What do you think about the new EWI USB?

[Bernie Kenerson]

Akai has announced the new EWI USB. I plan on getting one from the first shipments. I love the internal EWI4000s sounds (patchman bank w/ some of my own custom) and also use soft synths extensively. I'm really looking forward to USBing this new EWI USB right into my laptop for live shows and my studio computer for recording. Can't wait to see how it works with Reason and Sample Tank.

[Ammo]

I am kind of dubious. Patchman Music reports that all you need is a computer running OS X and sure I have one of those. But more research at Garritan.com or Akai Prof (http://www.akaipro.com/ewiusb in Docs and Downloads) yields the info that this Mac has to be 2.0 GHz with 2GB RAM. That's pretty hefty. If I had to get a new computer along with this limited wind controller, it would be much more expensive than the superior model that doesn't require a computer.
I'm interested in Reason too, but I could use that already if I - once again - had a powerful enough computer.
--
Just now tried the Korg Legacy Collection's M1le - but no ability to receive BC data. Next!
I like writing, but I need a performance solution!
"Ammo"

[Chris Moody]

I picked one up a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty cool, but limited. I bought it because my 3020 died a while back and had never gotten around to sending it to Patchman to get it fixed. If I had never played EWI before I'm sure I would have loved it. The real hang up was the way the octave rollers work. It is limited to 5 octaves and the top and bottom are weird. To play the top octave you have to hit the next to top octave and then pull your thumb off. The bottom octave is the same way. It makes the instrument feel very unbalanced in the top or bottom octave. Other than that it played and responded well. I hooked it up to Logic Mainstage, Reason, and the Garritan sounds it came with and all worked fairly well on my MacBook Pro Core Duo 2 GHz w/ 1.5 GB of ram. After playing it I found myself really wanting to play EWI again so I took it back to Sam Ash and traded up to the 4000s which I am really enjoying.

[iLYA]

I was wondering if Garritan Aria sowtware can be used with 4000, if it's hooked up to a computer through MIDI to USB interface, but 2GHz with 2GB RAM kinda kills the idea... (I would need a new computer then)

[Chris Moody]

It definitely works. I have it running on my MacBook Pro with the 4000s.

[iLYA]

did you have to buy EWI USB in order to get the Aria Player software?

[Chris Moody]

I actually bought the USB and returned it after about a week and got the 4000s. I tried plugging it in to my MacBook and the Aria player worked fine through midi.

[fatty lumpkin]

Any opinion yet on the use- ability of the ewi usb vs ewi 4000
I'm playing an older EWI 2000
I never the cheesy analog sounds.
Wondering which instrument I should replace it with.
Will probably be triggering soft synths as well as external hardware.
Thanks for responding

[Bobby Taskov]

You might consider buying a EWI 4000S. I am not so sure if you can trigger hardware synths with the USB model (I guess you can not). The 4000S is 8 octave range VS 5 octaves USB model - IMO the USB is more toy than a cool controller - you can use EWI 4000S to control softsynths too and you will feel comfortable even if your laptop/hardware die on a gig - you still will have the internal synth ;)
Hope that helps

[Kyle McHattie]

Yes you can control external hardware synths with the USB. I have one and am able to do it just fine. The USB is not a toy. Every bit as sturdy as the 4000s with some features left out. Thus the $300 lower price.

[Paul]

Mine finally arrived today (delays in shipping due to weather). I have to say that while I like the instrument, I find the accompanying software to be pretty anemic. The sound fonts are based on digitized samples, with a series of samples over ranges contributing to the scale available. Not all controls work for all sounds (no pitch bend on the flute? seriously?), and some of the transitions between sample sets are painfully obvious - and in a few cases a little pitchy. The timbre of one set won't necessarily match with the next due to breath control issues in the original sample, for example. The software also won't do ranging of sounds or transposition either - I highly recommend coupling it with a separate patch master (I'm using "MIDI Patchbay" on OS X) to fill that gap and make this close to usable.

I'm afraid I've blown my instrument budget for now on the EWI itself - any recommendations for better soft synths without breaking the bank, so to speak? (pun only partially intended)

[Kyle McHattie]

Actually the aria does do transpostition just fine (+ or - an octave). As for the samples, most soft synths or hardware synths use samples of one kind or another. Unless you are using something that does modelling, that is pretty much all you can hope for. The 4000s has inferior sounds than the aria, imo.

[Paul]

Transposition was the wrong word - I was meaning the subdivision of sound fonts to different ranges and internally varied transposition in that.