Black Lion Audio Mod Owners
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- steve albini likes it
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- Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2004 8:57 pm
- Location: Portland, OR
Black Lion Audio Mod Owners
Are these Black Lion Audio modded devices all destined for the landfill? Will the technological upgrades held within all be made operationally obsolete via incompatibility with drivers/versions of Pro Tools or Operating Systems rather than mechanical or electronic failure? It seems that in order to make use of my Signature-modded Digi 002r, I'll have to permanently dedicate a computer to running a legacy OS (10.9.5) and Pro Tools 10 or 11. Is there a longterm solution to using these BLA upgraded devices?
- A.David.MacKinnon
- ears didn't survive the freeze
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- moves faders with mind
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To be fair, this has very little to do with Black Lion.
It comes back to planned obsolescence, and Avid/Digidesign's less-than-great track record surrounding it. It's not the first time that they've told their customers "if you want to run the latest software, you'll need to buy all new hardware."
It comes back to planned obsolescence, and Avid/Digidesign's less-than-great track record surrounding it. It's not the first time that they've told their customers "if you want to run the latest software, you'll need to buy all new hardware."
"What fer?"
"Cat fur, to make kitten britches."
"Cat fur, to make kitten britches."
- gregovertone
- takin' a dinner break
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sadly, this is not on BLA.
just the woe's of digital recording.
i feel like you can hope to get 10-15 years out of a digital device, and those last few will be brutal.
i have a BLA 002r gasping for life with an iMac on 10.8.5.
such is the way of the (digital) world.
just the woe's of digital recording.
i feel like you can hope to get 10-15 years out of a digital device, and those last few will be brutal.
i have a BLA 002r gasping for life with an iMac on 10.8.5.
such is the way of the (digital) world.
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- steve albini likes it
- Posts: 361
- Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2004 8:57 pm
- Location: Portland, OR
Yes, agreed. Planned obsolescence, indeed. I was in no way throwing Black Lion Audio under the bus. I was mostly wondering how other proud owners of BLA mods were coping with the loss of it's utility due to the inherent shelf-life of digital devices, in general. I love what BLA does. I only wish the efforts of the BLA technicians would be able to age like a well-maintained 1176, U47 etc...
- Nick Sevilla
- on a wing and a prayer
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Hopefully, BLA eventually will just make their own, fully modular converter systems.
Until then, well, they are just modders, so they are stick with other companies product specs.
If they looked at things like what every other company is doing re modularity, I am sure they could come up with something great.
Apogee Symphony for example. Or the Focusrite boxes which have different computer peripheral adapters you can swap out
Until then, well, they are just modders, so they are stick with other companies product specs.
If they looked at things like what every other company is doing re modularity, I am sure they could come up with something great.
Apogee Symphony for example. Or the Focusrite boxes which have different computer peripheral adapters you can swap out
Howling at the neighbors. Hoping they have more mic cables.
- A.David.MacKinnon
- ears didn't survive the freeze
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- Joined: Wed May 07, 2003 5:57 am
- Location: Hamilton ON, Canada
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- A.David.MacKinnon
- ears didn't survive the freeze
- Posts: 3834
- Joined: Wed May 07, 2003 5:57 am
- Location: Hamilton ON, Canada
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My 002 is still going strong (or as strong as an 002 can go). The longevity problem is not specific to the 002 but digital audio in general. When the drivers, connectors (Firewie, thunderbolt, whatever is next) and everything related change every 2-4 years it renders the interface useless in the long run.
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- re-cappin' neve
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I have an Adat ai3, bla modded focusrite pro 40 and Audient 880. My old rme 9652 wouldn't come along any more, so I had to get a rme Raydat. I think Adat is still a viable interconnect, and may well be for some time. LAN can be a long term solution, too, and there are devices offering Adat to Lan interconnection. I'm actually considering sending the AI3 to bla, I'm 65, and if I can keep on for 10 or 15 years, I'm good with the cost. I have several outboard pres and line out devices, and 48k is as good as I'll ever hear. If your modded units have Adat outs, there you go, they remain revelant. Remember the quote, 'if they sound good, they are.'
- alexdingley
- buyin' a studio
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Re: Black Lion Audio Mod Owners
Permanently dedicating a computer to a Legacy operating system IS A PERMANENT SOLUTION... and, honestly, it's not a bad one.earth tones wrote:It seems that in order to make use of my Signature-modded Digi 002r, I'll have to permanently dedicate a computer to running a legacy OS (10.9.5) and Pro Tools 10 or 11. Is there a longterm solution to using these BLA upgraded devices?
A Blue & White Mac G3 w/ a MOTU 828mk1, running mac classic OS 9.2.2 would still record music just fine in 2017...
I think that we're often tempted by "new", even if it comes at the cost of "practical"... Think of it this way... if you want to keep using PT on a machine with converters you have already paid for & that work well... all you have to do ? is nothing. Simply don't ask that system to be anything that it's not. Let it stay "old" and it will serve you for many years to come. The upgrade cycle is meant to sustain the manufactuerers' business, NOT YOURS.
I had made this decision for myself a few years ago... deciding I would stay on a Mac Pro 2009 w/ Apogee SYmphony64 PCIe & the AD-16x...etc... all converters from the early 2000's (and they sound amazing for my work)... I recently was forced to change, NOT by a desire to run a newer OS / Newer DAW... but by my location. I work in a small upstairs room and the gear made too much heat for my air conditioning solution to handle... so I moved to a Macbook Pro & Antelope Orion for ONE REASON ONLY... I could use a 100' long thunderbolt cable to keep the computer in a different part of the house & just have a single rack converter handle all 32 i/o of my system. If not for the struggle of the heat (and computer fan noise) in this open-control-room area... I wouldn't have switched for years. I even had a backup 2009 mac sitting in a plastic bag in the closet... in case my primary tower ever died (lucky find for a bargain... didn't pay full price).
Basically... I'm just saying that there's plenty of merit to staying with trusty old gear / old platforms... and that it can be dangerous to let the allure of the new spend our money for us. I suppose the real question one has to ask themselves is: "What are the real & tangible benefits TO ME of X feature(s) and will that be worth having to spend Y dollars on changing out Z gear/software? I literally had to make that same call. Was spending ~$6400 on new converters / fiber-optic thunderbolt cabling & swapping to thunderbolt UAD systems worth having a much quieter & cooler control room / working room? It totally was... now begins the slow process of selling off my amazing (if a bit warm) older gear.
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