Fairlight-CMI

--- In Fairlight-CMI@yahoogroups.com, Splitpoint <splitpoint@u...> wrote:
> The one thing that concerns me about the Fairlight series III is the 
> scsi interface and disk space.  My Waveframe has 36GB (9GBx4)online 
> and can use pretty much any scsi device available, exabyte 8 mm tape 
> is built into the system for backup.  From what I've read the
> maximum disk size is 4GB and the Fairlight will only recognize
> certain drives. Is there any other backup method for the Fairlight 
> besides the streamer tape?  How fast are the sample load times from
> the scsi interface?

I understand the MaxOptics Tahiti drives work - I've got a T6 I was
going to try it out though I suspect it may not work and I'll have to
try and find a T5 somewhere.  T5 in native mode would give you around
2.5Gb of backup storage per cartridge (unformatted).

I know it's possible to support multiple devices on the SCSI bus so in
theory (someone correct me here?) you should be able to have 5 x 4gb
hard drives + a Tahiti backup device = 4 x 5 = 20Gb of sample data?

As for load speeds - I think the Series III is respectable for it's
age - sure a multi-sample is going to take a while - but waiting for
my MPC4000 to load a sample of CD the other day, I wondered if we've
really moved forward with sampler technology in the past 10 years!



> It's interesting that you would say that, I can definitely hear the 
> difference between an EIV compared to the Waveframe as well.  The 
> Waveframe is the quietest piece of gear that I have but colors the 
> sound in a good way and sounds amazingly better than the cheaper 
> stuff.  

I have two Synclavier poly-sampling machines - one is reputedly the
last machine to come into the UK and has the absolute latest revision
of voice cards (prior to Demas' own versions) and it sounds precise -
completely flat and crystal clear (not sure if these analogies mean
anything to anyone else!) - my other polysampling machine is a
relatively early machine and has the most stunning colouration - don't
ask me why but I can take any sound, bang it into the PSMT and it will
sound better on playback and when recorded - technical people tell me
it's to do with dynamic compression, saturation and expansion based on
the analogue output stage - but whatever - it just sounds wonderful :-0



> Seems like once you've heard he higher end samplers (Synclavier, 
> Fairlight, Waveframe and even the orginal EIII) it changes your 
> whole perspective on the cheaper samplers (I used to have ayamaha
> a4000 and an E64) I think it is the quality of the components used
> in their construction the makes the difference.

Funny you should mention that - I bought an EIII keyboard for a play
and fell in love with the sound - so I've bought two EIII racks - NOT
EIIIXP but EIII with the analogue filters.



> I'm most interested in sampling and processing my own sounds so the 
> library doesn't really mean that much to me.  User interface and 
> sound mean everything to me which brings us to:

I know I'm running the risk of going off topic here but - have you
looked at Symbolic Sound's Kyma on the Capybara?  Immensely powerful
and a great tool for real time sound / sample processing. have a look
at www.symbolicsound.com


> 9600 is out of the question at this point. I'm looking to add 
> another high quality sampler to my existing setup that has a 
> different sound than the Waveframe.  A 9600 is major overkill for 
> this task.  A Series III seems to fit well as I don't need the disk 
> recorder on the Synclavier. Is the 9600 available as a sampling 
> system only?

Not as far as I'm aware - the only options are whether FM voices and
how many poly sampling voices are installed - otherwise all the good
stuff comes with the OS.

Given what you're looking for - i.e.: a high end sampler - the Series
III is an outstanding machine - it's very stable (well, mine are), the
UI is a little odd but I've got used to it (almost!) and it's a really
practical machine - a friend of mine was over at the weekend and
wanted to upload some CD's I'd made onto his E6400 Ultra the UI is
*so* bad he ended up effectively 'restoring' from these CD's
obliterating his entire year's work - Fairlights / Synclaviers /
Waveframe's UI is just soooo much more advanced than the 3 x 40 LCD of
an EMU / Akai / other sampler - and the difference is in the sound
quality.

FWIW - I'd find a Series III and enjoy it - it's a musical instrument
and not many samplers are 'musical' - then save for a Synclavier. PS:
Did I mention I was selling one of my Series III's?  ;-)

Just my thoughts.....

Philip