IvanS

Yep, Fast Track Pro is M Audio's card. I've made progress in realizing I was being daft and that you're meant to actually plug the thing into the FRONT not back panel, in the instrument/mic bits x) Yeah.. I know But the problem is now that the sound is incredibly (really) quiet and somewhat distorted..sigh.. I guess I will try to test out a midi or stereo audio cable tomorrow and hopefully that works better.

Hey guys, me again! Sorry to necro a thread, but thought to not bother opening a new one since I had this one already Anyways, finally got my hands on the PX 5s (much later than I had hoped, hah) and now have a few questions about the setup: So I have worked out you don't need a driver and, say, Nuendo picks it up right away, which is neat. So that's all done.. problem is, if I don't have a midi cable (which I don't atm) how do I connect the keyboard with my fast track pro so I can play and hear its sounds regardless of the computer? I tried using the standard keyboard/guitar cable, line out on the keyboard, and one of the four outputs at the back of my card (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BY0ilnKqSk4/Te35DgDMSaI/AAAAAAAAACE/LSr74nezCus/s1600/FTP_front%252Bback.jpg) - two inserts and two TRS outputs, but to no avail. My question is this.. in order to a ) have the keyboard routed through the soundcard b ) have it so it can be used as a midi controller but still can also be routed with its internal sounds through the soundcard in a way that this could be used on a computer with nuendo or whatever.. what stuff do I need? I have a usb cable to connect to the PC now and a standard keyboard/guitar cable and that's it. Do I need to get a midi cable or am I missing something else?

Hah cool. These new patches make the whole thing even better. Anyways, thanks again for your help guys, I guess that wraps up this thread, at least until I get the keyboard and fail and setting up the whole thing or something But no, in all seriousness, thanks a lot, will definitely be picking this baby up, seems like an utterly fantastic instrument, definitely.

Righto.. so midi data can still be sent through the USB and basically the only advantage of having a midi cable too is to be able to have -additional- options.. such as, say, controlling another keyboard as a third sound device within one of the four zones (one being keyboard itself, the other being a computer VST), but, with a proper USB cable setup I can still do what Brad was saying? I guess I'm confused still with the whole MIDI thing, but if I'm understanding it correctly now, with a simple USB connection to your computer and VST's you could still program the keyboard to play both its own and VST sounds in each of the 4 zones? If that's true, that's fantastic and really does eliminate the need to use the keyboard as a VST itself as you can happily record like this too

Oh I see, thank you. I actually understand your post now that I've re-read it, having actually read up on midi. Forgive the cluelessness but am I right in understanding that the keyboard needs a midi connection to your pc in order to process the VST's, and it won't work just through a USB cable? Basically, MIDI OUT on the keyboard, MIDI IN on the computer with the VST and I'm good to go. right? Thanks again for your help and sorry for being such a newbie!

Hey, thanks for the replies! Yep, I obviously realize that it is not itself a VST, though I was lead to believe you could load patches onto it from your laptop, presumably from a VST on it, but guess not Anyway, the question is could you, in a live setting, mix vst's controlled by the PX-5S as a master keyboard, with the keyboard's own sounds, such as the pianos. I'm obviously thinking of the VST's being loaded from a laptop, but how easy is it to switch the keyboard from master keyboard mode to employing its own sounds in a live set (since those sounds can't be regarded as a separate VST by the computer)? And what's this whole MIDI instrument deal? I have to admit I haven't really played around with MIDI, for most of my computer/keyboard interfacing I've simply used usb cables in the past. I'm just wondering what is the best option to, in a live setting, equally utilize a laptop with some chosen VST -and- the keyboard's own sounds, all in the same live environment I know it's a bit of a weird request but it would allow me to utilize the best of what the keyboard has to offer along with Omnisphere, effectively giving me a great set of realistic acoustic sounds in addition to a premiere synth workstation.

Actually, as I was typing this, I realized I actually have two quick questions, not one, hah. Well, in addition to my first question, here's another one.. not exactly sure what this is called in professional terms, but I'm wondering about the note off functionality on the PX-5s - what do I mean by that? Well, a very important thing for me when playing is having the ability to sustain a patch sound through a patch change, until I take my fingers away from the keyboard (lots of pad/atmosphere stuff as I play, amongst others, in a post/prog metal band). I used to own a Korg M50 and was rather miffed at how you could do this with single patches, but in the "combo" mode where you had more than one patch working, it would not apply anymore. So yeah, in a nutshell, does the keyboard support this option, and in what capacity?

Hey guys, So this keyboard is looking like the hottest thing on the market right now and I'm seriously considering buying one. As I do a lot of live gigging and use a lot of vsts, I have an important question..I realize you can route the keyboard's effects to midi/vst sounds, and also use vst effects on the keyboards' sounds BUT can you actually use the keyboard's patches as a separate vst so that you could not only mix vsts' and the keyboards' sounds on the keyboard itself but in, say, nuendo as well? That is to say, if I wanted my pianos/ep's to be handled by the PX-5S in a new project/live set and say one (or five) other vst(s) to handle the sfx/synths, can this be done and how? If so, it's definitely a must-buy for me, I'm probably getting the keyboard anyway what with all the great features it has, but this would be absolute icing on the cake.