They provide no support for their products at all and their "fixes" are a bit of a joke.

hmmm, interesting ... poor support seems to be the common denominator in software business these days, but unfortunately across all types of businesses ... well, good support costs a lot of money and that hurts shareholder value ... i hate to sound like a bloody communist, but I've seen too many smart people being made redundant for cost cutting reasons ...

Haha Jeff... roll on the Fairlight BEAST I say!
 
What you say about the digital mixer option is very true and highlights exactly the only concern I had about the 700 and it's dedicated hardware to Sonar as it was released at that time. The ability to reprogram those keys would go a LONG way let alone basic function for X2.

$2400 from where? Is that the US price online?

I'm wondering too about the Yamaha with respect to transport.... I'm sure I would miss that so how do you go with regards to transport Jeff?

Also do you find fader automation works fine? Faders follow ok etc?

I'm surprised about the Tascam too.... they looked good especially for the coin. I would have thought the Tascam option would have the same typical issues that going Yamaha would also have with respect to driving 'other' software such as Sonar?

Cheers!

Interesting stuff Jeff... the way of getting automation intrigues me as I'm only interested in the simple way like I have now...not sure if that is in essence the same or relies on MIDI lanes?

I thought also you might say that is how you do your transport. I thought a dedicated transport control just for this duty. I'm keeping an eye in the X32 also as it seems to have some incredible features particularly with the Midas association now....interesting.

I agree also that Roland could do a killer surface if they chose to but I don't think it is happening anytime soon.

Given that you use Studio One now, what makes you stay with it over Sonar? I looked at their surface options too and thought it may be an option if considering a DAW jump... is it really that much better as to warrant the platform change and if so, then why not just jump to the PT train and get it over with (if that makes sense given what it is like in Oz to be a non-PT devotee)?

Thanks again for the detailed info!

Cheers!

Good brochure... hadn't seen that one before. Thanks for the share Dyo.
Cheers.

Yamaha just stepped into the arena, when Yamaha does something they do it big with no lackluster support and full software/hardware integration. Check out the new grand daddy of them all the new NUAGE. A marriage between the Nuendo DAW software and a dedicated hardware controller! http://www.yamahaproaudio...cts/daw_systems/nuage/ They copied Roland's idea but decided to take the idea a step further. Everybody is starting to copy Roland's VS700 idea, but while Roland is falling out of the business I guess, all the other companies are about capitalize on the idea to perfection. If I had the money to buy the Yamaha Nuendo system, I'd buy it without a heartbeat. I know it'll cost $100k or close to it probably.

http://www.yamahaproaudio.com/global/en/products/daw_systems/nuage/

That more like some of the Pro Tools- Digi design large scale stuff than it is Cakewalk. Those basic console components have been around for years associated with different software. Does look nice though.

If we stopped buying the products of companies that stopped supporting their musical instrument products, pretty soon there will be no companies left to buy products from.

j  j ta                 just got a new Droid OS.  I can post from the phone but speech to text is funky...
wss

Whoah!!

Anyone else seen this???

http://forum.cakewalk.com...38&mpage=1#2722913

Ok if all controllers are having problems with Sonar that's one thing but having to figure out those those reasons by ourselves is the real problem.

Any FEEDBACK from Cake folks please?

The Focusrite Control 2802 is gorgeous, but the price tag is a bit on the high side.  I would be curious to see if it would work with Sonar X2.  I've been doing the home studio thing for over 20 years, and I'm really tired of upgrading audio interfaces and computers every two years.  I'm glad I didn't buy the VS system - I almost pulled the trigger on it when it came out.  Surely Cakewalk/Roland wouldn't deprecate the VS - right?  What I'm truly amazed about is that I'm still using my Tascam FW-1884 as a control surface; oh wait - I haven't tried it with X2.  Perhaps I spoke too soon...
  

Hi Mully

I'm right there with you. Since X2a things are working very stable (I only get crashes when freezing 3rd party synths from NI and IK, so I stopped putting things in the freezer). Last 3 projects went quite well ...

Like you I don't do much editing directly from the surface. However, I tried most of the options from the manual when X2a came out and found most editing feature functional as documented (and reported what I thought wasn't) but meanwhile I forget some of the shortcuts and should do some more learning ... however, some things are just quicker anyway when using the mouse.

I ran into the problem that nudging clips (e.g. for fixing timing issues) from the surface crashes Sonar which is unfortunate as I'd love to be doing this from the surface solely by ear rather than mouse as this always involves the eyes ...

I also reported the non-functional channel locking feature (plus other things) and about a month ago received mails that these problems have been handed to development (I reckon this means that testing could verify that problem). So I got hopes that X2b brings some more fixes for the VS-700.

As the support from Roland is non-existent I don't think there will ever be any new VS-700 features (talking about firmware here). I do hope, though, that Cakewalk finds a smart way to fully support take lanes from the VS-700 as it stands now. Currently take lanes involves the highest number of unnecessary mouse-clicks IMHO.

Even if this would be the 'as good as it gets' state, I will hold on to what I've got for quite a while longer. I'm not under the impression that the VS-700 functionality hurts my current workflow; I feel quite productive ... or put it differently I waste much more time elsewhere ;-)

I don't see many serious alternative options at the moment, either. Touch won't do for me. Not for mixing. Any other controller is far poorer supported in Sonar anyway (still no updates on the MCU side). So my MCU clones sit there for headphone sub mixes only while they could easily control pro channel ...

Anyway, as work becomes more demanding, I will eventually also have to look across the fence and buy into another (more industry standard) DAW software and become proficient in its use. Whether this will be PT, Cubase, Ableton, whatever depends more on the work and projects that turn up. Cubase claimed with the release in December to support all controllers. Probably just marketing bollocks, but may be worth a try with the VS-700 in mackie mode ... but I hope to postpone this to the cold and long winter evenings and do more interesting things meanwhile. well, over here summer hasn't even started ...

so long

the above message was repeated here...
 

Sacalait

I'm actually kinda happy I never bought the 700C.  I've been using the 700R for about 3 years now- atypically.  It's been a bit of a PITA to control monitors (I'm using the SPDIF out into a RME MultiFACE II SPDIF in- and then using the RME's software to control the volume of the monitors).  All-in-all it's been a bit more mouse intensive than I want but I've been happy with the quality.  Lately I've invested in the V-Control Pro app for the IPad and an APro 800 midi controller.  When I buy a dedicated monitor controller (looking at the Dangerous system) then things will be less mouse intensive.  Overall, I'm happy with the quality of the VS700R's convertors and mic pre's (although I've got some other world-class mic pre's with which to work).  ...so I guess I'm not in y'all's boat with the controller... 

Monitor volume would be sucky for sure without the 700C. I use those knobs a LOT. The Dangerous system gear sounds interesting and popular.


The converters for sure sound quite neutral and clean, pleasantly so. I got my 700C new for about $1k US from the US so the hit was small but it's possibly once again the best controller I've had now that it is actually usable again. I've got some larger projects to tackle so it will get a decent workout soon, certainly the biggest since the 'glory' days of 8.5...should be interesting.


Cheers...

Mully


Oh yeah.. Mr Rehab (Robert?)... your rooms sure look like they have had some treatment. Any comments (albeit it off topic).... ? Would love to hear how you went about tuning/trapping your space etc.

Cheers.

Hi Mick
 
Thanks for stopping by at my Fbook site. I don't want to bother others with private chats, but we can chat further via Fbook or the email which you'll find on the rehab's official website when it goes live in a few days (i don't put it in here to keep the spambots away)
 
Cheers
 
Rob