DP5 first impression .......

[Aramis]

just installed DP5... good news is that CPU usage on a project I was working on dropped from about 80% to like 40%!!! wow! great... bad news is that the included synths are nothing short of horrible! I was actually very shocked as I did not expect them to be this useless... I mean I was not expecting much but I did not think they were going to be this lifeless... They sound very beginner or "simple" kinda like the early days of VIs - like 2 years ago

but seriously this is a GREAT upgrade and MOTU have again outdone themselves with many many needed features... the new "automatic" instrument adding thing is worth upgrading to DP5 alone!

To me , it did the inverse ......On a 4.61 project my cpu usage was 30% and the same project in DP5 get to 70% ....
Not usable for me ....I am trying to find out why ?????
4.61 was so stable for me that I am very frustrated to get a DP5 unusable in my case .....I do my tunes in surround all the time now .....
I will install my DP5 on a brand new drive soon ......So I will see what is going on ....There is no way I will use the VI's anyway .....
Aramis

[Splinter]

Haven't heard the VIs yet, but from what I'm hearing here, I wonder if it's just a case of "preset syndrome."

Most synths have these huge, 10 layer, 15 FX, surround sound presets that blow you away with the touch of one note. You hear that and think "WOW! I'm sold." But in all actuality, those sounds are completely unusable.

Most synth patches that are truly usable are much smaller, less complex, and mono. I hate having 15 stereo patches. Most of what we listen to we only perceive as having one point of origin in a stereo field. Anyway, the first thing I do with most synths is turn off all the verb and maybe FX if they aren't an integral part of the patch. Get rid of the fluff! Give me something that works in a track with other instruments, not something that just stands on its own.

That may be the case with MOTUs VIs. Maybe their presets aren't that impressive on their own, but the patches, or at least the audio engine behind them, may really work in context or if tweaked.

[toodamnhip]

There little starter VI's more then anything else.
I'd say they conpare favorably with (better then)
anything included with Cubase, though not up against
anything in Logic.
I've spent (a little) time with them and found it fairly
easy to create pretty decent patches.
Guess it depends on how lazy a person is.
I wouldn't compare them with MX4 at any rate.
Having said that I rather like the included sampler.
Easy on the CPU, drag and drop simplicicity.
I'm using less CPU with DP5 then I am with 4.61.
I'm not sure about your crashing problems though.
The meter bridge has caused me no trouble (yet)
I love the new editing tools, hate the fact that there
appear to be some serious bounce to disk bugs.
Just an empty file after bouncing to disk..that's not good.
I've resorted to recording a mix in real time.
Love the dragging and dropping of audio file to an empty
DP window from the finder, or the soundbites window and having
DP automatically create and name the tracks, love the folder tracks
implementation.
Hmm what else.
Bouncing to mpeg4 is still screwed up, (as is Apples CAF format)
Like the input button on the channel strip,
really like that volume automation is part of the soundbite (or can be.)
They seem to have overhauled the wave editor in DP as well.
Mostly cool (for me) with some stinkers thrown in.
I still don't understand why the cant throw in alternate Frame rates
for post though.
Oh well..I'm happy (mostly)

Though waiting to upgrade til DP seems stable and accurate..I am excited about the mute automation being in solo, the track folders and drag and drop sampler

[Aramis]

Now , I got the audio performance back to normal by deleting and recreating my buses ....Now I have problems with the surround panning ....
Aramis

[sdfalk]

Though waiting to upgrade til DP seems stable and accurate..I am excited about the mute automation being in solo, the track folders and drag and drop sampler

..Having said that, they should have worked a little harder
squashing some bugs.

[Rush909]

This is HUGE... Motu have finally made a big Audio engine enhancment... now I can edge edit a soundbite while a sequence is playing and the audio does not hickup! this is huge as now I can do a x-fade, start the sequnce plaining and have the crossfade finish computing in time for the wiper to hit it and the crossfade to play back and all without a single hickup or audio drop! wow, finally something that will inhance workflow in a big way... can you tell I like to work fast

[chrispick]

Haven't heard the VIs yet, but from what I'm hearing here, I wonder if it's just a case of "preset syndrome."

Most synths have these huge, 10 layer, 15 FX, surround sound presets that blow you away with the touch of one note. You hear that and think "WOW! I'm sold." But in all actuality, those sounds are completely unusable.

Most synth patches that are truly usable are much smaller, less complex, and mono. I hate having 15 stereo patches. Most of what we listen to we only perceive as having one point of origin in a stereo field. Anyway, the first thing I do with most synths is turn off all the verb and maybe FX if they aren't an integral part of the patch. Get rid of the fluff! Give me something that works in a track with other instruments, not something that just stands on its own.

This is an excellent point. Many synth presets are built to impress a user at first listen, but are unsuitable within the context of a mix.

This is especially the case with prefab stereo patches. Much of the time, these patches are prone to phase cancellation and comb-filter problems. I wonder if most synth patch builders concern themselves with mono-testing presets to check against such flaws?

That may be the case with MOTUs VIs. Maybe their presets aren't that impressive on their own, but the patches, or at least the audio engine behind them, may really work in context or if tweaked.

The DP5 VI presets, what few there are, are pretty weak, yeah. But the modules themselves are capable of outputting decent sounds.

Case in point: I built two pads in Modulo that, when stacked, proved perfect for a small video piece I put together. And, since Modulo is a simple synth to program, it didn't take me long at all. Maybe 15 minutes tops -- which is the time it can take my to find a pre-existing synth sound, let alone tweak it.

I'll also reiterate: These DP5 VIs are clearly basic, lite-version-style apps. On the whole, they're probably more suitable as complements to third-party VIs rather than substitutions.

[Aramis]

I know DP5 seems to be excelent ......
But I cannot use it now because of a surround panning problem .....
When I install a VI in a track and want to use it as a Surround one .....
I got no sound ......but I see the level on the Meter bridge ......????????????????????????????

Aramis

[Saintmatthew]

I've had some fun with new VIs myself. Of course I still use hardware synths and my rule with those was to delete the presets after a quick run-through to hear the unit's capabilties. Nowadays, people seem to judge a unit by it's presets, how many gigs of sound are included, etc. I've found the VIs fit my workflow of tweak and create rather than the plug and play culture that rampant software instrument market has perpetuated. Not trying to knock the way others work, it's just never been my way and the slim number of presets included with MOTU's instruments seems to encourage folks to make their sounds their own.

[Aramis]

I know DP5 seems to be excelent ......
But I cannot use it now because of a surround panning problem .....
When I install a VI in a track and want to use it as a Surround one .....
I got no sound ......but I see the level on the Meter bridge ......????????????????????????????

Aramis

Hey ! All !! I got it to work now .....I did repair the permissions and voila !!!!!

Aramis

[roxmooth]

Just got dp5 and I was hardly able to wait for it to load. When I finally did first thing I did was load the vi's.... Bad mistake!! I was like a kid with a brand new bike that the tire went flat. They were nowhere near a pro v.i anyway I loaded some 4.6 projects and had no problem except all of my module patchlist expansion cards were gone..no biggie after doing all of that I got to the meter bridge.. To me that and some new editing features is well worth the $200 I haven't bounced to disk yet but my processer dropped by about 20% from dp4.6 so all in all I'm very pleased with the update. If your like me and have a ton of outboard and vi's anyway its a good first try for motu to step in the band in a box approach.

[Aramis]

Just got dp5 and I was hardly able to wait for it to load. When I finally did first thing I did was load the vi's.... Bad mistake!! I was like a kid with a brand new bike that the tire went flat. They were nowhere near a pro v.i anyway I loaded some 4.6 projects and had no problem except all of my module patchlist expansion cards were gone..no biggie after doing all of that I got to the meter bridge.. To me that and some new editing features is well worth the $200 I haven't bounced to disk yet but my processer dropped by about 20% from dp4.6 so all in all I'm very pleased with the update. If your like me and have a ton of outboard and vi's anyway its a good first try for motu to step in the band in a box approach.

Hello ,
Can you tell me your configuration ? I do not think that DP5 is more powerfull than 4.61 ....I suspect that some preferences went to default or are different as your previous version .....Because on my G5 with the same project , they use the same anount of CPU ....
Aramis

[roxmooth]

Actually, I'm sorry I caused confusion. I have just recently loaded the same song again and it was the same. I think what I had originally done was close out my mixer and editing screen and seen the decrease in my performance without paying attention to what I had done.. Sorry for the mistake.