JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques General Technical Forum Mac or Windows?

If you are looking for something more along the lines of a work tape instead of a big production (which all of mine basically are) then any 98 Windows and over version works fine.
Audacity and .wav is all I have used.
I am glad I was warned about Vista.

I have noticed too that the smaller hard drives seem to make the music easier to manage and if possdible, a computer that is not used for the internet.

I have become a fan of these little external hard drives the size of a small bic lighter.

A MAC would be great!

It is something I do not feel I need for a thousand dollar plus investment and I like recording lo-fi and also integrate with analog means.
So I am trying to make at the most a more superior work tape.

I would love to snatch one of these old apple computers from the eighties.

It's not a memory stick, but a so-called dongle. It's supposed to prevent software piracy: you can only use the software when the dongle is attached to a USB slot in your computer. Can be very frustrating if you are a mobile user: forget your dongle and you simply cannot get any work done! ARGH!

(the irony, of course, is that users of the pirated versions of these programs do not suffer such discomforts)

iLok is a system used by various vendors. The upside is that you can have one of those darned dongles and use it for several software programs. The downsides are that you can still forget said dongle and that you actually have to buy one separately (they do not ship with the software - for obvious reasons).

I think it's downright insulting that, as a paying customer, I have to invest in a piece of hardware that is supposed to prevent others from stealing the software (and fails horribly at that!). As such, I actively avoid buying software that requires the iLok dongle - there's plenty of good alternatives that do not.

Thanks Jim! Yeah, that's sad. I guess I won't be purchasing the Ivory piano sample.

Best, John

Maybe this is the one for you: http://www.proaudiovault.com/bluthner-piano-samples.htm

Btw. the Steinway that comes with Garritan is fairly decent already. You could just stick with that one for now

I'll check out the link Jim. Thanks.

I've already purchased a Mac and Logic Pro 8 Matt. It's up and running. I'm shopping for samples this week.

Best, John

These samples sound great. http://www.eastwestsamples.com/details.php?cd_index=1046

Wondering if I'll have any technical difficulties using them in the IMac and Logic Pro 8??? I've been reading about the problems in Logic Pro 8 with the Platinum Version of the East West Orchestra samples.

My IMac: 24-inch : 3.06GHz, 4 gig RAM,

Best, John

Yeah, it's a USB "dongle" that some software companies require to prevent unauthorized copying of their program. I forget how many of my programs use the iLok (some of Digidesign and all of Waves and Native Instruments, maybe Ivory, too), but I've had one for probably five years for copy protection. If the program requires it, it doesn't matter whether you want to use it or not. You'll have to have one.

I also just bought a Synchrosoft dongle for my Aurtura Minimoog program, so now I have two (I actually have a different brand left over from an old version of Logic Pro, which isn't needed for LP8).

I much prefer it over the "challenge-response" type of copy protection. When I move to a new computer, I simply re-install the software and plug in the iLok. If your hard disk crashes at some point (they all do), again, you simply re-install the software and your iLok is still good. It holds the software licenses, so it can get pretty valuable over time (mine's probably worth $3-4k in software licenses that I own).

With the challenge-response systems, you'll have to call up (some are automated on-line systems) each manufacturer and get a new "code" to activate the product. Most are pretty cool about it if this only happens every couple of years, but it's still not as convenient for me.

The downside is that you can lose your iLok or it can get stolen or broken. However, with iLok, you can install the software on a desktop AND a laptop and switch the iLok between them.

Because there is so much software piracy, the manufacturers have to do something and iLok is one of the best protections they can have. Like ANY copy protection, it's a bit of a PITA for regular users.

Don't know about PLAY and Logic Pro. I know that the PLAY engine from EastWest has some issues with Protools.

Make sure you check out the Logic Forum and ask there:

http://logicprohelp.com/

Great group of guys there.


The link you provided is to the Quantum Leap Pianos that I mentioned above. It may sound better than Ivory, but I haven't used it myself. Ivory works well for me. It will also (no doubt) take up 40GB of storage for the samples.

Thanks for all the info Larry. Yeah, gotta be sure those samples will work before purchasing. I'm sure there's no returns on samples.

Best, John

Has anyone heard the "Akoustic Piano" samples? Here's a sample: http://www.box.net/public/lxx1nojh74

What'd think???

John

Yeah, I've heard it. I like Ivory better. That's why I bought it.

Somewhere, I found a side-by-side comparison of each of the major piano samplers playing the exact same midi file. You could try a google search.

I found this (a couple of years old, though). These guys seemed to like Akoustik Piano. It's certainly cheaper.

http://emusician.com/sftinstruments/emusic_software_eightyeights/

Thanks Larry! Here's one comparison:

Akoustic Pian:
http://www.box.net/public/lxx1nojh74
Ivory:
http://www.box.net/public/ip99rzebes

Although I think "Ivory" sounds a little bit better (especially in the high register), don't know if it's worth the extra money (not to mention the extra expense of the ILoc).

I sent these links to two friends. Both liked the Akoustic better. I imagine it depends on the playback systems. Anyway, they're both good to my ears. Yeah, Ivory slightly better. I still have the rest of the day to decide, but I want to get past this - it's making me crazy.

I also decided on these samples:
EastWest Symphonic Orchestra Sample Collection Software - Gold Complete ($445)