Clint Thompson Posted May 30, 2022 Share Posted May 30, 2022 Curious if anyone here is using their VCS as a DAW or for any other MIDI-related applications and would love to learn more about your setup, if so. Has anyone successfully emulated an Atari ST for use with Cubase and/or Notator or otherwise? Kind of wondering how it would do with a Focusrite Scarlett interface... and technically, it'll run Ableton Live Lite with no issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunther Posted May 30, 2022 Share Posted May 30, 2022 (edited) I have Reason in P.C mode (Windows) and it works very well. I would love to emulate the ST (and Falcon) music apps, but I'm not sure how to do so. Having them available in the VCS store would be great, and make them much more accessible. The VCS can run Daw's very well, and using the right equipment, makes an excellent studio rig. Midi should pose no problems either. Edited May 30, 2022 by Gunther Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THX-1138 Posted May 30, 2022 Share Posted May 30, 2022 That's one of those things I keep meaning to try. I have been looking at USB MIDI keyboards, but I don't see any problems using the VCS, it's a fairly decent PC for most tasks. Regarding ST emulation, I run Hatari (I use Linux as my main OS) and it runs great, it also appears to have MIDI support. There may be some issue for Windows users though, do a web search for "Hatari MIDI Windows". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted May 31, 2022 Share Posted May 31, 2022 On 5/30/2022 at 9:56 AM, Clint Thompson said: Curious if anyone here is using their VCS as a DAW or for any other MIDI-related applications and would love to learn more about your setup, if so. Has anyone successfully emulated an Atari ST for use with Cubase and/or Notator or otherwise? I have used hatari with a MIDI setup and played MIDI-enabled games, and apps like music studio, that worked fine. Not sure about the more professional packages, but I'd expect it to perform as well as any other PC for MIDI. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clint Thompson Posted May 31, 2022 Author Share Posted May 31, 2022 (edited) Well I’m bound to find out first hand either way I guess. Went ahead and ordered some extra bits to give it a go. Right now I think my main goal or use will be to digitally record the audio in using a Focusrite Scarlett. Cool to hear @Gunther! I haven’t used Reason in about 20 years! Edited May 31, 2022 by Clint Thompson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mockduck Posted May 31, 2022 Share Posted May 31, 2022 I actually responded over the weekend, but must have failed to hit send. I have a Focusrite in the office and can formally check it out within a few weeks but I would expect it to run just find in PC Mode as it uses pretty standard drivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clint Thompson Posted May 31, 2022 Author Share Posted May 31, 2022 3 minutes ago, Mockduck said: I actually responded over the weekend, but must have failed to hit send. I have a Focusrite in the office and can formally check it out within a few weeks but I would expect it to run just find in PC Mode as it uses pretty standard drivers. Right on! I haven’t picked up a Focusrite yet but as you mentioned, it shouldn’t be a problem. Are you using Ableton in general or? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mockduck Posted May 31, 2022 Share Posted May 31, 2022 Just now, Clint Thompson said: Right on! I haven’t picked up a Focusrite yet but as you mentioned, it shouldn’t be a problem. Are you using Ableton in general or? I am not. I myself tend to just record voice audio so use Audacity unless I am at work, in which case I use Adobe Audition as part of the work suite we have. I can say that Audacity works no problem, but no surprise there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clint Thompson Posted May 31, 2022 Author Share Posted May 31, 2022 3 minutes ago, Mockduck said: I am not. I myself tend to just record voice audio so use Audacity unless I am at work, in which case I use Adobe Audition as part of the work suite we have. I can say that Audacity works no problem, but no surprise there. Good to know. Well, if I were to go the Audacity route, I could just use my Roland TR8 as it has a few analog inputs and can record over its USB interface. I gather for most of the stuff I do just for fun anyways, it would be sufficient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted May 31, 2022 Share Posted May 31, 2022 2 hours ago, Clint Thompson said: Well I’m bound to find out first hand either way I guess. Went ahead and ordered some extra bits to give it a go. Just be aware that some USB -> MIDI cables suck, and can't get the timing right no matter what system you plug them into. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clint Thompson Posted May 31, 2022 Author Share Posted May 31, 2022 5 minutes ago, zzip said: Just be aware that some USB -> MIDI cables suck, and can't get the timing right no matter what system you plug them into. I’ve learned this the hard way heh and stand by that those cheap generic usb cables are garbage. I did spot an actual enclosed hardware midi usb box for roughly $44 so that may be worth checking out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunther Posted June 4, 2022 Share Posted June 4, 2022 ATARI posted this regarding music made using the ST on ATARI's social media channels: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10160385291078534&substory_index=0&id=66215843533&m_entstream_source=timeline&__tn__=*s*s-R Reason Is great now at version 12. VST, audio, and many new features have made it a complete solution. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clint Thompson Posted June 7, 2022 Author Share Posted June 7, 2022 Well, I'm willing to give it a try. Here's to my new digital audio workstation.... ? Will be upgrading the RAM, installing internal 500GB SSD and Win10 this weekend... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAVE 1 GAMES Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 1 hour ago, Clint Thompson said: Well, I'm willing to give it a try. Here's to my new digital audio workstation.... ? Will be upgrading the RAM, installing internal 500GB SSD and Win10 this weekend... You bought that TaCo BoX???? I don't know why you bought that thing, YoU cAn BuY a ReTrO Raspberry Blueeeberry strawberry pi for less and put a taco in a toaster and buy a mini pc and play all the old games on the newest flashback gold. Here's my favorite one I read online: Why not just take a dead VCS shell and shove a good PC motherboard in it? Thats the same thing RIGHT? RiGhT? I'm sure it is because that sounds S.M.A.R.T. ? I mean at the end of the day ItS jUsT aNoThEr OUYAAAAAA Welcome to the club and good luck with your music 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clint Thompson Posted June 8, 2022 Author Share Posted June 8, 2022 Perfect backpack system though… …ready for the upgrades… Looks like I’m going to try and go with a Behringer 8 port USB audio interface *(If they every restock them). The Scarlett is just too expensive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunther Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 My U.S.B audio interface works fine with the VCS. It's more than up to the task. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunther Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 It would be interesting to see ST and Falcon music apps available from the VCS Store. There are still many using the ST for sequencing, and it would be a great way to preserve people's ST's. The VCS would also be a lot easier to carry then a real ST. ATARI could even produce their own D.A.W, and audio plug-ins that work with the ST and Falcon apps. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 On 6/6/2022 at 9:33 PM, WAVE 1 GAMES said: You bought that TaCo BoX???? You had me at Tacos. 1 hour ago, Gunther said: It would be interesting to see ST and Falcon music apps available from the VCS Store. There are still many using the ST for sequencing, and it would be a great way to preserve people's ST's. The VCS would also be a lot easier to carry then a real ST. ATARI could even produce their own D.A.W, and audio plug-ins that work with the ST and Falcon apps. 7 hours ago, Gunther said: My U.S.B audio interface works fine with the VCS. It's more than up to the task. I have a Roland UM-One that works great with Linux -> Whatever (I've tried it with my old Keyboard, Roland SC-88 Pro and Roland MT-32). The previous USB to MIDI device I'd tried just sucked. It literally would cause the USB bus to hang when I'd try to boot my computer with it plugged in... I also have a USB-C to MIDI cable now that seems to work fine for my macbook, which I recently was going to attempt to get working on the Steam Deck... I'll have to give one of these a shot with the VCS, been a while since I powered it on... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clint Thompson Posted June 9, 2022 Author Share Posted June 9, 2022 20 hours ago, leech said: I also have a USB-C to MIDI cable now that seems to work fine for my macbook, which I recently was going to attempt to get working on the Steam Deck... I'll have to give one of these a shot with the VCS, been a while since I powered it on... Please do report your findings on this when you try it out. If it works out well, I’d be interested in knowing the exact model you’re using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 7 minutes ago, Clint Thompson said: Please do report your findings on this when you try it out. If it works out well, I’d be interested in knowing the exact model you’re using. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00967UN50/ This one for sure works with Linux. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clint Thompson Posted June 9, 2022 Author Share Posted June 9, 2022 1 minute ago, leech said: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00967UN50/ This one for sure works with Linux. Nice, being an actual Roland brand and not some cheap knock off probably helps. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 13 minutes ago, leech said: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00967UN50/ This one for sure works with Linux. I found lots that work with Linux, but the real question is can it play Midi music properly, or do all the instruments go out of sync after a bit? Every USB to MIDI cable I tried had that problem, so I don't feel confident buying another unless I know it doesn't have this issue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clint Thompson Posted June 9, 2022 Author Share Posted June 9, 2022 4 minutes ago, zzip said: I found lots that work with Linux, but the real question is can it play Midi music properly, or do all the instruments go out of sync after a bit? Every USB to MIDI cable I tried had that problem, so I don't feel confident buying another unless I know it doesn't have this issue. Valid point. The problem I had with mine was latency for sure in the cheap $20 usb midi cables. I just went back to a real Atari system and it’s perfect. I see there’s a hardware box variant that seems to be slightly more than just a cheap capable for about the same price as this Roland cable but can’t know for sure how it performs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 15 minutes ago, zzip said: I found lots that work with Linux, but the real question is can it play Midi music properly, or do all the instruments go out of sync after a bit? Every USB to MIDI cable I tried had that problem, so I don't feel confident buying another unless I know it doesn't have this issue. Do you happen to have some MIDI examples to test with? When playing Dark Forces it never seemed to go out of sync. But then there are parts where it fades out and starts again if I recall, but that's just the way games work. Funny how 1985 had a perfect machine for this, and so many decades later, they struggle with what amounts to a simple serial interface Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 1 hour ago, leech said: Do you happen to have some MIDI examples to test with? When playing Dark Forces it never seemed to go out of sync. But then there are parts where it fades out and starts again if I recall, but that's just the way games work. Funny how 1985 had a perfect machine for this, and so many decades later, they struggle with what amounts to a simple serial interface Yes. This midi file, Africa by Toto sounds amazing when played on a properly working setup. But when played through one of the cheap USB midi cables, it sounds horrible after just a few bars. Also the same problem occurred no matter what OS I tried, so that's why I blame the cable and not a buggy Linux kernel. Amazing how they could sell a product so obviously defective, but there you go africa.mid 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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