OK, this
will be a quick review of the Mac version as installed and used
on a Beige G3 450 along with info pertinent to both PC &
MAC versions, with a return visit promised to get into details
further. This program is kinda tough to review as I've had this
software for a couple of years and to be brutally honest, have
not done much with it other than listen to songs that other users
have done. It just hasn't fit into my arsenal of tools as a prime
player. It helped when the program fit in as a ReWire VST instrument,
as it suddenly seemed easier to integrate into VST.
One reason
I shyed away from ReBirth is that the program requires insertion
of the software cd-rom at startup, which to say the least is
a hassle. Also, I had troubles using some other software like
the Unity DS-1 & Retro AS-1 in Cubase, and through trial
and error determined that when I disengaged the Rebirth Engine,
the problems went away. It certainly could have been other factors
which I have yet to determine. Granted I did not give this program
a decent shot and let me leave the conclusions as to usefulness
to you and the adoring public. Apparently there are many musicians
out there that dig this program to the max, so it must have something
special that I missed. In fact Propellerheads proclaims ReBirth
RB-338 to be "the world's most popular software synthesizer".
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BEAT
MODE RATING SYSTEM
0 to 1 star
- SUCKS - BARELY USABLE - Not RECOMMENDED
2-4
stars -
SOME REDEEMING VALUE, BUT NOT MUCH TO SHOUT ABOUT.
5-6
stars -
DECENT - worthwhile for some applications.
7-8
stars -
VERY GOOD product with many pluses, highly usable.
9-10
stars -
INDISPENSABLE - must have - the cream of the crop!
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First
off a brief explanation as to what it is all about. Two 303's
and an 808... Virtual emulations that is... Beats and bass lines
to make your Mac or PC go vroom. Classic beat box emulations
that work in your computer instead of in an external hardware
box.
In the
words of the Properhead's "ReBirth 2.0.1 is nothing short
of
a stunningly accurate reproduction of the bare essentials of
techno music making. Silver
boxes, blinking LED's, a myriad of knobs - and a sound like nothing
else on this planet."
Soooo.....
to be fair about this evaluation I removed all traces of Rebirth
and did a fresh new install of v 2.0.1 for use in Cubase VST
24 4.1 r2.
After
installing it and opening VST ReBirth showed up in ReWire just
as it should but after setting up and resaving a new Autoload
song, I closed VST. When I re-opened it VST froze as did my Mac.
So a reboot and I'm back at it. Hey, it frigging FROZE again.
Another reboot. This really blows. Now I know why I stayed away
from this program. All was working well without it but now suddenly
I am again having problems with VST and my Mac... Maybe I should
open ReBirth FIRST and then Cubase VST??? Hopefully though I
will not have to insert that darn cd-rom every time I use VST
even though I may not use ReBirth... SO far a hassle... OK, so
after the install now I am opening up Rebirth first... CD-ROM
inserted it now is running a test to determine a benchmark and
has concluded that my Mac has a score of 11, well above what
is needed to run version 2 of ReBirth...
OK, so
ReBirth has opened and I hit play and viola! It is playing...
I load a demo song and it works! Yes, it does sound very good!
Very cool. But can I get Cubase to work now??? I'll leave ReBirth
open and then open up VST...
Hmmm...
Cubase says "REWIRE AUDIO is already in use by another rewire
application".... OK... This sucks... VST opened but with
NO REWIRE...
Guess
I better shut down VST and ReBirth and try again opening VST
first.... Geez... see what I mean about the hassle factor? It
should not be this complex... I use VST regularly with Rewire
and it is far easier than this...
So I
opened VST again and it FROZE.... Now I gotta reboot again. This
really sucks. I'm sure there is an explanation for this b.s.
but I won't concede it is a good one....
OK, so
now Cubase VST freezes upon startup... I am at my nerves end
and ready to disengage ReBirth... Something is wrong and I can't
seem to make sense of it... Now I remember why I did not ever
make use of this program... I also remember when getting Unity
DS-1 and Retro As-1 to work that the Bitheadz people said that
ReBirth caused some problems... I'm sure both sides can point
fingers but this is nerve wrenching...
OK, this
time out VST opened and seems to be working... Let's open ReBirth
and see what happens... OK, I can start and stop Rebirth... But
when I opened the VST Instruments panel it FROZE... I went to
the ReBirth FAQs and TROUBLESHOOTING pages at the website and
did not find the answer.
I give
up. It does not seem to agree with my setup for some reason...
I have more than enough RAM with loads of memory set to VST so
it can't be that??? I dunno... Any suggestions? Maybe you've
encountered similar problems and came up with a solution. My
solution is to NOT use it with VST and disable the engine in
the extensions so I can get back to work composing instead of
rebooting my rig constantly.
A note:
after removing ReBirth engine still had trouble with Mac freezing.
So I removed the ReWire extension ReBirth installed and replaced
it with the 1.0 version that was there previously and all seems
to be well again... Geez.... What a hassle.
For now
I will just have to accept that ReBirth is a fun little toy that
makes great grooves and nice sounds, but as an instrument I can
use with VST it fails. It will now be relegated to strictly standalone
use. I'll give it a rating of 6 because I do think it is a cool
idea and the sounds are neato, but due to the problems I've had
it can't be highly recommended as yet...
Get
the REBIRTH
DEMO
and try it out yourself. It'll work for 15 minutes at a crack!
Listen
to ReBirth songs at DanceNet's ReBirth RB-338 Archive for
Mac's and PC's
Harmony
Central's User
Reviews of ReBirth 2.0
Hundreds
of ReBirth songs at the Propellerhead's Archives
ReBirth
Product description & MP3 demo song files at
the Propellerhhead Software site
Check
out our free
Atmospheric Samples - recorded using Reaktor!
Native
Instruments releases Reaktor
3.0.4 update to their flagship sampling, synthesis & effects
software.
Check
out our review of Native Instruments
Reaktor 2.3
DashSynthesis
- VirtualSynthDesigners - unique ensembles for Reaktor!
What's
In A Synth - how to article using Reaktor as example to build
synths
Beat
Mode Tech Article - MSVRCT
error problem with Reaktor - Rebirth
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