Should I buy this.

[Trwkeys]

Ok so I'm getting a MalletKat and I know the sound that come with it are not gonna do it for me. Plus i would love to make some really crazy sounds and make some awesome music. So looking a the muse it looks like it has everything I need with a huge price tag. But even so i feel like i wouldn't use half of the features on it. Or not yet at least. Should I just get a cheaper sound module that has pretty good sounds. so basically what I'm asking is does it make sense for me to spend 3000 dollars on this or should I just wait and get something cheaper.

[pljones]

You've really got to consider the MUSE Receptor as a rugged computer rather just a flexible sound module.

Do you need a rugged computer?  That is, something you can load new software on to and access an incredibly wide range of sounds from a huge range of creators?

Would a normal computer do you?  You'd get better software compatibility and save several hundred dollars.

Or..?

[Orb Vroomer]

What types of sounds do you want in your arsenal ?  What type of music ?  The MUSE is a serious piece of gear. Expanded with more software $ ,too.

You can pick up decent old synth/sampler hardware modules real cheap. If those sounds meet your needs.

The computer & software route (or MUSE ) is superior to most older hardware modules.

[Trwkeys]

I was looking a couple of things up and the Yamaha MOTIF XS rack is pretty nice and it has some really awesome sound coupled with the computer i can do some really cool things. I Might try and find a cheaper rack, only thing is i want to hear the sounds on them before i buy it. I honestly would rather just sample the sound from my laptop but i worried about latency issue's. I did it with my keyboard and it was kind bad, but i can use the money I would save and get a better computer with a better processor which is what i need right? good processing power should reduce the latency right. 

[pljones]

Latency has very little to do with CPU power and far more to do with the quality of the audio interface.  On a run of the mill laptop, no one has designed the audio to be even vaguely real-time.  No matter how powerful a CPU you have, with a poor audio interface, you'll get unacceptable latency.

You need to get a good audio interface that supports low latency operation.

If the laptop has a good Firewire interface, you could get something like an Echo AudioFire4 interface (I use one with my PC) - that would probably cure the latency issues.  Of course, it's one more box and more wires...  Another benefit of the Receptor is it's got all of this sorted out already.

I've no experience with "hardware" modules (i.e. straight "dumb" rack gear), so I can't comment on the MOTIF.

[spottyscotty]

I was looking a couple of things up and the Yamaha MOTIF XS rack is pretty nice and it has some really awesome sound coupled with the computer i can do some really cool things. I Might try and find a cheaper rack, only thing is i want to hear the sounds on them before i buy it.  

You may have already seen this then, but the Motif XS official demos are here:
http://www.motifator.com/index.php/support/xs_audio_demos/

I have to say that I can't imagine that you might need anything better than that, unless you were after a really particular sound for a really particular application!

You can still easily find the Motif ES (predecessor to the Motif XS) both new and used. That too is a powerful module. Videos here:
http://alternatemode.com/videos_malletkat_ES.shtml

Oh, and look at the sound modules available on this site - e.g. the Kurzweil PC2R. There's a PC2r video on this site (Mario soloing like crazy) here:
http://alternatemode.com/videos_malletkat_demos.shtml

Good luck!
Scotty

[Trwkeys]

Thanks I have no experience with any of this at all. In fact I don't even know how to set any of this up after i get it, but thats the fun part is figuring it out as you go. I'm really excited to really get into the electronic side of music. But yeah I don't think I'm going to need the receptor mainly because I would most likely be spending money on things I wouldn't use or need. Thanks spottyscotty i didn't even know it had a predecessor, the vibes sound Great on it.  Jezze I got alot to learn. But I'm looking forward to it. The Kurzweil PC2R sounds good too. Ooooo so many choices. Thanks guys