Integrate this with DP now

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Killahurts
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Re: Integrate this with DP now

Post by Killahurts »

waxman wrote:This is about having a system with mics that cost $150 bucks but perform like mega buck mics.

...8 channel pre and 6 mics for $3k? Three more mics for $450. That's certainly different.
I agree, I have my eye set on this system.. as an addition to my studio, not a replacement. It is brilliant that the product could be used stand-alone, or integrated into more pro/complex studio environments. It's the interface for all seasons- mics are whatever you want, pre's are whatever you want, price point is insane, latency was a key consideration, made a card for PC's and us Mac holdouts, and it will work with DP.

Speaking of that, I wonder how it would interface with DP's new Pre-Gen thing? Would the latency be less by half? Guess I'm not sure how much of the processing DSP is on-board the Slate box. Or, is there none, and it's a matter of delivery to and from the DAW that makes the difference in this system? Whatever, I know some of you guys don't agree, but I do think this IS a game-changer. That many high quality small diaphragm and a large diaphragm mic with all that modeling, along with that grade of preamp, A/D and headroom for $3000 is just stupid. Just hope I don't have to wait a year to get mine.
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Michael Canavan
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Re: Integrate this with DP now

Post by Michael Canavan »

Killahurts wrote: I do think this IS a game-changer. That many high quality small diaphragm and a large diaphragm mic with all that modeling, along with that grade of preamp, A/D and headroom for $3000 is just stupid. Just hope I don't have to wait a year to get mine.
The more I think about it you're right. I'm mostly a tradesman for money, I do music as an extended hobby, I hate to call it amateur, especially since I started on a Mac + with Performer 1 in 86 or so.. I've just never been interested in playing the kind of music you need to, to make money at it.
Though I could easily see selling the Fireface 800 here, getting the 3K package, and setting up my studio to record local bands, the return on that could happen in a month or two without even trying. Decent mics are a HUGE expense with this, so mics that even capture even 90% of the essence of a 2K mic are worth it without a doubt.
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bayswater
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Re: Integrate this with DP now

Post by bayswater »

Michael Canavan wrote:Decent mics are a HUGE expense with this, so mics that even capture even 90% of the essence of a 2K mic are worth it without a doubt.
That's certainly true if you need a lot of mics. Less so over the long run if you use one or two and need the Slate plugins to make them work well. But even then you'd buy two mics and get a big cabinet full.

There don't seem to be any big downsides other than perhaps being locked into one supplier's line of products. It will be interesting to see how other suppliers respond to this.

Going back to the subject line: what does it mean to "integrate" this with DP?
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waxman
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Re: Integrate this with DP now

Post by waxman »

Michael Canavan wrote: Decent mics are a HUGE expense with this, so mics that even capture even 90% of the essence of a 2K mic are worth it without a doubt.
I would be delighted with 75%... but you right it is closer to 90 to 95%. I know from using the VMS the mic model is indistinguishable in a mix. The bottom line there is nothing in Slates recording eco system to hold a dude or dudette back. Making a recording that is state of the art and can compete with any studio is reality. The under 10k state of the art studio has arrived.

I am so pumped to be mobile with a MacBook Pro that is every bit as powerful as my trash can mac. Hey Steve Slate what about some disposable mic stands that weigh about 2 lbs each? And something like the Aston Halo mic shield for about $25 bucks. How about the best audio cable for about $8 bucks for two and weigh under a pound. hahaha Who wants to guess what sector of the recording studio Slate will disrupt next? He said this was 2 years in the making. Wonder what he is working on right now that comes out in two years. About 6 months ago I wrote a post that any company should be very concerned about Slates vision to disrupt. These guys are the ones that shatter the status quo.... It's the Steve Jobs playbook. Man does anyone do this who is not named Steve or Bill? ahahahah See that big list of crap below... well it will be a lot smaller yet more powerful a year from now. Not only that but I will bank some cash in the transition.
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wonder
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Re: Integrate this with DP now

Post by wonder »

Personal opinions about the heavy saturation of metal/rock/90's in the ENTIRE Slate picture aside ... what He (*cough* Fabrice Gabriel) is doing with Raven, VMS, etc is pretty cool.

Revolutionary? Only time will tell.

The question remains though....this isn't just a Preamp. Its an interface. So, one would have to select the Rack Preamp AS DP's selection as Hardware.

Which leads me to headphone cues.

For us that use CueMix, does this now render CueMix unusable?

I'm guessing to be able to hear the Mics' run through the plugin, we'd have to select "monitor tracks though Effects" ... and not "direct hardware play through".

So, we'd be essentially adding latency just with that alone...right?

I'm eager to see the Software that comes with the Virtual Studio to initiate routing.
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bayswater
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Re: Integrate this with DP now

Post by bayswater »

wonder wrote:For us that use CueMix, does this now render CueMix unusable?
Cuemix only runs on MOTU interfaces anyway, so it makes no difference to Cuemix. Slate made a point of saying that his is not a DSP solution, so to monitor through plugins, the signal would have to go through the plugin host, probably a DAW. So my question above was whether you get <1 msec latency with plugins in a round trip signal path?
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Killahurts
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Re: Integrate this with DP now

Post by Killahurts »

bayswater wrote:Slate made a point of saying that his is not a DSP solution, so to monitor through plugins, the signal would have to go through the plugin host, probably a DAW. So my question above was whether you get <1 msec latency with plugins in a round trip signal path?
I don't exactly know.. but I heard somewhere that the Slate Virtual Mix Rack operates in a no-latency environment. I'm sure that means it operates as some kind of shell for the plugins, that has a special relationship with DP's ADC.. you can readily observe this by dropping in more plugs while the music is playing- no hiccups. Maybe it's this approach that Slate is using to gain the edge on latency with this new product.

I certainly didn't hear him say you could track with plugins other than his, and get the same performance.
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bayswater
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Re: Integrate this with DP now

Post by bayswater »

Killahurts wrote:I don't exactly know.. but I heard somewhere that the Slate Virtual Mix Rack operates in a no-latency environment. I'm sure that means it operates as some kind of shell for the plugins, that has a special relationship with DP's ADC.. you can readily observe this by dropping in more plugs while the music is playing- no hiccups. Maybe it's this approach that Slate is using to gain the edge on latency with this new product.

I certainly didn't hear him say you could track with plugins other than his, and get the same performance.
That makes sense. There must still be some buffering somewhere -- 256 samples at 48K gives you 5 msec?, but maybe not enough to notice. I guess they're not going to tell us how they do it.
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bayswater
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Re: Integrate this with DP now

Post by bayswater »

bayswater wrote:
Killahurts wrote:I don't exactly know.. but I heard somewhere that the Slate Virtual Mix Rack operates in a no-latency environment. I'm sure that means it operates as some kind of shell for the plugins, that has a special relationship with DP's ADC.. you can readily observe this by dropping in more plugs while the music is playing- no hiccups. Maybe it's this approach that Slate is using to gain the edge on latency with this new product.

I certainly didn't hear him say you could track with plugins other than his, and get the same performance.
That makes sense. There must still be some buffering somewhere -- 256 samples at 48K gives you 5 msec?, but maybe not enough to notice. From a post by Slate on GS "You can track and monitor through all of those effects assuming your computer is modern." I guess they're not going to tell us how they do it.
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waxman
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Re: Integrate this with DP now

Post by waxman »

It's the mixer just like UAD has the console. If you use plugs I think he said it goes from .7 to 1.2. UAD is 2ms and it is undetectable...
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Re: Integrate this with DP now

Post by dix »

buzzsmith wrote:
dix wrote:One reservation I have about the VRS-8 is that it's line-out only. I don't get that. This may be a dumb question, but isn't line-out considered to be a consumer standard? What am I missing? Isn't a balanced output a basic pro standard?
I'm not sure about other MOTU interfaces, but my 24I/O is line in and line out only as are my other 2 legacy 2408s.

So, I think that I'm OK with that.
I might be too, but I'd think a pro facility that's currently using Avid or UA would want balanced, +4 outputs if they were going to adopt this I/O. Since no one on Gearslutz or anywhere else is asking about this there must be something I don't get re impedance etc. Can someone please explain to me why Slate would only have line-outs on their no-compromise I/O, or point me to resource that explains it? Thx
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Re: Integrate this with DP now

Post by dix »

Well, Steve Slate just answered this himself on FB. The VRS-8 outs are +4 TRS. Somehow I got it in my head that Line-Out = TS -10db. Live and learn. ...and then forget and learn again!

Carry on...
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buzzsmith
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Re: Integrate this with DP now

Post by buzzsmith »

dix wrote:Well, Steve Slate just answered this himself on FB. The VRS-8 outs are +4 TRS. Somehow I got it in my head that Line-Out = TS -10db. Live and learn. ...and then forget and learn again!

Carry on...
Good to know and thanks.

Buzzy


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Killahurts
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Re: Integrate this with DP now

Post by Killahurts »

bayswater wrote:
Killahurts wrote:I don't exactly know.. but I heard somewhere that the Slate Virtual Mix Rack operates in a no-latency environment. I'm sure that means it operates as some kind of shell for the plugins, that has a special relationship with DP's ADC.. you can readily observe this by dropping in more plugs while the music is playing- no hiccups. Maybe it's this approach that Slate is using to gain the edge on latency with this new product.

I certainly didn't hear him say you could track with plugins other than his, and get the same performance.
That makes sense. There must still be some buffering somewhere -- 256 samples at 48K gives you 5 msec?, but maybe not enough to notice. I guess they're not going to tell us how they do it.
Well, insanely fast A/D/D/A will certainly help.. keep in mind that all the specs he talked about in that video were based on 96k. Substantially less latency per buffer settings, the higher sample rate you go, at least for conversions.. I forgot the formula (maybe it's simple math) but if you work in 44.1/48 you're going to have more, even with the Slate system.. I think all serious latency reduction for live tracking/monitoring is going to have to be approached working with the higher sample rates. Guess I need to start saving for a new computer. :wink:
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bayswater
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Re: Integrate this with DP now

Post by bayswater »

Killahurts wrote: all the specs he talked about in that video were based on 96k. Substantially less latency per buffer settings, the higher sample rate you go, at least for conversions.. I forgot the formula (maybe it's simple math) but if you work in 44.1/48 you're going to have more, even with the Slate system.. I think all serious latency reduction for live tracking/monitoring is going to have to be approached working with the higher sample rates. Guess I need to start saving for a new computer. :wink:
Right, at 96K, latency is half what it is a 48K because it is measured in samples. But a new computer? My old coal powered iMac can do 192K. If you go much higher than that, you've got a little AM radio station.
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