Yeah, agreed. I have some options now, but haven't taken the plunge. I have the Mcmix and a few of the Steinberg CMC controllers, which integrate nicely into stein berg, but they all feel like toys a bit, but definitely like the better feel of control vs. mouse for tracking yes, but definitely mixing.
Mouse/keyboard not great but haven;t been convinced it will be worth thousands to get a better interface feel and in the future i probably will be some new hybrid way of interfacing basic once analog mix functions and digital functions bonding routing automation. I can tell u from my science work, that there is no going back to analog control, the flexibility and efficient use of space and the trim down on physical connectors is just too big to go backwards. In the lab doing it all on computer versus a wall of analog gear and wiring is not a decision at all, that being said a hybrid approach is great, but eventually u and I will be old timers and new generation will have little concept of turning any knobs for recording. This the direction of many things far before the digital resistant recording community. Certainly writing vs typing v word recognition etc...Same for mathematical software young people learn the concepts from using the software not the other way around. But those who know both might actually develop something new and exciting.
I was on the fence with the SSL nucleus and the Focusrite Control but am holding off as each has things I don't like or its missing, but they are close to what I might be interested in in the control surface domain. I am saving for some new ADC converters instead, but it will be some cash. Next, strengthening mastering hardware, so some lofty items on my wish list. and u know his saving goes for big ticket items, I see other stuff I NEED in the meantime, but for the best maybe to wait until the exact product I want comes to mind or market.
Since this is a HR motivation thread, I must add feeding my gear acquisition syndrome is another motivation, albeit a destructive one. But Alas! There are blogs sites full of other HR recording junkies.
Yes, I'm already an old-timer, and I'm really just barely hanging on to "technology" at this point. I didn't get a smartphone until last year, and it seems as though I'm constantly having to deal with things on a technological level that I really hate---texting being one of the biggest. I can't
stand it. But anyway, I digress.
If I could afford it, I'd record on nothing but analog tape. But I can't afford a reel-to-reel at this point (or, at least, the cost of the machine and tape plus the repairs and/or the equipment required for maintenance/etc.), and I went through 5 cassette 4-tracks over the past year---each one turning out to be defective and beyond my repair skills (meaning ... not just a belt replacement or anything). The Tascam 246 is actually in the shop right now being repaired for low record/playback levels. It's my last shot at keeping an analog recorder around for a while. That's why I bought the VS-1880; I just couldn't let the analog struggle keep getting in the way of actually recording music, which is the whole point (or, at least, the main point I'd say).
So, until I have enough money to where I can tell someone, "Here ... take this, fix it, set it up, and let me know how much it costs when it's done," I'll work with my Roland if necessary (if the shop can repair my 246, I'll use it too, because I love working with 4-track cassettes--I'm a nostalgic SOB).
I know you're right about the days of the analog interface being long gone. It saddens me, but, unfortunately, that's life. One of the main things I hate about the new way is that there are hardly any serviceable parts anymore. It seems a lot of things (on the consumer level, at least) are just made to be replaced or thrown out when they malfunction.
And my other complaint about the whole digital idea in general --- and this is my own opinion, and others may have different experiences with this --- is that it just never seems to fully deliver on its promise to me. The biggest example that comes to mind is cell phones. For years, they were claiming "So you get crystal clear reception and blah blah..." I admit that it's gotten much better over the years, but back when they first started claiming that, my cell phone sucked ass! Even today, where the dropouts are much less frequent (but still do occasionally happen), the sound of the cell phone sucks ass compared to my old land line. I feel as though half the time now (especially if I'm talking to someone new) I'm having to piece together what they're saying due to context clues because I can't really make out every word. It's either kind of distorted or just not really clear. Even today, after decades of the industry promising the contrary, in my experience land lines are still infinitely clearer than cell phones. It's not even close.
And then there's the fact that DVDs are so prone to scratching, and CDRs will just "go bad" for whatever reason, and you'll lose all the data on there. (That happened to me several times.) Say what you want about VHS or cassettes, but when I rented a movie back in the day, it wasn't a crapshoot like it is today. I watched the shit out of movies in the 80s on our VCR, and, as long as you didn't put peanut butter in the machine or something, I rarely ever had a problem with tapes not playing. We tried Netflix for a bit (in 2006 or so when they'd ship DVDs in the mail), but we cancelled because literally just about every other DVD was scratched and wouldn't play through the movie without skipping. Granted, renting Blockbuster DVDs from the store wasn't as bad in this regard, but of course, they're gone now. Now we have a Roku box, and although it's much better, there are still times when movies will get pixely and f*ck up for whatever reason. It's not terribly frequent now, but it's 95% more frequent than the times the cable would be out in the 80s---which was basically never unless there had been a storm or something.
So my main complaints about digital are not so much about the sound --- the whole analog warmth vs. sterile digital crap --- I don't care about that really. I'm sure I could be fooled by digital simulations of tube warmth; I know I've been fooled with regards to guitar amp modelers vs. real tube amps. My main complaint is about the reliability of it. I mean ... sure the analog recorders are usually fixer-uppers now, but those machines are 30, 40, or 50 years old. A lot (not all, of course) of this digital crap breaks after a year (if you're lucky)!
And with regards specifically to digital audio recording on a CPU, the compatibility issues, updates, driver issues, etc. have just been a nightmare for me. And that's my whole deal: when everything works the way it's supposed to, it's very powerful. But it's so infrequent (in my experience) that
everything is working properly. It's been a series of finding workarounds because of one thing or another.
And that's what I mean by the fact that I don't think digital has lived up to its promise.
And don't even get me started on this stupid f*ckin'g iPhone or iTunes!
