Virus Rack XL

[JimmyRabid]

Sup ppl,hey looks like I've scored a second hand rack xl,its 12mths old.can anyone tell me what a good price for these are,second hand and new,the guy wants $1400NZD($874US,461GBP) and anything I should check out to make sure its all good.cheers

[juffi]

Sup ppl,hey looks like I've scored a second hand rack xl,its 12mths old.can anyone tell me what a good price for these are,second hand and new,the guy wants $1400NZD($874US,461GBP) and anything I should check out to make sure its all good.cheers

Well i paid 799 Euros, must be over 950$ but from a german dealer. So your deal seems to be quite good.

[JimmyRabid]

Was that brand new or second hand??

[juffi]

Was that brand new or second hand??

It was very good condition like new, but second hand. He had a 12 months guarantee also.

[Drammy]

I own a XL rack and this is a bit below the price I would want to get if selling - so looks like you've got a good deal there...

[JimmyRabid]

Yea think I got a good deal by all accounts,pretty sick piece of hardware to get started with.Think I'll be getting to grips with it for a bit but looking forward to it.Can anything go wrong with XL I should know about or that I can check before I hand over my cash.Pretty sure the type of peeps who own this type of gear would look after it.cheers for the quick response Virus crew.

[jasedee]

Thats a good price...

I paid over AUD$3000 for my Virus RackXL probably 3 years ago.... I really wanna sell and get a desktop or KC but I probably wont get fekk all for the XL if I decide to sell

[JimmyRabid]

Can anyone give me a quick run down on the midi cables needed to make sure this unit will run, sorry if this sounds like a dumb question,I've been told it needs a certain midi cable to record in or something and can you use a midi>usb to hook it up to a computer without a midi in/out.cheers for helping this noob :mrgreen:

[jasedee]

Just normal MIDI cables will do fine....

A USB MIDI interface is something you'll need though. Has MIDI in/out ports which the Virus connects to, and then connects to the computer via USB. Get something with at least 2 ins/outs...more if you can.

I can highly recommend MOTU MIDI interfaces... You'll want something compatible with your platform though (MAC OS or Windoze)

[djencode]

capital idea jase.

i use a motu ultralite and a motu microlite on my mac as a midi interface. serves me quite well.

[JimmyRabid]

Safe cheers jasedee, so really I can run it on a soundcard without midi ports,I've got a bit of spare cash to get sum other stuff like a controller/soundcard etc but would rather put it into a decent set of monitors,know what I mean

[djencode]

no no i think you miss the point. the way the rack xl works, you need something with midi to control it. be it a midi keyboard or a sound card or a midi interface. what sound card are you using currently?


no point in getting monitors if your sound card isn't up to standard. also for monitors, i have tannoy reveal 6d's and they are amazing. check out the 5a's as they would be good as an entry monitor

[JimmyRabid]

Haha yea such a newbie aye,well ya see this purchase was made rather fast or I would've missed it,so I hav'nt got all the extra bits of gear yet.

The card I've got is a Creative Virbra 128 has line in/out, mic in and joystick/midi port.The midi port is a 15 pin,So I take it I need a midi to 15 pin cable ?

I can either get a new sound card and controller or get some monitors and just wait to get some more cash together to get the Xl running proper.

Reason I want the monitors is because I'm still writing beats with or without the XL and really need some better monitors.

Just had a look at the MOTU interfaces, so by using one of these your connecting the XL with midi cables to the interface then via a USB port to the PC,so you don't realy need a sound card with midi ports because your using a USB port or have I got this all wrong.haha

[djencode]

if you get a motu ultralite for example, it has one midi in and one midi out, and connects to your computer via firewire. use headphones with it for now and get monitors later

[JimmyRabid]

Thanks to all that answered my questions.Picked up the XL yesterday,very happy when the seller took me through the sounds it can produce.

So I've decided to get a M-AUDIO MIDISPORT 2X2 USB MIDI INTERFACE,its got two in's and outs and a Korg K series controller.Both within budget so very happy with that.Can someone confirm this will allow me to run the XL through my PC and record the sounds from the XL.I know I sound like a complete Noob but the shop I've been dealing with keep trying to up sell me to expenisve soundcards and never answer my question.Cheers

[djencode]

unless you got 1/4" ins on your current sound card on your computer you're kind of hooped. which is why i suggested purchasing something like an ultralite or a firewire 410 as midi only transmits control data, it doesn't transmit sound. with a external audio card via firewire or usb2.0, you can have te midi interface on te card, and the 1/4" ins and outs to send and recieve audio.

[jasedee]

The MIDI-Sports are notoriously SHITE!!!! Bad timing, useless drivers etc..

In this game, it really does pay to spend a little extra...you get reliability. Which is probably why your local music shop is trying to get you to spend some cash.

[JimmyRabid]

Cheers guys,good to know,if I got a M-AUDIO AUDIOPHILE 2496 PCI SOUNDCARD would that be sweet for running the XL and will I still need a midi interface?

I just found this Motu Micro Express Serial midi interface but it has a parallel port to connect to your PC,something tells me this is'nt very good and why its going cheap ?

[jasedee]

Cheers guys,good to know,if I got a M-AUDIO AUDIOPHILE 2496 PCI SOUNDCARD would that be sweet for running the XL and will I still need a midi interface?
That would be just sufficient. Ideally, you'd want at least TRS 1/4" inputs instead of RCA's. But yeah, that'll get you off the ground

[JimmyRabid]

Yea think the m audio 192 will be better because of the 1/4" in/outs.
Just reading the manual bout Sounddriver says it needs to be connected both midi in and out to work,do you have the controller on the midi thru on the XL?

[jasedee]

Yea think the m audio 192 will be better because of the 1/4" in/outs.
Just reading the manual bout Sounddriver says it needs to be connected both midi in and out to work,do you have the controller on the midi thru on the XL?
Well you see thats where a multiple I/O MIDI interface comes in handy. Saves fucking around using thru settings etc via a controller...

Unless your controller can connect to the computer via USB

[JimmyRabid]

yea it has,gonna get a Korg K series so it should be sweet.cheers for ya help mate