Re: Crackly D & Sample Mania...

>Do I have faith these days in hardware boxes? Yes.
>Do I have faith these days in operating systems and software design. Not
when it has to work every time, all the time!

Certainly understood... With minimal configuration (IE only the audio programs necessary for the performance set up) a PC rig should work. Um... I haven't put my foot out and done this myself yet though; I plan to in the future...

I will never forget the time when I hosted a guest techno producer (DDR). He was working it live and the music stopped.. I was only 10' away and my jaw dropped when he gave a couple of stiff jabs to his Akai S3000; everything kicked back in...

That would be a site at an orchestral concert... We were shocked enough as it was in the club... ;)

>If you ca find an Ensinq ASR-X or and ASR 10 I would go for that.

Probably not a bad one to look into for a hardware sampler.
It supports granular synthesis effects plus some other cool ones via plugins available below:
http://www.waveboy.com/

I have mastered some tracks for a German fellow who has one and it sounds nice. Much more flexible than the Akai for onboard effects. Here is the final recording from this fellow... This is his 5 track EP. There are some nice microtonal sounding timbres here.. He might have used the tuning capability, but I'm not sure: http://catharsis.egregious.net/tracks/whole_cd.mp3
He used the ASR-10 and a hardware sequencer (has some synth part to it here) and recorded 44/16 to the computer... I think you would like these tracks Jacky...

>No softare sampler will give you the polyphony of a hardware sampler and no hardware sampler will give you as much sound design flexibility as a software sampler.

From NI website:
"KONTAKT's advanced design and dynamic resource allocation ensure that its audio engine is always running at optimal efficiency, for up to 256 stereo voices per instance on a standard computer."

The Akai S5000/6000 has 64 voice polyphony and can be upgraded to 128 with a $500 expansion board. Kontakt has 256 _per instance_ with the number of instances limited only by total CPU/RAM.

** Maybe I should apply for a sales rep position; it wouldn't be a bad idea to place someone within arms reach at NI; the sales staff does influence implemented functionality right? "Look at this petition... 5000 people signed it demanding unified and extensive microtonal support across all products... Weird!" ** ;P

>Did anyone else hear any crackly sounds that sounded like they
should not be there?

Yes. Probably a mix fix.. Keep it coming... the mix is a little dry and the part that comes in at 1:34 is jarring like a bunch Goblins.

Best,
--Mike

Egregious
"Spiritual renewal through music for those outside the heard."
http://www.egregious.net/