Sampler v. computer (Slighly off topic)
2000-12-11 by Robert Grimble
Hey, to my mind, the next generation of computer music will be a general purpose computer, probably PC style, with a sound card that does digital to analog and analog to digital converting. The time for this -- from a user standpoint -- is long past. BUT from the standpoint of Yamaha, etc., what is in it for them? Yeh, they could build something that is really similar to the above, and put it in a rack mount box, and keep hitting you up for the upgrades. However, they make more money selling hardware and dedicated boxes. Software gets stolen, and a lot of people don't think twice about using a bootleg copy of a program or giving a copy to their friends. That makes it really hard for the company selling the programs to make money, so instead you wind up with hardware. I really don't believe that the processing power in an AN1X or VL70 or MU128 is no more than a moderately hot Pentium. So Yamaha could build a general purpose box (that you could upgrade from time to time with more memory, faster processor etc) and you buy the programs on disk or ROM card. But it doesn't make sense from a marketing point of view. So what about your problem? To my mind, if you are performing live, get a decent rack mount sampler. It is easier to set up something like that in a hurry than to play around with a PC. It is probably a little more rugged also. I would suggest that you not buy the newest and hottest thing out. Whenever I do that, I realize a month or two later that I still owe more on the credit card than I would have to pay at the music store, because the price went down so fast. Plus, the year or two old samplers are really good. You can get a K2000 for a few hundred bucks on ebay ($600 to 900, depending). The Akai's are cheaper, and really very easy to use. I had an older Yamaha TX16W, which had some really neat features, but it was I think a 12 bit sampler, and a bear to use -- but they are around in the 100 to $200 range. You can get an Akai S950 for the same type of price, but it is also a 12 bit sampler. Great for drums and sampling stacked synths, but it lacks on wind instruments. Strangely, Violin and other strings come out ok on 12 bit samplers. Trumpet blows. Have you looked into the EX5R -- it has a VL module and a GX module and a sampler/sequencer. I don't have one, but the first time I see one at $700 buck, it's mine. Also, if you have dreams of doing your own samples, try before you buy. I really thought I would do all this fantastic stuff making the *best* samples. And then I realized that doing a really good sample of an instrument could take 20 or 30 hours of work. So I buy or download patches. Depending on what music and where you are playing -- often the fidelity in a live performance is not as important as in recording, because the amps and speakers in live performances tend to be fairly low fidelity. Not always, but really often. So you might be able to live with an older sampler you pick up on EBAY for $250. Bob G You wrote: Thinking of a esi 4000 or 2000, something along those lines. Or if I should just build a computer dedicated to audio. And use some sampling programs and also use it to sequence. I will most likely and hopefully be using this set up live and it will have the An1x, a akai ax73 and in time a drum pad system running in/out of it. I think a computer would be a more useful way to go but I really do like hardware better...easier to use, less crashes....more buttons... but also more money which I don't have.