Whats more reliable than the Instant Replay 2?

[JoeStrange]

So I just talked to 360 systems tech department and today is the first day they are shipping instant replay 2's with SATA controlled hard drives. The have been using IDE for 10 years! They said the SATA and IDE versions will be differentiated by serial number.

So I believe I will be buying a SATA instant replay 2 and swapping the drive with an OWC SSD.

[Sicarii]

Are you looking for the instantaneous playback that an IR2 offers? I have a ton of experience with instant replay 2s, I did have one go down for a while and the hard drive got all screwed up. We were able to replace the hard drive at our shop and get it going again.

I would like to see an update to the IR that would include a solid state drive system and an easier way to network the IR. Currently you have to use an FTP client to get to and from the IR and it is very picky about what client works. It could really use just a simple USB 2.0 port and a drag and drop style interface.

Sadly, I don't think there is much else on the market that does exactly what an IR does. If you are using it for play-ons or SFX etc. in a live environment it is a pretty specialized piece of gear. There are some software versions of the same thing but I think that is much more clunky.

[jaymark]

I recently tried to move my library of Instant Reply AC2 files to an Instant Replay 2 and found that the AC2 format is no longer supported. What shocked me is that there is no way to convert AC2 files to any other format! Initially, I couldn't believe this but the IR people confirmed it and said the only way to export my 1000 files was manually, going D/A and A/D in real time, and then manually re-entering each filename! I have also subsequently found in the IR manual that they point out the inability to convert AC2 files, but I guess no one where I work took note of that when deciding to use that format, a decision that was made long before I got here.

I am wondering if anyone ever thought of making some kind of box that could automate this process. If it's really true that AC2 can only go from its digital format to real-time analog, why can't there be something that looks like this:

IR-1 audio out --> A/D conversion to any new format --> store converted data on a computer

then

Connect computer to IR-2 digital in ---> store cuts in IR-2.

I would still have to manually enter the filenames but at least I wouldn't have to play 1000 cuts in real time.

Anyone else have this problem or know of a possible solution?

Thanks,

Jay Mark

[work2do]

Most of tour dj's I know moved to the Serato back when they updated the software to include one shot assignments on your laptop keys. Much more easier to operate and load, and more flexible than the Replay machines. Plus you don't need two like many did with Replays when they had one for music and one for sound effects.