Got my V-Studio 700 system yesterday...initial impressions

Initial impressions...

• It came a day earlier than it was supposed to!...Thanks Sweetwater and FedEx! Luckily, I had already started making room for it in the studio. 
• It's really every bit as impressive as it looks in the online videos and tutorials
• The software install procedure was kind of challenging...and I know Windows & SONAR pretty well. The biggest issues being no Windows 7 drivers in the box and non-existent instructions for people with SONAR 8.5 already installed. 
• I was eventually able to get it working with my current SONAR 8.5 installation. I didn't even need to open up the SONAR disks that were included with the VS-700 (...which I should be able to sell, since they're not even registered... right?)
• It took me a couple of hours to actually get sound out of the Fantom VS synth. At one point I was even worried that it was broken.  I finally had to back up and follow the 'Getting Started' tutorial step-by-step (using one of the included demo projects) to confirm that it was working. Once I did that I was able to figure out why it wasn't working in my Normal template... I kinda felt defeated... 
• That's about all that I could get to before I had to force myself to go to bed last night. Looking forward to checking out the Fantom sounds and playing around with the I/O tonight. Hopefully, I can also test out my new mic (BLUE Blueberry) that's out for delivery right now.
• I can already tell that its going to be a challenge to force myself to quit grabbing the mouse and start using the controller. I've already decided that I will resort to hiding the mouse if I have to. 

More to come..

-eB

There are a few tricks to getting it going--> (the Fantom Synth),but obviously you got the set up midi page lined up in all four boxs and got sound. There is so much more ahead of you. You'll find the Fantom to be one of most configurable synths on the market. It may take some time to figure out all the pages and their relationship to each channel and patch. But take your time and pay special attention to the Midi page in the Editor when you start sending keyboard controllers through the Fantom.
Soon as I get my head out of my @ss with the project I'm working on, I'll try to post some examples. Welcome to the 700 club.

Zo


eblue , blue mic , blue interface , blue controle surface , blue tshirt , .......so you must have bluecats plugins, rob papen blue,waves api , some tannoy monitors or bluesky !!.....

congrats man

...and all of this coming from a 'blue man'...where's the rest of the group?...


What's weird is that I didn't even notice all of the 'blueness' until you brought it up...


Thanks... :-)




-eB

eBlue...congrats on the purchase; you won't regret it.  Hope we can exchange ideas as we both get our arms around this beast :).  Later!

Not me buddy, no captains here. I can't get out of my own way lately. I'll be glad to throw anyone a life preserver but I'm not steering the boat.

Okay, I'm the captain.

Now get to work ye scurvy dogs or I'll have the bosun have at your bare backs with his whip! 

Oh no... I'm already drunk with power.

Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series. Get Sonar 8 Power - Today! Go to: http://www.garrigus.com/  - http://www.musictechshop.com/ - http://www.cooltechshop.com/

Publisher of DigiFreq - free music technology newsletter. Win a free SoundTech Vocal Trainer Package, go to: http://www.digifreq.com/digifreq/

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So here are my impressions after I've had the VS700 for about a week...

• The VS700 system is amazingly stable. It hasn't crashed a single time in the first week that I have had it.
• The VS700 seems to prefer the WASAPI driver model over ASIO. The lowest latency that  I could get with ASIO was over 9ms. However, using WASAPI I am able to take it to 4ms and its still rock solid.
• The Fantom synth sounds awesome. However, patch navigation is currently pretty abysmal. I haven't listened to half of the patches yet, mainly because skipping thru the patches is currently such a chore. One of the big advantages of real hardware is being able to quickly change sounds without constantly have to take your hands off of the synth keyboard and look at a screen. Having to grab a mouse, look at a  screen and click 5 times to go to the next patch (not to mention having to remember where the currently loaded patch was located for reference) is criminally bad. There are workarounds but they are just that. The next revision of the Fantom VS software absolutely MUST add two simple buttons for patch scrolling and those buttons absolutely MUST support ACT control and/or MIDI learn.
• Learning the controls on the V700C isn't as challenging as I originally thought it would be.
• It's really fun loading up old projects and seeing the faders automatically start moving in response to existing volume automation. 
• If you want some really cool multi-track music to test out running thru the VS700 (or any DAW), here's an interesting site that I found the other day... http://soundofdentage.zsuatt.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5217

-eB