Todzilla

Drums N Bass Virtual For <$100?

My brother uses Sonar on a PC. He does some good stuff, but his whole rhythm section is still an old Ensoniq SQ-1. It has a few cool dub sounds, but dude needs an upgrade.

Are there any good 303/808 virtual instruments or the like available for less than three figures?

Thanks in Advance,

-Todzilla

I Am Committed!

Well, I just gave 'em my credit card.

I'm getting:
G5 dualproc 1.8 w 1.256 RAM 60+120G HD
MOTU 896HD
MOTU MicroLite
DP 4.1.2 (upgrade from Perf)

for less than $3800, shipped. Pretty good deal?

I will need advice from y'all as I move my dinosaur analog ass into the digital age. Any thoughts?

Here's the rest of my setup:

• Space: 4000 cubic feet single room with cathedral ceilings, Ethan Weiner bass traps, and OC703 absorption
• Mics: Neumann U89, 2 X Crown cm700s, SM 57, etc...
• Pres: Demeter, Art, Mackie 1202
• Outboard: RNC, dbx 166, lexi lxp-1, alesis garbage
• Monitors: Audix 1As; Hafler 200
• Misc: Yammy promix01 (MOTU control surface?), Tascam DAT machine (for digital conversions?), ADAT blackface (for sharing tracks with buddies?)
• MIDI: Roland D-50, D-550, U-220, MKS-7; Korg prophecy, X5; Emu ESI-32; Peavy Spectrum Organ w/ Motion Sound rotary speaker; Yammy P50
• Gits: '76 Tele deluxe, ibanez strat copy, Takamine acoustic; Mesa Boogie DC-2 amp
• Crap Fostex R2R, brother's drumset, lots and lots of ancient sound garbling stuff and miles of wire

Then I have two next-door neighbors with equivalent or better setups.

Any thoughts?

-Todzilla
My Vanity Site
My Studio under construction

How's My Plan?

Here's where I've been:

• Analog/ADAT/MIDI hybrid studio
• Motu Performer on G3
• Acoustically treated 4000 cubic foot space with cathedral ceilings
• Nice front end - Neuman mic, Demeter preamp, Lexi verb, RNC, dbx compression
• Nice monitoring - Audix speaks, Hafler amp

I need to upgrade, and the digital path, I'm afraid, is unavoidable.

Here's what I'm thinking of getting:

• G4/5 Dual Proc GHz or better, w/ lots of RAM
• MOTU 896 Iface
• DP 4 upgrade from Perf

I'm trying to get out at $3K. Will this configuration work well? Anything I should consider?

I want to stick with MOTU software 'cause I'm very used to Performer. I have heard the MOTU interfaces have lots of features and have really nice converters (short of lucid and apogee) for the bucks.

I do a lot of solo stuff, so I don't need tons of inputs. I'd like lots of tracks (as many as 48+), so I can comp tracks insanely. I'm resigned to mixing in the box (yeuch!), although my next door neighbor has a nice Soundworkshop board and DP 4, so I've got those options.

Thanks in Advance,

-Todzilla