Looks like I missed a few questions here. Though Domenik has answered some of them already, I’ll throw a few comments in also.
Donny you asked about the registrations. Like Domenik explained they are called Performances on the Mediastation and are really easy to use. You just press “performance”, then “new”, an on screen keyboard comes up and you can use it or any attached keyboard (ps2 / usb) to type the name and enter. You can also group them in categories with any name you desire. The performance takes a complete “snapshot” of all the mediastations settings at that moment. Including all sound patch settings / splits, styles, even mp3 or wave files loaded in the player. They can then be recalled by the performance name, the group or the ID number; for easy organization. I lost track of all the “9”s in the maximum number of performances that Domenik listed. LOL But I don’t think you could ever use them all.
Al you asked how I liked the Mediastation. Short answer I am very pleased with it. Its current capabilities are great, but when you look at the future potential it is nothing short of phenomenal! You asked about my previous keyboards: First keyboard (I won’t count the Bontempi, LOL) was a Roland RD 300 with a Korg Poly 800 module, next a Kurzwiel 1200 pro with a Korg I3 arranger on top, then a General Music SK880 Powerstation loaded with all options and a Kurzwiel Micro Piano module. The last GEM SK880 and Kurzwiel Micro Piano, I still have if anyone’s interested in buying.
I will be glad to try and give more of a review in another post (maybe with a more appropriate Topic Heading for people searching for Mediastation reviews). And Al, or anyone for that matter, if you want to contact me privately, feel free to do so. My email is listed in my profile and my Yahoo ID is “richard_shiflet”.
I agree with many of you that the demos are not the best at showing the Mediastations capabilities, though some are actually pretty good. I do not let any background noise affect my judgment. After gaining a complete picture of what the Mediastation really is I purchased it in spite of the demos. LOL.
Keith you are right about a lot of the demos showing the NI B4 organ and the Giga Pianos. These are definitely some of the Mediastations strengths. The ability to play Vsti’s and to stream large Giga samples from HD is something that no other arranger can do, with the exception of the Wersi. The Mediastation has so many diverse abilities that it surpasses even the synth workstations in abilities and pro quality hardware. So it’s no wonder that it is easy to forget that it is a very capable arranger. In fact it has been designed as an arranger from the ground up. Isn’t this what most of us have been asking/dreaming for in all of our “ What is your perfect arranger” threads for several years? How many posts have we read like ”If only some keyboard company would make an arranger that has the power of the top synth workstations”? Well someone listened!
Mediastation Weaknesses:
Now before you guys begin to think that I am either on the Lionstracs payroll, I wish, or just some idiot who thinks his keyboard is perfect and has no faults; let me tell you what in my opinion are the weaknesses of the Mediastation. First and foremost it is the styles. If you think that a brand new company like Lionstracs is going to start out with a library of styles that surpass companies that have been extensively developing styles for 20+ years; like Yamaha, Korg, and Roland; then you do not have very realistic expectations. As for as the question, ”did Domenik ever get someone to develop styles for him?” The answer is yes. When I first purchased my Mediastation, about 6 months ago it already had a small number of styles included. I decided that I would rather base my purchase on the quality and the features of the hardware installed and the open ended upgrade path that would provide me with the most current abilities well into the future than purely on the number of styles available. I was rewarded with in a few short weeks with the first organized library of 270 styles that I was able to download from the Lionstracs site.
Domenik does have people that he pays to develop styles but he has stopped adding styles to the current library as he is now designing the next phase of Mediastation development and it will be another first for arranger keyboards! Are you ready this? The first ever software driven arranger, incorporating audio and midi and………
Based solely on Giga sounds and Virtual Instruments (VSTi’s). If you know the quality of VSTi’s and Giga sounds then you realize how big a leap forward in technology and sound quality this will be! Not only incorporating the occasional Giga sound into a style, but also building the styles from the ground up using all Giga sounds for all style accompaniment parts and then throw in the VSTi’s for good measure. So all mediastation owners will also receive Gigs upon Gigs of fantastic sounds!
Oh I’m sorry this is supposed to be the section on the “weaknesses” of the Mediastation. LOL! Ok what this means is that we; poor, pitiful disadvantaged will have to be content with our 270 styles library and importing styles from other keyboard manufacturers or making them ourselves until this new “groundbreaking” technology is ready. Somehow I am having a little trouble filling underprivileged. Lol
I hope that Domenik doesn’t get upset with me for sharing info about this new all Giga and VSTi Style Library. But I would feel bad if people spent their money on other keyboards because they did not have all the info. It is based on the technology of LS 4.0 a new version of Linux Sampler that Domenik is helping the open source community by funding. It is slated for release in the first part of December, so I do not anticipate the G.V.S. Library until early next year.
The other main weakness is that we MS owners are few in number. While I have no idea how many MS’s Lionstracs have actually sold, many were oriental Groovestations at the beginning,
I have only a few friends that I converse with who own a MS. So, just like with the first style library, the user groups for Roland, Korg, and Yamaha have built considerably over 20+ years.
I would enjoy the camaraderie of a larger circle of MS users but on the other hand, the chances of me showing up at a large event and finding all other keyboard players there have the same common keyboard as me is better than slim. I have the only X-88 Pro in the US and I actually have the first one ever built! Hey Domenik how about a collectors item certificate of authenticity? Lol
Ok I’m tired now and ready for a break but I want to answer one last question first. Spalding you asked about the upgrades and the differences they made to functionality. Well I have installed a number of OS upgrades. Domenik changes the OS more often than some people change socks, lol.
Many of the updates I could see little or no change as they just increased efficiency, speed, etc.
Some had noticeable differences such as the one that added a programmable velocity curve and split point. After I installed the update I had a new screen accessible from my desktop or setup button.
http://www.lionstracs.com/store/images/curve.png This gives me the ability to remap 8 ranges of velocity to whatever I want by moving the 8 faders to the right of the screen.
Ok I’m finished.
Richard
[This message has been edited by richard_shiflet (edited 11-09-2006).]
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