Help needed...

[Waterboy]

Hi everyone I'm a first time poster here and I need a little help. I have a small home recording studio and I have been struggling to understand MIDI and doing fairly well at it so far (8 years of hell LOL).

I am now using a Yamaha Softsynthesizer S-YXG100+ with a very updated computer and a Soungblaster live. I love the realistic sounds the Yamaha gives to the MIDI instruments... actually the best i've heard so far but when I try and use my keyboard the sound is slightly delayed making recording impossible.

My question is how do I give my MIDI pieces the great sounds of the Yamaha but have no delay. Are all software synths this way?

I am using a keyboard only MIDI device so I am dependent on my PC to give me the thrills but I cant work with a .5 sec. delay...................Help, what can I do short of buying a pricy keyboard w/electronics.

Thanx

Rick

[AlChuck]

Unless it's a VST or DXi softsynth, all you can really do is record the MIDI parts using the SB's onboard MIDI sounds (or SoundFonts), then use the softsynth for playback and when you render it to audio for mixdown.

[Waterboy]

Thanks for replying so fast, I am using Cakewalk 9...will a VST synth work inside it? What is VST? Are any compatable sound wise to the Yamaha? Sorry about all the questions but I'm anxious to get this going.

[AlChuck]

VST is a technology much like DirectX that was developed by Cubase for plug-in effects and softsynths.

Cakewalk does not support VST, choosing instead to go with the Microsoft-backed standard even though it was for a while less capable than VST. There are DirectX-to-VST wrapper programs available that allow DirectX-savvy applications to talk to VST plug-ins, but I don't think the VST softsynths you might try like this will have any less of a latency problem.

The only way to get this type of performance with Cakewalk is to upgrade to SONAR and use WDM drivers, a significant step with many potential headaches, dpending on what hardware you have and what OS you use. With SONAR and WDM drivers and DirectX 8, you can get low enough latencies to play DXi (and, presumably, VST with a wrapper) softsynths in real-time.

I have not heard (except maybe on professional recordings without knowing it) any VST synths, but I'm sure there are some great-sounding ones. In SONAR, I have a couple of DXi synths, and they sound very good.

[Waterboy]

If I am understanding this right could you please enlighten me on the following points (and thank you for taking the time to help me),

?- If I migrate over to Cubebase can I have what I need using VST(I need no latency), and what synth would you recomend using on a 800 mz computer with lots of Ram?

?- Is there an external piece of equipment that would do the job in conjunction with my MIDI keyboard and Cakewalk,or do I need to jump into a full fledged Synth keyboard?

If I can record tracks in real time with Cubebase with no latency then the second question becomes mute....I will switch over because I see my future as a songwriter as someone who uses live tracks and Midi seamlessly. I like Cakewalk and would like to stay in that environment but I cannot tolerate the latency that seems to be inherent.

You mentioned something about recording in real time using the sound font environment and playing back and mixing down with the Yamaha Soft Synth. Is there an easy way to do this without rebooting everytime I change between the two?

Thanks again for your thoughts on this, you are very kind.


Rick

[AlChuck]

If I migrate over to Cubebase can I have what I need using VST(I need no latency), and what synth would you recomend using on a 800 mz computer with lots of Ram?

I simply don't know; I have no experience with VST.

Is there an external piece of equipment that would do the job in conjunction with my MIDI keyboard and Cakewalk,or do I need to jump into a full fledged Synth keyboard?

There are many, many synth modules that don't have a keyboard, from all manufacturers.

I like Cakewalk and would like to stay in that environment but I cannot tolerate the latency that seems to be inherent.

There's latency inherent in them all. But it's getting better all the time.

You mentioned something about recording in real time using the sound font environment and playing back and mixing down with the Yamaha Soft Synth. Is there an easy way to do this without rebooting everytime I change between the two?

Rebooting??!! All you should have to do is change the track properties to use the other synth.

[Waterboy]

Helpful people...Thanks a lot for sharing. Maybe I can help someone....someday LOL


Rick