Feathers

"eventualy i will need a new os but hopefully by that time something newer than xp will be out and it will be ok" - Yes... Just as something newer and better than 98 and ME was released - Windows XP. Something better than windows XP will be released eventually. Each and every OS that MS have released has been better than the previous. You have written off an OS without even understanding where the problem originates. Do you seriously think 98 is better than XP? It's not simply a case of newer is better... I always thought windows NT was crap. But it had some features which made it very reliable and error free and those features have been incorporated into XP. XP is quite simply the best OS that's been released so far. I'm sure that MS will develop something better in time but XP is certainly the best at this moment in time. Why am I even tai ping this if you are so stubborn and inflexible?... Your original post was a complaint because Steinberg forgot to program SX for your obsolete OS. Obviously you are much wiser than Steinberg's programmers (given your experiences at work) and then the question is why haven't you modified Cubase sx to work under 98? Better still why not forget about sx and design your own sequencer from scratch. Don't bother making it compatible with XP or 2000 because as we all know, those OS's are slow and unstable. Please ensure that your sequencer runs ok on 95 and windows 3.1 also (98se is a pile of shit compared to 3.1). "my system is running great as it is..i am not about to risk screwing it all up just to use cubase when i dont have to." - Wrong again dear... You're so used to antiquated OS's that you don't even comprehend that XP wouldn't dare screw up your system. You could run XP's setup from within 98se and it would ask where u want to install it. You would tell it to install on another partition because you want to keep your existing pile of poo intact. Xp would then install itself on said drive and in said folder and then automatically create a dual boot for you. You'd then be able to boot into your crappy 98 or XP. You'd be able to switch between the two without any problems at all. This is yet another reason why we must love windows XP. You must also love windows XP if you want a happy future. That's the beauty of it... You have nothing to lose. Now wiseup or go buy a MAC (then you'd really have something to bitch about!) And just for the record... Mac's really are a pile of crap. Has anyone noticed that Macs these days are very similar in design to PCs? Shame the software is such poo.

I'm not too bothered whether or not Steinberg has a deal with MS. The quote I made from Steinberg was from a piece regarding Optimizing XP for use with Cubase Sx. The programmers are certainly right when they advise on giving SX it's own partition. I have music sequencers running on my regular installation of XP as well. I have hundreds of programs installed from games, paint programs to the latest music software. It generally runs pretty fine considering I have such an old PC! The problem is that the more you add to an OS then the less efficient it becomes. I can still use music software on my regular XP but if I want maximum performance then I'm smart enough to know that I need a minimum installation. My other XP has nothing more than Cubase Sx and a couple of programs. I will of course be adding lots of VSTI's but I won't be adding games, graphics or other software. My new installation of XP runs much smoother than the general one because it doesn't have all of the crap left in the registry or hundreds of new DLL's. XP is brilliant for it's general stability and performance increase... It is accepted that games run faster under XP. All of my friends have verified this. My other programs also work faster. There are some unecessary features of XP that can be turned off in order to make things run even faster and use less Hdisk space. I'm guessing your workmates don't know much about XP. If they did then they wouldn't have slow and unstable systems. What are they using for Firewall? What virus killers? What crap do they have installed in startup? You even seem to object to the idea of giving Cubase it's own OS... How dare Steinberg suggest creating a separate installation just for their sequencer! It's not something that has to be done. It's just common sense if you want to maximise performance. These principles would apply equally to any other type of software. Cakewalk Sonar would also run better on it's own on a fresh installation of any version of windows, common sense! What file system are you using? FAT 32 or NTFS. Of course you're using FAT32 and this means that a fresh installation of windows is even more important for maximum sequencer performance! I wait with interest to see whether or not you're going to tell me what system you're using (and what system you have at work). Feathers.

What machines are they using at work? Are they AMD based PC's? Do you have an intel CPU? You see... You're blaming an operating system when in actual fact the problem is nothing to do with the OS. A friend of mine has an AMD system and he can't even install XP. He's had problems with every OS from 98 to ME on that machine. Another friend bought the latest AMD system with 2.1Ghz CPU and it was fine for games... At Multitasking AMD suck and since your OS counts as a program then anything you run after that counts as multitasking :-) Try running more than a couple of programs on your AMD at one time and you will have problems, even with 512mb Ram installed. XP runs faster than any other OS on my machine. It's the most stable OS I've ever used and so this leads me to believe that the problems you've witnessed lay with the hardware. There are so many factors with any PC... The particular make of a component and also the particular model. Problems can arise simply by using a certain brand/model of graphics card with a certain program. For example... How many people are using ZoneAlarm as a Firewall? I used to use it and I thought it was great... Then after a particular version was released my machine became very unstable.. I eventually traced the prob to ZoneAlarm. Their helpguide suggested I turn off Hardware acceleration for the video card. I did so and it was still unstable. I stopped using ZoneAlarm and started using Sygate Firewall. All my problems went away. I used Sysgate for a couple of years and until last month... I installed a virus killer and my machine became unstable. I tried a different virus killer and still my normally stable machine was unstable. Then one of the virus killers suggested I remove Sygate firewall and use it's own Firewall instead. I did this and all my problems disappeared. On it's own Sygate Firewall is a very stable program and it does it's job well... When you add a virus killer then the problems begin. These problems occured under 98 as well as XP. You will face more and more problems the longer you insist on using 98. This is because many programmers aren't really that concerned with making their software work with an old OS. How many programs do you see listed for 95 compatibility? 98SE is one step away from 95 and oblivion. There are many programs that won't work with 98 now and you will blame the programmers when in fact it's your OS that's to blame. I'm using two installations of XP on an old P3 intel with a Russian motherboard and PC100 Ram. My system is very stable and crashes are pretty much a thing of the past. If XP was unreliable and slow then I'd be the first to bitch about it! I agree with your comment about MACs for example. I think they're a pile of crap and MAC software is always the same.. Sugary coated graphics with non-intuitive interface and sub-standard design. It's easy to blame the OS. The OS is not the problem it's down to hardware or setup issues. Perhaps you'll get on well with Sonar. Sonar is much better designed than Logic Audio Platinum crap. It's not as well designed or feature packed as Cubase Sx however. Your comments about XP being slow are again, totally absurd. It may well be true that it runs slow on your work's PC. Again, it's not down to the OS but poor hardware or clumsy installation (by so-called professional PC/Network engineers). You are right not to believe everything you read... I simply relate my own experience of XP and other OS's. I don't disagree with you just for the hell of it... Just when I know you're talking crap. What hardware do you have? What hardware are they using at work? Feathers.

Use Cubase Sx instead. Logic is pants.

P.P.S. Here's some logical thought for you... Steinberg's programmers have publicly stated that win XP is the best operating system yet. They have stated that Cubase SX runs very well under XP. Now... Who knows best? Ouroboros who hasn't tried it (and refuses to install it) or Steinberg who have used and made their sequencer compatible with it? My 2nd installation of XP is used solely for running Cubase sx (as Steinberg recommend). Needless to say the two (XP and SX) run very smoothly together and are extremely stable. Install XP and also convert to NTFS. Feathers.

Sonar is easier to use than Logic Audio but it's still a pile of crap compared to Cubase Sx. Read a previous post on this forum, where I relate my experience of different sequencers. You are angry about XP and 2000 and for what reason? XP is the best operating system to date! 98 was better than 95. Xp is better than 98 and ME. Get real! The other thing you will notice (upon installation) is that all hardware conflicts will disappear! There are cases where cards haven't been able to run at all under 95,98 and yet they run fine under XP. The list of improvements under XP is too numerous to list here. Don't bother posting here again until you have it installed... :-)

I used windows 98 for many years. I was one of the first to install it when everyone else was using 95. It was a big improvement. Many years later I was still using 98 when everyone else was starting to use ME and 2000. By this time my computer was crashing more and more. Some programs wouldn't even run at all and I would send nasty emails to the programmers and tell them how crap their software was. Then one day I decided to install windows XP. All of those programs I said were crappy and badly designed, suddenly worked! My computer stopped crashing (what's a blue screen? We don't have those with XP). I noticed something else... All of my programs ran faster. Even Photoshop and windows explorer were noticably quicker. A year later and I've just installed a second XP on another partition. XP allows you to have multiple installations and it set's everything up to allow this effortlessly. I did have Windows ME as a 2nd OS but like Windows 98, it was unstable and slow and extremely ugly to look at. I would never go back to one of those old crappy operating systems now. If I were you I'd get rid of those 98 crap and don't even consider any sequencer other than Cubase SX. I've tried them all. Logic audio is particularly bad because it's totally non-intuitive (as all MAC software is). Cubase SX is the only sequencer that scores on every count and is easy to use. Fruity looks fun to play with but when you start to use it as a serious tool it soon falls apart. Stop complaining and install XP. Kissy, Feathers.

Fruity loops has some built in synths but you can also add 3rd party ones as well such as Wasp and that FM one that I can't remember the name of. Fruity comes with limited versions of those synths anyway. If you want some good addon synths then try Native Instruments - Absynth or FM7. One of my favourites (currently) is Pro 53 because it has some excellent analog synth sounds. Try the following link to learn more about addon (VSTi) synths... http://www.kvr-vst.com/ The process of creating new synth sounds is mostly trial and error. You twiddle some knobs and hear something you like and so you develop that sound until it sounds right.

Stop using Logic 5.1 and use Cubase Sx instead.

Kits: When you post a message on this forum.. It usually comes up with an error message. You rightly assume that your post wasn't sent and so you go back and post again and again. Just assume that your message was received when u see that dumbass error message. Kits: When you post a message on this forum.. It usually comes up with an error message. You rightly assume that your post wasn't sent and so you go back and post again and again. Just assume that your message was received when u see that dumbass error message. Kits: When you post a message on this forum.. It usually comes up with an error message. You rightly assume that your post wasn't sent and so you go back and post again and again. Just assume that your message was received when u see that dumbass error message. Kits: When you post a message on this forum.. It usually comes up with an error message. You rightly assume that your post wasn't sent and so you go back and post again and again. Just assume that your message was received when u see that dumbass error message. Kits: When you post a message on this forum.. It usually comes up with an error message. You rightly assume that your post wasn't sent and so you go back and post again and again. Just assume that your message was received when u see that dumbass error message. :-)

Yes you do have to switch to Cubase Sx. Not because you can't record knob twiddling in Fruity. Simply because Cubase is 100 times easier to use and much more capable than Fruity.

Novation Supernova 2 or Novation K-Station.

Never heard of them! I will go and search for them! :-) P.S. I get sick of typing and retyping posts. Often when I click the post button, it either doesn't post or gives an error message.

Why don't you invest in Cubase SX? It's much better but maybe it's more expensive? (I don't know how much Sonar costs). I've tried pretty much all of the sequencers out there. DMX-6 is good. It's not too expensive either. Feathers.

Yes but the idea of controlling one sequencer with another just to use a speech synth seems pretty strange to me. Anyway... I believe Fruity's Speech is rendered as a sample before it's dropped into a music track and so maybe I could save that sample? My current machine wouldn't have enough power to run too many music apps @ once. As far as reason as a VSTi goes... Again, it would stress me out I think. If I use Reason then it will probably be just as a standalone for it's own sounds. I have some very good VSTI's for use in Sx etc. And of course I have the Z1 as well. I will certainly find an easy way to make use of the Fruity speech synth though. :-)

Hmmm... This message board sucks. I got an error message when I tried posting my reply and so I tried again... And again and again. You can see the results of my frantic attempts to post one little reply. Maybe I should copy and paste this text many times also? :-) Maybe I should copy and paste this text many times also? :-) Maybe I should copy and paste this text many times also? :-) Maybe I should copy and paste this text many times also? :-) Maybe I should copy and paste this text many times also? :-) Maybe I should copy and paste this text many times also? :-) Maybe I should copy and paste this text many times also? :-) Maybe I should copy and paste this text many times also? :-)

I use Windows XP because it's the best version of Windows ever created. Logic Audio Platinum is not so good however. Ever thought about changing to Cubase Sx?

Who windows? Don't know that version of Windows. I use Windows XP because it's the best version of Windows ever created. Logic Audio Platinum is not so good however. Ever thought about changing to Cubase Sx?

Who windows? Don't know that version of Windows. I use Windows XP because it's the best version of Windows ever created. Logic Audio Platinum is not so good however. Ever thought about changing to Cubase Sx?

Who windows? Don't know that version of Windows. I use Windows XP because it's the best version of Windows ever created. Logic Audio Platinum is not so good however. Ever thought about changing to Cubase Sx?

Do you actually have the software for transferring to minidisc? Do you have a Creative Minidisc program?

Use a sound editor such as Soundforge or Wavelab. Load the audio in and look for the gaps. I don't know if these programs can automatically detect silence. You could also use a program like Acoustica Mp3 CD Burner which can rip audio from cd and convert to wav/mp3. :-)

To date, I have tried a number of Sequencers on my PC. They all have good points but each one seems to have it's own set of problems and peculiarities. I will list each one and describe the problems I've encountered. Feel free to respond and let me know of your own experiences... 1:Fruityloops 3.56: When I first saw Fruity 3.56 I was blown away! I was amazed by how much it had moved on from it's previous versions. I liked the Speech Synth and the VSTi Support. I also found it very easy to play around with and figure out it's various features, even without consulting the manual or help guide. After playing around with it some more and actually trying to use it as a serious tool, things seemed to slide downhill. Firstly it wouldn't synchronise with my Korg Z1 synth. I spent ages configuring both the Z1 & Fruity in order to make Fruity act as Master and drive my Z1's clock. I gave up after a while and tried to persuade Fruity to receive the Z1's clock signal. No way! Forget it! Even after consulting the help guide I still couldn't get the two in sync. After a while I abandoned the synchronisation and moved onto recording notes from the Z1. This was much easier but I soon discovered that Fruity was totally uninterested in recording my Z1's modulation wheel. After some searching I eventually got it to respond but it would only control things like - attack, decay etc from this wheel. Why was it such a pain just to get Fruity to record the modulation wheel? I'm sure there's a way to do it but with every other sequencer I've used, it's not a problem! I feel that Fruity has some nice features but is lacking some of the refinements we've come to expect on Pro Sequencers. 2:Reason 2.0: It certainly takes a lot of Hdisk space for full install! I was impressed with Reason in terms of it's sound quality and unique design. I love the CV/Gate wiring on the back of the machines and it has some very powerful Synths. Reason had no problems in synchronising itself to my Z1. In fact I had the feeling it was very eager to respond to the Z1's timing signal. I didn't have to refer to the help guide or spend hours trying to get it synced. I could turn the speed dial on my Z1 and watch Reason's tempo change accordingly. Problem? Ummm.... How do I get Reason to play an external midi device? Well of course I now know that Reason isn't actually able to control external devices... Shame! Well it's still a pretty amazing piece of software and worth using, but at this time, it's simply not enough for my needs. 3:Cakewalk Sonal XL: Yuck! Ugly flat windows 98/Me style interface but it seemed to work ok. I didn't have to spend too long figuring out how to play samples and midi at the same time. It was only after a day or so that I noticed all of the samples were playing in mono. I've tried configuring and reconfiguring but apparently Sonar thinks I have a mono soundcard (adlib perhaps?). Apart from this minor problem, I also think it's not as capable as some other sequencers. 4:Emagic's Logic Audio Platinum 5.10: Nice looking interface! It certainly looked very capable. After setting up the hardware I tried recording some notes from the Z1. No problem. Next I decided to add some audio tracks and so I preceeded to import a wave file. Well actually I didn't get very far. One hour later I was still trying to import a single wav file into a single 'Logic Audio' track. I consulted the 'help' of course. It explained very clearly how to do this... I followed the instructions and still nothing happened. Now I'm sure there are many people reading this who will be able to tell me exactly what I should be doing in order to play audio. Well I'm sorry but I don't want to hear it. :-) After trying to carry out some other basic actions I quickly learned that there is nothing Logical about this sequencer. It's the most illogical and unintuitive program I've ever attempted to use! It kind of reminds me of some of those awful MAC ports, you know? Those sugar coated programs that Mac users are used to. Very pretty with sculpted, photorealistic buttons, but actually lacking in all of the basic features and user-friendliness that PC users are used to. Am I right in thinking that Logic Audio began life on the Mac? 4:Acid Pro 4: I've always liked Acid (spare the jokes). I found this program very easy to use and I was able to create whole tracks in a very short time. Acid is great for getting ideas together and giving you totally new ones as well. It's very inspirational and pretty user-friendly. Unfortunately I haven't found a version that's been entirely stable. Every version of Acid I've owned has crashed and crashed again. Pro 4 maintains this crashing tradition and so Acid users won't be disappointed on that score. Acid is great with samples/loops and now of course it supports VSTi. I eventually got it to record and play my Z1 as well. I was shocked to discover however, that you can't create a track and then record into it (as such). You can't re-record either. All you can do is record midi into a new track and edit in step time. To make matters worse... I can see no way of changing the midi channel to anything but 1!!! What use is midi out if it only works on one channel? If anyone here can provide answers then I'd be grateful. Acid pro is certainly great for getting new ideas and producing tracks within a very short time but it's midi support is bad. 5:Cubase Sx: Hmmm... The only sequencer that seems to score on all counts. It syncs with the Z1, It plays audio without any problems and it's very intuitive unlike the Logic Audio thing. I actually used to hate previous versions of cubase. I always found them to be unstable and unfriendly. It used to be a major deal just trying to get the metronome to sound. Sx is much better, it's very easy to create a drum track and play VSTi's and to drop in audio and slice automatically. The software also seems very stable these days. The bottom line is that it's not really worth me spending weeks/months learning other sequencers when they lack important features or don't function well with external hardware. I would like to play around with Reason2 because it's still a very good sequencer but at this time it's not worth my while. I like the speech synth in Fruity but it sucks in some other ways and so again, it's not worth learning at this time. It looks like I'll be relying on Cubase for quite some time... Comments? Feathers.

All originals, hey? Including manuals? :-)

Do u know that Eat Static originated from Ozric Tentacles?