I need to upgrade my Arranger System for the following reasons:

I am increasingly bored with what I got.

I am jealous of UD, DNJ and Fran. They are constantly buying things including keyboards. One can feel their excitement and their growing wealth. The sad thing is my wealth decreases with each purchase.

So the wheels are in motion to sell my general purpose computer (give it away) to my relative. Turn my music computer into a general purpose computer and build a new music computer.

I have not fully decided what I will incorprate in my new Music computer. It could be as follows:

Pentium 4 3GHz, 2GB RAM ASUS Motherboard
ASUS Graphics 128 MB
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum - for midi and mic in
Steinberg VSL2020 for Audio
2 80GB 7200rpm 8mb Cache Hard Drives.
VERY Quite FANS
Pain Killers if my marriage catches me at this!!!

I was going to go small form computer (e.g., Shuttle) but decided against it. I like the additional power. Also it decreases the clutter of extra equipment (mic preamp, midi ports, etc.). Plus I don't go out much any more - to old!!! So weight is not an issue.

This upgrade will facilitate installation of many more virtual accoustic instruments. It will allow me to use higher quality effects, especially reverb. Plus I will beable to use separate instances of reverb for each loaded instrument. I still don't know why I am doing this given that my ears are also growing dim!!!

For those who are interested, Live - Styler has been recently updated. I am currently beta testing forte 1.4. Good things to come!!!

[This message has been edited by Frank L. Rosenthal (edited 02-04-2004).]

Frank.....
Theres nothing better then getting "New Toys"....The thrill and excitement is great...But, YOU have to be happy. Yes Fran,Dave & I have had our share of KB's & Toys and continue to do so frequently...sometimes it makes us happy & other times sad....but its the "ACTION" of getting somethng new to play with that makes it fun!!!
Just like Gambling!!
Anyway Good Luck on your new journey to happiness & keep us posted

Frank,

I'm also building my own computer. I figure I can build a $3,000.00 P4 3.2 ghz computer for about $900.00. I just ordered the Intel P4 Prescott cpu which is 3.2 ghz with 1 gig of L2 Cache. I haven't decided on a motherboard as yet, but I've outfitting my equipment choices from TigerDirect.com and Motherboards.com.

Let me know how you make out.

Al

kbrkr, I agree with you that building your own computer is the way to go. You have the flexibility of setting it up the way you like and at an affordable price. Plus you will know your system better from the experience of installing the hardware and software.

DNJ I will try and be happy but it will be hard to accomplish following in the wake of DNJ, Fran & Dave. Oh well!!!

Here's a little secret -- no man who desires the material can ever be satisfied with what he has. If you get 100, you want 200. If you get 200, you want 400. There is a Jewish aphorism: "Who is wealthy? He who is satisfied with his lot." Think about it.

This is a very interesting topic for me. I am debating very hard about just buying a synth like the Motif ES or going the Gigastudio route.

Motif ES8 runs about $2800 right now. A fully loaded P4, 3.0 GHz, 1Gb RAM with a flat panel and a couple 80Gb hard drives and an M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 card with GigaStudio 3 Ensemble and a Fatar weighted 88-key midi controller keyboard is about, you guessed it, $2800.

The SoftSynth is much more expandable and controllable, and from listening to the mp3 demos there is ABOSLUTELY no comparison as far as quality of sounds. Streaming a 4Gb grand piano versus the Motif ES 4Mb sample is no contest.

But, the hardware synth won't crash (shouldn't at least in theory!), is completely compatible with itself, has sounds that will fool 99.9% of listeners, is more compact, less noisy, and portable.

This choice is killing me. I'm averagely PC literate (0 being a moron and 10 being Tier 4 Microsoft TAC support I'm about a 6) so that decision is looking better and better.

In the meantime I'll just be watching and listening to see how it all works out.

To the gentleman who mentioned the satisfied with his lot quote, I know what you are saying. Buying newer and better is something that I really enjoy however. I love progressing and love having bleeding edge technology. Every time I play my accordion and make money just knowing that I will be spending it on the Next Big Thing makes it all the more fun. Like I said though, it's not my livelihood and I make less in a year than most of you make in a month playing out. So my one toy a year is really special!

Tommy

Tommy, once you start done this path you will never return!!!

If you setup your system (PC & software) properly including some of the recommended Windows XP tweaks then it will be as reliable as the hardware alternative. If you get a good quality professional soundcard the noise, distortion, dynamic range, etc. will exceed the hardware alternatives. So you see there is nothing holding you back!!!

Darn it, Frank! That's just the kind of encouragement I didn't need!



Tommy

Al,

I have tried to do this not too long ago, but this was not the case. One is able to build a $3000 PC for $2500, but without the OS software (and support which comes with it), and the hardware warranty (which may or may not be worth all that much for a desktop, but anyway...) The computer companies are making very low margins on the PCs.

Plus, if you get a computer from a reputable maker (e.g. Dell) you are getting a much nicer and easier to work with box - one-latch screwless case is important if you tinker with hardware.

I would look at various specials and buy a computer instead.

Regards,
Alex

If you going for a high quality music only computer then it is better to build your own from high quality components, e.g., RAM, HDs, soundcards and so on. The off-the-shelf computers (Dell, Gateway) are excellent affordable general purpose computers. For me they have to many proprietary components, e.g., Audigy Soundcards with modified software. This leaves you hostage to the computer manufacturer for fixes and updates - usually very very very very slow!!!!

So, it depends on your objectives. If you build your own you would save at least the labour costs of building it ($80 - $100). Plus you will gain a better understanding of your computer to assist you in operating and troubling shooting it. Also, you get a computer that more nearly satisfies your music requirements.

Great quote!....My Main happiness comes from being able to do what I love every night on stage for a living, playing music, singing, entertaining, ........
Being able to change equipment periodicly if warranted is just the Fluff on the cake!
hey life is too short!



------------------
www.donnypesce.com

Dnj, sadly given all I got left is the 'Fluff on the cake' the wheels of change are set in motion. I should have all the components for my music computer by the weekend. I will disappear for a while given I got to build one computer and install software in two, but I shall return. This is so exciting that it is causing enormous stress on the old man. He will never learn.

Frank,
You are very positive and up beat about softsynths, as is Bluezplayer. You have convinced me that softsynths is the way to go and my wife wants us to buy a new computer. I appreciate all the initial testing and expense you have gone through (your wife doesn't) in creating a total softsynth arranger. I am convinced that the quality of the voices would be higher then the current keyboards. As I've said many times before, I don't like the games mfgs. play.
Question. By changing channels on your keyboard you are then switching to a different VST?
What does VST stand for (virtual Sound terminal)? So if I save the different channels in a configuration file, I should be able to do this with my arranger and just push a configuration button on my arranger?
I will check and see if the PSR550 saves MIDI channels in configuration files.
Starkeeper

Starkeeper, you got me but VST could stand for Virtual STudio - but I don't know. A check on the Steinberg site may give away the answer.

You can do an array of things by changing channels:

Instruments
Effects
VSTs
Midi Messages
etc.

I use it primaily to change instruments, e.g., Piano to Guitar, etc. To do this you do not need to change VSTs. Most VSTs have at least 16 channels each of which could contain different instruments, different effects and so on.

Alternatively, I can also send midi messages (Program Changes, Control Changes - volumn, reverb, chorus, etc.) from my keyboard to the soft synth. Many of the pro soft synths do not accept program changes but do accept control changes. So on my Roland A-37 Controller keyboard I can store 128 full setups and send these messages to my soft synths.

Again, you need to decide in advance which system you prefer. If you wish to have full access to 128 instruments and drum kits from your keyboard then something like VSampler & sYnerGi GS will do it (but at lower quality). If you just want high quality lead/melody voices then something like Kontakt may be better (more expensive).


[This message has been edited by Frank L. Rosenthal (edited 02-05-2004).]

I just checked the PSR550 manual and it will NOT store channel numbers in registration memory. Arrrrr
Starkeeper