The Logic Off Topic list

This week's session was attended by:BetaBrett, jay, Lennie,
chillisource,  marcr,  herman,   AcousticHipHop and  oink.

The Topic was 'laptop music production':

The following is a heavily edited summary of the forum chat:



 oink says,"OK lets talk about something"
 oink says,"hehe"
 jay says, "so betabrett (hehe)          what should i use for midi
conversion on my powerbook"
 BetaBrett says, "whacha mean?"
 jay says, "i have a motu and don't like it"
 BetaBrett says, "which one?"
 jay says, "fast lane"
 BetaBrett says, "Get a MIDI Tiimepiece"
 BetaBrett says, "It's a dream"
 Lennie says, "midi time is reat"
 Lennie says, "great )"
 BetaBrett says, "MOTU"
 BetaBrett reaches for coffee that isn't there
 jay says, "what do those things go for   "
 jay says to BetaBrett "ball park"
 BetaBrett says, "around $400 and worth every penny"
 jay says, "hmmm"
 Lennie says, "mtp AV for Mac"
 BetaBrett says, "That's the one"
 jay says, "that's the MOTU"
 BetaBrett says, "I have 2 MTP AVs"
 Lennie says, "isnt there 1 for PC & another forMAC?"
 BetaBrett says, "No - the current one has serial and USB"
 Lennie says, "ah OK"
 jay says, "you think the fast lane can be made to work?"
 BetaBrett says, "No experience with one, I'm afraid"
 oink says,"still havin issues with fastlane ?"
 jay says, "yes"
 oink says,"hmm, with both cubase and logic , or just logic ?"
 jay says, "but, i'm sure it could be made to work----just hate messin
with gear that takes too much time to configure"
 oink says,"try an MT4 instead"
 BetaBrett says, "jay... i forget... you on Mac or PC? Mac, right?"
 oink says,"he's on both"
 jay says, "truthfully, i spent quite a while with it and didn't get it,
so i went back to pc for midi"
 BetaBrett says, "ah"
 oink says,"ok so fastlane on mac"
 jay says, "right"
 BetaBrett says, "k"
 oink says,"OMS 2.3.8 installed and set up ?"
 BetaBrett says, "It requires OMS?"
 oink says,"if he's using USB"
 oink says,"he must use OMS"
 oink says,"unless its an emagic interface"
 Lennie says, "OMS is abig enough pain on its own he he"
 BetaBrett says, "Sure about that?"
 oink says,"on mac with USB, only Emagic interfaces can operate without
OMS"
 jay says, "both"
 oink says,"as the USB 'standard' is so vague"
 jay says, "installed in a specific order"
 oink says,"I'm a bit murky when it comes to Freemidi"
 oink says,"I now it can be in OMS-emulation mode"
 oink says,"let me just check if freemidi has to be running too"
 BetaBrett says, "You anly need FreeMIDI to set up MOTU boxes, not run
them"
 oink says,"ok"
 Lennie says, "no freemidi doesnt need to run with the OMS driver"
 jay says, "it does with the fastlane"
 Lennie says, "its an OMS USB driver that U may need"
 oink says,"well you will need the driver for the fastlane in opcode
folder in system, but it should be there already"
 BetaBrett says, "ah yes.... my mega 4 collects dust and looks hurt when
I walk by"
 oink says,"yes, make sure you have that"
 jay says, "you mac guys oughta give it up"
 jay says, "just kidding"
 Lennie says, "it doent install to the extebsions folder  U have to
place it there"
 BetaBrett says, "Damn... the MOTU site not respondiing"
 jay says, "ok Brett---next subject"


 oink says,"I was gonna float the subject of powerbooks and notepads
etc"
 jay says, "well how about what's the best audio hardware to add to a
powerbook"
 BetaBrett says, "laptalk is cool"
 oink says,"ooh, the best aint released yet"
 oink says,"AFAIK"
 marcr says, "Metric Halo's new box!~"
 BetaBrett says, "Digigram card is damn good"
 oink says,"like MetricHalo"
 oink says,"Digigram has been the standard"
 oink says,"828 is gaining tho"
 BetaBrett says, "Doesn't fit in my pocket  ;)"
 marcr says, "Emagic has a new USB Audio Interface"

 oink says,"and it needs mains power of course"
 marcr says, "the ESI 2I6"
 jay says to marcr "work?"
 marcr says, "dunno, only just available last week"
 marcr says, "for PC only"
 jay says, "how much"
 oink says,"anyone used the ESI yet ?"
 marcr says, "Mac drivers to come in 4 weeks"
 marcr says, "http://www.mhlabs.com/home.html"
 marcr says, "MOBILE I/O by Metric Halo"
 marcr says, "The Metric Halo Mobile I/O has DSP!"
 jay says, "what's DSP?"
 marcr says, "you should really check it out"
 marcr says, "Digital Signal Processing"
 oink says,"yes the DSP option is about 2 grand"
 marcr says, "the power to run plugz"
 oink says,"I mean the model with DSP"
 marcr says, "and MH's Channel Strip the the Bomb"
 marcr says, "(MAS,VST, TDM Plug-in) Jay"
 BetaBrett says, "The Metric Halo Mobile I/O connects how?"
 marcr says, "Firewire"
 oink says,"firewire"

 jay says, "so, is firewire on the rise?"
 BetaBrett says, "big time"
 marcr says, "Talkin' SCSI here man"
 marcr says, "gear junkies all around"
 oink says,"I note that 828 is supposed to be able to work with firewire
cardbus cards"
 oink says,"but not ones with NEC chip"
 BetaBrett says, "Like the Firewire-to-Go?"
 AcousticHipHop says, "i know it's better than USB"
 oink says,"I don't know how to find out what chip they use"
 oink says,"except to email the manufacturers"
 marcr says, "ha!"
 BetaBrett says, "With "laptop solutions" I assume"
 jay says, "good question"
 oink says,"ah"
 oink says,"I use a paper towel,is tat OK ?"
 Lennie says, "I use my T shirt"
 marcr says, "yea, the monitor cleaner crap leaves streaks"
 BetaBrett says, "You know... I've been timid about cleaning the
screen... at least use a SOFT cloth"
 jay goes to the drawer
 oink says,"actually, now I think of it, I never have cleaned it"
 BetaBrett says, "paper towels are scratchy"
 jay says, "what else were you thinking about laptops oink?"
 oink says,"like how fast is fast enough for live playing"
 oink says,"its been suggested to me that 400mhz is entry level there"
 jay says, "works for me"
 oink says,"any other ideas on that ?"
 marcr says, "live?"
 BetaBrett says, "I use a PB Bronze 400MHz without any probs"
 marcr says, "live performance?"
 oink says,"I have only a 266mhz G3PB"
 marcr says, "live performance with MIDI or Digital Audio or both?"
 oink says,"yes, live performance"
 jay says, "how would you record a band in a club with that brett?"
 oink says,"both"
 oink says,"sample mangling and midi"
 jay says, "right"
 jay says, "ok"
 BetaBrett says, "I'd usse a DAT"
 jay says, "but could you?"
 BetaBrett says, "Certainly"
 marcr says, "Yea you could Jay"
 jay says, "then how would you?"
 marcr says, "Stereo Recording"
 marcr says, "Peak, Pro Tools, LAP"
 jay says, "in what app"
 marcr says, "Logic Rocket even"
 oink says,"yet I have seem live performance stuf since years back"
 BetaBrett says, "I use Peak for stereo"
 jay says, "the light pro tools?"
 marcr says, "right, i use a G3/500 now for live performance"
 marcr says, "i used to use a G3/266"
 BetaBrett says, "Give us an example"
 marcr says, "Wallstreet"
 oink says,"Marc: have you any experience with LISA ?"
 marcr says, "nope"
 oink says,"yeh, I have wallstreet"
 marcr says, "i've used DP and LAP live"
 jay says, "i'm lost"
 marcr says, "sorry"
 marcr says, "let's address jay first"
 oink says,"hi jay"
 marcr says, "jay, if you wanna record audio live..."
 marcr says, "you have a stereo input on your pb"
 jay says, "yes?"
 marcr says, "it doesn't matter which app you use"
 marcr says, "the "sound" of your recording"
 marcr says, "is going to be a product of the AtoD's in the PB"
 marcr says, "use whatever you like "
 jay says, "so, you can run LAP for 45 minutes no probs?"
 marcr says, "yes"
 jay says, "ok"
 marcr says, "but LAP has a blasted settting"
 marcr says, "to limit record times"
 marcr says, "it's a pref"
 marcr says, "change it and you'll be fine"
 marcr says, "i hate that pref"
 jay says, "i was thinking-- take a mix from the board and run it"
 marcr says, "tell you the truth though"
 marcr says, "i'd use Pro Tools Free"
 BetaBrett says, "LAP has a limit in measures only..... for really long
recordings set it to a slow tempo"
 jay says, "ahh thanks brett"
 marcr says, "RIGHT BRETT"
 marcr says, "that's so anoying"
 jay says, "that's what i'm talking about"
 oink says,"anyone tested the limit on LAP in cycle record mode ?"
 BetaBrett says, "Whacha mean?"
 oink says,"well it should be able to fill your drive"
 oink says,"if you reord in cycle record, shouldn't it ?"
 BetaBrett says, "Never tried that limit.... but it must work"
 BetaBrett says, "Good idea :)"
 Lennie says, "why would U want to? he he"
 oink says,"oh, duh, I have done it"
 oink says,"oh people wanna record live gigs"
 BetaBrett says, "That really is a good idea"
 oink says,"I did it once way back"
 Lennie says, "so in cycle each cycle would create a new file?"
 Lennie says, "or just 1 long 1"
 oink says,"not live gig, but to catch some ambient noise"
 oink says,"left it on all night"
 oink says,"but my drives weren't so big then"
 BetaBrett says, "I never trust a computer for that kind of thing (like
a live gig)"
 oink says,"I think I got a bout 2 hrs"
 oink says,"me neither"
 oink says,"and I wouldn't trust one big file either"
 BetaBrett says, "I go DAT and SPDIF it into the PB"
 oink says,"yes"
 BetaBrett says, "My remote rig is DAT, AT825 stereo mic, PB, and
Digigram card, plus maybe a Mackie 1202"
 Lennie says, "I just use Dat or even a CD recorder "
 oink says,"that sounds very nice"
 BetaBrett says, "Without the Mackie, I need no mains power"
 oink says,"what PB do you have ?"
 BetaBrett says, "Bronze"
 oink says,"cool"
 oink says,"I wish I'd gone for a bronze instead of wallstreet"
 BetaBrett says, "What was it - price?"
 oink says,"with what I've spent on upgrading"
 oink says,"this was late last year"
 BetaBrett says, "ah"
 oink says,"er$AU 2.4k"
 BetaBrett says, "what's the conversion rate to US$ ?"
 oink says,"and I coulda got bronze a few months later for that"
 oink says,"about $US 0.52"
 BetaBrett says, "good deal tho"
 oink says,"well the processor needed replacing after a month or two"
 oink says,"it was fried"
 BetaBrett says, "poopie"
 oink says,"and it was tricky getting 256mb RAM in it"
 oink says,"and I have bought usb adapter"
 oink says,"and guess I will buy a firewire adapter"
 BetaBrett says, "256 in a PB is nice.... i only have 192"
 oink says,"well they said in the manual 192 was the limit"
 BetaBrett says, "The firewire cards are cheap, but not allways full
duplex"
 oink says,"but when I was havin the processor replaced"
 oink says,"the tech said you could put a 128 in the bottom slot now"
 BetaBrett says, "cool... good techie"
 oink says,"that the limitation was only because old 128s were too high"

 BetaBrett says, "so i heard"
 oink says,"and its been working fine since"
 oink says,"when you say full duplex with firewire cards, do you mean
adapters ?"
 BetaBrett says, "I have a Firewire-2-Go card, and it has problems
sending data in and out at the same time, or so it seems"
 BetaBrett says, "It was the first model tho"
 oink says,"hmm, that would be worth checking"
 BetaBrett says, "Yeah..."

 oink says,"have you seemn the laptop music mailing list  ?"
 oink says,"I just joined"
 BetaBrett says, "no i haven't"
 oink says,"http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LapTopMusic"

 BetaBrett says, "I will check it out for sure"



***********************************************************************
 Disclaimer: I have edited this chat substantially, but done my utmost
to maintain the sense of what was said. This is to be regarded as only a

precis of the actual chat, and any unforseen or contentious inference
that can be drawn form one line to the next, is purely unintentional on
my part, and cannot be attributed to the persons who posted the chat.

***********************************************************************

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Dave Eager [oink]