anyone familiar with Motu Digital Performer?

register · Post by **register** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 10:40 am

hey, I know we all love ableton live to bits... but I was just wondering if anyone here had any experience in using motu digital performer? Be it for live performance or production? how does it compare to live for performing? Any opinions on the software's own effects and instruments? Or ease of use for sequencing and recording?
Cheers

4ace · Post by **4ace** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 2:33 pm

I just got Vers. 5 and i'm holding out until it's intel ready to dive head first from Pro Tools into it.

I think i'll stick to live for gigs since i'm so used to it.I mainly want DP for composition,mixdown and to rewire live to it.

The instruments look killer along with the video support.It just seems like a great add on to compliment Live.

As soon as it goes intel i'll put it through the stress test and let you know what it's like.

capta1nA · Post by **capta1nA** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 5:15 am

I had to use DP for a class at school and hated it. I currently use Live mostly with some Logic Express (will upgrade to Pro eventually)

Machinesworking · Post by **Machinesworking** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 5:27 am

Performer was my first sequencer, and in some ways is still really great. The mixer in DP is the most intuitive mixer out there, hands down. Some of the built in FX are really good, the EQ and the filter are amazing. The piano roll editere is great, and the audio editing is better than logic.
There is a built in MIDI drum machine step sequencer that you can use with any drum instrument or sampler... many other things. Basically DP is the most overlooked DAW out there, and not for any good reason, at one point in OS9 it was the serious contendor to Pro Tools, with many more features for audio editing than Cakewalk, Cubase, or Logic.
MAS was the high end of plug in standards for a while, and Bomb Factory, Audio Ease, and others made only MAS and RTAS version of their products... OSX and Logic being bought by Apple basically put them in the back burner big time.

Anyway, if Apple stop changing OS architecture, and chip deign long enough, maybe the guys at MOTU will regain their foothold as the Pro choice, but not if Apple has it's say. One of the downfalls of Apple moving into the DAW market is public opinion of those that are on their own.

lopark · Post by **lopark** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 5:29 am

capta1nA wrote:I had to use DP for a class at school.

Same here. Not a fan. Though I've heard it described as the "swiss army knife of MIDI workstations", the interface is not friendly. I felt like I was fighting the program to do what I wanted.

sqook · Post by **sqook** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 7:43 am

I had to use it when people started reporting bugs under this host with my software. I must say, I also really hated it. DP has an obtuse, non-intuitive user interface, and I had tons of stability issues with it (it would always crash when doing AU scans). I understand that it's good for video scoring and some other stuff, but it's really not a program I would want to use for regular composing or midi sequencing.

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 7:48 am

DP is by far the most advanced DAW for scoring. If you haven't checked the specs on their website go do it straight away. Exemplary.

register · Post by **register** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 8:57 am

and it sounds about as love / hate as pro tools!

Machinesworking wrote: at one point in OS9 it was the serious contendor to Pro Tools,

... do you think it bears similarities to pro tools in usage? I used to use pro tools and found it very difficult to work with. In terms of performing live with DP, how does it compare to live? Does it have a similar clip activation setup? or is it more a case of playing along to a backing? Is there any scope for live creative freedom / improvisation?
thanks very much guys!

Machinesworking · Post by **Machinesworking** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 3:54 pm

register wrote:and it sounds about as love / hate as pro tools!

Don't know why? but there isn't a DAW out right now that I hate, they all have some cool feature that the others just drop the ball on.

... do you think it bears similarities to pro tools in usage?

Yeah, in a lot of ways, but the MIDI is far superior.

I used to use pro tools and found it very difficult to work with.

Was Pro Tools your first DAW? Honestly, Pro Tools is dead simple, only program out there that is easier to get into IMO is Live.

In terms of performing live with DP, how does it compare to live? Does it have a similar clip activation setup? or is it more a case of playing along to a backing? Is there any scope for live creative freedom / improvisation?
thanks very much guys!

Not as much, basically Live stands out on it's own in regards to performance. It's been a while since I messed with Performer, and some people say it's more suited for live use than Logic or SX3, but I'm dammed sure that Live beats it for performance.
Where Performer beats Live is in MIDI editing, arrangement editing, mixing, and automation finesse. Basically Live can do all that, it's just that the traditional DAWs are set up for song creation, and completion, whereas Live is more set up for performance and remixing.

SubFunk · Post by **SubFunk** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 6:37 pm

my personel top 3 list in that order is:

Logic -> DP -> Live

DP is great and i backup nearly everything machinesworking and machinate said about DP.

i personally thing you can't get wrong with a powerfull sequencer like Logic or DP as an addition to live. both come with a whole lot of high quality plugs.
(whereby i think that in that respect Logic does the race, the instruments alone in logic are worth the price and are next to the plugs a killer)

PT is good, but only for audio, if you do audio only then it remains still the most editing friendly audio apps, but for midi (even they improved a lot in the meantime) it is still utterly weak.

noisetonepause · Post by **noisetonepause** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 8:42 pm

Coming from Logic DP was not easy to learn, and seemed less suited for MIDI programming to me (as in, building parts up from nothing), but I wouldn't say it's worse. It did indeed seem to me like I would have liked it better if only my hardware hadn't been underpowered and Live hadn't come along. I'd still turn to it for recording bands, though.

evernaut · Post by **evernaut** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 7:12 am

I've only used DP for audio-visual stuff. And it rules for that. I think PT is better for tracking, but DP has the editing edge. Neither compares to Live...it's like comparing apples to ants.