Subject:Acid 4.0: Some Basic Questions

Posted by: SonicSounds

Date:9/21/2002 1:45:03 PM

I've been using v3.0 for over a year now and have been overall pleased with it. It did have it's bugs but nothing too serious. As I've been reading over the forum, it seems like v4.0 has some problems. Aside from the bugs, I have a couple of questions about the functionality of v4.0.

1. This might be a dumb question but can you use more than one VST instrument at a time? For instance, can I use an EVP73 and a Halion in the same song (i know it might sound stupid but I've used programs that don't support this). I saw a post about multiple VSTi outputs so it got me thinking.

2. Can you use more than one configuration of a VST instrument in a song? For example, can I have one preset of an instrument on one track and use another preset of the same instrument on another track?

3. Can you record MIDI data over an existing MIDI track or do you have to setup another track? Example: I record a melody in a MIDI track but later want to add something more to that same track. Would I have to record another separate track to do this?

4. Why hasn't SF included realtime DirectX FX previews? Sonar works great with this feature.

5. With the recent update, are most of you able to run VSTi's decently?

6. Effects like the resonant sweeps, do they work well? In v3.0 I was dissapointed that I couldn't do an EQ sweep effectively. It never was a complete wet mix of the EQ so you could always hear the original track's EQ with it.

7. I'm using an Audigy card. Has anybody had a problem with it working in v4.0?

8. Basically I'm want to know how well the VST's will work with Acid since I want to move more in that direction. I've tried Cubase and Sonar but their interfaces and functionality weren't very intuitive.

It's nice to see SF moving toward the pro-sumer level but I hope the MIDI support is decent. If anybody can answer these questions for me, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Subject:RE: Acid 4.0: Some Basic Questions

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:9/21/2002 2:44:42 PM

1. Yes. You add a VSTi like you would a Bus or Assignable FX in the Mixer.

2. I would think so via the method above? (Add another of the same VSTi but with different parameters.)

3. Yes and no. You can only rearrange the MIDI data and add to it manually (with the drawing tools) via something like the Piano Roll Editor, but you can step record via the List Editor after the fact.

4. Real time DirectX FX previews? You mean kind of like what Sound Forge has (if you use that app)?

5. I can't vouch too much as I don't use VSTi's exclusively or a lot, but whatever I've tried thus far works pretty well.

6. Very. For example, the Resonant Filter plug-in will let you pick exactly what you want to automate (like Frequency and Resonance and any combo of such). When you choose which parameters you'd like to automate, their respective envelopes appear on the track, ready for modifying just like any other type of envelope.

7. Can't answer this one personally as I don't use an Audigy, but I've heard people aren't having problems.

8. The one limitation that users have come across is that they can't use multiple outputs in a VSTi if it has such a feature (like Native Instruments' Battery). A way around this could be to create multiple instances of the VSTi as necessary and route them appropriately. A little cluttery, yes, but it's workable.

HTH,
Iacobus

Subject:RE: Acid 4.0: Some Basic Questions

Reply by: dkistner

Date:9/21/2002 5:46:57 PM

This might be a dumb answer, because I got into VSTs like a week ago and have had Acid less than a month. Answering 1 and 2. I can't answer 3 because I've never been able to get midi record to work and gave up, even though that's why I bought the program to begin with.

I've got projects running three copies of Ganymed (I rename the synth to be the instrument I'm using it for, like Pad 2 or something, so I can see what I'm doing), two copies of Vivaldi (same), and various something elses. (I checked the knowledgebase for the list of synths that work with Acid. There are zillions of them, so I'm content at this early stage of the VST game.)

Note that Ganymed and Vivaldi (IMO great free synths!) are driven by midi patch commands, so as long as I have the correct patch in the midi file, they work great. (Figuring out what the darned patch is supposed to be for one of the presets is what's got me bufuddled now...many hours of farting around trying to hit on the right one! I'm hoping the cheap "Basic VST Instruments" book and the other expensive one from Amazon I just ordered are going to enlighten me. There's apparently some equivalent to the alphabet in the soft synth world that everyone assumes you've already learned. NOT.)

I haven't been so successful with other VSTis but that may be because I just don't understand how they're supposed to work. Copy/paste/init? But back to your questions.


I have mucho problems if I don't break my midi files into separate tracks/channels; but if I do that, it all works fine. My strategy (which seems to be the safest thing, given the problems mentioned in this forum) is to handle each midi file as a means to an end: Get a mono wave out with no effects, but maybe some note velocity editing in the List Editor, rendered via whatever VSTi I'm using. Then I pull the waves into a separate project to do the real work.

5: It's getting better, but we're not there yet.

Hope some of that helps. I think the VSTis are the way to go, despite the problems. I've gotten more work done since I started using them, and I'm excited by the possibilities of learning how to intelligently tweak those knobs.