Looking for an RME interface

[PepsiFX357]

Originally Posted by AlexK

There's a reason none of the big studios use Linux to run DAW systems. No ProTools/Logic/Nuendo/DP support, and hardly any plugins...

My rebuttal: Avid has a monopoly over the industry and engineers aren't what they used to be. Real engineers build their own stuff and spend time making records from nothing. Real engineers do not use plugins, they buy or build their own out-board gear. Engineers today sit in front of a computer trying desperately to mix ITB with $100,000 mouses from digidesign, only to get mediocre results and realizing that they could have spent $50,000 on a second hand SSL, just listen to the radio you'll instantly hear it. Brick style digital harshness.

But if they want to do that thats fine. It's still a free country. For now.

I for one will be following the road less traveled to see where it leads me.

[toulcit]

Amen, brother. :D Amen.

I know an engineer who has plugins, but rather uses outboard over em (SSL 4k console, tubetech etc..) but he likes to ride the in the box fader with a controller.

[AlexK]

Originally Posted by SubmerseMusic

Actually with Snow Leopard it is 64-bit. Why do you think they came out with a new operating system? A. to make things faster B. so the big Mac Pros can use more RAM

Look It Up

In Snow Leopard, the OS has been made entirely 64-bit right throughout it's kernel and libraries with the exception of the Carbon library, which happens to be the library Logic is based around.

It's the same reason Photoshop and Final Cut are still 32-bit. Carbon is a legacy library and will probably be turned into an optional add-on within the next few versions of OS X.

Those apps which are based on Carbon (ie, those above) will need a complete re-write to be Cocoa apps from the ground up...

Originally Posted by PepsiFX357

My rebuttal: Avid has a monopoly over the industry and engineers aren't what they used to be. Real engineers build their own stuff and spend time making records from nothing. Real engineers do not use plugins, they buy or build their own out-board gear. Engineers today sit in front of a computer trying desperately to mix ITB with $100,000 mouses from digidesign, only to get mediocre results and realizing that they could have spent $50,000 on a second hand SSL, just listen to the radio you'll instantly hear it. Brick style digital harshness.

But if they want to do that thats fine. It's still a free country. For now.

I for one will be following the road less traveled to see where it leads me.

A fair answer although I really, really do not believe mixing on a board is somehow technically superior to mixing ITB. Listening to the radio isn't going to tell you anything - everything is mashed beyond belief.

'Brick-style digital harshness' IMO arises when content is recorded, and then over-processed with a different final sound in mind. You put crap in, you get crap out. Computers make it easier to polish craps, but it's still a polished crap. There are PLENTY of recordings out there which have been done ITB which sound absolutely fantastic. There are also PLENTY of recordings out there which have been done on 'custom-built top-end' outboard gear, and sound goddam awful.

I also don't understand your '$100,000 mouse vs. a $50,000 SSL' logic - are you saying it's cheaper to buy and maintain a large analog console + outboard than to buy a good functioning computer with a good recording package + good plugins?

I'm all for doing things in an alternative fashion, but there are some routes which IMO are just not worth the hassle...

Just my 2c.

[toulcit]

I think you're revering to Aphex Twin or other minimal techno artists. But I wouldn't invite Rammstein or Metallica into my studio if I had an Mbox and a couple of plug hardware copies. No way. :D
Music in my ears is still Soul, feeling, talent and components. And of course I use a DAW, I'm not from the middleages :P.
I got a studio full of 70's and 80's hardware, and I kinda like the buttons and VU metres, and the sound. But what works for me, doesn't work for everyone.

peace,

[PepsiFX357]

Originally Posted by AlexK

A fair answer although I really, really do not believe mixing on a board is somehow technically superior to mixing ITB. Listening to the radio isn't going to tell you anything - everything is mashed beyond belief.

I don't think it is technically superior, I believe that it is sonically superior. However a newbie engineer is not going to get a great album by mixing on an SSL, while a seasoned engineer will get a great sound from, say, audacity. It depends on the engineer, HEAVILY. But give that seasoned engineer the SSL and were talking sonic gold. That is not to say that a great album can't be done with a minimal setup. Just listen to "Jagged Little Pill" album. All done in a home studio on ADATs. Trust me, the radio broadcast may have a brick limiter on the music, but you can still hear the overly compressed overly harsh music that comes out. There is no dynamics to be heard. However tune over to a classic rock station and it sounds completely different. To tell you the truth, we are both right. As there are no wrong answers. It comes down to "How does it sound."

Originally Posted by AlexK

'Brick-style digital harshness' IMO arises when content is recorded, and then over-processed with a different final sound in mind. You put crap in, you get crap out. Computers make it easier to polish craps, but it's still a polished crap. There are PLENTY of recordings out there which have been done ITB which sound absolutely fantastic. There are also PLENTY of recordings out there which have been done on 'custom-built top-end' outboard gear, and sound goddam awful.

Very true, turd in, polished turd out.

Originally Posted by AlexK

I also don't understand your '$100,000 mouse vs. a $50,000 SSL' logic - are you saying it's cheaper to buy and maintain a large analog console + outboard than to buy a good functioning computer with a good recording package + good plugins?

I can't even justify spending the $100,000 or so that it costs for a digidesign console. plus the other $17,000 for the HD system. A mouse does the same thing as the console. Hell, the mackie control does the same thing. It just lays "everything" out for you. If that beaks, try servicing that. Uppp, you can't, you aren't the chinese that manufactured it. You have to buy the channel strip that broke. Or the $300 fader. Yes it costs that much. I've read the white papers. While, with an SSL you get the SOUND. That is worth the money and trouble.

Originally Posted by AlexK

I'm all for doing things in an alternative fashion, but there are some routes which IMO are just not worth the hassle...

Just my 2c.

People are different, your way probably works for you and sounds great. I'm an idealist, and like to change the way people think about things. With all this expensive sterile sounding stuff, both hardware and music, I want something different that sounds good. If it means trouble, then it is worth it to me if it sounds good. My setup costs are very minimal because I am not spending money on expensive digidesign equipment and $500 for a set of plugins that don't compare to the real thing. At the end of my troubles I hope that other people can use what I have done to their advantage without the trouble I went through. Freedom is the outcome I wish to represent.

[AlexK]

Well I'd be interested in hearing/seeing the results

Keep us posted as you progress through the setup.

[PepsiFX357]

Originally Posted by AlexK

Well I'd be interested in hearing/seeing the results

Keep us posted as you progress through the setup.

I most certainly will. So far it's been pretty fun. The RME works right out of the box, but I can't hear anything until the SSL Alpha converter arrives. The only hiccup so far is getting the MOTU MIDI Timepiece AV (Parallel) to work. Should be working in a few days. I might try my MOTU MIDI 128 just to compare.