NAMM 2014 Countdown

[sam.spoons]

The GP computers running industry (as opposed to a bit of word processing in the office) usually ran Unix or some such with dedicated software, not good old windows and, as you say had backups for the backups.

I'm a late convert to fruit and definitely not a fanboy (I hate the way they often do business) but as I've got older I CBA learning yet another operating system every year. The fruit based iTems I now use do seem to do what they say on the tin with a minimum of fuss.

[WK154]

Would you believe DOS and NT in that mix. It depends on the app just like the present MF problem. The slow fix cycle is no doubt aggravating to many users.  iOS is also to blame for some of this. Back to NAMM 17 days 21 hrs 4 min. and counting.

[sam.spoons]

Back in the day I tried them all, I started with DOS 5.xx and progressed to Windows (ultimately 3.11 over DOS 6.xx) followed by Win 95 and 98, with a side order of NT and 2k, used 98lite for audio, then XP, Vista and, relatively recently, Win 7 on my wife's office PC. Managed to resist the call of Win 8 so far and when the next office PC looms it'll be an iMac (if only so I can help when my wife can't work it) 

[diggo]

Then there is the ever present but not at NAMM Bob Lentini with S.A.C. and his SawStudio DIY rigs not for the uninitiated. For those unfamiliar with this concept a video.
http://www.softwareaudioconsole.com/Videos_SAC_On_Stage.htm

Oh man, flashback time... I've had many discussions with an engineer who will swear up & down that no digital rig, live or studio, comes close to the sonic quality of SAC/SAW... his argument has always been that because the summing bus uses integer math instead of floating point, it's way more accurate.

Of course his argument hasn't changed in 20 years, while everything else has.

He's also a 9/11 Truther, FWIW

In a 32 bit world he is right on the precision of integer over 32 bit floating point as long as the summing bus values don't exceed 32bits. Did you ever ask him what he would do with all that precision when it comes down to a 24bit D/A converter? Oh 8 bits thrown away that were never needed or do we need a 32 bit D/A converter. The SAW/SAC is a digital studio/live mixer and the ancillary equipment to make this work has a lot more to do with the sonic quality (ie. mics, pre's and speakers all analog). What argument? Engineer?

Lentini was recalcitrant with regard to float for the same reasons he never bothered to make a UI for SAW or SAC that doesnt look like vomit - he didnt see the point in using float and he could never be bothered to design a nice UI. His excuse was his bias towards working in Assembler, which is understandable and one of the reasons for the much vaunted (and justifiable) reputation for stability which SAW/SAC commands.

He eventually gave in on the fixed vs float arguments, mostly because he got tired of fighting AFAIK.

But as to SAW/SAC _sounding_ better than other DAWs? Just wishful thinking and projection. It does sound great, but so do other native DAW applications. Math is math.

But there's no arguing against the software's efficiency and stability, which is second to none due to Lentini's expertise with machine code and Assembler. And that's the real reason why SAC has a devoted base of users in live sound.

Still looks like vomit though!

[CyberHippy]

Back in the day I tried them all, I started with DOS 5.xx and progressed to Windows (ultimately 3.11 over DOS 6.xx) followed by Win 95 and 98, with a side order of NT and 2k, used 98lite for audio, then XP, Vista and, relatively recently, Win 7 on my wife's office PC. Managed to resist the call of Win 8 so far and when the next office PC looms it'll be an iMac (if only so I can help when my wife can't work it) 

(dons Old Man cap) the first computer I worked with was Dos 1.1 on a 5 1/4" floppy. Sound sucked but I was the first kid to do his homework on a computer at my school...

I worked in IT through the 90's and for a good part of the 00's so I have a similar history to yours (quoted above) but with Macs randomly mixed in - I never really trusted a computer to stay up through a recording until OSX came out, pretty much all of my recording until then was analog or DAT for on-location.

We've come a long way baby

[Wynnd]

My first OS was MS-DOS 1.1 on a Sanyo MBC-550 computer that I soldered memory chips piggyback to expand to 512 K of RAM.  (It was the least compatible of the IBM compatibles.)  I had gotten quite good with WordStar on it.  Think I used sidekick and Turbo Pascal on it too.  Those weren't the good old days.  These are the good old days for desktop and laptop computing.  I'm fully expecting tomorrow to be even better.

[WK154]

What I'm getting here is that all the IT guys end up in Audio. I can see the familiarity and all the old rules hold true. That warm and fuzzy feeling.

Garbage in - Garbage out.  Sound familiar?
Garbage in - Quality out.  Only for the dreamers.
Quality in - not so much quality out. Ain't that the truth.

The root of the problem as always is between the seat and the keyboard. In audio it's even worst it's between the seat and all those knobs and faders.
Welcome home!

[Wynnd]

You do realize that in High School it was the nerds that were able to make all that audio/visual stuff work and in computers it's the same people making stuff work.  It's nice to see that pretty good nerds make more money than pretty good jocks.  (About time.)  My Son is pulling down a 6 figure salary on a single year of college.  (Yea, it's not the college.)  It's funny asking him advice on things, but he's knowledgeable about a lot of stuff.  (And he's in his 30s.)

[WK154]

You do realize that in High School it was the nerds that were able to make all that audio/visual stuff work and in computers it's the same people making stuff work.  It's nice to see that pretty good nerds make more money than pretty good jocks.  (About time.)  My Son is pulling down a 6 figure salary on a single year of college.  (Yea, it's not the college.)  It's funny asking him advice on things, but he's knowledgeable about a lot of stuff.  (And he's in his 30s.)

Yeah I was one of those nerds in a group called Stagecrafters (7th grade). We made our own amps and didn't let teachers near equipment. We had one mic and guarded it with our life's. Nice to get out of class to run a projector or some other techie thing. Sadly not much has changed in 50+ years.

[WK154]

Blue Microphone will unveil their MO-FI in-ear (ear-buds) revolution to the world.

[WK154]

Roland will of course surprise us early on the 15th (Wednesday) with all their new stuff. Here is were the surprise will be unveiled.  http://www.rolandconnect.com/
Can't wait.
UPDATE Well nothing new in the mixer category for Roland

[WK154]

Uli Behringer just dropped a carrot. Aside from the "launch" of V2 for the X32 he stated that 40 more new products will be "introduced" (my wording to avoid the availability and marketing trials problem). The iX16 will no doubt reappear.

[WK154]

If you want to see NAMM live without the hassle stay tune for the Web Cast courtesy of PreSonus at  http://www.presonus.com/videos/presonuslive  repeated at night for those that can't make it during the day. It may be a little biased but what the hey.

[WK154]

We are now a day and a half away from the NAMM 2014 event. Mackie's website states "no new events". That about says it all. Ironically they also list a lot of "Mackoids"  and their roll at Mackie. Information you may need sometime in the future.

[Jerrylee]

Has mackie posted anything about going to Namm? Maybe after the embarrassment of the dl806 they were asked not to come back. Darn, I really wanted to see the dl404.