Audio out opinions

[TimWheeler]

Hey all,

 

I've been using an Ozonic for gigs, which is ideal because it has a midi in, and many of the places I play have a house keyboard that I just midi out to the ozonic.

 

Thing is, the firewire interface on the Ozonic is not hot pluggable and if you know what that means, I've been in reboot / proper sequence hell a number of times. A wrong jiggle of the cable can shut me down for 5-10 minutes which is unnacceptable in a live forum. A class compliant USB controller is so much more dependable... that and the Ozonic is simply too small a keyboard in a lot of cases.

 

I love the quality of the Ozonic audio, and the flexibility of 4 outputs.. (though I've only used the additional stereo pair one time.)

 

I'm looking at other controllers, but its becoming apparent that a controller / audio interface is more and more becoming extinct.

 

Is there anyone using their MacBook Pro audio out for gigs?

 

I'm really wondering if I should even bother with an audio interface and just use the 1/8 out to 1/4" pair cable. My Early 2008 MBP has optical out, as well, but the adaptor/wiring would be fragile and a hassle.

 

I don't want to risk taking my Duet on the road, and although I have an old Mbox which would be more than fine for live, alas Digidesign dropped support and I discovered its been a brick since SL and Lion.

 

Any opinions / input?

[Eric Cardenas]

I use either the analog or the digital out directly from the MacBook Pro.

That gets rid of all the hassle with drivers and firewire/usb cables.

 

One important thing is to change the bit rate to 24 or 32(floating) in the Audio MIDI Setup. That will eliminate all quantization errors.

 

Good Luck.

 

/Eric

[TimWheeler]

Thanks. What are your favorite controllers for gigging?

[Eric Cardenas]

Thanks. What are your favorite controllers for gigging?

 

I have various...

One that I really like in conjunction with MainStage is my Novation SL MkII (4 octaves).

I just like the feeling and action of the key bed.

When using with MainStage I never use the Automap feature.

 

I have an evolution keyboard (5 octaves), AKAI MPK 88 (8 octaves) and a little AKAI LPK 25(2 octaves)... All can have a purpose

 

How many keys do you need? Do you need drum pads, MIDI buttons/faders?

How do you use MainStage?

[TimWheeler]

I've been looking at the MPK88. Although I'm not crazy about the weight.. I really like the feel of the board, though. I also have an Axiom 49 1st generation. (much better keys than the 2nd gen)

 

I do a once a month gig with a local church which entails learning 2-3 popular songs, (they have have a house Motif which I midi out.

 

However, I'm joining an original band project that will have a quiver of about 30-40 original songs, pretty involved with ambient sounds and multiple key patches.. Mainstage will be a dream for that. I rewire Reason and Omnisphere.

 

With the new gig, I can see a likelihood of using the trigger pads.. and starting loops, etc.

 

(incidentally, is it my imagination, or have you seen an improvement of resources with Lion. I used to max out Mainstage all the time with Omnisphere.. things seem more robust under Lion.)

[Eric Cardenas]

I would just use the Axiom as a start and build from there.

 

And yeah!!! The MPK88 is really heavy. 8)

[pizzafilms]

I use the 1/8 audio out of my MBP all the time. Sounds great. No problems.

 

I use a Novation SL MkII 61 and a Yamaha KX8. I like having a weighted keyboard for piano stuff and synth keybed for B3 and synth stuff.

 

I completely agree...the keys on the Novation feel wonderful, as do the Yamaha's for piano. The KX8 is awesome, but not made anymore. It's a shame that the keyboard controller options are so lame. And yes, Automap is so not worth the bother with Mainstage.

 

And I LOVE Omnisphere!