Two schools of thought on the 002

[APAULOS]

I was going to post this in another thread, but it was so bogged down with tangents that I didn't think it would be heard.

There are those who think the 002 is an ugly toy, and those who think it's a great move for Digidesign. At first I was leaning towards the "toy" group, but after kicking it with an avid Logic user last night, I realise that this could be the best move Digi's ever made. The "toy" group seems shocked at the big price tag, but I guess you have to look at the big picture... There are about 70,000 registered Logic users that are going to be completely unsupported in about two months, and this is in the same price for features category as a full blown Logic system.

My freind has always bagged on Digidesign for being so Mac, and up until about two weeks ago he was trying to get me to make the switch to Logic. Last night I saw him turn into a Digi fan right before my eyes...All I had to do was show him the 002 quicktime movie. He was especially impressed at how the 002 was so well integrated. Firewire interface, automated controller, and software all in one package. No more compatibillity issues.

I would like to discuss the pro's and con's of the 002 with some people who are willing to look at both sides of the coin. I really just want to get a better understanding of what the 002 can and can not do. For me the biggest 'con' of the 002 is the lack of softsynth support, but David Summich assured us that it was high on the Digi developers priority list, so I believe we will see that change very soon. My biggest 'Pro' would be the firewire interface. I do not like getting out a screwdriver and jacking with my CPU. I know some people get off on that, but I usually wind up screwing something up. I'm a musician not a computer technician.

Anyone else have some reasonable pro's and con's? I only ask that you keep your cool while posting to this thread, if you want to rant there are plenty of other threads that are full of people for you to fight with. Peace.

[APAULOS]

Here's another HUGE 'pro' for me...I'm looking forward to getting my hands off of the mouse and keyboard, and back on some faders [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Swaphappy]

That was a cool movie and I was impressed.
But it scared me a little too.
All those fader knobs moving by themselves,
lights flickering, and button pushing.
My concern is that all that stuff will brake
down over time. I just prefer to stick with
software and a computer, I don't need a control
surface and I don't want anything I can't fix myself.
I can fix my computer and reload software but I can't fix that thing.

I would keep the firewire interface and higher sample rate but the rest should be a simple breakout box with say 16 anolog imputs and
outputs.

Excuse me if this sound negative I'm
really just undecided about the 002 right
now. It's different. Might take some getting
used to.

[Mark_Knecht]

Hi guy,
For you I'll stop lurking for awhile. I think this is a very interesting topic.

Right now for me the only positive aspect of this thing is the faders. If the version of Pro Tools that comes with this is well integrated enough to pick up changes made there and get them into the automation sequences, then I could see how that would be interesting to some folks. It's not interesting enough to get me to spend that amount of money, but it is cool, I'll give you that.

OK, so what am I not liking about this thing? The faders, and the fact you only get eight of them. I guess I think if you're mixing 32 tracks, won't you always think 8 faders is a toy? Again, not really very important to me.

On the downside is the restrictive hardware again. I said to a couple of other people that this is really just an 001 on steroids. 18 channels + 96KHz. I'm paying for 4 preamps that I personally won't use very often, and I'm not very sure that I'd bother with 96KHz at home. The 002 still won't allow me to use all of my current GigaStudio setup where I can generate 18 audio signals without blinking.

So, if I'm going to pan it, I think that I have to give my sort of baseline competitive system for comments, good or bad, so here goes:

1) Cubase SX for $550
2) RME DigiFace + interface card for $700
3) Alesis AI-3 for $400

For about $1650 I get 26 inputs, more than 32 audio tracks, better MIDI integration and have about $700 or so left over for a good external preamp, or something else, based on what I need, not what someone tells me I should have.

And with the above hardware, I can spend about $550 and get a second DigiFace, or a MultiFace, and have 26 more inputs for a total of 52.

So, for me, so far, I see this new product as somewhat exciting, but not really very interesting.

I hope this was the sort of conversation you were looking for.

Take care,
Mark

[Captain_Pants]

Apaulos.....if I may, I think you meant 002 in your first paragraph... Threw me a curve, but I hit it... [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Mark_Knecht]

BTW - On other BIG pro is that now there is a Pro Tools solution for laptop users. I can see how the Firewire part helps in that area a lot.

That does exist also for the RME solution I outlined above.

[APAULOS]

Posted by Captain Pants
Apaulos.....if I may, I think you meant 002 in your first paragraph... Threw me a curve, but I hit it...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Oops, check it again.

Posted by Swaphappy;
Excuse me if this sound negative I'm
really just undecided about the 002 right
now. It's different. Might take some getting
used to.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Hey Swap, I want the negative and the positive, and you bring up some good points.

Posted by Mark Knecht;
I hope this was the sort of conversation you were looking for.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Yeah Mark, that's exactly what I was looking for. I was looking at almost the same set-up before the oo2 came out-RME Digiface, SX, and an RME AD-8. The other option was saving up a little and getting the Trak 2 with the firewire port and 8 channel expansion.

Posted by Mark;
OK, so what am I not liking about this thing? The faders, and the fact you only get eight of them. I guess I think if you're mixing 32 tracks, won't you always think 8 faders is a toy? Again, not really very important to me.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">True, when I saw that there was only 8 faders I was kinda bummed, then I remembered that I couldn't afford 32 automated faders anyway and I cheered right up [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Seems like the nudge function will help a lot though. I wonder if there will be some sort of expansion pack for the 002? I like the way that Logic control left you with options, but the 002 doesn't look like it would connect to another unit. It isn't really shaped right for that.

[APAULOS]

I would keep the firewire interface and higher sample rate but the rest should be a simple breakout box with say 16 anolog imputs and
outputs.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Also a good point! If they came out with a rackmount version for about $1500 I bet that a lot of people would hop on that! I would still probably spring for the Flashing lights, faders and pan pots though. It did seem a bit weird that there are the same amount of ins as the 001. That might have been a bad call on the part of digi.

[Dreamware]

Also notice in the quicktime video what OS they were doing the 002 demo on...Windows XP baby!

[gabriel_p]

I only need 96Khz, 2 Good Pres and Better Converters, that's IT. I can solve the last 2 with outboard gear, but the first one, well...that's a little more complicated