SeaSound SoloEX $399 at GC

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bongolation

bongolation

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This is the rig; check it out:

http://www.seasound.com/website/standard/pages/product/interfaces/soloex/product_solo_main.html

I dunno. I think I may break down and get one of these after all. This is a killer price.

The only compelling objection I had to them so far was the supposed no-WDM problem, but Aardvark and who knows how many others are right there in the same boat, at least for now.

The SoloEX got very good print reviews (for what that's really worth), the Oberheim preamps have been praised, the thing is very nice-looking and well laid-out, it's 24/96, etc., etc.

This is a self-contained integrated-function unit that seems set up to get the ball rolling with the minimum of extraneous hardware and the attendant clutter and interface problems that always means.

On the other hand, there's not a lot of market penetration with this rig and the user/knowledge base - always important - is pretty small. Manufacturer support is nonexistent, with SeaSound responding to support queries with a boilerplate saying that they are way behind with everything because someone had jury duty (I'm not making this up!).

Still, I've been struggling to figure out some sort of setup to buy and get on with recording and have just about worn out the last measure of my enthusiasm for the whole project trying to make any useful sense out of the rival equipment flamewars.

I want to start getting the paint out of the bucket onto the wall, and this seems a cheap way to do it, and a long discount like this on what seemed to me to be a high-value original list price covers a multitude of sins.

At $400 to cover the whole 24/96 operation between the PCI slot and the mic cable, I don't see how a guy could go too terribly wrong with this.

As always, I'm open to suggestions and am anxious to hear if there's anything I'm missing in my reasoning.

Thanks for any help!
 
Have you actually seen it, handled it? I labored over the sound card question for weeks, reading reviews, going to stores etc, and was seriously considering Seasound about a year ago when I bought my system. Local store had one, and one of the knobs felt cheezy- turned a little rough at certain points. Important? Dunno, but it turned me off. Read a review that mentioned the exact same thing so it wasn't an isolated problem. Doesn't have many ins/outs if I remember correctly. In case you're interested, I ended up buying a Delta 1010. $400 bucks is awesome if it's all you need, ok if it's just a 'right now' solution, and a total waste if you decide you need more- well maybe not a total waste, there's always e-bay.
 
ap said:
Have you actually seen it, handled it?
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Yeah, in the GC pro-audio department.

I labored over the sound card question for weeks, reading reviews, going to stores etc, and was seriously considering Seasound about a year ago when I bought my system. Local store had one, and one of the knobs felt cheezy- turned a little rough at certain points. Important?
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In all fairness, I think I'd put that 2.5 microns above the objection one poster had about hating the metallic-blue color. 8-)

I noticed no sticky pots, but who knows? Current production runs have probably nixed that anyway.

Doesn't have many ins/outs if I remember correctly.
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Check the spec page: Two mic preamps, two instrument preamps into two channels out, plus this is expandible to six channels. Not a lot, but enough for my solo stuff, and I can always get the expansion module if I need it.

$400 bucks is awesome if it's all you need, ok if it's just a 'right now' solution, and a total waste if you decide you need more
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It may well be all I need, and it's certainly not a huge investment, but I don't really see how it could be a total waste. Technically, this is a high-quality 24/96 system. At $850 it was a pretty good value. At $400 it seems like a no-brainer to me, even if one of the pots does drag and the color gives me a headache. 8-)

When I was in last week, they tried to pitch me a $995 Digidesign 001 that was a lot funkier piece that wouldn't even do 24/96. All it had going for it was more inputs. If I need them, I can get the Solo Expander and still wind up way ahead in both sound and $$$.

Much of the appeal with this is that it's an integrated system that will have relatively much less setup hassles. I have the lowest frustration threshold on the planet. Granted, there may be a somewhat better system made up of separate devices from various manufacturers, but the price would be at least 2.5X as much for only a slight improvement in sound quality (or possibly lower sound quality) and probably a 5x increase in shopping and setup hassle, plus a lot more clutter and disorder.

If you can think of a solution that would give me _everything_ this does for, say, $600 let me know. I'm definitely listening.
 
Bongo,

I agree with you. I think it looks like a sweet deal. You're right though, there's practically no "usefull" information out there other than the specs. I did find a user review on PC reccording.com, and he gave it good marks. The main reason I passed it by was the lack of inputs, but your right it is expandable. I'm sure most people will question the qaulity of the pre-amps, but I'd be willing to bet that they would be fine for homerecording.

Twist
 
twist said:
Bongo,

I agree with you. I think it looks like a sweet deal. You're right though, there's practically no "usefull" information out there other than the specs. I did find a user review on PC reccording.com, and he gave it good marks. The main reason I passed it by was the lack of inputs, but your right it is expandable. I'm sure most people will question the qaulity of the pre-amps, but I'd be willing to bet that they would be fine for homerecording.

Twist
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I dunno. This lack of feedback from people who've used it is indeed frustrating. The preamps are _supposed_ to be very good, designed by Tom Oberheim specially for this rig. The whole business of which preamps sound better seems to be largely an emotional, rather than rational, issue anyway.

People tend to want to justify their own purchases rather than do an honest comparison of products - and generally don't have access to competing hardware to do side-by-side tests anyway.

The things that turn me off about the SeaSound are:

1: Buying an expander would be relatively expensive as it is not available at a comparable discount. By the time I got that, I'd probably be talking about something in the range of $700, total, perhaps more. May not need one, but it would be a drag to have to pay for one at low discount.

2: SeaSound is a troubled company that has suspended development of W2000/WDM support, presumably due to financial problems. This means a) you're stuck with Win98SE and all the horrible problems that awful OS brings with it and b) you're not going to get support from the company, which is not a terribly unusual situation, however.

It looks to me like there's a real do-or-die effort to get this package rolling, what with this long-discount featured sale by the GC chain and scheduled new deliveries to Musician's Friend at exactly the same time. If GC sells a ton of these this month, there'll be a much bigger user base in July and conceivably SeaSound will stay afloat to continue development.

Still searching for more input; Google search shows some more discussions, but these consist mainly of bitching about DOA support functions [sigh!]...the people like the rig, though.
 
Buy for today, not tomorrow...

Given the state of the company, there's no way I would touch one of these boxes. I am also (through experience) down on the concept of the "all in one" solutions. I have a Aark Direct Pro, and while its a good card, I don't use the effects or the preamps any more. Their integration made it much less flexible in practice than separates. The preamps may be very good, but they won't compare to a medium quality separate.

It can be really frustrating in this (home recording) business to be waiting for what might happen in terms future improvements. Do you think Pentium 4 users will ever get their money's worth? SSE2 does dramatically improve performance, but by the time we see any SSE2 software, these machines will have all been upgraded. In the realm of sound cards, the state fo the driver support seems to be the determining factor in customer satisfaction.

After reading this and other boards for the last few months it seems the happiest folks are the delta users with a mackie mixer. More than $400, but that's what I would buy if i were buying today.
 
schwa said:
Given the state of the company, there's no way I would touch one of these boxes.
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On one hand, yeah I see that, but my experience is that "customer support" is a pure fiction invented by marketing anyway. I've <<never >> gotten any help from a manufacturer of anything that I can remember, so SeaSound's ignoring support queries is just what I always expect.

I'm more concerned with lack of future development re WDM and W2000.

I am also (through experience) down on the concept of the "all in one" solutions. I have a Aark Direct Pro, and while its a good card, I don't use the effects or the preamps any more. Their integration made it much less flexible in practice than separates. The preamps may be very good, but they won't compare to a medium quality separate.
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The all-in-one is definitely a two-edged sword, and I realize that. On the plus side, I can get this thing up and going without all the setup hassles and clutter of trying to dig up and interface a bunch of separates. On the other hand, I could get a better (or worse!) sound using separates at a much higher cost in both cash and convenience. My research seems to indicate that these really _are_ good preamps, and probably better than one would normally expect from a less expensive separate - which would cost at least half of what this whole rig is going for. I don't see decent pres going for under $200 even at long discount. What preamp would you suggest and how much would it cost me?

It can be really frustrating in this (home recording) business to be waiting for what might happen in terms future improvements.
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That's today's understatement!

Do you think Pentium 4 users will ever get their money's worth?
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No, but having worked for Intel for a very miserable year, I'll never allow one of their products in my house anyway.

In the realm of sound cards, the state fo the driver support seems to be the determining factor in customer satisfaction.
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I could see that. As mentioned before several times, this bugs me about SeaSound, too. Does M/Delta support WDM?

After reading this and other boards for the last few months it seems the happiest folks are the delta users with a mackie mixer. More than $400, but that's what I would buy if i were buying today.
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OK, let's talk price here on something comparable but slightly better from your standpoint:

Which Delta would you suggest and what preamp?

What are the current long discount prices on these? Can I wind up with something that is a better dollar value or even close? If so, I'm definitely game for it. Just as a starting point, I see that for the same price I can get an "M Audio Omni Studio," which doesn't look like much, but has more I/Os.
 
123

The true no brainer? Right now its the Delta 1010 at Musicians Friend for $599 and a couple or 3 Tube MP's or a brief wait for a few RNMP's which should be rockin' soon.
Just my 2 cents. I have a creepy feeling that the Seasound might be a regretable decicion.
I have an Aardvark for sale. :) See the "for sale" section.
 
Re: 123

tubedude said:
The true no brainer? Right now its the Delta 1010 at Musicians Friend for $599 and a couple or 3 Tube MP's or a brief wait for a few RNMP's which should be rockin' soon.
Just my 2 cents. I have a creepy feeling that the Seasound might be a regretable decicion.
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My other idea was a 1010 and a [?] 2-channel preamp, but I don't see any real deals on those and at current "discount" prices that would be a stone minimum of twice this rig's price. Would it be twice as good for my purposes? I dunno. Probably not.

If I could get a respectable sale price on a combo like that, I'd definitely go for it. If MF has the 1010 for $600, someone has to have a better deal. I don't think I'd ever undertake to buy anything from MF again, however. Certainly nothing more fragile than an anvil.
 
AlChuck said:
For $399, are you sure that Guitar Satan isn't selling this?

http://www.seasound.com/website/standard/pages/product/interfaces/soloist/soloist.htm

That's what's in the current Musician's Friend catalog for $399 (the Solo EX is $599)... and seeing as they and Guitar Satan are the same company...
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No, it's the Solo EX. Guitar Center's everyday price has been $499 ever since I can remember, so $399 is no big deal by their sale standards.

I got my first MF catalog the other day and I can't see that they're any great shakes on prices.

From time to time I hear people say that GC & MF are the same company, but I have to say that if it's true, it sure doesn't look like it to me. Different lines, different prices on the same items, etc., etc. Are you sure, or is this just an urban legend?
 
AlChuck said:
Check it out for yourself...

http://www.guitarcenter.com/

then click Buy Online

-AlChuck
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, bless my little cotton socks!

Maybe they're just cousins or something. 8-)

Still...their prices are different, their stock is different, store brands are different...weird.
 
Some thoughts...

If the price target is $400, I would look at the dela I/O bundle, it is nothing to look at, but the functionality is basically the same as the seasound. It does have WDM drivers, they might be beta, but are being commonly used by SONAR users. In fact, the delta 1010 seemed to be the board most used by cake in development.

If the budget is more open, I personally would pick up a 1010, and a mackie 1604. This rig would have a lot of legs, and beable to have everything patched in at all times. It is however much more than $400.

Still that $400, isn't well spent if you have a hard time integrating the equipment in a years time, which is a serious possibility in the case of the seasound.
 
I cant find the Delta 1010 for less than $600...where
can we get it for 400$?.....
 
Economics 101: Buying as Bloodsport

No, there's no $400 limit on this project (I was figuring a max $1K at long discount and somewhat less for the computer, plus some more for the little odds and ends), but I always do insist on getting a high discount and good dollar value on what I buy. Only suckers pay retail, etc., etc. If I can't get a deal (a real deal, not some phony 35% off) I just won't make the purchase as I'll never be happy with the goods - which will always be primarily a memento of a day when someone got the best of me. 8-)

Once a dealer, always a dealer, eh? I want to see wholesale prices, the brother deal, loss-leaders and soforth.

I'm going to wait on this buy for a few weeks, I think, as I'm still having unexpected problems finding the right motherboard and getting the computer built...but each week I look for the motherboard, the other components drop appreciably in price.

This delay will give me time for more education and study on the recording hardware before I do any deal.

The concept of these setups having "legs" is relative - all this stuff is going to be relatively passe/obsolete by year's end, I'm sure. Buying this stuff a piece at a time until the last missing link drops into place is a very expensive way of doing it, as every day a piece of this electronic hardware sits idle, it appreciably loses value and it also becomes subject to better discounting. This stuff depreciates precipitously. It's nearly worthless in a year or two. Sitting idle, you can all but see the little dollar signs with wings flying off of it, never to return...

This is the appeal of the integrated unit - that's it's ready to do recording right then and there, if you have a computer set up for it and you don't have to do the long, drug-out searching and haggling for the other components while the rest of what you have depreciates gathering dust. The object is to hit the ground running while everything has that new smell on it. Buying a "package" of components is also a way of achieving this, I suppose.

Buying the SeaSound was, I hoped, a way of getting my feet wet and seeing if I had the patience to really do the recording in the first place. If I did have the jam to pull it off, I could unload the SS at only a slight loss and get the snazzier stuff recommended here a few months later at a lower price and be about even, or possibly even money ahead on the deal. If I didn't have the patience or aptitude for recording, I would sell the SS and have a real zoomy computer to use for other stuff.

The main thing that would absolutely kill the SS for me right now would be if the four inputs ("two microphone preamps and two instrument preamps") were actually limited to two active inputs at a time, which might be the case; I'm uncertain.

If I can get the computer together by month's end, I'll hit GC right in the one or two day window when they're highly motivated to do long deals to get their department's monthly totals up and see what I can come up with. It also helps to deal in folding cash because 1) they get at least 3% right there in card-fee savings and 2) ultimately nothing says serious like real money. I've closed innumerable haggling sessions with "impossible" deals by the simple expedient of feigning exasperation at that precise moment of seller vaccilation, reiterating my final price, pulling a horse-choking wad of bills from my pocket, slamming them on the counter and saying, "Look, M...er, you gonna do this m...ing deal or _what_? Stop f...ing around wasting my time! Write it up or lemme outta here and you can _keep_ the damn thing for your _grandkids_, OK?" Timing is _everything_ here, and it's very similar to poker. 8-)
 
You get what you pay for. Consider motu products?
best of luck.
 
If it really is the SoleEx and not the Soloist, then it sounds like a good deal. In the case of the Soloist I'd compare it to the Omni Studio . Although the features of both are a little confusing as far as how many inputs there are and how many are simultaneous.

I've just decided to get a Delta 1010. Although Guitar center will sell them for $599, they are out of stock in my area. And I haven't found another local store that will sell them for $599. (Some are asking $799) I think I'm going to order one online today, but I'm not sure where. Mars is out of stock. Perhaps Bayview Pro Audio; they have them for $595 and free shipping. (If anyone has any suggestions for a better place to get a 1010 online, I'd appreciate it.)

Jim
 
hmmm.... I got my 1010 for an even $600 with tax from GC a few months ago. I think the price was $574. The 1010 is a great purchase. With the SPDIF ins and outs and the Word Clock input, This thing will be in my rig for a while as it expands.

-jhe
 
Yes, I think I'm leaning toward the 1010. By the time I have the computer ready, I suspect they'll have caught up with demand and taken another step down in street price. I still don't know what I'm going to use for a front end.

I wrote Musician's Friend and asked if they'd match the GC price on the SeaSound and got the reply that they no longer had any and would be getting no more.

It sounds like SeaSound's problems are terminal.
 
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