Arx-02 or arx-03

If i had a preference it would be brass as it seems to do a lot for playability

e piano is just an epiano not a live instrument like brass

i bought the EP and the Brass.....i like the Brass...but please note i played bari sax in stage band in high school and collage.....note to EP playes ARX02 handles velocities really smooth...from mellow to bite with out sample jumping......so ask yourself which do i use more in my music.....brass or eps.....good luck and enjoy...CK

is anyone going the route to switch out cards? meaning depending on the application/occasion you may use the e piano vs the brass and then switch it for the next application occasion?

it really is a hard decision. i mean brass can be a very very useful tool... but at the same time e pianos can be. there are some really really nice e pianos on the fantom G already... but what about brass sounds? what has been the final judgement on fantom g brass vs the brass on the arx card... oh and while we are at it, the e pianos on the fantom g vs the e pianos on the arx ep card?

Hi,

I own the BRASS ARX-03 card and I am really happy with it. You cannot compare the sound of this card with the standard brass sounds in the Fantom G, because you have a lot of possibilities. To get a perfect brass sound for yourself, you also have to spend a lot of time with it. If you do that, it is a very powerful tool that I don't want to miss.

I hope this will help you.

Yep - I agree with mpatiga.

I bought by ARX03 around a month ago... and have played with it heaps, replacing the "factory" brass patches I have in my songs with the ARX03 patches.

A few comments to be aware of:
1) you can only use the ARX03 for 1 part at a time. That means if your pre-ARX song has multiple brass parts, then you will need to plan how to address that. If you truly want many individual brass parts, then you need to get them (individually) perfect and RESAMPLE them as individual audio samples (using SAMPLE-RESAMPLE) and then insert the SAMPLES into one of the 24 Audio parts. I still keep the 'original' MIDI ARX phrases around but "mute" that part once i have the AUDIO tracks populated... and then you can work on the 'next' brass part Tip: Dont have reverb on the track when you sample - you can apply that to the audio tracks after - however make sure you have the PAN (left/right) pretty well right before you sample. (particularly if you have a brass section going on the ARX03).
2) if you want to tweak the ARX03's patches - then save them as a USER patch on the ARX03. However note that there are only space for 50 patches in total - which is easy to quickly consume.
3) It takes time to get the brass to sound real in some situations (play with breath, noise, personality settings etc) as well as the ARX03 mixer (note also that you can adjust the various instruments with a number of alternatives for that alternative)... Play around with the card for a few weeks before you seriously record.

But I agree with above - the standard EP's are very good (compared to the standard brass) - so ARX03 was worth the money.

My 2 cents worth.

Ted

tedw wrote:

Yep - I agree with mpatiga.

I bought by ARX03 around a month ago... and have played with it heaps, replacing the "factory" brass patches I have in my songs with the ARX03 patches.

A few comments to be aware of:
1) you can only use the ARX03 for 1 part at a time. That means if your pre-ARX song has multiple brass parts, then you will need to plan how to address that. If you truly want many individual brass parts, then you need to get them (individually) perfect and RESAMPLE them as individual audio samples (using SAMPLE-RESAMPLE) and then insert the SAMPLES into one of the 24 Audio parts. I still keep the 'original' MIDI ARX phrases around but "mute" that part once i have the AUDIO tracks populated... and then you can work on the 'next' brass part Tip: Dont have reverb on the track when you sample - you can apply that to the audio tracks after - however make sure you have the PAN (left/right) pretty well right before you sample. (particularly if you have a brass section going on the ARX03).
2) if you want to tweak the ARX03's patches - then save them as a USER patch on the ARX03. However note that there are only space for 50 patches in total - which is easy to quickly consume.
3) It takes time to get the brass to sound real in some situations (play with breath, noise, personality settings etc) as well as the ARX03 mixer (note also that you can adjust the various instruments with a number of alternatives for that alternative)... Play around with the card for a few weeks before you seriously record.

But I agree with above - the standard EP's are very good (compared to the standard brass) - so ARX03 was worth the money.

My 2 cents worth.

Ted

to me this is the one fall of the brass card (or one of the one!!! LOL) ONLY ONE PART>>> that's just horrible. who does brass parts with only one instrument. is the card meant for solo work only?

man that sucks.... my minds made up now (glad you brought this back to my attention), IF I get a card to go beside my drum card, it will most likely be the EP card...

to me this is the one fall of the brass card (or one of the one!!! LOL) ONLY ONE PART>>> that's just horrible. who does brass parts with only one instrument. is the card meant for solo work only?

man that sucks.... my minds made up now (glad you brought this back to my attention), IF I get a card to go beside my drum card, it will most likely be the EP card...

Actually, the whole concept of the Brass ARX is for the board to interpret your playing as a 'real' brass ensemble would by choosing an appropriate voicing. Individual sounds can be chosen, of course, and it is ridiculously easy to record any of these on an audio track. For those who need Brass, this is a sweet card!

BTW How many EP's do you play at the same time? ;-)

just one... so one part is just fine for that.

but in a brass piece you could want a sax line, trumpet line, etc....

ep's are great with just one part. know what i mean?

Hi Apex.

Like a stated in my previous post, recording individual parts on the 'G' is very easy. You can either record the individual instruments on their own audio track or record each instrument as a MIDI track, tweak it to your liking, and then Re-sample the finished track to audio. These options are very easy to execute. Either way, you end up with some very nice sounding Brass tracks. =)

piaknowguy wrote:

Hi Apex.

Like a stated in my previous post, recording individual parts on the 'G' is very easy. You can either record the individual instruments on their own audio track or record each instrument as a MIDI track, tweak it to your liking, and then Re-sample the finished track to audio. These options are very easy to execute. Either way, you end up with some very nice sounding Brass tracks. =)

yeah.. that's true. can you record the trumpet part and then lay a sax over it to see what it will sound like before you re-sample it?

Yes. Just re-sample the trumpet part first. You do not have to delete the original MIDI track, just mute it or remove the phrase from the sequence. It will remain in your phrase list and you can continue to make any changes you wish later. =)

Brass first or if you have the $$$, you get both. My 02 is in the box, since I find myself just using the stock e-piano which is really good to, no need too much tweaking and all. In 02, I only like three of them which but is not that you will miss them cause the stock ones really just as good or sometimes better. 02 just need your tweaking.

piaknowguy wrote:

Yes. Just re-sample the trumpet part first. You do not have to delete the original MIDI track, just mute it or remove the phrase from the sequence. It will remain in your phrase list and you can continue to make any changes you wish later. =)

Yes - this isnt a problem to do... you just need to know about it so you can manage your work appropriately,

I have done a big brass band song - which had 6 individual parts from solo instruments (baritone and tenor saxs for example) as well as sections for trumps, bones etc.

So thats why I:
1) resample the finished parts - and include those samples in the audio tracks. Mute the midi tracks.
2) be selective about the ARX03 patches you use - and either save the tweaked patches back to ARX - or write down the tweaks you did to the standard ARX patches.
3) play around wiht the individual instuments on ARX03 as there is quite a variety... as well as the personalisations for each of the players in a section (detuning, breath, growl etc).

A great card and well worth the money!

Am thinking about the ARX01 next.

Should get it while they still have it @$99. I use it a lot - like 95% of the time. The acoustic sound is my favorite( snares) once I know how much velocity to apply to get that nice snap! of-course I use that plate thing :D