Mach Five...How is it?

[TLarvenz]

So?!? We've been waiting forever! is it everything we've always dreamed about, or is it a buggy piece of crap? Does it play nice with Giga files? How does it compare to Kontakt? This is the software that's been keeping me from updating to PT 6. Is it FINALLY time to make the jump now that there's a top notch sampler, or should I wait for Mach 6?

[soundboy69]

Yeah...peoples that own this- share your discoveries. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[JaredVogt]

Greetings,
I have only played with it for a half an hour – but it sounds good, latency was very usable and no crashes. It isn’t intuitive – I had to crack the manual to figure out a few things. I will post more when I get a bit more time with it.
My biggest disappointment is that its limited to stereo outputs. From the manual "For RTAS and Logic 6, parts are hard-wired to the 'Main' output, which feeds MachFive audio to the tracks's output." This means that neither sounds within a given preset, nor any of the 16 parts, can be sent to anything other than the stereo output. MAJOR, MAJOR, MAJOR disappointment. If you want a sampler for drums, and want to process things separately, you aren't going to get it with MachFive.
Hopefully they will overcome this limitation soon – as for drums its really a requirement.

Thanks,
Jared

[spigots]

Is Mach Five OS 9 compatible?Can't find that info at the MOTU site.

Thanks,

Frank

[mike connelly]

So how is it at handling Giga format libraries?

[GL]

I've converted many Giga libraries so far with great success. It handles keyswitching and dimensions very well. It has a little ways to go for full Giga compatibility, but I am thrilled so far. I could never get Kontakt or EXS24MkII to convert any Giga sounds into usable presets. I've converted E-mu and Akai perfectly, even Roland and Kurzweil.

The stereo output limitation is due to RTAS. You can have multiple outs in HTDM,VST, MAS, and Audiounits.

I'm running a dual gig G4, with 20+ MachFive tracks (mostly Giga conversions) with no problem. Haven't tested more tracks yet, since I'm using it on the job and that's all I need right now.

[Markk]

Gary - Thanks for the very helpful post. Are you streaming the giga files off of an internal harddrive or firewire?

[sah5150]

Originally posted by JaredVogt:
My biggest disappointment is that its limited to stereo outputs. From the manual "For RTAS and Logic 6, parts are hard-wired to the 'Main' output, which feeds MachFive audio to the tracks's output." This means that neither sounds within a given preset, nor any of the 16 parts, can be sent to anything other than the stereo output. MAJOR, MAJOR, MAJOR disappointment. If you want a sampler for drums, and want to process things separately, you aren't going to get it with MachFive.
Hopefully they will overcome this limitation soon – as for drums its really a requirement.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I don't understand. Can't you instantiate as many MachFive RTAS plugin instances as you want on different stereo audio tracks and run your drum midi tracks for each individual drum to a different instantiation of the MachFive RTAS plugin? That is what I've been doing with Unity DS-1... I may just be a stupid amateur here so if someone could explain I'd appreciate it???

Steve

[GL]

Markk,

I'm using the internal ATA 120GB Seagate. I also tried my internal Ultra SCSI 160 drive (that I used to use for Pro Tools) but found no measurable improvement (that drive is smaller so would rather use the ATA sice I've already converted over 80GBs of sounds into MachFive format).

As far as the RTAS output issue, that is something I've heard before, not just with MachFive. I think the same limitation also exists with Stylus, Kontakt for RTAS, etc.

MachFive does work under OS9.

[MoreMeintheMonitors]

Anybody tried it in any kind of surround format yet? I'm REALLY curious as to how it works for that - I'm getting geared up for a surround project later this year and have been thinking of getting Mach 5 for it...

Anyone? Anyone?