a few questions

tangerin · Joined: Jan 22, 2005 Posts: 12

Hi,
i use a mac dual g5 with osx, motu 828mk2 and ableton live with reaktor for music production. Now after using the g2 demo in the past months (that totally convinced me) i'm going to buy a real g2 (engine).
But i have a few simple questions before ordering:
there's a way to route the audio to ableton live so i can record it
and keep it digital without plugging cables in my motu?
With the hardware i will see the NM like another interface?
I think it's the same with other softwares so i'd like to know how
you integrate the g2 with sequencers.
Second: i'm a studio producer, so i'll never use the g2 live,
do you suggest anyway a g2 keyboard instead of the engine?
I already have a remote 25, it's a big difference?
Third, it's necessary to add the expansion or for normal use
i can live without?
Thanks for now, this forum will be a great help!

rnp · Joined: Sep 14, 2004 Posts: 55 Location: germany

hi and welcome to the forum!

the G2 has no USB audio or midi interface, you only use the USB port to communicate with the editor software. so yes, you will have to plug in both audio and midi cables to use it with Ableton Live. It's like any other hardware synth, no integration like a Virus TI or TC Powercore for instance.

I've had the G2 keyboard for over a year now and have had the urge to buy the extension board a couple of times, but at my skill level it's usually my own fault when patches use up a lot of DSP - lean and mean programming goes a long way, so I haven't bought it yet. I love the interface of the keyboard, it's clever and very versatile. but for the difference in price you could get another synth, so it totally depends. if you try the keyboard out at a store you might not want to go back to the engine though ;_)

Axiom · Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 6:03 am Post subject:

Hi and welcome,

1) sadly, the G2 usb port doesn't act as audio interface. You must plug it into your motu to record audio.

2) Since is not mandatory to have a keyboard, I can only suggest you heavily to have a keyboard version of G2 due to its front panel. I can't live without it Wink

Anyway, your Remote can do all you need to play the Engine but you will lack all Keyb version displays.

3) Like the previous answer, is not mandatory but heavy suggested when you will create some more heavy patches. Since something very useful and playable can be achived even with a mono-dsp micro modular, imagine how many things you can do with a G2 Engine as is Smile

Cheers,
Luca

elektro80 · Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 6:04 am Post subject:

AFAIK the G2 doesn´t have a digital out and no audio is piped into the USB connection. The USB is for is a dedicated connection between the editor application and teh G2, and it is not used for anything else. The audio output from the G2 is "analog". This means you will have to patch the G2 into your 828 and record it the same way you would be recording any other synth.
The "lack" of a digital audio output isn´t really a problem at all.

tangerin · Joined: Jan 22, 2005 Posts: 12

wow thanks for the fast replies, really very helpful.
The audio routing is not a problem,
i'll plug the cables to my motu.
But i'll go soon in a shop to try the g2 keyboard,
and see if it's another world respect to any other controllers.
For now thanks again.
Bye & happy new year!

BobTheDog · Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 7:44 am Post subject:

dasz · Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 8:11 am Post subject:

The panel is unlike other controllers. Imagine having 120 knobs to use (8 knobs x 15 pages). And the knob name and function appears above the knob in the dedicated LCD. And the LED knobs are sweet. Very nice when you turn the light off. When you assign a morph to a knob and you will see the knob split in 2 levels. very cool.

And of course, the panel allows you do what I can patch surfing. This may or may not be in the manual --- Make sure that you have the editor running when you check the G2 keybaord out in the store. With the editor running, hit the patch button on the G2 panel (next to the red store button). now the selected module can be controlled via the 1,2,3 parameter pages (bottom right corner of the panel). You can also select the module in the patch using the left/right/up/down buttons or the big knob below them. select a sequencer module and now you can tweak the sequence right from the panel like on an 808.

This is a very nice way to tweak patches, as you see all the connections and modules on the monitor, while tweaking them on the synth without even using a mouse (mouse is bad, knobs and buttons are good)

BobTheDog is right, if you have a chance read the manual before you hit the store (there is a section dedicated to the panel).

The expansion is a must IMO. It allows one G2 to use 200% patches (100% in the poly area and 100% in the fx area) in all 4 slots. Or you get more polyphony. It all depends how you use the beast.

Once you check it out, if you have any questions (about it or the patches) let us know!
/Dasz

monobass · Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 2:31 pm Post subject:

blue hell · Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 2:46 pm Post subject:

monobass · Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 3:07 pm Post subject:

Kassen · Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 10:11 am Post subject:

Well, those 200% patches aren't realy 200% as I see them. You can't have 20 connections between the two, for example. The different blocks run on different DSP's so when it comes down to it (aside from convenience) it's exactly the same as inter slot bussing, in fact the concerns, limitations and price (in system resources) is the same.

With a 200% patch you get it all on one schreen which is a advantage, by using two slots the second one could theoretically be used polyphonically with voices trigered by the first enabeling the use of simple "classes" in mid patch for particle-style techniques.

Looking at it that way you could have a 300% patch too.... For a expanded G2 it indeed becomes different but that expansion -as far as I know- doesn't increase the matrix for inter DSP comunication. Those lines are simply a bottleneck that nothing is going to get around.

Rob · Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 7:55 pm Post subject:

blue hell · Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 8:02 pm Post subject:

But still .. I'm soo happy with these 800% patches, that I almost forgot about the limitations Shocked

monads · Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 10:24 am Post subject:

Hi all! well I was looking at the G2 also, and so I understand it correctly...for patch creation you must use the editor? This can then be sent to the G2 for further tweaking but it all starts with the editor. Sorry, I'm sure this has been asked and I know I'm being lazy I just don't want to plow through the manual to find the answer.

mosc · Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 10:47 am Post subject:

monads · Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 11:02 am Post subject:

Much thanks Howard for the info and quick response. That's what I thought but wasn't sure.