What you need to get started with SD2.0

[weldman]

Getting started with MIDI and software drums

Last revised 1/14/2009

1 - Superior Drummer 2.0 can be used with or without a sequencer. If you plan on recording your drumming you will want a sequencer. For those of you who just want to listen to the new sounds as you play your e-kit Superior 2.0 can be used alone using Toontrack Solo.

2 - Since your stock sound card which comes with your computer doesn't have the ideal inputs nor was it made to record or play back quickly enough, you will want an audio interface of some kind. The EMU 0404 or PreSonus Firebox are great starting interfaces which offer MIDI on board.

3 - If your interface doesn't offer MIDI connections you will need a stand alone MIDI interface. The E-MU Xmidi 1X1 USB is a nice product for the price.

4 - Your computer should be running at it's best to prevent glitches and latency. It's Suggested that you have at least 2GB of memory and dual core processor.


Some interfaces which feature on board MIDI:

PCI
E-MU 0404 PCI
M-Audio Delta 1010 LT
M-Audio Delta 1010


USB
E-MU 0404 Audio/MIDI USB2.0 interface
M-Audio Fast Track Ultra USB 2.0


Firewire
PreSonus Firebox
M-Audio FireWire 410
PreSonus FP10 (Firepod)


Interfaces which work with ProTools and offer on board MIDI:

Digi 003
Digi 003 Rack
Mbox 2
Mbox 2 Pro

So I walked you though some interfaces and suggested some software to you all. The important part to keep in mind is to make sure your hardware is compatible with your software and also make sure you are getting an interface with the inputs that will easily work for you.

For more info on recording gear and just about anything dealing with the subject I suggest reading though Tweak's Guide.
This guide goes over MIDI and will help you understand how to wire and set everything correctly.

*note that the choices listed are only SOME of whats available out there today. New products are always coming out and you may find a better product for your setup.*


Thanks for your time
David Stroz
Sonic Orb Studios

[SuperPuss]

Looks good Dave. Just one little thing... You don't actually need a sequencer to run Superior 2. It is able to run in standalone mode via Toontrack Solo which comes with it

[csnow]

I would also add that your PC should have at least 2 gig of ram and a mulit-core CPU.

[Blastbeats]

2 - Since your stock sound card which comes with your computer doesn't have the proper inputs nor was it made to record or play back quickly enough you will need an audio interface of some kind. I use an M-Audio 2496 PCI however it needs to be run with a small mixer or preamp to get the proper inputs and preamps.

Sorry to be pedantic here, but the implication seems to be that this is a requirement for Superior 2.0 or equivalent. I think you should clarify that this could be considered a requirement for guitars/mics etcetera in your DAW but isn't actually necessary to trigger computer born drum samples. I know most users will want to record other analog sources along side their drums, but to any who don't an external mixer is not a requirement.

Otherwise good work that I'm sure many will find useful.

[weldman]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
I'll make some changes

Sorry to be pedantic here, but the implication seems to be that this is a requirement for Superior 2.0 or equivalent. I think you should clarify that this could be considered a requirement for guitars/mics etcetera in your DAW but isn't actually necessary to trigger computer born drum samples. I know most users will want to record other analog sources along side their drums, but to any who don't an external mixer is not a requirement.

Otherwise good work that I'm sure many will find useful.

It's true that you dont NEED a preamp however if you plan on recording you will need the preamp for this card.
Also you cant run headphones with adapters to this cards' output. You need a preamp to get the proper levels.

[SuperPuss]

Your edits look good Dave

You might want to add some of the Digidesign interfaces to your list too. I'm using a Digi002r (which is a firewire box) and it works extremely well combining SD2 and Protools and has midi on board
The 002 and 003 family has midi i/o as does some of the Mbox range. The 001 won't work with SD2 as a Protools plugin because it doesn't support Protools 7. I am not sure whether it will run SD2 in standalone mode though.

[weldman]

I added a little note to the end, I'm not going to add a lot of links to the post simply because this is more of a guide on what products may be good to most of the members here.

I think it's safe to say most members at this board dont run a high end studio and therefore would not be running a protools setup.

[JrummerJ]

I added a little note to the end, I'm not going to add a lot of links to the post simply because this is more of a guide on what products may be good to most of the members here.

I think it's safe to say most members at this board dont run a high end studio and therefore would not be running a protools setup.

I think you have a mis-conception about Pro Tools and their products. While some people (Superpuss for one!) certainly run these in very nice studios, I would go out on a limb and say that there are a lot more users that have some Digidesign or M-Audio interface and are running either LE or M-Powered in their very modest home "studio". In my band 3/4 of us have PTs and an interface by either Digi or M-Audio. Another drummer that I work with just received his MBox2 Pro, LE, Superior 2, and a macbook yesterday.

Pro Tools and the related interfaces are probably more widely utilized than you think, and definitely not just in high end studio.....they would be running HD anyway!

J

[SuperPuss]

I absolutely agree with you JrummerJ. Even though I have spent a fair sum on my setup, it is still based on Protools LE (Digi002r). My new vocalist and songwriting partner also uses Protools, as does a very good friend of mine who has played guitar on a few of my songs.
I know of a number of other forum members here who also use PT LE.

There's a very good reason why Protools is pretty much the industry standard and I think it would be a big oversight to omit it from this list. In fact, the Toontrack SD2 demo video mentions Protools on numerous occasions

[Gastric]

The forums at GearSlutz.com is a super great resource for researching interfaces. If you're looking for good equipment on the cheap visit the Low End Theory forum in particular. Post what equipment you'll most likely be running into your computer, your hardware/OS platform, your budget, and you'll find tons of product suggestions.

I personally have an old Aardvark Q10. Rack mount in/out/MIDI that runs to a PCI card. Works great, sound good, but only runs on WinXP as the company is out of business. But provides a TON of connectivity and preamps include instrument-level inputs for direct guitar connection which I run to Amplitube/Ampeg SVX/etc. As an example, it's easily had for less than $200 used, usually for close to $100 if you're patient. Gives you 8 preamped inputs, inserts, a ton of outs, MIDI, SPDIF, and on and on.

For firewire devices I've read that it's ideal to have a Texas Instruments firewire chipset as opposed to Agere or the other seemingly more common chipsets. Something about the TI chipset provides the best compatibility or something. I opted for PCI which can have it's own issues namely PCI bus latency, though that's fixable with a freebie tool to control bus latency settings of other cards, namely your bus-hogging video card.

Heh, could start a whole forum about interfaces as it's a gigantic, flooded market out there.

[Joe_K]

Often overlooked is Echo Audio:

http://www.echoaudio.com/

They only do computer interfaces (Firewire, PCI & Cardbus), and they do them very well at a competitive price, without too many bells & whistles. (I've found their driver support, even for discontinued interfaces, to be above and beyond).

[weldman]

In my mind I just don't see someone who only does home recording for fun every now and then using all the features of a ProTools rig and if you ask me, any protools rig without the HD is a waste of money on the higher priced hardware. There's plenty of other software they could go for such as Cakewalk which makes a lot of lower priced but usable software for the home studio.

anyways that's just my thought on it all, ill add a few more links but keep in mind this isn't an exact list on what you have to choose from everyone.

[Doramuboy]

In my mind I just don't see someone who only does home recording for fun every now and then using all the features of a ProTools rig and if you ask me, any protools rig without the HD is a waste of money on the higher priced hardware. There's plenty of other software they could go for such as Cakewalk which makes a lot of lower priced but usable software for the home studio.

anyways that's just my thought on it all, ill add a few more links but keep in mind this isn't an exact list on what you have to choose from everyone.

I'm using an EDIROL Firewire FA-101. How can I test latency? Is everyone doing it in a standard way? i.e. How do we know that Bob's 2ms equals Mary's 2ms?

Is this a good tool to test with? http://www.vdrums.com/forum/showthre...hlight=latency
(I actually used the search function first!)

Thanks

[JrummerJ]

In my mind I just don't see someone who only does home recording for fun every now and then using all the features of a ProTools rig and if you ask me, any protools rig without the HD is a waste of money on the higher priced hardware. There's plenty of other software they could go for such as Cakewalk which makes a lot of lower priced but usable software for the home studio.

anyways that's just my thought on it all, ill add a few more links but keep in mind this isn't an exact list on what you have to choose from everyone.

Sorry you feel that way, but the LE and M-Powered versions don't cost much more than full versions of the other big software names. I paid $260 for my Firewire 410 interface, and then $250 for Pro Tools. I wouldn't say that M-Audio interfaces are overpriced would you? LE comes bundled with Digidesign interfaces and also comes with tons of other free software, Reason Adapted, BFD lite, etc. Those packages start as low as $300 with the hardware! Go look at what the other full versions of popular DAWs cost:

Cubase 4 - $600
Ableton Live - $600
Logic Studio - $500
Cakewalk Sonor Home - $100
Cakewalk Sonar Studio - $300
Pro Tools M-Powered - $250

As far as Pro Tools being a waste if you don't have HD.....I would have to majorly disagree with you on that point. Pro Tools is the industry standard for audio editing, so tons of people use it. It is not that difficult to learn, in fact it is much easier to me than the train wreck of a product by cakewalk that we used to try to use, which was just a toy. It is also nice knowing that any other PTs user can open your session, whether it be M-Powered, LE, or HD, which means working with other people on a project is easier and if you want to pay a studio to mix your stuff or master it, it will open with no problems. There is a wealth of training material and also great support forums for Pro tools users.

So, why not have access to a great DAW at a reasonable price that works well, has good support, and wide compatibility?

You're right, it is just a waste......

[SuperPuss]

JrummerJ,

You have mirrored my thoughts. I was going to make a similar post but you have hit the nail on the head fair and square

For me personally, I find Protools by far the most intuitive software package and I have worked (or in some cases, struggled) with other packages prior to getting my own Protools rig almost a decade ago.
I came from a background in analog tape and mixing consoles where the editing was done with razor blades, the 'automation' was two or three of us manually moving faders during a mix and loops were literally loops of tape wrapped around microphone stands on a reel to reel machine (seriously!!).
Protools, at least to me anyway, is the most like a tape machine and mixing console and, as a professional engineer, that makes it fast and efficient to use. I feel like I am using a professional studio multitrack and console rather than fighting an interface that feels like it was designed by an IT person who has never cleaned a set of tape heads!! As you say too, it is the industry standard and I can open mixes from other studio's and take my sessions to other studio's with little fuss.
It is the industry standard for a reason.