Anyone using Pyramix for rock/indie music production?

[analogobsession]

Hi,

I will use Pyramix for mostly mastering.But i wonder if anyone using Pyramix for rock/indie music production/mixing.

My main DAW is Pro Tools.But i want all in one DAW for mixing,mastering,CD mastering.Pyramix is good for that?

Also i can't find any info about using outboard gears with Pyramix.Any insert plugin or routing example for this?

I'm totally newbie.

Thanks.

[fl]

I will use Pyramix for mostly mastering.But i wonder if anyone using Pyramix for rock/indie music production/mixing.

I don't think the genre of music matters much, unless you require something like Pro Tools' "Beat Detective" for aligning drum parts to a tempo map. (That said, Pyramix has full tempo map creation functions, along with a built-in metronome/click-track.)

In terms of sound quality, I think current versions of Pro Tools have caught up, but for a long time the internal math used by Digidesign/Avid would degrade the audio quality of mixes done "in the box", so many big-name engineers would habitually send all individual tracks' outputs to an analog mixer. Pyramix has been using 32 bit floating point math internally almost from its inception (nearly twenty years ago), and for some internal processes, bumps that up to 64 bit. As such, I think you'll find some subtle, and maybe some not so subtle improvement in the sound quality of your "in the box" mixes.

My main DAW is Pro Tools.But i want all in one DAW for mixing,mastering,CD mastering.Pyramix is good for that?

I often read in the DAW-MAC maillist, which is made up of Pro Tools users mostly, how they need to use various third party programs for things like file format conversion, sample-rate conversion, two track editing, CD mastering, DDP creation, etc. - all of which can be done from within Pyramix. About the only thing you might miss is side-chain compression, and even that can be worked around in a couple of ways: https://confluence.merging.com/display/ ... Side-Chain. With the "Album Publishing" feature, you can mixdown to a CD image, and sets of WAV, FLAC, MP3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis files, in various word lengths and sample rates - all in one operation, directly from your multi-track session.

Also i can't find any info about using outboard gears with Pyramix. Any insert plugin or routing example for this?

Yes, there is a plug-in which comes with all versions of Pyramix, designed to facilitate the use of "in-line"(out and return) outboard equipment such as a compressor. The various Busses and Auxes available allow you to route various mixes to various destinations, such as reverb devices, or headphones for performers.

I'm totally newbie.

You should expect a somewhat steep learning curve to get up to speed. I sometimes think that the various DAW companies inspire brand loyalty by each having their own set of menu locations, names and terminology for everything, so you will find many new names and locations for the various settings and functions.

I often refer to Pyramix as the "stretch-pants of DAWs" in that it is almost completely user-configurable, as most of the various functions found in menus can be displayed as buttons on a tool-bar. This extends to the point where you can choose to have most individual menu commands and functions made invisible, should you find you never use them.

Unlike Pro-Tools, there is a distinction between Tracks and Mixer Strips - in Pyramix they are not necessarily "joined at the hip", allowing you to route multiple Tracks to the same mixer Strip, which is very useful when it comes time to do Source-Destination editing. Of course, if you would prefer to have new Tracks and Strips created at the same time - there is a simple toggle which makes that happen.

If you do much editing, you'll find that the subtlety and finesse with which you can tweak edits is quite extensive, much more-so than what is found in Pro Tools.

For any and all questions, this forum is an excellent resource and many people here are quite experienced and helpful, as is the online Knowledge Base at https://confluence.merging.com/ Of course, if there is someone in your area who is a Pyramix user, spending a little one-on-one time with them could allow you to familiarize yourself with all the hows and wheres.

[analogobsession]

Hi "fl"

Thanks for replies and explanations!

I asked about genre because i saw people using Pyramix mostly mixing/mastering classical music,movie etc...

Now i'm on Mac and i have no dual-boot.So i can't try Pyramix.Ordered PC and waiting for it.

how they need to use various third party programs for things like file format conversion, sample-rate conversion, two track editing, CD mastering, DDP creation, etc. - all of which can be done from within Pyramix

This is what i want.I read manual and watched some videos.Looks like really what i want.

Yes, there is a plug-in which comes with all versions of Pyramix, designed to facilitate the use of "in-line"(out and return) outboard equipment such as a compressor. The various Busses and Auxes available allow you to route various mixes to various destinations, such as reverb devices, or headphones for performers.

Nice to know.

Also i'm little obsessive about ITB quality.I want to get "best" and transparent sound.I know these words are subjective.But i know what i want.And i didn't find what i want with other DAWs.

I'm plugin developer.I have almost all DAWs to try my plugins working or not.And i made some projects with them.For now Samplitude is better but not outboard gear friendly...So i'm using Pro Tools.But i hate it...Lots of reasons...Then i discovered Pyramix.Looks really simple to use for me.I liked mixer routing,busses,auxes and other features.Also i'm working on some amateur movies and i believe Pyramix will be good for me.

As i said i want all in one DAW.You know that digital world is really big.We can lose ourselves in this ocean while search best softwares for us.So Pyramix is best option for me.

Knowledge Base at https://confluence.merging.com/

Great!

Thank you so much,again!

[fl]

Now i'm on Mac and i have no dual-boot.So i can't try Pyramix.Ordered PC and waiting for it.

I've been running Pyramix Native on Bootcamped Macs since 2006 - it works really well, and the only additional expense was to find an OEM copy of Windows, which was easy enough to do on eBay. That said, I can understand the desire for a dedicated Windows machine, but make sure you get one which conforms to the hardware requirements: http://www.merging.com/support/pc-config (you'll note that among their their recommendations for laptops are a couple of MacBook Pros). The Canadian distributor for Merging, here in Toronto, runs a Masscore system on a 2012 Mac Mini, just like mine.

Also i'm little obsessive about ITB quality.I want to get "best" and transparent sound.I know these words are subjective.But i know what i want.And i didn't find what i want with other DAWs.

Since it's your ears, I guess you'll just have to try it and see. I would think that a lot more would be determined by the audio interface you choose. I've been running RME gear with Pyramix Native, and I find the sound quality to be excellent and the ASIO implementation has always been rock solid for me.

[analogobsession]

Thanks fl.

Normally my Macbook is my DAW but i'm working on it to make plugins.Also using VMWARE to compile plugins on Win.But i want totally independent DAW PC.No internet connection (only downloading and registration of DAW and plugins).And no any other software.Only music productions.

I sold my old PC.It was really old.Now bought new PC with licensed Win10.It has quad core and 16GB ram.I believe it's enough for me.

But i have a question about multi-core.Pyramix 11 Native has multi-core support?Cause i read that only Masscore using multi-core.I can't find clear info about that.

Thanks.

[analogobsession]

I got reply from support about multi core.

It is possible in our Masscore systems but not yet on the Native systems

But if it uses only one core,how performance will be?

[fl]

Pyramix 11 Native has multi-core support? Cause i read that only Masscore using multi-core.I can't find clear info about that.

Correct. Native uses only one core. Performance has never been an issue with me, as it is plug-ins which add to the processing burden. Pyramix itself has a pretty light footprint, which gets even less when it leaves idling mode and actually enters playback or record.

You'd only really start to encounter difficulties with projects having more than 48 tracks - or is it 96...

[analogobsession]

Pyramix 11 Native has multi-core support? Cause i read that only Masscore using multi-core.I can't find clear info about that.

Correct. Native uses only one core. Performance has never been an issue with me, as it is plug-ins which add to the processing burden. Pyramix itself has a pretty light footprint, which gets even less when it leaves idling mode and actually enters playback or record.

You'd only really start to encounter difficulties with projects having more than 48 tracks - or is it 96...

Thanks.

My own projects mostly around 30-40 tracks.But other projects can be more than 48 tracks.For example i got a mixing projects with 67 tracks from a metal band now.I use my own plugin and some 3rd party plugins.But mostly i like using stock plugins.And as i see Pyramix has really cool stock plugins.

I don't know but i believe Pyramix has freeze feature.If it has,it could be great for big projects.

[fl]

I don't know but i believe Pyramix has freeze feature.If it has,it could be great for big projects.

There is no "freeze" function, or at least there is no function called "freeze" within Pyramix. What you can do, however, is Render a clip, or clips, using what is called the Effects Rack, where the "effects" are plug-ins. This process creates a new audio file (either individual mono files or an interleaved, multi-track file - your choice) which replaces what was there before. In this case, Playlists can be your friend.

[analogobsession]

I don't know but i believe Pyramix has freeze feature.If it has,it could be great for big projects.

There is no "freeze" function, or at least there is no function called "freeze" within Pyramix. What you can do, however, is Render a clip, or clips, using what is called the Effects Rack, where the "effects" are plug-ins. This process creates a new audio file (either individual mono files or an interleaved, multi-track file - your choice) which replaces what was there before. In this case, Playlists can be your friend.

Thanks for the tip.

Tomorrow my PC will be arrived!But still waiting for dongle.I'm trying to understand basic usage of Pyramix before get it.

Thanks for your helps!

[analogobsession]

And another thing...

No MIDI in Pyramix,right?

[fl]

Not as such, but I have used a (USB) MIDI controller with Pyramix - you can map various MIDI commands to various operations in the program.

[analogobsession]

Not as such, but I have used a (USB) MIDI controller with Pyramix - you can map various MIDI commands to various operations in the program.

Thanks for reply.

But i meant MIDI instruments.

As i see,no midi squence in Pyramix.

Actually i don't use midi but sometimes i need.So i need to use Pro Tools sometimes.

Thanks.

[bitone]

Hello everyone

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread. Is there really still not side-chaining possible for VST-plugins?

Best regards