Mandala v2.9 is awesome! But a few questions...

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quiquebucho
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Sep 14, 2011 9:06 am

Mandala v2.9 is awesome! But a few questions...

Post by quiquebucho »

Hey everyone,

Just got my new Mandala v2.9 and software and it looks, plays, and feels great! I did have some hiccups along the way and may need some help with a couple things. I did download the 3.01 patch before getting going, just so that's clear.

In standalone operation, it worked nearly flawlessly. I was having some trouble with my 2.0 pads making sounds although the brain recognized the hits. I messed around with control EXP first and got the pads working after with new software (maybe that was unnecessary). I had to set the notes to like middle C to get the 2.0 pads to work (maybe set up as appendix B said the new pads notes were set?). Then not every preset with 3 variations (I tried some of the kits too) would sound with all 3 drums. It would if I loaded the same preset into both 2.0 pads- but then I missed out on whatever the "third" preset would sound like of the similar patches. However, using a Midisport 2x2 i was able to get two v1 pads to work pretty much straight away. I don't know if there is a particular process to set up the 2.0 pads beforehand that maybe I should have been privy to, but didn't discern one anywhere. The older pads still felt good with the new sounds, but the v2.9 pad intricacies really showed how far Synesthesia has come.

My main hang-up came when I was trying to integrate VB3.0 into Ableton Live 8.2.6. After opening Live, then VB, i wasn't able to get VB3.0 to turn its audio on in rewire (1.7 installed). I tried the older VB software (1.51) just to make sure there was no other problem, and it was fine. I then turned off audio in older VB if maybe there was a conflict somwhere with rewire. Still wasn't able to get audio on in VB3.0 through re-wire. Installed soundflower and it worked great, I just wasn't able to use my firewire audio interfaces inputs. So I'm stuck there at the moment. Should I un-install the older VB? Should I then un-install Soundflower, as I don't normally need it? Let me know what you all think.

Overall, things sound great. I was just hoping for easier integration into Live, but I'm sure they will get worked out. They always do. I seem to remember a similar problem when VB first came out and it turned out I needed a new version of re-wire. This time I checked and I was current.

I was also hoping for more than 3 Mandalas supported in the VB3.0. Hopefully that will come later?

Here is what I'm working with hardware-wise:

Macbook Pro dual-core 2.33ghz w/ 4GB ram
Tascam Fireone Audio Interface
Belkin powered 7 port hub
Mandala v2.9
3 Mandala v2.0
M-Audio 2x2 midisport USB for 2 Original Mandalas and brains

Let me know what you all think.

Graham
mplayer1
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2011 9:02 pm

Re: Mandala v2.9 is awesome! But a few questions...

Post by mplayer1 »

I asked the company the same questions you had. Check out the Support page of their site. Now there is a v2 converter utility for download to configure your old pad to work best with the new software.

There's also a bug fix for ReWire up there. It worked for me.

I see there is a driver choice called 'LIVE' in the new Virtual Brain. I haven't tried that yet because ReWire is working fine. Soundflower is working well here too. That's always a viable way (Mac only) to get audio from the Virtual Brain into LIVE or most other programs.
quiquebucho
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Sep 14, 2011 9:06 am

Re: Mandala v2.9 is awesome! But a few questions...

Post by quiquebucho »

Thanks to the boys at the shop! By the time my post was up, patches had been made to fix my issue.
At least I wasn't crazy for voicing my problems. RTFM will help you most of the time. Drum on nonagon brothers!
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