very amusing interview here

[kamaze]

http://synthtopia.com/interviews/Eric_Barbour.html

About the owner of Metasonix, he makes a great interview subject

[NeoVXR]

I listened to an example mentioned in the interview ("Not Breathing").
kind of d&b going alien outta space. these sounds are huge, but somehow hurt my ears. well that*s only me.
I wonder how far these devices can make it in mainstream music. or spaceship game play consoles..

OTOH
this interview is very entertaining, but may trick a less informed customer into magical thinking.
it is not new that 2 grids in a valve can serve as inputs for a simple 1 quadrant analog multiplier.
bob moog was not so famous for his work with valve electronics, but for solid state modular synths and his transistor filter cascade.
mentioning raymond scott's lost secrets of vacuum circuitry does not mean another gadget may sound good or may sound bad without his knowledge. the function of vacuum tubes is well understood and modeled in the age of plasma and nuclear particle accelerators.
the bad sound of early CD players does not prove that vinyl is any better, and does not justify bashing modern IC technology during abuse and creating harsh, carelessly engineered sound.
it is funny to mention scientology, but virtually every artist is seen as an alien by some other people. every invention can create a very sect of makers and sellers and customers, when marketing by "luck" goes this irrational but over-hierarchic, while often extremely successful way.
the work of tesla does not prove that snake oil is of any medical value, still it sells.
name dropping of people who invented important technical everyday stuff by pure luck and with little understanding what was behind, has nothing to do with his true engineering skills and judging ears.

the most interesting sentence is:
<<Do you think there's a lot of territory still to be explored with them {tubes}?
Eric Barbour: In fact, I haven't even gotten into the really deep aspects of waveform generation and processing with all the unusual tubes that were made in the 1930-1960 period.>>

so, if others take the effort too, there may be even more interesting sound creating facilities ahead. (but to me it is unclear when this interview took place)

also, I entertain the statement about merely a dozen valves used in the whole amp biz, because they are cheap and the application is standard. of course, a stereotype, there are many interesting ideas around, driving eklektic valve audio devices.

it's easy to discover that half the interview serves to justify the prices of mr.barbour's products. being clueless, everywhere and always is a chance to pay more for some stuff than it is worth. it takes just some funny stories to convince musicians to spend their budget at the advice of someone who is alleged to know better (than ... ? that's the point).

mr barbour's business is not so much about technical nerdishness, but into arts and taste, and that is always open to a long discussion.
only the artist can decide to spend so much money for his special purpose.

[BigCityMusic]

Metasonix gear is certainly not for everyone. Customers who buy them generally want something entirely different from the mass-produced wonder boxes (or crap, depending on your perspecive) that line shelves at the Guitar Center. Metasonix buyers are not looking for a bargain. They are much more focused on finding something unique that may possibly inspire them. Eric's products are unique to say the least, and I know for certain have inspired some very well known artists and producers.

[kamaze]

well, someone thinks highly enough of Metasonix equipemnt to add their sounds to a new sample CD. But I still wish to get more opinions of actual users.

http://m-audio.com/products/en_us/Vo...ield-main.html