How many people still use an ATARI ST setup?

[Walter Ego]

i still use mine...loud and proud.....changed the monitor with a flat screen for space....does the job...
this is how i started and ive kept with it ever since....had one go one me, as i left it on all day.

didnt take long to find another for 30 squid.

i like to also keep things seperate from the main computers duties.

i run ( you tube ) on the main computer and copy the music on the atari.

I disagree with this. There's one thing a vintage system does better than a modern, super-bells-and-whistles rig: FOCUS YOU. When I sit down at my computer to make some tunes, there's two things I can do - make some tunes, or flip open a web browser, this forum, twitter, email, and a bazillion other things in the "background". Guess which one I'm doing right now? What you can do with an oldschool computer like that is set it up so that it's strictly music oriented, 100% geared towards doing what you want to do with no distractions. In a way it's more like having a hardware sequencer than a PC, but you still have the benefit of getting to work on a full screen with a full keyboard. So goes the theory anyway.

So to those of you who sequence and write songs on ancient computers, what do you use to record? Hardware recorder or modern DAW?

[Pro-502]

Sure, they're heavy, take up a s**t-ton of space etc etc.

But, the ST's midi timing is ROCK solid & - just because you can't be distracted by VSTs, amazing graphics, mastering plug-ins etc - I always found using them makes you concentrate solely on the instruments you're sequencing, rather than on the sequencer itself.

So, it might still be an idea for a one-off project (without selling / throwing out your usual stuff) just to see if you enjoy the change & find it productive. I think there's a good chance you'll find yourself making different (& good) stuff.

As for me, I used a studio-based STE for years, with a STacy laptop (weighs a ton) for live shows and they literally never even skipped a beat.

These days just use CVs & an MMT-8 for occasional midi parts & clock-syncing etc. Am planning to donate the STacy to the Computer History Museum, as last time I looked they still need one.

[calaverasgrande]

I dont use an Atari anymore. Though if I saw one at a garage sale I would hav a hard time passing it up.
I learned to program on Ataris. my first exposure to making music with a computer was a program I wrote to map the Joystick to the wonderful sound generator they had in the Atari 800.
As far as old computers not having any utility compared to new ones.
I disagree.
I highly doubt that an ST will catch a virus since they dont have USB, wifi or bluetooth, and the number of Atari specific virii are probably counted on one hand.
There is also something to be said for working within the constraints of an instrument.
I think my own music has improved since I ditched the limitless possibilities of in the box production and gone with an all hardware setup.
I spend less time mousing around and more time playing music.

[Tommygun]

I still use an all midi setup, I just never got round to the newer software on PC's (that said Im playing with cubase5 LE for the first time and audio recording is cool )
I had a 1Mb ST which died. My friends Megas's monitor died so he dontated a mega 4 to me as I still had a working monitor (sm124).

I use it with Dr T software (a little mathmatical...) and Tiger cub editor, when I recorded audio I used to SMTPE up a Revox 8 track reel to reel.

This was not a thread about which is better or worse, just if you still use and I liked Jay200mph's comment that it focus's you on the task at hand. Its also just nice being really familiar with software. Im sure Ill move on tho..prob when the hardware finally pegs it.

[Europanaut]

My 1040ST running DXHeaven is permanently attached to my DX7. It worked perfectly the first time I hooked it up, and works perfectly every time we use it. No-fuss fm programming. Pretty neat.

[AK79]

My 1040ST running DXHeaven is permanently attached to my DX7. It worked perfectly the first time I hooked it up, and works perfectly every time we use it. No-fuss fm programming. Pretty neat.

great idea... My ST is still in the attic, but now that i got the DX ... is that Software available on the net ? ?