SumOne

Whatever it was at the time (about 15 years ago) certainly wasn't simple. I can't remember all the details of why it became such a mess, some wrong clicks and that was game over.

eBay. Someone clicked to buy a £1.5k motorbike from me but never actually turned up to buy it, no money exchanged, but ebay insisted I owe them their %. I never got to speak to anyone, just stuck in some Kafkaesque loop of bureaucracy 'computer says no'. In hindsight there are probably processes to deal with that, but I gave up trying then ignored them. They closed my account, sent threatening letters, I moved house, years later they sent bailiff letters to my parents. In the end I gave up and paid them the money they basically bullied and robbed from me. To my shame, I've actually used ebay a few times since. I try not to though, unless it feels I'm particularly shooting myself in the foot not to.

I bought a pedal from Stuart, and all was good - quick delivery, well packaged, all working well and as described. Thanks!

That is a good call. They don't seem to be particularly in fashion for piano /rhodes/organ sounding stuff but the miditech piano (mini and pro versions) seem like they might fit the bill.

I'm starting to loose patience with the Laptop and MIDI keyboard for live stuff. Band practice last night and the Piano VST decided to start making a high pitch whining noise, I couldn't see why, it's a simple VST and no settings had changed since I last used it - restart the DAW and all was fine so I can only assume it's one of those 'ghost in the machine' things (Laptop - heaphone out issue? DAW? VST? ASIO or other software settings? Cables? Mixer? ....other?!) Later, try an organ sound and there's very noticeable latency (but not with the Piano, so must be something to do with the Organ VST), again - it didn't do this last time I used it at home! So again, stop the whole band while I faff about with all the potential issues. (Edit: I've now changed ASIO settings to force the DAW and all VSTs to follow the same sample rates, it seems to have solved it). These software issues are going on while the Laptop is balanced on the edge of a nearby Cab with USB cable dangling from the keyboard and then using the Laptop headphone out into a DI box to mixer. It all feels quite precarious - both physically, and with the software. On the plus side, it's a cheaper than a decent stage Piano or synth, and has access to pretty much unlimited sounds and effects, but I'm seeing why it's common to use MIDI keyboards with DAW/VSTs for home studios and why it isn't very common to see then used by pub bands where simplicity and reliability are king. It seems my options are to look into software issues (which I expect to spend a good portion of today faffing about with!), Laptop upgrade (perhaps just more RAM), interface upgrades (perhaps something like a Focusrite, and/or a USB DI), more road-worthy live setup (rack mounted etc). it all potentially adds up to quite high costs.....or I'm tempted to give up on Laptop/Midi keyboard for live stuff and get something cheap like a Casio CT S1, Roland Go Keys, or Yamaha NP-12. All are about £200 (I mean, ideally I'd get a higher end thing like a Nord Electro 6, but I'm not sure I can justify that sort of expense), they have 61 full size keys, decent enough piano/ep/clav/organ sounds for my use, no need for a laptop, portable, and MIDI so I still have the option of using with my Laptop at home, and I can easily move it around the house and practice through in-built speakers.

I'm looking forward to the MS-60B+ Possibly an all-in-one pedalboard in a Boss compact pedal size? Presumably it can be battery powered, 6 effects is just about enough to use as an entire pedalboard - to use it as an all-in-one I would want to use four effects just as 'always on' : compressor, EQ, High/Low passes, Drive, so that leaves 2x blocks to add other effects per preset (e.g. synth and reverb), and scrolling up/down presets will be a good addition as it's a bit of a faff on the older version.

^^ I do agree. My gig pedalboard now only includes about £300 of boring utilitarian Boss Compact pedals (TU3, LS2, LMB-3, BB-1X) , and I'm considering if I should just with the TU-3 as my Amp has compressor/limiter, drive and EQ. Playing in a band that does pub gigs really doesn't need much more than a few solid and reliable utility pedals. But then again, mucking about with differnt pedals is sort of a hobby withing a hobby, and this part of a forum is for people that are into discussing them. We could just as well say there is no point in considering different string choices, or amps, or cabs, or basses, as no audience member will really tell much difference. And we certainly don't need to spend time discussing the nuances of those things on a forum. Better than doing work though!

I'm not offended by it, but it's the equivalent of going onto a car modding forum and saying 'why do you want to mod your car and talk about it on a forum? Think about it - what you have probably already does what you need, be the antithesis of this forum'. Talkbass Effects forum apparently had a lot of people posting on it to inform everyone that they don't need effects pedals. 'it's all in the fingers' and all that. I think most people know that searching through effects pedals, amps, cabs, Basses etc. and discussing them on a forum isn't essential to making a decent bass sound at a gig. Personally though, I quite enjoy trying out slightly different sounding overdrive or even useless things like envelope filters and seeing opinions of other users.... I've yet to find a use for them in the Reggae/Ska or rock bands I've been in though and I'm quite aware of that.

Fair, it's kind of true enough. But Talkbass effects forum says posting on the effects forum along the lines of 'I don't need effects' is trolling. Basschat is an all together cooler place, but still, it's like going on a Darts forum to announce that you don't like Darts and that others shouldn't either. Perhaps I enjoy using and discussing useless pedals to try and meet that unnecessary 2%, and that's my call?!

I give them a good amount of Slap/Pop and general rough treatment and tune sharp then flat to stretch/un-stretch, that all seems to speed up the dulling, and I never clean them.......although all of that is perhaps a bit pointless as just rolling off the tone control seems to do most of that, especially played at volume through Amp/Cab and with some EQ. As it's easier to remove brightness through EQ than to add it perhaps it's best to keep strings bright? Or use Tapewounds.

I've used most of the main DAWs and Ableton had been my least favourite. Reaper is my favourite right now (so much so that I actually paid for it, which isn't necessary), it's much more intuitive, low CPU use, compatible with every VST I've tried with it, easy yo drag and drop and bpm detect audio. But I haven't been doing quite what you want do with it so perhaps Ableton it's good for that, I'd give it a go on the free trial but also try Reaper and the others (most have some sort of free trial).

Nice! (and just realised my auto type changed 'Truth and Rights' to 'Truth wave Rights' for some reason 🤨 babylon getting to it!

^^^ Thanks, I'll look into figuring out how they've been MIDI mapped. The thing that struck me as odd is that none of them automatically assign over as expected, so either all of the files I've got (from quite a few different sources) have been customised, or something I've got set in EZ Drummer or my DAW (Reaper) is messing with them. None of the files have any text documents to say how they have been mapped, so I've assumed they've used some sort of standardised mapping.

MIDI Drums Question: I have a lot of MIDI Drum files , but when dragged directly into EZ Drummer 2 they do not map to the expected drum sounds. So it's a time consuming process to properly map them. Unless all the files I have are incorrectly labelled (which is unlikely as the are from different sources) then it seems there's something I'm doing wrong. Any ideas? Perhaps something needs needs changing on EZ Drummer settings, to put them on MIDI Channel 10 for it to correctly Map? https://www.pgmusic.com/tutorial_gm.htm

Apparently it's more difficult to do with Android as there are many different phone manufacturers - although on the same operating system there are still compatability differences, rather than just Apple.

I gig with a couple of bands, one plays well known rock covers, including: Led Zeppelin 'whole lotta love', AC/DC 'highway to hell', Free 'All right now', The Cult ' She sells sanctuary'. Give them a go, honestly it doesn't take mastering the bass to play a lot of the most popular gigging songs.

JPTR include them when you buy a pedal too. So your only viable option is to have a go!

If you asked me when I was 18 = yes. If you ask me now (44 with 2 kids) = no. A band rehearsal mid-week and a local gig at the weekend is what I do, and that's about as much time I want to put to it. No finance pressure means it's just for fun. I've got a 9-5 that's interesting enough and reliable to pay my bills without me stressing. There's some ambitious band talk about getting bigger, it's nice to have the ambition I guess, but I'd perhaps have to quit if there was much more travel and time being spent on it and more pressure.

I don't know about the 8010, but I use KRK Rokit 8 which are probably equivalent and they seem plenty of sub for the Bass heavy stuff I DJ and produce at home (dub, Reggae, Drum n Bass, dubstep) and I know a few others in my situation that use the same. If the 8010s aren't producing the kick well then are people going to need to listen with a sub to hear it well? Listeners will often be using crappy speakers, so if anything, I'd try to mix stuff and get it sounding good through a variety of bad speakers.

^^ The trouble with Thomann orders/returns to the UK is a recent order took 8 days to get to me (mostly due to customs delays). And I sent it back for a refund 17 days ago and have yet to get the money refunded (again, this seems due to customs). But yeah, it is free to return, which places like Andertons don't do, I think they quite cheekily try to charge you £20 for them to arrange courier collection for return, seems a bit of an earner for them when you're trying to return something that hasn't lived up to expectations. £300 on a pedal for me would go on a Boss RE 202, it'd probably be a bit useless with Bass, good for dubbing up everything else though.

I'm in a 8 piece, which has the full PA, Lights, Banners, big drum kit, multiple mics, wireless stuff etc. We joke that packing/unpacking is the worst part of gigging, but it isn't really a joke. It's like the circus coming to town. Personally, I think it's the biggest downside of being in a bigger band. I'm depping in a smaller rock band and the relative ease of set-up/pack down is a real benefit. If the amount of unnecessary gear a band member brings becomes an issue I think it needs to be said 'you want those extra lights etc, you set it up and pack it down as the rest of the band thinks it's unnecessary'.

I've been listening to a lot of Johnny Osbourne lately (ahead of seeing him and Horace Andy live soon). Truth wave Rights being one of my favourite reggae tunes, but 'Never Stop Fighting' is a great album, these first 3 tunes especially: (the scientist dubs are also really good, on 'Scientist Wins the world cup')

There is another Mooer thread in the effects forum where I wrote this: Sort of reluctantly, I'm going to return the P2 to Thomann while I can still get a full refund. (side note, I returned it about 2 weeks ago and haven't been refunded yet. This reminds me I need to chase up). It is a good bit of kit, but is quite expensive at £209 and isn't really better than the Nux Mighty Plug (that I already have) for home practise, and although I only have a simple pedal setup for live use it can't replace pedals like the LS-2 for switching between two basses, or a stompable tuner/mute (unless getting the bluetooth footswich - in which case cost and size starts to creep up and then it seems why not get a cheap multi fx with footswitches), so it would be an addition to my pedalboard rather than replacing it. It would be good as a pocket sized all-in-one pedalboard to take to band practise, but something like the Zoom B1 Four can do similar and save about £130 (allbeit a bit bigger, needing batteries/power supply, and no bluetooth to stream music). If I had a lot of spare ££ I'd keep it, but for me it just isn't adding enough to what I already have to justify keeping it. Hopefully updates give it some Bass Amp/Cabs (although I find Amp sims are basically EQ points and a tone/gain levels of drive - so can be done with EQ and Drive effects blocks, and Cabs can be added as IRs), better tuner reading of a open E, some access to the drum loops/metronome directly on the device, and a low battery warning.

Gigged with it last night (without the M Audio hub) and all was good, 1/8" headphone out of the Laptop to a 1/4" connector and into a DI box for the long XLR to mixer. I'll probably return the M Audio hub, might get one of those other DAC DIs at some point though.

All good advice, I'll make sure I turn things off and look into the USB bus architecture. Saying that though, I don't know if I need to change much of that as latency isn't really an issue I've noticed, the main reason for getting the interface is I dont trust the flimsy 1/8" laptop headphone output for live use as it seems the part that can easily get disconnected/damaged. Also, the 8 piece band I'm in has a lot of wires and wireless signals causing interferance so it's best to avoid un-balanced cables where possible. Bypassing the laptop soundcard/headphone out by using a USB out of the laptop to an outboard interface that then sends out audio via 1/4" or XLR seems a sturdier solution as far as the connector go, that's my main reason for getting it. A bonus being that online stuff seems to say that interfaces tend to have better audio quality and lower latency than using the laptop (or tablet) soundcard and headphone output (as they are made with more expense/focus to achieve their specific task). I've now realised there are differences between what are generally referred to as 'interface' (usually for guitar/mic audio conversion to digital: Analog-Digital Convertor ADC), 'Digital-Analog Converter (DAC) DI Box' ', and 'external soundcard' (ADC and DAC - but the market for these seems to be for gamers using these for headphones/mics, rather than live audio). As far as I can tell, things like the Focusrite Scarlett are primarily designed for ADC (guitar to Laptop) and not for DAC (USB from the laptop to audio out), so it's a DAC DI Box that I'm after for my chain to be: Midi keyboard> USB> Laptop (DAW and VST)> USB> DAC with DI> XLR > Mixer. ......I'm still a bit confused though, interfaces like the Steinberg UR22mkII have inputs (mic/line), midi in/out, line out so clearly do ADC and midi control, but they also say "the rock-solid drivers of the UR22mkII let you run VSTis at very low latencies", and, "interfaces feature high speed USB 2.0, which provides fast, reliable and seamless connectivity to Mac and PC computer...... Together with the enhanced low latency of our SSP2 chip and the latest drivers". These sort of interfaces seem geared towardes being an ADC to get analog audio digitised and into a Laptop rather than DAC taking digital out and making it analog audio - but their text seems to imply that it perhaps also works as a DAC. If that's the case then that covers my DAC needs and potential for ADC if I need to record Bass etc. DAC DI Box's more obviously cover what I need for the midi keyboard/Laptop out. Since I bought the M Audio Hub I now think the Art USB DI is probably better, or the Mackie MDB-USB Stereo DI Box , or Radial USB Pro (each has a increased price though), benefits being that none of them require a seperate power supply and they all have XLR outputs instead of the M Audio Hub 1/4" outs, drawbacks being they cost upto £200 extra. Apart from being more sturdy and avoiding un-balanced cables, here's some stuff I've read online generally about the benefits of using an interface (I think they are usually talking ADC, but sometimes interchangably talking about features that relate to DAC). "Audio interfaces are essential for anything related to music production. They offer higher audio quality than the built-in audio interface of Mac/iPhone devices. These are the greatest advantages they offer over built-in sound cards from a Mac/iPhone: Much lower latency, more inputs, and better connectivity, and better quality—audio interfaces have better AD/DA converters," (I assume this is more so for Windows Laptops) https://www.lifewire.com/how-a-usb-audio-interface-is-better-than-your-onboard-headphone-jack-7370406 I would definitely prefer an external audio interface for its quality and robustness, and the fact that you don’t have to fiddle around with 3.5mm jack adapters. Moreover, using an external audio interface generally allows you to use ASIO (Audio Stream Input/Output) that allows specific software applications (e.g., your DAW such as Cubase or Ableton) to communicate directly with the hardware interface, without the OS as intermediary. This can give excellent low latency performance https://www.skippyweb.eu/2023/08/using-a-laptop-during-live-performances/ When it comes to audio quality, a USB audio interface surpasses the onboard headphone jack found on most devices. The onboard jack may provide basic audio playback, but it falls short when it comes to delivering the highest quality sound. A USB audio interface is designed with specialized circuitry and converters, specifically engineered to handle audio signals. This dedicated hardware ensures that the audio signals are processed and converted with utmost accuracy and precision. These interfaces utilize high-quality digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) to maintain the integrity of the audio signal throughout the recording and playback process. The result is cleaner, clearer, and more detailed sound reproduction. In contrast, the onboard headphone jack is typically integrated into the motherboard or sound card, and it shares resources with other components. This can lead to signal interference, poor dynamic range, and added noise and distortion. Moreover, USB audio interfaces often support higher sample rates and bit depths, providing a more accurate representation of the original audio. https://citizenside.com/technology/how-a-usb-audio-interface-is-better-than-your-onboard-headphone-jack/