a disco roller and all round veritable scuba baby! Thank you. It would appear that the Mac and PC hard drive protocols are incompatible. The utility at the suggested URL is Transmac which allows you to copy files from Mac to PC. It works beautifully. Cost £40 mind but I needed this capability and will probably need it again in the future. Point of interest: How long does it take to copy 110 Gigs drive to drive. - 1.5 hours. How long does it take to delete said data - 40 seconds. Cheers mate.

Been trying to import some audio samples from a firewire hardrive. The chaps I borrowed it from use Macs. However the samples are in Giga format which runs on PC. The problem is none of my machines can recognise the drive. The software knows it's there but can't talk with it to access the data. Can anyone enlighten?

Oooh. Had a nasty experience with Absynth recently. Absynth has copy protection system where it generates a system ID number based on certain components of your machine. And will only activate once you activate the software online. The liscence allows two activation one for laptop use . If you change computer you have to deactivate the initial computer activation. Having done so you are not allowed to reactivate an old computer. I accidently deleted the wrong system ID. I emailed Native Instruments who, a few days later sent me the appropriate code to reactivate the software. Which was good but I spent the best part of a day trying to resolve this. If I had used a crack I would have avoided all this. Why is that legitimate users are the one who are penalised.

I don't gig too much these days but when I did I had a rule that I wouldn't drink till afterwards. After 1 pint my fingers turn into latex. However, having been in Praque for a couple of days , I brought back a bottle of Absinth. Only tried one tiny glass so far but it gives you a kind og tingly sparkly feeling. Nice. But apparantly this was the tipple and inspiration of many an artiste! I'll let you know if it improves the music. hic!

Moderator's Warning: Can I remind all forum participants to refrain from taking the piss out of the expression "breakout boxes". I have noticed of recent a certain silliness creeping into this forum and I think it should cease. So no further puns or otherwise on any type of "box". e.g. lunch, post , or "out of". Moderator

Yeah I found the transition from VST to SX a tricky one. The interface is good but is considerably different from last. Somebody I know commented that it was a pity you couldn't get a VST "skin" for SX. I think that idea was to begin to streamline the product range. The difference between Cubase and Nuendo was slightly ambiguous in that they could both do things the other couldn't. In the new range Nuendo can do everything SX can do as well as a bunch of professional audio/visual stuff. With SX2 you are virtually using a cut down version of Nuendo. Same audio engine and more video stuff. The BUSS architecture (connecting things up) is vastly improved. Customizable interface. Make it look more like Logic if you like! You can have a lot of info on the screen at one time. Takes a while to wrap your head round. But I'm gettin' real into it boy! Dave

Ruuuuuuddddiiiiii! Yeah I'm not sure if it's exactly the right terminology but I'll give you two examples. On my Creamware PowerPulsar sound card I have to multi connection interfaces. Onto the first you would connect a "break-out cable". This being a cable with a big computery connector at one end that "breaks out" all the ins and outs i.e. stereo analogue, SPDIF, and MIDI. I also have two firewire like connecors that connect into my "break-out box". This being a 19 inch 1unit high box which has 16 analogue in and out jacks. (AN advantage being that it turns your computer into a virtual desk. Therefore any sound that goes into the computer need not come out again until it's on a CD.) Make any sense? Best Dave

Olggu Point taken my friend. I am not suggesting for a second that this stuff is cheap - but relatively speaking it is fantastic value. A Ferrari for £2000 say - still a lot of money but amazing value. Today you can set yourself up with a computer based studio for say £2000-£5000 from scratch. And i am talking about a near state of the art digital multitrack work station equipped with samplers/synths, 24bit sound, 60+ tracks of audio and all the virtual outboard you need. 15 years ago this technology was unavailable to anyone. State of the art equipment then cost a fortune and would have been unrealisable to the small musician. Whereas, for the cost of a meagre bank loan, the small musican can access state of the art. Sequencer packages are expensive, £200-£1000. But again I read somewhere that there is about 20 years of programming man hours in the production of these packages. These are very serious pieces of software and probably worth every penny. Would they be cheaper if there was less piracy? I don't know. I have a very meagre income at present, and although I am reasonably financially stable I do not have a NASA level bank balance. But with a bit of prioritisation and bloody mindedness I am giving myself a chance to see if I can do this for a living. My point is that one of these systems is in reach of most of us and maybe it might be beneficial to computer musician's to support the creators of this stuff. best Dave

What cheek! My understanding is that songstuff is growing quite rapidly at present. And a small community can have a more personal touch than some of the bigger forums. Shocked, Stunned and Offended Dave

Illegal copies. Got any. I made a decision to make sure that everything on my music PC was legit even though I would admit to infringement in the past. I simply budgeted for it this time around and updates and upgrades are available and cost effective (usually). My warranty on the machine would probably have been void if there was. Also I am hearing that some companies have gone bust because of it. Pinnacle bought Steinberg out for a paltry 20 million. (Apple didn't that much more for Logic) It has been said that if all the copies out there were legit then Steinberg would have bought out Pinnacle. Some companies, e.g. Roland won't touch soft synths for this very reason. Which is a shame because it makes such a lot of sense. You've already got the hardware so just buy the software at a ridiculously low price. For Xmas I got a copy of the new Yamaha CS80 emulation from Arturia. The original machine in 1977, adjusting for inflation would have set you back maybe £30'000. I think mine cost £170. This is great value. Have a look in a muso magazine and any module will cost at least three times this and be nowhere near as good, flexible, or integrated. Although I appreciate that it is easy for the cash strapped musician to easily download this stuff with their sense of guilt in denial but truth is it's stealing. And you are only hurting the thing you love. Agree, disagree?

Nope, no WAREZ. I made a decision to make sure that everything on the music PC was legit. My warranty on the machine would probably have been void if there was. Also I am hearing that some companies have gone bust because of it. Pinnacle bought Steinberg out for a paltry 20 million. It has been said that if all the copies out there were legit then Steinberg would have bought out Pinnacle. Some companies, e.g. Roland won't touch soft synths for this very reason. Which is a shame because it makes such a lot of sense. You've already got the hardware so just buy the software at a ridiculously low price. For Xmas I got a copy of the new Yamaha CS80 emulation from Arturia. The original machine in 1977, adjusting for inflation would have set you back maybe £30'000. I think mine cost £170. This is great value. Although I appreciate that it is easy for the cash strapped musician to easily download this stuff with their sense of guilt in denial but truth is it's stealing. And you are only hurting the thing you love. This would make an interesting thread on it's own. I'll post it up. Yeah but an article on your seedy computer games past interesting find I would I think. (drunken Yoda voice) D

John Article is here http://homepage.mac.com/cutiep007/mikes_bl...00/E1696153898/ My guess is that it may work with some systems but there are major compatibility issues with most others. Carillon concurred this by saying that they experienced instabilities while using it and thus ship there machines with HT disabled - as do Dell. MM Dav

I've got a PC which has got this new hyperthreading technology. It is supposed to make the processor work a wee bit as though there are two processors. And this is a big selling point with Intel based computers. But as it transpires it would appear this function simply doean't work. Checking on the web there are numerous claims that enabling hyperthreading actually slows the computer down. My own investigations concur with this. However there are some users who claim to get significant increases in CPU welly. Also although Cubase SX2 is HT compliant many of the plugins hate it. Whatsgoinon. Mac anyone. Dave