Im curious - how many DP4 users actually use more than 2 FX slots at a time on a single sound?
Im wondering - if processing single instruments at a time - if I can get by with a DP2.
I can see how a DP4 would be great if you were using a mixer with multiple send/aux...but if most of the time its 1-2 FX slots per sound - then perhaps DP2 is fine...?
The thing with the DP4 is they were undervalued for years and now people are realising that they sound really cool...
I mean an H3000 is always £600 upwards, i think the DP4 is up there with those units, sure not as complex but capable of very good quality FX.
Swan, i think youll be fine with the DP2, i rarely use all 4 slots on my DP4, i tend to record the returns into my DAW on a seperate pair of tracks, so 2 channels would be fine for me.
cool...thats what I was thinking Syn303...and Rob...DP4 prices are going up a fair bit...but if you are using a desk I think they are still decent value...2-4 different FX with all that IO.
I think each block is available mono or stereo right?
The thing with the DP4 is they were undervalued for years and now people are realising that they sound really cool...
Ensoniq DP's will:
-ruin your original signal with their nasty inputs and outputs stages
-pull out a dark 32khz sampling frequency max.
-waste your time with their very clumsy interface
-provide a too limited numbers of parameters on many effects
-be out of date with no bpm sync, no midi sync, and mostly relative values displayed.
Nothing wrong with the I/O conversion, nice and coloured just how i like it.
Interface isnt too bad, just a little menu diving from one page to the next.
What do you need midi sync for? Get that delay chart out and punch some numbers in.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dalshim
Ensoniq DP's will:
-ruin your original signal with their nasty inputs and outputs stages
-pull out a dark 32khz sampling frequency max.
-waste your time with their very clumsy interface
-provide a too limited numbers of parameters on many effects
-be out of date with no bpm sync, no midi sync, and mostly relative values displayed.
Not to hijack, but I have a DP4+ for sale for $390 on the classified here w/ new battery/manuals. These are still a great bargain considering what you can do with them. I've owned all of them, and here's my take:
DP4 - way too noisey for studio use IMO
DP2 - ditto on the noisey for studio use - people talk about the '8-voice chorus' but you can get that on the DP4+
DP/Pro - excellent unit and if you can get it for a reasonable price, I would nab it - make sure the screen is bright and it doesn't need a new battery - otherwise, bargain down. Loved all the sounds on it, but ironically, I'm not a big fan of those French House phasers/flangers - go figure. Reverbs and delays are outstanding, and the pitchshifter is very useful for synths.
the noise in the dp4 is perfect. Honestly with effects inside the box getting the point they are at any dirty bits you can add with a character effects unit is just icing. If you dont want "that" sound at any particular moment pull up a plug in.
-ruin your original signal with their nasty inputs and outputs stages
-pull out a dark 32khz sampling frequency max.
-waste your time with their very clumsy interface
-provide a too limited numbers of parameters on many effects
-be out of date with no bpm sync, no midi sync, and mostly relative values displayed.
I don't think you've ever used one, because out of the list of five crimes you've provided, four are flat out wrong and the fifth (regarding the clumsy interface) can be overcome with user familiarity.
So you're either regurgitating rumours you've read on the internet, or you're deliberately seeding misinformation in order to keep the secret quiet. ;-)
the noise in the dp4 is perfect. Honestly with effects inside the box getting the point they are at any dirty bits you can add with a character effects unit is just icing. If you dont want "that" sound at any particular moment pull up a plug in.
If I was looking to buy one, I would agree with everything he says!
Quote:
Originally Posted by dalshim
Ensoniq DP's will:
-ruin your original signal with their nasty inputs and outputs stages
-pull out a dark 32khz sampling frequency max.
-waste your time with their very clumsy interface
-provide a too limited numbers of parameters on many effects
-be out of date with no bpm sync, no midi sync, and mostly relative values displayed.
-ruin your original signal with their nasty inputs and outputs stages
-pull out a dark 32khz sampling frequency max.
-waste your time with their very clumsy interface
-provide a too limited numbers of parameters on many effects
-be out of date with no bpm sync, no midi sync, and mostly relative values displayed.
So that would make a lot of analog FX crap under those criteria?..please..
Yeah reeeally sounds like the DP4+ ruined the signal of this track:
-ruin your original signal with their nasty inputs and outputs stages
-pull out a dark 32khz sampling frequency max.
-waste your time with their very clumsy interface
-provide a too limited numbers of parameters on many effects
-be out of date with no bpm sync, no midi sync, and mostly relative values displayed.
Fpor a start I think the DP4s delays can midi synced. It has its Tempo delay anyway+ I dont need BPM sync on anything. I have a pair of ears.
To little parameters? I think there's to much unnecessary guff in some of the fx
Interface is not clumsy. Very typicalof an interface of that time and i can whizz around my DP4 faster than any complex VST I have. But actually its not that clumsy. It has a knob, and four buttons whoh represent each effect. Press a button use the arrow keys to go through paramaters and the wheel to change them. Is that really so clumsy and difficult.
Used in with a console Im mixing in my super duper qualiity XXXX gear so I really dont care that it has 32khz quality. In fact im thankful. That MUST be why the delays blend in with the sound rather sit on top of the sound or acting as if I just made a copy of my audio on my daw and moved it multiple times
The point you miss about the DP4 is it has character. Its FX really do blend in with our sound as it has character. and a lot of it. Ibelieve Algae still uses one. The fx dont fight to be king of the sound. I cannot find another delay unit (VST) which can give me that sound. No mater what I have tried. Filters EQs, saturation blah blah. Put the delay on vocals or anything else for that matter and you just get a bigger sound. You dont hear the repeats per se. Its like reverb but a much more in balance with the tune reverb. It just makes stuff sound bigger without getting in the way. But I always find I get what I want from it very easily. Even its distortions and vanderpolfilter have character.
The OPs decision to go for DP2 is a good one, but if he can get a DP4 in one single mode (all 4 fx at at the same time) you can really be blown away with what the DP4 can do. OTT many of them are but some are just magical on vX. Keys, whatever. To many people just slap it in to four FX mode and leave it like that never investigating what it can do as one FX used in series.
Personally I would gladly pay 500 quid for a DP4. Well I guess I know the units sound so well, what i can get it from etc. I have hundreds of pounds sitting as code in my computer completely wasted, maybe thousands wasted...
Would you believe I paid 650 pounds for the sony oXford EQ in 2001 when it first came out. I rarely if ever use it now and if I do its for a low pass or high pass filter. 650 quid eh...well worth the money.
The thing with the DP4 is they were undervalued for years and now people are realising that they sound really cool...
This is what I think as well. Even when I bought one in 98 I think it was I had all sorts of various FX boxes. They were all immediately made redundant by the DP4. I guarantee in ten years time they will be highly sought after changing hands for a couple of grand.
Yeah, guys. And what about reading the posts of a thread while checking the posters ID's? Maybe you'd get the though process who led me to highlight the machine's flaws.
hey dudes, i have a dp4 which i totally dig. i was just wondering about the dp2? is i more closely related sound wise to the dp4 or the dp pro or dp4+? is there much sonic difference between these units?
They were bought by creative for their soundcard tech and ran into the ground
Weren't they bought by Emu who was then bought by creative and then run into the ground together? The reborn Emu is a joke, I'm half glad they didn't do that with the Ensoniq brand...but I'm sure that the Ensoniq name has virtually no value any longer.
I owned an Emu PX7 for a couple of years and when I was preparing to sell it on ebay I flipped it over to take a photo of the bottom and was surprised to see the Ensoniq logo next to the Emu logo.
the dp/2 is basically half of a dp/4. The DP Pro came later and is slightly newer, and I think supposedly has better/newer algorithms and processors/chips, but I can't really speak much more about that.
honestly, my suggestion to you, if you have a DP4 (non-plus model), stick with that.
I had a DP4+ with surface mount chips and it died. There's numerous reports of those dying. I sold it broken and made some money but it wasn't fun. DP Pro is likely all surface mount too. If they break, whether they can be repaired is questionable. The older DP4 is the way to go. Not much point in a dp2 if you have a dp4, unless you just want more effects channels?
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It's still very worth to own it as soon as you can find it at the regular price. Like the up'n'smoke's one.
