From cjrivory@optonline.net Sun Feb 27 08:08:26 2011
Subject:Re: HOLY CRAP!!! VB3 KICKS A$$!!!

Hi,
I use an HP Netbook 210-1175NR (OS Win 7 starter, 32 bit). I use the latest Cantabile Performer as my VST hosting platform (http://www.cantabilesoftware.com/).
I use an M-Audio passport for my midi to USB interface. I then send the headphone out to my Allen\Heath Mix Wiz 16 channel board driving an Eon 15 G2 speaker.
I have been using VB3 on various platforms for the last couple of years and this current platform appears to be the most stable.

A couple of things though:

- If you attempt to do this make sure that the midi-USB interface is plugged into the Netbook only after it has completely booted up. I recently discovered that the
OS will hang\crash\other nasty things if these interfaces are plugged in on boot. Yes I have the latest drivers installed.

- The headphone output is a little little noisy (digital noise, switching power supply noise). When the netbook is on battery only it’s not bad but needs to be remedied.
I plan on using a Radial Engineering JPC DI in order to eliminate the noise as well as provide a better impedance match.

- as much as I love the sound of the VB3 it still needs tweaking with EQ. This may very well be more of an issue with my PA (even though it’s set flat). I have found similar problems
with my Nord Electro 2, Hammond XK2, Hammond XK3, Hammond XK1, and Native Instruments B4 v2. Even with this issue, the VB3 beats these others hands down (IMHO), and yes even with all the tweaking
that you can do with the Hammonds. Once I receive the JPC I’ll let you know how this affects the noise issue.

Some have pointed out the V-Machine and Receptor. I have not used either BUT did perform a great deal of research on both before using the Laptop\netbook solution. The V-Machine (at least at the time)
had a number of bad reviews and had limited ability to access the parameters of the VB3. For use with my home built midi controller this was a problem as I have had to modify the VB3 parameter file directly
rather than through the midi learn function as I was not able to completely get the VB3 to behave with my controller. This is not likely to be an issue with a standard midi controller. The upside to the V-Machine
was that it was a small unit with proper 1/4” outputs (IIRC) which is an advantage over the netbook (see comments above) and is built to be knocked around. The Netbook is fragile.

With the Receptor, here again, the user interface would make it difficult to do what I needed to do with the VB3. Plus if I had to do any serious tweaking of the internal config files it would mean that I would have
to drag out a laptop or keyboard\mouse\display combo to tweak\update the receptor. Yes, the receptor is gig hardened and likely to be more reliable and will support more VSTi’s (even simultaneously). The logistics
of updating it and the cost kept me away. I did throw a couple of questions to Guido S at Genuine Soundware (VB3) at the time I was considering both the Receptor and V-Machine and in both cases (at the time, a couple of
years back) neither were supported although either could work (there is even a YouTube vid of KeyPerformer running on V-Machine).

The above does not mean that V-Machine or Receptor are not viable solutions, I was simply giving my reasons why I did not use them, i.e. cost\tweakability.

Chris

From: fingerz
Sent: Saturday, February 26, 2011 11:29 PM
To: CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [CWSG] HOLY CRAP!!! VB3 KICKS A$$!!!


I just got curious with all the talk about VB3 and fired it up. I haven't messed around with it for a long time...Man, what a freakin' mistake! It totally smokes my Electro2 all the way around. The E2 does sound pretty good through the Vent but VB3 version 1.4 totally blew me away. The Leslie simulation, the shimmer of the chorus, total balls, etc., etc. It's led me to the point where I would like some details from those of you who use it live. What do you use to control it? This is the part I'm most concerned about, I have a CME UX 70 and had a hard time setting it up to control the drawbars. What do you use as a host? Laptop? Anyone try a Netbook? Any freeware VST hosts that work great? Do you use onboard audio outs or a USB audio interface? Please everyone the more details the better. How well does it hold up live??? Against the rest of the band???

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