New stuff at NAB?

[Vaphoron]

Digidesign will attend the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in Las Vegas, April 18-21, 2005. We'll be showing some very exciting products in Avid's Booth (#SL600) of the Las Vegas Convention Center South Hall. Stop by and see us!

Hopefully that means PT 6.9 and some other cool stuff will be announced shortly.

[Pirate Post]

Probably not much. Isn't it usually AES when new goodies show up? Should be time for a new Core card. Every new Mac has one less slot then the previous model. Maybe Apple will surprise us with a new G5 and 1 pci slot.

[Chief Technician]

Probably not much. Isn't it usually AES when new goodies show up?

Nope, afraid not. HD was introduced in 2002 (NAMM?), Accel was introduced in 2003 at some thing in Europe I've never heard of (1 month before AES), ReVibe was introduced in 2004 at NAMM, and v6.4/ICON was introduced at NAB last year.

Unless they are introducing a version of Pro Tools that fixes all of the bugs that have festered for years, they won't be getting me too excited.

[1150Post]

Here's my thoughts.... going out on a whim/limb here.

I've been shaking trees from coast to coast trying to see what falls out, and here's what I can say for certain.

Vendors are telling me that there is still a strong supply of Control24's to be had, shipping from the factory. However, if you are trying to do the "Trade in the Digital Mixer and get x thousand dollars credit" promo offer, you are going to have to wait a good bit of time for the delivery of your board. So I don't believe there is a replacement for the Control24 coming out, yet. I think it will still exist as is. There is also still "ProControl availability", including Edit Packs, but there have been some "manufacturing problems" that have led to problems delivering. Is this code for "We will be announcing a new surface at NAB?" One can look at the bug issues the ProControl has been having for the past 18 months or so and maybe think that it is a product at the end of its life. The support for it just doesn't seem to be strong.

But you can also point to the diminished support of the ProControl as an indication of just how stretched out the Digidesign Control Surface division is. In the past year, Digidesign has released 3 new control surface products (Icon, Venue, Command 8). One would think that is a pretty adventurous year, because both the Venue and the Icon are probably still receiving alot of attention internally as their feature sets get stabilized and smoothed out. So one could surmise that the idea that a 4th new control surface might be a daunting task for the company to come up with in such a short time.

And that's what the vendors are pointing towards. It takes alot to develop products like these, and add to that idea the fact that most vendors don't believe that Digi would cut into their Icon sales so soon with a mini-Icon, and one could expect that a new surface is a pipe dream. But then I made a call to customer support to get a feeling about whether or not the ProControl bugs would be getting some attention. I mentioned that I am trying to spec. out a new room, and love our Control24, but that surround panners and scribble strips are, for me, the weak areas of the Control24, but that Icon was overkill. "No new product information that I know about, but we are going to have a great display at NAB. I think you'll be happy." is what I was told.

So, no news is good news, maybe? The rep at customer support also said that he didn't believe that a mini-Icon would hurt Icon sales. He felt that the facilities that could do an Icon still would. And that the mini-Icon could boost sales in the mid-tier control surface market (Has the Control24 affected sales of the ProControl? I know we bought the Control24 here, twice, but that we would undoubtedly have bought 16 fader ProControls had it not existed... $8K vs. $20K per surface...?. )

I'm hoping there is a new mid-tier console, but won't be broken hearted if I wind up specing out another Control24 room and continue panning surround with the track ball. Of course, my numbers are reflecting the need for an Icon, so I'm padding it out so that if there is a new control surface option in the $20K-$30K range, it represents a bargain to my bosses. And with my Karma, they'll announce a new surface the day after my new room is installed

Moving on...

As for software, I'm betting some new features, including more busses, maybe more than 5 plugin inserts (the only way to sell more hardware is to give a mixer more instances when he/she can use the DSP, right?), and more auxes per track. The fact that the Icon is designed to control up to 128 auxes would seem to imply that they are doubling the bussing. There may be some other Post stuff as well, not certain. I know pretty much for certain the the AVOptionV10 for Mac won't land at NAB. But maybe integrated video recording on the timeline for PC with V10 and Mac with Mojo might happen. I'm thinking it's a stretch, but maybe. More busses would certainly leave me "very happy," even if there is no other new hardware or software events to speak of. As long as they have a version of the new software with 128 busses that can tie in with the new Mojo video option...

So that's my 5 1/2 cents of info. Anyone else? I'll be in Vegas for a quick jaunt, arriving Sunday and flying out Tuesday night redeye so that I can work on Wednesday. But I could certainly be coerced into grabbing a pint with some of my DUC friends, if anybody's there.

FWIW.

Brad McIlvaine
Sr, Mixer/Designer
Henninger Media Services
Washington, DC 20036

[Chief Technician]

One can look at the bug issues the ProControl has been having for the past 18 months or so and maybe think that it is a product at the end of its life. The support for it just doesn't seem to be strong.

Interesting. I was not aware of that (but I also don't have ProControl).

But you can also point to the diminished support of the ProControl as an indication of just how stretched out the Digidesign Control Surface division is. In the past year, Digidesign has released 3 new control surface products (Icon, Venue, Command 8). One would think that is a pretty adventurous year, because both the Venue and the Icon are probably still receiving alot of attention internally as their feature sets get stabilized and smoothed out. So one could surmise that the idea that a 4th new control surface might be a daunting task for the company to come up with in such a short time.

I would much rather see Digidesign get the D-Control solid before tackling an entirely new surface. Spreading yourself thin is never a good thing.

So, no news is good news, maybe?

Doubtful. Digidesign usually keeps quiet to A) surprise their customers and B) surprise their competition.

As for software, I'm betting some new features, including more busses, maybe more than 5 plugin inserts (the only way to sell more hardware is to give a mixer more instances when he/she can use the DSP, right?), and more auxes per track. The fact that the Icon is designed to control up to 128 auxes would seem to imply that they are doubling the bussing. There may be some other Post stuff as well, not certain. I know pretty much for certain the the AVOptionV10 for Mac won't land at NAB. But maybe integrated video recording on the timeline for PC with V10 and Mac with Mojo might happen. I'm thinking it's a stretch, but maybe. More busses would certainly leave me "very happy," even if there is no other new hardware or software events to speak of. As long as they have a version of the new software with 128 busses that can tie in with the new Mojo video option...

It's no secret that v6.6 and v6.7 are going to be merged in a future release. Whether or not that release drops at NAB, I have no idea. Interesting observation about the Aux support on the D-Control. Might as well double the busses while doubling the auxes, right? I know that one of the complaints about V10 and Mojo is the lack of recording to the timeline. Maybe that will come to fruition? NAB would certainly be the place to introduce it! I'm still hoping for bug fixes - lots and lots of bug fixes. Enough that its a selling point for the software. Too many bugs have been allowed to fester for too long while other features have been added.

So that's my 5 1/2 cents of info. Anyone else? I'll be in Vegas for a quick jaunt, arriving Sunday and flying out Tuesday night redeye so that I can work on Wednesday. But I could certainly be coerced into grabbing a pint with some of my DUC friends, if anybody's there.

I will probably be there, attending the Post Production conference and hopping around the exhibit floor when I'm not in a room.

[Chris Lambrechts]

I would much rather see Digidesign get the D-Control solid before tackling an entirely new surface. Spreading yourself thin is never a good thing.

what is not solid about the D control ?

[Chief Technician]

what is not solid about the D control ?

Perhaps solid isn't the proper word. Mature is a better word. For example, scroll to track number is nice, but I really need scroll to track name. I can remember that I have a track called SFX 3. I can't remember that it is track 37. Also, I believe each bank of 16 has a small option button, but it doesn't do much. What would be sweet is if you could hold the option button, touch a fader, and watch it snap to zero.

The biggest drawback to the D-control is its size. I can't reach the top encoder. I'm not leaning out of my chair to reach it, and I'm not paying for 16 encoders that I can't reach! You've got to be at least 6' tall to reach that top encoder. If you're shorter than that, and you can reach it without leaning, more power to you.

[jeremyroberts]

I can't reach the top encoder. I'm not leaning out of my chair to reach it, and I'm not paying for 16 encoders that I can't reach! You've got to be at least 6' tall to reach that top encoder. If you're shorter than that, and you can reach it without leaning, more power to you.

Jonathan,

Haven't you ruled out most large format consoles with that statement?

[Chris Lambrechts]

Jonathan,

Haven't you ruled out most large format consoles with that statement?

Well, I have to stretch to reach the top encoder. But I've also put the encoder pref to 'bottom to top' ... meaning that the first insert or send will show up on the second encoder and from there on up. (I also have the pan bot pref on).

For the rare occasions I actually have a lot of knob turning to do on the 5th send for example, I tend to use 'flop' mode ... temporarily 'flip' the encoder order.

My point is ... ok ... that top encoder is a stretch away but I can present you with at least 5 alternatives to make that top encoder life easier for you ... where as on conventional large format consoles you have to stand up to even see what's written on the on the buttons dynamics section and up.

[gomi]

I heard there is new hd and le hardware...


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