AVID - a new connector standard?

[pixeltarian]

all you described in your response is how marketing uses words as placeholders for price points. we're saying the same thing from different angles. you don't mind it, and it kind of bothers me. those are the angles.

I was commenting how inanimate objects cannot be professional, only the player. The original point I was trying to make had little to do with technicalities like, "in this arena the word professional used to describe _____ is ok." The point was, as far as music goes it is a damn shame that professional is used to describe gear.

look professional up in the dictionary. I'm sure you'll find you're just talking about marketing that is so archaic that no one thinks of it as marketing anymore.

Look at the contents of my previous posts. I'm sure you'll find that you understand my point

"Pro line" is generally how reed/brass players refer to horns above a certain price point. At times, we'll get lazy and contract that into "pro". This is universally accepted nomenclature. The point you were making is that the word "pro" or "professional" isn't used in conjunction with high-end equipment. This is incorrect:


http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?q=student+sax

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigati ... ediate+sax

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigati ... sional+sax


Also implied in your post is that gear that has the word "pro" associated with it isn't good gear. As far as reeds and brass, this is also incorrect, unless you can tell me how a $7000 Selmer Firebird is a piece of crap.

Why aren't you and subatomic as hung up on the definitions of "student" and "intermediate?" Some kid's horn isn't the student. And I'm not even sure how to look at intermediate axes from a pedant's point of view.

And here's the kicker - the alto I own is from Selmer's pro line, but my tenor is from the intermediate line. And I played a gig last Friday on tenor, AND GOT PAID! Oh noes! Don't tell Meriam Webster!

[Jay Reynolds]

all you described in your response is how just about every reed and brass player on the planet uses words as placeholders for price points.

fyp

[ricercar.record]

semantics bro, semantics

[jnTracks]

ok so the semantics war is settled? yes? they're just words used to delineate the product variants and their price and feature points.
just like how audible.com has only a gold plan and a platinum plan, instead of a "tin" plan as the lower level.


so, i think the OP isn't a protools hater since they bought a new mbox, but is the point of the thread that avid's entry level I/O interface isn't up to a quality standard of those who make their living from recording audio professionally?
doesn't that seem, appropriate for the price point?

[trodden]

hell, i was just on digidesign/avid website... its even more vague and confusing than before now with the new product line... i will be constantly 12 years behind...

[roygbiv]

Trodden Dude, give Reaper a try - then you don't have to give a crap whatever scheme Avid is, um, scheming.

Runs on everything I've tried.

Free to try download (if you like, you pay $60).

It's fun.

Take the red pill.

[mattdhall]

There is nothing pro about the mbox. If you want pro stuff from digidesign, you need to get protools HD and the hardware that comes with that. Anything they make below that is prosumer, bedroom-studio stuff and it will act like it.

Neko Case, Radiohead and The National have all created albums that incorporated Digi002s in the process of tracking or transferring from tape to hard-disk. These albums have also all been praised for how they sound. Does this mean that the 002 is the reason they sound great? No. Was lots of other incredible gear used to record the albums? Of course. But if Craig Schumacher, Darryl Neudorf, Nigel Godrich and Peter Katis have incorporated them into their very "pro" studios, then maybe "prosumer" is a bit of an overstatement.[/i]

But the 002 if a FAR cry from the MBOX. I would say that the 002 is for sure 'pro gear'. The MBOX? It just isn't. In fact, it's really frustrating to me that companies seem to be focusing so much on the 2 in, 2 out, MIDI In-Out MBOX format (some companies are making more than one model of this type of interface) that just isn't particularly useful unless you're in a room alone and don't ever want to record a drumset.

It seems like the market space people should be competing for, the 8 channel interface is just being ignored. Except for Tascam, but their shit's USB and I don't want my audio on the same bus as my keyboard, USB lavalamp, and USB automated dog humping my computer.

[trodden]

Trodden Dude, give Reaper a try - then you don't have to give a crap whatever scheme Avid is, um, scheming.

Runs on everything I've tried.

Free to try download (if you like, you pay $60).

It's fun.

Take the red pill.

will it work with digi hardware? and what about all my fancy pants plugins??!!! I think i've dug tooo deep to change over at this point.

[pixeltarian]

Trodden Dude, give Reaper a try - then you don't have to give a crap whatever scheme Avid is, um, scheming.

Runs on everything I've tried.

Free to try download (if you like, you pay $60).

It's fun.

Take the red pill.

will it work with digi hardware? and what about all my fancy pants plugins??!!! I think i've dug tooo deep to change over at this point.

do you have rtas only plugins? a lot of plugs come in other versions (VST, AU, DX)
I also use reaper. it does work with digi hardware. it is awesome. just take it for a spin... you've got nothing to loose. the demo is fully functional and never expires.

[pixeltarian]

but um... everyone IS making 8+ channel boxes.

to name a few:
focustrite
tascam
alelsis
avid & m-audio
Mackie
lexicon
motu
Steinberg
Yamaha
RME
PreSonus
Apogee
Cakewalk
sonic core
ECHO
ART
ESI


Also, you could simply run your USB lavalap and humping dog on one bus and your interface on another. you should have more than one USB bus...

It seems like the market space people should be competing for, the 8 channel interface is just being ignored. Except for Tascam, but their shit's USB and I don't want my audio on the same bus as my keyboard, USB lavalamp, and USB automated dog humping my computer.

[mattdhall]

but um... everyone IS making 8+ channel boxes.


Also, you could simply run your USB lavalap and humping dog on one bus and your interface on another. you should have more than one USB bus...

I haven't looked at my Mac Mini, but I'm sure it, like the 13" Unibody Macbook I'm on now both have a USB bus that I could dedicate to a recording interface. I guess my decision to go for a firewire interface is rooted in my early tech support career. In the late 90s, I had an after school job at a hospital that used a token ring network. Token ring vs. Ethernet was a similar argument to Firewire vs. USB. Like token ring, firewire is more efficient and just generally better designed. Just like Beta vs. VHS. Beta was better. I just wish, for once the better standard would win. And it wouldn't hurt if someone decided to make the better standard affordable. Of the companies you listed that make eight channel interfaces, only a handful make affordable (sub-$800) firewire models.

[pixeltarian]

I got my profire 2626 new for $580

Focusrite Saffire PRO 24 - $300
PreSonus FireStudio Project - $500
art tubeopto 8 - $450
MOTU UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid - $550
MOTU 828mk3 - $750
MOTU 8pre - $550
Mackie Onyx Blackbird - $500
Echo Audiofire Pre8 - $700
Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 - $500
TASCAM US-2000 - $450
Lexicon I-ONIX U82S - $500
Line 6 TonePort UX8 - MF clearing them out for $269.99


so there IS that market. from what I hear you best bet is an ECHO or MOTU interface in this range. if you really want noticeably better quality pres and converters though, then the price jumps pretty quick. you're lookin at 1-2k for a nice interface, then after that you're looking at an even bigger jump cause you're in the realm of dedicated converters and pres. so like... in the ballpark of 6k for nice pres (and by nice i mean something entry-level high end like a True Systems Precision and converters like lynx or apogee. which, to me is just insane because at the end of the day 6k only got you 8 channels.

I think at the end of the road, unless I come into a lot of money I will be grabbing a RME fireface UC, and a various good and unique pres like a sage SE-Pre1, a couple discrete opamp style amps (probably will pick some up from fivefish and lunchbox them) and then lower end stuff like a golden age project 73 or BLA Auteur. and I kind of want one of those John Hardy M-1 pres. I kind of like small business preamps I guess. hamptone is another option.

I haven't looked at my Mac Mini, but I'm sure it, like the 13" Unibody Macbook I'm on now both have a USB bus that I could dedicate to a recording interface. I guess my decision to go for a firewire interface is rooted in my early tech support career. In the late 90s, I had an after school job at a hospital that used a token ring network. Token ring vs. Ethernet was a similar argument to Firewire vs. USB. Like token ring, firewire is more efficient and just generally better designed. Just like Beta vs. VHS. Beta was better. I just wish, for once the better standard would win. And it wouldn't hurt if someone decided to make the better standard affordable. Of the companies you listed that make eight channel interfaces, only a handful make affordable (sub-$800) firewire models.

[mattdhall]

I got my profire 2626 new for $580

Focusrite Saffire PRO 24 - $300
PreSonus FireStudio Project - $500
art tubeopto 8 - $450
MOTU UltraLite-mk3 Hybrid - $550
MOTU 828mk3 - $750
MOTU 8pre - $550
Mackie Onyx Blackbird - $500
Echo Audiofire Pre8 - $700
Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 - $500
TASCAM US-2000 - $450
Lexicon I-ONIX U82S - $500
Line 6 TonePort UX8 - MF clearing them out for $269.99


so there IS that market. from what I hear you best bet is an ECHO or MOTU interface in this range. if you really want noticeably better quality pres and converters though, then the price jumps pretty quick. you're lookin at 1-2k for a nice interface, then after that you're looking at an even bigger jump cause you're in the realm of dedicated converters and pres. so like... in the ballpark of 6k for nice pres (and by nice i mean something entry-level high end like a True Systems Precision and converters like lynx or apogee. which, to me is just insane because at the end of the day 6k only got you 8 channels.

I think at the end of the road, unless I come into a lot of money I will be grabbing a RME fireface UC, and a various good and unique pres like a sage SE-Pre1, a couple discrete opamp style amps (probably will pick some up from fivefish and lunchbox them) and then lower end stuff like a golden age project 73 or BLA Auteur. and I kind of want one of those John Hardy M-1 pres. I kind of like small business preamps I guess. hamptone is another option.

You're absolutely right. I'm just despairing because I've got $1000 to spend on a studio set-up. And feel like nothing is a cheap as it should be. I think something like the Saffire PRO 24 and an 8 channel ADAT pre + an analog mixer + cabling and software should not be out of reach in that price range.

[pixeltarian]

i don't think it is.
ditch the mixer.
grab an ada8000 and the saffire pro 24
get connectors and cable from redco.com and solder them up yourself
pick up a BLA auteur so you can feel you have a nice pair for pres to work with.

You're absolutely right. I'm just despairing because I've got $1000 to spend on a studio set-up. And feel like nothing is a cheap as it should be. I think something like the Saffire PRO 24 and an 8 channel ADAT pre + an analog mixer + cabling and software should not be out of reach in that price range.

[pixeltarian]

i don't think it is.
ditch the mixer.
grab an ada8000 and the saffire pro 24
get connectors and cable from redco.com and solder them up yourself
pick up a BLA auteur so you can feel you have a nice pair for pres to work with.

You're absolutely right. I'm just despairing because I've got $1000 to spend on a studio set-up. And feel like nothing is a cheap as it should be. I think something like the Saffire PRO 24 and an 8 channel ADAT pre + an analog mixer + cabling and software should not be out of reach in that price range.