Any DJ's?

[TUI]

Im just curious as to what type of software others are using. Im currently using Fruity Loops and its pretty intense and quite extensive but it lacks some high pitch sounds I would like to create. Ive heard a lot about Reason but havent had a chance to use it yet.

REASON

FRUITY LOOPS

[hinrgresonance]

i have technics 1200's, they are my best friend.
as for software- once you get a hang of fruity loops, move onto reason. I suggest reason over F.L. though.

[omisan]

Reason kicks ass! I've got to set my li'l home studio back up again since moving, so I'm itching to get back into playing with it, but seriously, after taking the bloody time to learn it, it's my favorite software synth/sequencer out there. Now I've got to learn this damn Logic, which has been sitting in its box for 2 years without having been installed.

I'm getting a new coffin for my 1200's and my CD decks today. w00t!

[hinrgresonance]

I'm getting a new coffin for my 1200's and my CD decks today. w00t!

[/quote]

i hope the are pretty.

[voyd]

What about some others like:

Ableton
Adobe Audition (Cool Edit Pro)
Cakewalk
Cubase
Emagic Logic
Sony Acid Pro
Pro-Tools Mbox

I heard Ableton is one of the best beatmakers, although Fruity Loops is great for the price. I also heard Reason is great and 3.0 is coming out sometime this year. And Mbox and Cubase also seem to get some good words.

What about mics, too? Anyone?

So far, I've heard the Studio Projects B1 seems to be a fav for home-recording MCs?

[omisan]

I've yet to tinker with Ableton Live. Now that I have a fast enough setup for it, I'm going to have to give it a try. It's not as fully self-contained as Reason or Fruity Loops, from what I understand, but it has an amazing degree of control that makes it good for laptop-based live performances. You can do a lot of work in other programs, and then tie it all together with Ableton come performance time.

Never used Audition or Cakewalk, but they're Windows-only tools, so what do I know? Cakewalk's Sonar is supposed to be pretty bad-ass, though, somewhere between Logic and Reason.

Cubase was pretty good back in the day. More flexible than Protools, easier than Logic. It's been ratcheted up to a new product called Nuendo now, which i haven't bothered to use (once again, windows only) but I hear good things about it. Steinberg's stuff uses the venerabl VST plug-in architecture, making their stuff infinitely expandable.

Logic was bought out by Apple so it's now a mac-only product. It's traditionally been über powerful but with a learning curve from hell, but supposedly it's gotten much easier now that the interface freaks in Cupertino have worked it over. Instead of (or in addition to?) VSTs, Logic uses AudioUnits for plug-ins, and there are zillions of them out there for free.

Acid.. yech.. loop-based.. I dunno, loop stuff like Acid and Magix creeps me out. But if you are going to sample and loop and throw it into something like that, check out ReCycle from Propellerhead. Or to simply have fun, play with their ReBirth software. Hours of entertainment for music geeks (or if you're really high).

The Mbox is simply a USB-based audio interface that'll put pro-quality sound in/outs on your system. I'm a bit leery of anything using the USB bus for anything other than MIDI, so I'd look into a PCI/PCMCIA solution first. The cool thing is it lets you use Protools, which is proprietary and can only be used with Digidesign hardware - Mbox is the only Protools system you can get for $400. Anything else, and I hope making beats is more than a bedroom hobby...

As for mics, the Shure SM57 and SM58 are *the* industry standard. And they're affordable, too, at around $90. I'm pretty impressed by the M-Audio Luna, which I'm thinking of getting. It's one of those super-fancy huge cardioid mics that's great for vocals, but it comes in under $200. Either way, the pricetag for everything still goes up as you'll want a mic pre-amp and/or compressor to get a more professional sound. Of course, a lot of VST and AU plug-ins can do this for you digitally... Haven't heard anything about the B1 myself, but hey, if that's what MCs recommend, there's usually a good reason

[voyd]

Originally posted by omisan@Jan 4 2005, 02:59 AM
Nuendo now, which i haven't bothered to use (once again, windows only) but I hear good things about it. Steinberg's stuff uses the venerabl VST plug-in architecture, making their stuff infinitely expandable.

it lets you use Protools, which is proprietary and can only be used with Digidesign hardware - Mbox is the only Protools system you can get for $400

As for mics, the Shure SM57 and SM58 are *the* industry standard. And they're affordable, too, at around $90.

Wooaa, once again YOU ARE DA MAN! Muchos thanks!

I'll ask you some more educated questions once I know what to ask, but for starters:

1) What are VST files? And if I want to be able to import/export .mp3, .wav & .cda, etc files/samples - which programs would allow me to do that?

2) Mbox is hardware - but I thought it came with the Pro-Tools software too? Guess not?

3) Yea, I heard the Shure SM58 was the industry standard - but more for live performances on the road. Not necessarily numero uno for studio work, where durability and ruggedness are not really needed factors. Not that I need the best - I mean, my friend uses one he got from Radio Shack! But, I'd just rather be a smart consumer upfront than get stuck with junk I don't want later on...

[space virgin]

:bomb:

you guys might as well be speaking sanskrit for all I can understand any of this. but it's cool!

[Sijuki]

I was going to say from my experience Reason is a great program to use. Never got too big into Fruity Loops or Cakewalk really.

[omisan]

Ok, and now in Swahili to further confuse Space Virgin...

Alrighty, to answer your questions, Voyd:

1) VST stands for Virtual Studio Technology. VST files are like little plug-ins you can put into a digital audio application to replicate studio effects like reverb, delay, flange, equalization - whatever you can think of. Just about all audio apps will handle WAV files. MP3 generally won't be used by studio stuff because of the lousy compression, but if you need to work with an MP3 source - or any other format - you can look for any free converter that will turn what you have into WAV or AIF. There are some higher resolution formats out there that will handle 24-bit/96khz recordings... look at each program for what it can import.

2) Yup - Mbox comes with ProTools. I think it's a slightly stripped down version, though - i.e. I dont think it can handle as many tracks (128, is it?) as the full version, but then agian, if you're using that many tracks at once, you're probably going to go for a bigtime setup anyhow.

3) For in-studio use, you usually want one of those fancy multi-directional cardioid mics, along with a pop guard (helps with the P's T's and S's) and a "spider" shock mount to eliminate bounces and vibrations to keep the sound pristine... But I always thought it'd feel unnatural to MC without something you can hold in your hand.