Alternatives to DSP Quattro

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stevenew
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Alternatives to DSP Quattro

Post by stevenew »

I have been using DSP Quattro for years, since version 1 I think, mainly for mastering for CD and outputting DDP files. Recently I have been having various issues with DSPQ, mainly to do with modern plugins, Ozone 7 in particular and I am guessing DSPQ still being 32bit is part of this problem. I know it has been rumoured for ages that there will be a new version 5 but I can no longer wait.

I know the obvious alternative is Wavelab but that is a hell of a price jump and might be overkill, not sure if the lite version would do. I tried Triumph but could not get on with it.

I could use Ozone 7 standalone and get CD Burn by Hofa to output DDP & CDs. Would be nice to have it all in one app though.

Is there any other app I have not thought of?

Thanks
2018 3.2 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7 16GB. External SSD Sample Drives. macOS Monterey 12.2. MOTU 624 & 8D. Cubase Pro 11, Wavelab Pro 11, DP 9.52, DSP Quattro 5. Arturia, Gforce, iZotope, NI, Plugin Alliance, Slate, SSD5, Soniccouture, Spectrasonics, Spitfire. Novation 61 SLMKII, JBL LSR 305, Sennheiser HD600, AKG 240MKII. PRS, Martin Guitars, Mensinger Bass. Vox & Orange amps. Line 6 Helix.
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mikehalloran
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Re: Alternatives to DSP Quattro

Post by mikehalloran »

I use DP and open the master track in DSP-Q to add the sub codes. I could use Toast 14 but DSP-Q has its advantages.

TwistedWave has much of this functionality but I don't know if it's good for the task. Easy enough for me to check this evening—also to see how well Ozone 7 Advanved plays with it.
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stevenew
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Re: Alternatives to DSP Quattro

Post by stevenew »

Thanks for that, I don't know TwistedWave, I'll take a look at it.

DSPQ & Ozone 7, once I have multiple instances of Ozone in the region effects of the tracks in the CD layout and one in the CD effects I have start getting glitches & crashes, sometimes DSPQ just quits, it is getting a real pain.
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Guitar Gaz
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Re: Alternatives to DSP Quattro

Post by Guitar Gaz »

I bought DSP Quattro many years ago when Bias stopped trading and supposedly made Peak Pro 7 redundant. However I am glad I kept using Peak Pro 7 as it still works in the latest version of El Capitan (I always post for every OS update and report on whether it works). I have never really liked DSP Quattro. To be honest, if and when Peak Pro 7 stops working, I will probably do audio file manipulation in DP rather than use DSP Quattro. Strangely Peak Pro 7 works better under El Capitan than it did under Yosemite.
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mhschmieder
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Re: Alternatives to DSP Quattro

Post by mhschmieder »

Having just upgraded to El Capitan last week, I can confirm what Guitar Gaz said about BIAS Peak Pro working better in El Capitan than in Yosemite. Quite a surprise, really.

I'm usually too short on time to fight an app that isn't working for me, even though I know the best policy is to assume it's "User Error". So I'll list what hasn't worked for ME in DSP-Quattro:

Reliability. Constant crashes. No history to recall. LOST TIME (and settings).

Inability to easily go where you want to go in an audio track and/or limit your focus.

I do all of my actual audio editing in BIAS Peak Pro still, as it seems to give the most control, flexibility, precision, and even quality of results.

Due to 64-bit compatibility, I apply most of my plug-ins in DSP-Quattro now, knowing full well that I may have to restart a session -- so I take careful notes all along the way.

For awhile, I was trying to use iZotope RX Advanced for my mastering, but it only allows one plug-in at a time, and sometimes crashes, leading to confusion and sometimes applying a plug-in twice by mistake (or forgetting a plug-in in your preferred chain). Editing is pretty good overall though.

I may download the latest (quite recent) Wavelab update for a trial run, once I am at Mastering stage of one of my seven simultaneous projects. If I do so prematurely, the demo could run out before I get to use it.
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stevenew
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Re: Alternatives to DSP Quattro

Post by stevenew »

Interesting posts - thanks. I never bought Peak Pro, wish I had now:-)

TBH I have had many issues with DSPQ, some I have been able to ignore but now I am getting problems with DDP files I can no longer work round it.

I could do most of the mastering in the standalone Ozone 7 Advanced but the lack of control over the audio outputs, i.e. it will only output to the main outs 1&2 on my MOTU Traveler is a real pain, RX will allow you to choose which output pairs.

I can see no real alternative other than Wavelab, I tried the Triumph demo twice but I found it really unintuitive - probably just me as a lot of people rate it.

Anyone use the Hofa CD Burn?
2018 3.2 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7 16GB. External SSD Sample Drives. macOS Monterey 12.2. MOTU 624 & 8D. Cubase Pro 11, Wavelab Pro 11, DP 9.52, DSP Quattro 5. Arturia, Gforce, iZotope, NI, Plugin Alliance, Slate, SSD5, Soniccouture, Spectrasonics, Spitfire. Novation 61 SLMKII, JBL LSR 305, Sennheiser HD600, AKG 240MKII. PRS, Martin Guitars, Mensinger Bass. Vox & Orange amps. Line 6 Helix.
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mikehalloran
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Re: Alternatives to DSP Quattro

Post by mikehalloran »

I played with TwistedWave again. So close... it lets you store metadata, handles multiple plugins etc. but does not have CD burning. Once you are done, you still want to load it into DSP-Q or Toast to finish CD prep. Here's the manual.
https://twistedwave.com/doc/index.html

Toast 14 lets you prepare the final master but has a flaw (besides only one plug at a time). Previewing a fade is glitchy. The burned CD sounds great but I want to hear it properly on my Mac before I make a coaster. Before I bought DSP-Q it's what I used.
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stevenew
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Re: Alternatives to DSP Quattro

Post by stevenew »

Thanks for looking in to that Mike, I appreciate it.

It looks like I have two options if I don't want to use DSPQ:

1) By the Hofa CD Burn standalone/plugin and use it with DP.

2) If I want it all in one app buy Wavelab! (Full version, the cut down Wavelab does not output DDP files)

What's stopping me buying Wavelab? - cost as always:-) I actually have a really old version of Wavelab, version 2 I think but unfortunately it is not eligible for upgrade.
2018 3.2 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7 16GB. External SSD Sample Drives. macOS Monterey 12.2. MOTU 624 & 8D. Cubase Pro 11, Wavelab Pro 11, DP 9.52, DSP Quattro 5. Arturia, Gforce, iZotope, NI, Plugin Alliance, Slate, SSD5, Soniccouture, Spectrasonics, Spitfire. Novation 61 SLMKII, JBL LSR 305, Sennheiser HD600, AKG 240MKII. PRS, Martin Guitars, Mensinger Bass. Vox & Orange amps. Line 6 Helix.
stevenew
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Re: Alternatives to DSP Quattro

Post by stevenew »

Update:

What a merry-go-round this is!

I have bought HOFA CD Burn-DDP, apart from the garish GUI it is straight forward to use and works, import your dithered 16-bit wav or use the built-in dither on your 24-bit files, then layout tracks, add gaps, fades, meta data UPC, ISRC etc, then export DDP or burn CD all seems to work as it should. If only it enabled you to add plugins to your files - but it doesn't.

So I still need something to do all the plugin mastering, I have demoed Wavelab, I hate the GUI, to me it feels messy, lots of tiny icons, very un-Mac like but it works. I have demoed Triumph again, finally understand the layer concept but it constantly crashes, I wrote to the developer who initially seemed helpful and offered to let me have a beta that should address some of the crashes, but have heard nothing since, my trial is about to run out and am hesitant to spend on a app that crashes, also there are issues with Slate plugins which could be a problem for me.

I did think about Sound Forge but see it has now been bought by Magix and no statement that it is going to be continued.

I have experimented with using DP but unless I am being stupid (not the first time) I can see no easy way to export multiple 24-bit tracks to multiple 16-bit tracks without doing them one by one.

So it looks like I am left with one choice Wavelab!
2018 3.2 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7 16GB. External SSD Sample Drives. macOS Monterey 12.2. MOTU 624 & 8D. Cubase Pro 11, Wavelab Pro 11, DP 9.52, DSP Quattro 5. Arturia, Gforce, iZotope, NI, Plugin Alliance, Slate, SSD5, Soniccouture, Spectrasonics, Spitfire. Novation 61 SLMKII, JBL LSR 305, Sennheiser HD600, AKG 240MKII. PRS, Martin Guitars, Mensinger Bass. Vox & Orange amps. Line 6 Helix.
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bayswater
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Re: Alternatives to DSP Quattro

Post by bayswater »

stevenew wrote:So it looks like I am left with one choice Wavelab!
Last I heard from the creator of DSP-Q, he intended to produce V5. You might want to send him an email via his support page and ask him if the release is soon. He usually responds very quickly.
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stevenew
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Re: Alternatives to DSP Quattro

Post by stevenew »

bayswater wrote: Last I heard from the creator of DSP-Q, he intended to produce V5. You might want to send him an email via his support page and ask him if the release is soon. He usually responds very quickly.
I have written to Stefano maybe three or four times over the past year with various issues and have never received any reply, I have been using DSPQ since 2005 and yes in the past always received a reply very quickly, in fact looking back over my old emails, most times he replied the same day.

I guess I could try one last time.
2018 3.2 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7 16GB. External SSD Sample Drives. macOS Monterey 12.2. MOTU 624 & 8D. Cubase Pro 11, Wavelab Pro 11, DP 9.52, DSP Quattro 5. Arturia, Gforce, iZotope, NI, Plugin Alliance, Slate, SSD5, Soniccouture, Spectrasonics, Spitfire. Novation 61 SLMKII, JBL LSR 305, Sennheiser HD600, AKG 240MKII. PRS, Martin Guitars, Mensinger Bass. Vox & Orange amps. Line 6 Helix.
stevenew
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Re: Alternatives to DSP Quattro

Post by stevenew »

I wrote again to Stefano and got a reply, he had to stop work on DSP-Q 5 earlier this year but is now working on it full time, he hopes it will be released around the end of this year. Great news but does not help me for now. He did ask me to send details of the current issues I am having, which I did. It would be great if he were able to do some fixes to the current version, but I suspect not.

So currently I am still left with one option that seems to work - Wavelab, I just wish it was not so expensive and didn't feel like using a Windows app from the 90s!
2018 3.2 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7 16GB. External SSD Sample Drives. macOS Monterey 12.2. MOTU 624 & 8D. Cubase Pro 11, Wavelab Pro 11, DP 9.52, DSP Quattro 5. Arturia, Gforce, iZotope, NI, Plugin Alliance, Slate, SSD5, Soniccouture, Spectrasonics, Spitfire. Novation 61 SLMKII, JBL LSR 305, Sennheiser HD600, AKG 240MKII. PRS, Martin Guitars, Mensinger Bass. Vox & Orange amps. Line 6 Helix.
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bayswater
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Re: Alternatives to DSP Quattro

Post by bayswater »

stevenew wrote:I wrote again to Stefano and got a reply, he had to stop work on DSP-Q 5 earlier this year but is now working on it full time, he hopes it will be released around the end of this year. Great news
Thanks for reporting back. I'm glad he's going to keep it going.
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stevenew
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Re: Alternatives to DSP Quattro

Post by stevenew »

I thought I would update you all on this.

After going round in circles, I installed the Wavelab Pro 9 demo, it took me a while to get to grips with the 'Windows' interface, also the way to achieve certain tasks is not exactly obvious, it is really a case of RTFM! But after a month I was able to do everything I wanted to and more, also it has been rock solid with El Capitan. Last week I took a deep breath and bought it! It is truly a very deep and powerful application, I am sure I will only use a fraction of it.

I really wanted Triumph to work, the developer was really helpful even though I was just using the trial, but there were just too many problems for me.
2018 3.2 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7 16GB. External SSD Sample Drives. macOS Monterey 12.2. MOTU 624 & 8D. Cubase Pro 11, Wavelab Pro 11, DP 9.52, DSP Quattro 5. Arturia, Gforce, iZotope, NI, Plugin Alliance, Slate, SSD5, Soniccouture, Spectrasonics, Spitfire. Novation 61 SLMKII, JBL LSR 305, Sennheiser HD600, AKG 240MKII. PRS, Martin Guitars, Mensinger Bass. Vox & Orange amps. Line 6 Helix.
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bayswater
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Re: Alternatives to DSP Quattro

Post by bayswater »

stevenew wrote: I installed the Wavelab Pro 9 demo.
Yikes! That's expensive. Did you get a deal?
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