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I found this interesting so I thought I would pass it along. Audio Myths
BIAB 2026 Ultrapack- Fender Studio Pro 8, Windows 11, Mac Mini M4 with Logic Pro 11, Melodyne Studio, Luna Pro
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<<Skill - The world is full of marketing departments trying to convince you that equipment and specifications can substitute for talent & hard work. This is not true, the 'performance' transcends the medium every time. The performance includes musicianship, vocals, orchestration, arrangement and the mixing decisions. These are all under your control and have little to do with the DAW software you use or plugins you have. >>
This one cannot be overstated. I own a number of old recordings, where the recording technology was in it's infancy, that are very moving pieces of music - despite the fact that the vocals may be muddy, the guitar out of tune, and there might even be some 'wow' or 'flutter' in the recording.
On the other end of the spectrum, I've heard some stellar recordings of technically competent but uninspired music that I don't care to listen to again.
The gear magazines want to sell you gear - that's all they have to sell.
Music schools want to teach you technique - that's all they can teach.
Taste and musicianship are your gifts. They can't be taught, but only developed. A good teacher will help you develop your inborn talent.
The best situation is when you have a stellar recording of a technically competent player that also has a lot of musical talent and expresses himself/herself in a way that touches your emotional being.
But if I have the choice, I take talent and expression over the rest anytime.
Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton  Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Boy. I am still cringing from all the flames and downright hate aimed my way for attempting to point out these issues on this and a few other forums.
Remember this one?
"If you can't make a good recording with the PC stick mic, chances are you can't make a good recording."
--Mac
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Quote:
Remember this one?
"If you can't make a good recording with the PC stick mic, chances are you can't make a good recording."
--Mac
Mac, wasn't that Limey's mantra? I don't want to take anything away from you.
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It was my line and even my dotsig at one time, Don...
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S'why I axed, old friend. I love it!
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'Sfunny you're talking about it today. I've been checking out a number of DAWs lately (Reaper is wonderful, except for the routing, which is driving me berserk), and have latched onto Studio One Free, Ableton Lite Live free (if you're a member of Soundcloud {also free} before the end of May), Cubase LE6 (damn near useless), M-Audio Session (worse than useless, and already uninstalled), and a demo of Sonar X1 (which has utterly sold me -- it's great). What I saw today, re: the Studio One Free, was a comment in KVR's forums: Quote:
Too bad that the free version has no VST support and very few native effects (and no virtual instruments). And I couldn't live without folder tracks and grouping, neither.
I don't know how you can make music with it, probably only with audio tracks?? (As it's not possible to load a VSTi or VST)
(emphasis mine)
Oh, the hardship.  I think I need this kid to get offa my lawn.
Best, Tom SmithWin10/64 • i7-8700K • 24 GB RAM BIAB 2026 • Reaper 7.57 • Izotope MPS AKG C1000S • IK iRig I/O Pro
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What a great article. Such a refreshing change to hear some common sense about this subject.
But then again, people believe what they want to believe, so it possibly won't make any difference to entrenched opinions.
Thanks for sharing.
ROG.
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@Tom,
I think that it is a shame that even with the pay-for Studio One artist - it does not support VST. Sure you can make music with it, but if you have already invested in a grip of VST/VSTi, why would you pay for a DAW that won't even let you use your existing investment? That would be almost like making a DAW dongled to a manufacturer-sold microphone. No other microphones will work except those which we provide.
Keep in mind that the vast majority of musicians on KVR are making electronic and dance music and theirs is a plugin-heavy world, just as much as punk rock is guitars cranked to 11 and drums and sometimes someone who can sing.
To the KVRian, if it doesn't roll with plugins, it doesn't roll. Period. To their definition of music, the bolded quotation actually makes quite a bit of sense. Viewed from your guitar-focused world of music - it is a joke.
The DAW I use would be useless to someone that's used to entering in MIDI notes either via staff or via old-school step functionality. They would have to learn an entirely different method of note entry - perhaps even learning how to 'play' a MIDI input device.
I've made comments about Studio One Artist as being disingenuous due to it's lack of VST plugin support. It's not that PreSonus don't know how to do it, but they force one to pay extra for that very standard capability. I think that's wrong. They've decided that it's right for their marketing. I think they are making a big mistake.
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Quote:
Boy. I am still cringing from all the flames and downright hate aimed my way for attempting to point out these issues on this and a few other forums.
Remember this one?
"If you can't make a good recording with the PC stick mic, chances are you can't make a good recording."
--Mac
I can only imagine them flames  I recently watched the Making of Sgt Peppers on Youtube which is in 5 parts. To watch George Martin on a 4 track is just amazing. It really shows what talent can do instead of technology.
Brian
The Making of Sgt Pepper ( part 1)
BIAB 2026 Ultrapack- Fender Studio Pro 8, Windows 11, Mac Mini M4 with Logic Pro 11, Melodyne Studio, Luna Pro
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Quote:
@Tom,
I think that it is a shame that even with the pay-for Studio One artist - it does not support VST. Sure you can make music with it, but if you have already invested in a grip of VST/VSTi, why would you pay for a DAW that won't even let you use your existing investment? That would be almost like making a DAW dongled to a manufacturer-sold microphone. No other microphones will work except those which we provide.
Keep in mind that the vast majority of musicians on KVR are making electronic and dance music and theirs is a plugin-heavy world, just as much as punk rock is guitars cranked to 11 and drums and sometimes someone who can sing.
To the KVRian, if it doesn't roll with plugins, it doesn't roll. Period. To their definition of music, the bolded quotation actually makes quite a bit of sense. Viewed from your guitar-focused world of music - it is a joke.
The DAW I use would be useless to someone that's used to entering in MIDI notes either via staff or via old-school step functionality. They would have to learn an entirely different method of note entry - perhaps even learning how to 'play' a MIDI input device.
I've made comments about Studio One Artist as being disingenuous due to it's lack of VST plugin support. It's not that PreSonus don't know how to do it, but they force one to pay extra for that very standard capability. I think that's wrong. They've decided that it's right for their marketing. I think they are making a big mistake.
Oh, I don't disagree -- not with a single point. I was just vastly amused by the guy saying he had no idea how to make music just because he couldn't have his particular flavors of plugins. I mean, dude, I got some sticks and rocks and glasses filled with varying levels of water that might help you out....
For me, the demo and free versions of these programs are to show you how it works and hint at what you can do and sound like. If it turns out you can do a creditable final project in one, well, that's a really good sign, right?
I found Studio One to be reasonable, but a bit clunky. Same with Ableton. Cubase is a pain in the tuchus -- it moves windows around, it doesn't want to work with ASIO (or anything else, apparently), it's clumsy and ugly. The Skylight interface in Sonar X1, on the other hand, is pretty amazing, and much friendly. The routing is a breeze; the only problem I had was some crackling, which I got rid of by boosting the buffer for ASIO from 512 to 1028 (I ended up taking it to 2048, just 'cause I can). And it was the only one I've finished something in.
Best, Tom SmithWin10/64 • i7-8700K • 24 GB RAM BIAB 2026 • Reaper 7.57 • Izotope MPS AKG C1000S • IK iRig I/O Pro
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But that's my point. Studio One (version 2) Artist edition costs $99! With no VST or VST handling capability. That's a crock.
I think the guy's point was valid. Pulling that statement from a site like KVR would be akin to me heading over the Kay banjo forums and laughing about those folks not knowing how to use Ableton Live or FL Studio.
-Scott
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Scott, apparently we disagree on this, and we really don't have to. I, too, think it's utterly unreasonable that S1 Artist doesn't support external VSTs. As I said, I tried it, and it doesn't do anything to zing my strings. What I found amusing/exasperating was the blanket statement that the commenter said had no idea how to make music without being able to use his particular plugins. Fine, I can see him not being able to make the music that he's used to making without 'em... but I daresay that, if we had no other alternative, anyone here on this forum could suck it up and produce some kind of music on S1 Artist or S1 Free, likely without a whole lot of trouble. It was the unilateralism of his statement, combined with the helplessness of his imagination, that's all. Kinda reminded me of episodes of Gilligan's Island where the Howells kept running into instances where they didn't have their various domestics and wondered how in the world anything was going to get done. And, so saying, he moved on. 
Best, Tom SmithWin10/64 • i7-8700K • 24 GB RAM BIAB 2026 • Reaper 7.57 • Izotope MPS AKG C1000S • IK iRig I/O Pro
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Mac, i remember being ripped up here and a few other places for saying Cd quality was as good as you need. Funny how fact overthrows perception.
This is why i find a simple DAW like PT/RB to do a fine job. To me all that is missing is a little upgrade for the handling of VSTi's, and a true node based automation system. The quality is good here.
I have RealBand, Reaper, Sonar X1, and Multitrackstudios on my hard drive, and i can make great recordings with all of them. They all work! It really boils down to features that make your workflow right for you.
For that reason i use RB most of the time now, and when i need a few more features like better automation, and better integrated plugins, i go to MTS which does what the big boys can, but with a simple, solid, logical workflow.
HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB/RB 2026, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 11 , Presonus Audiobox USB96
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I've read the article before (recently?) somewhere and completely concur with it and I'd like to see more actual objective testing in this and related areas, with the apparent statistical rigor stated (I'm biased - I've been an operational tester for last 32 years). I had a long diatribe response all ready yesterday: how I'd like to see that same rigor applied to "zombie" cables, power strips, connectors, $$$ a foot specially "conditioned" and degaussed high end speaker and phono hookup cables (duh? I love those kinds of claims. I'm also an ex-electronic tech and am still a hobbyist and do my own MX), as well as things like "magical polarized and directional," or other such nonsense, guitar patch cables, etc. However, while I agree with the article - I freely admit: I am a die-hard analog snob. I usually play only vinyl for actual listening pleasure at the house (>95% of time anyway) and use only tube amps and mainly analog FX's. I also collect and USE slide rules so (we will rule the world when the last battery is gone and the last solar cell has failed  ) CD's are for the car/truck and as coffee table coasters. And I have a long time and increasingly worsening case of tinnitus. PS - be nice it's my birthday and I'm now offically unemployed (forced retirement this month) Larry
Win10Pro,i9,64GB,2TBSSD+20TBHDDs,1080TI,BIAB'24,Scarlett18i8,Montage7,Fusion 8HD,QS8,Integra7,XV5080,QSR,SC-8850,SPLAT,FL21&others,Komp.14,IK suite&others, just a guitar player-AXE FX III &FM9T, FishmanTP, MIDIGuitar2, GK2/3'sw/GI20
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Cheers, Mike My Music * Asus ROG Strix G15CF 32 GB DDR4 4TB HDD + 1 TB SSD NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 8GB Win 11 AKAI EIE PRO Sound Interface. BIAB/RB 2024 UltraPak Build - Latest
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Happy Birthday Larry, may all your strings always stay tuned to your liking.
Guido
Desktop; i7-2600k, 8 GB mem., Win 10 Pro, BIAB 2017; RB 2017 - latest build
Laptop: i5-2410M, 4 GB mem, Win 10 Pro, BIAB 2017; RB 2017 - latest build
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