Petros Kolyvas

I agree, I assemble all my cables with Canare; using the same Star Quad and 2-wire as you. I do think there are other fine choices out there but I've found my jam (and yours)

I'd suggest caring about cables is important but not in the "one brand is dramatically better" kind of way. Mogami, in my experience, are not great for field work. At least they weren't for a long time - things can change. Many off-the-shelf Mogami audio cables use cabling that has straight, non-braided shields which can get mangled very quickly in the heat of the moment as opposed to Canare (or others) that use a much more robust braided shield. The straight shielding can be felt as the cable doesn't "twist" - I can't think of a better description at the moment, but I'm only on my first coffee. If you're not making the interconnects/patches/cables yourself, I'd skip Mogami or at least test how the cable behaves.

@mono Thanks for sharing. That was incredible. I don't know why but I especially enjoyed the multiple checks.

We had a guerilla scene that was shot on an A7S-II using audio TC - so there are still some out there willing to take the plunge. He had used it (tentacle/audio TC/DSLR) successfully in the past,

I just did a doco where the DOP swore by the tentacles and I was pretty impressed - jamming was quick and reliable. We checked sync at the end of each day (sometimes 12 hours) and drift with MixPre10T was 0 or very close to it. He had his setup with velcro and attached to the side of his Helium and did the same for the FS7 the 2nd Camera was using. A short stand-up meeting at the beginning of each day and we were set.

After a very successful run - nearly 8 years without a single issue across a huge number of batteries from a variety of shipments - with Maha Imedions (the low-self discharge PowerEx), I've moved on to Amazon Basics. I'm over a year in and pretty happy - they don't seem to swell at all.

Unfortunately, class-compliant USB interfaces will not have the multi-client audio features you're used to in a more full-featured audio interface, usually it the internal routing.mixing that's the issue as you noted; well that and drivers optimized for low latency recording and playback. I say this as a loving owner of a USBPre2 and a 552 (which I had tried to sell for a MixPre10T btw.) While you'll get get access to the physical inputs and outputs, you're going to have to to a dance to move audio around internally (virtual routing within OS X). There are some options to get around this. They will require a bit of work on your part (however, as with most things, you'll be the better for it): Jack Audio for OS X; probably the most powerful option, but also the most challenging to wrap one's head around. Once you do though... Recently I've also been using this free app I stumbled across called LadioCast (which was designed simply as a way to send streaming audio to various services) but works as a simple virtual mixer in OS X. It is very limited compared to Maestro or RME's Totalmix (which is hard to beat) and is very limited channel-wise. But it's not nothing and it costs nothing. The good-old SoundFlower (it still exists but it now lacks the front-end that could help with mixing/routing in High Sierra) There are also tools like Rogue Amoeba's Loopback/Hijack - but I haven't played with them to a great degree. With a class-compliant interface, once you get to the type routing you're used to where you might want internal playback on virtual outs 5-6 & 9-10 to go to analog outs 3-4 and 7-8 all while re-routing the incoming audio to some other outputs virtually, it's just one of those right-tools-for-job things. I wish the MixPre series was made with internal, zero-latency routing/mixing, but I don't believe it's trivial. Heck a fair number of strictly-interfaces on the low-end are only class-compliant for OS X. While I would bet that eventually we'll start seeing true, portable all-in-one solutions (imagine a battery-powered 1/2 rack RME UFX with DURec). The real answer in the near term, would more likely lie with something like MADI or DANTE I/O on the future MixPre/6-series and then a simple interface like the highly portable USB3 Digiface DANTE (or similar); that way they can work as emergency interfaces, but could be connected as high-quality front-ends to true interfaces without SoundDevices having to dilute their gene pool too much.

The one thing the isn't great about SD USB interfaces on OS X is they use the generic (IE not great) USB audio drivers on OS X. These are not great for low latency/near-realtime playback from DAWs. Oddly they provide an ASIO driver for Windows. I have a USBPre2 I picked up as a simple, high quality preamp that I thought could double as a simple interface in a pinch for my small home music-den. It does that, and is great for recording and playback as long as it's audio-only. Once I need soft synths or In to Out routing, the generic driver performance isn't up to par - and also being able to manage clocking from a driver - for me is important. Also, as someone who uses and loves RME interfaces in the "studio", for a recorder with so many ins and outs, the lack of a mixing interface for the desktop/laptop into which it is plugged is a strange choice. The lack of a real low-latency driver for OS X is another. I hope they're coming, it me it felt like the missing piece with the MixPre3/6/10T for "interface" use, so I was surprised to see it absent with this Musician's version. Edit: I realise this isn't an interface first and foremost, I just think that feature is the one that needs the most work.

I've been using Soundsnap.com for many years now and until this week I've been very happy with them as a supplemental library when I can't create/record/use my own sounds. The issue in question isn't resolved yet, but basically a sound I purchased from them was flagged by one of the auto-copyright-detection mechanisms over at SoundCloud (for track that was private for heaven's sake!) - and it was just one in track of 30-40 sounds. SoundSnap has not responded to my requests (what do I expect for such a low price) for help in sorting it out and the "invoice/receipts" they provide are quite inadequate to prove I purchased that specific sound from them. I'm hoping to get some satisfaction from them shortly, but I think it's buyer beware here as they could be rushing through doing their due-diligence on some sounds and creators may get caught out by it. Fair warning of course. We'll save the tirade against SoundCloud for a thread more appropriate for it. Thanks for all the other amazing suggestions though - I came here to see what my alternatives are and your combined experience has been a great help! PS - I remixed the track in question - but it was no fun as it was client-approved and so a large, time-consuming headache!

I use both PT and Logic, depending on the job (and sometimes if the job doesn't care, how I'm feeling.)

Wow, thanks so much - that's incredibly helpful.

I'll give it a second whirl. Doing the same with Audio Finder was a benefit, so why not here.

I did look at their other utility, Library Monkey Pro, and downloaded the demo… it's on the demo list next.

Yeah, it seems I can't do any metadata editing within SoundMiner HD - but yeah, thousands of sounds is what I'm looking at…. whereas my re-try of the Audio Finder demo yesterday made easy work of such things. Also, I didn't find a good way in SoundMiner HD (again probably because the basic version has very little) to collect sounds from all over into one place. I had to do the copying by taking the scanned/found sounds and dragging them out into a Finder window to collect them. I could be doing it wrong, though I couldn't find anything in the provided manual indicating otherwise.

Thanks Marc - that's where my issue is, SoundMiner HD does very little. I did get the AudioFinder demo working long enough to give it a real whirl and it's closer to what I'd expect a complete feature-set to be (and at a reasonable price) - it also has a more conventional UI setup, properly using most of OS X's conventions (Apps like SoundMiner where the menu isn't on the "menu bar" and use cryptic icons scream poor design to me - standard or not.) Basehead is equally cryptic, forgoing some clear-at-first-glance functionality for form. At this point, I'm leaning towards AudioFinder since it meets my needs a little more closely and the price is palatable, but I'm open to try many more.

Searches turned up very little except lots of love online for SoundMiner and I'm looking for an alternative.

I'm looking for input on SFX/Music library software. Over the years I've created and collected thousands of sounds and composed over a hundred musical clips I'd like to collect and organize into a useable library. I've been trying out commercial solutions like Soundminer (currently trying the Mac HD demo) and Audiofinder (wow world's shortest demo) but have been dismayed by the software so far and am wondering what others use? For example, my time with SoundMiner has been abysmal. It seems that the basic HD product is nothing more than simple library utility. I can't collect sounds within the program and it has barely (if) any metadata editing capabilities. It also doesn't follow any normal GUI standards of OS X applications which makes it ornery (to me at least - please don't take this personally if you love the thing.) I did find a very extensive list over at the KVR Forums: http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4676394 But with so many to try, I was just looking for a little additional input. Ideally I'd like to be able to scan my projects for sound files, copy them to a centralized asset storage location/volume and start editing the metadata to make them more easily searchable.

One of the many things I've discovered over time is that the biggest differences in microphone performance are not evident when you're pointing a mic correctly at a source, but rather how everything else sounds; those things which the mic isn't being pointed at.

I upgraded from RX2Adv which I use almost every day to RX3Adv. Great update. One thing I was missing was the "Scan" function on the Gain module. iZotope support showed me this new window (A new item under the View menu), which I find invaluable - so much so I suggested they add a feature where users can dock it to the interface instead of having a floating window: Anyway, enjoying the ride.

I started with Sony 7509s because that's what I had, but they were very "creaky" and the plastics in the construction made a lot of noise. Next up were Audio Technica ATH-M50s, there were ok, but suffered the same as 7509s. Also the high end was a little annoying and isolation wasn't phenomenal. Also, the ear pads disintegrated much more quickly than any headset I've ever used. Being a sucker for punishment I opted to try the DT770M's, which have excellent isolation and limited creaking. They are not very compact and not collapsible, but nice to work on and very comfortable. I bought velour pads in case I needed to increase comfort but haven't found the need. Overall I love working on them, but unfortunately, the pair I bought have a recurring cold-solder issue and aren't reliable enough for field use despite being repaired and returned to me. They're ready for repair again. Clearly I like large circumaural sets… I also carry some Shure IEMs with me as a portable backup and very isolated set of monitors in case. Still looking for the "perfect" set…

So I did some tests with random (older) projects at the office and they all loaded fine. LPX is noticeably faster at starting up and it seems that everything just, well, worked! I tried three random projects. One of which was music-to-picture. There's a dedicated AAF import option now - whether or not the functionality is improved remains to be seen! One nice thing is that LPX retains the windowing setups of previous projects very well, meaning you'll be right where you left off more or less. Not exactly earth shattering, but, well, thoughtful at least.

Logic 9 introduced "Flex Time" in it's own feature set (works as you describe for DP) at launch in the summer of 2009. However, I often found the algorithms to be a bit lacking - especially when compared to iZotope's Radius. How is the one/are the ones in DP?

The content is included in the price. There's a menu item in the Logic menu that allows you to download additional content and (thankfully) be selective about it. All the previous Logic content is there as well. As for older projects - you know I haven't tried it, but I have a few projects with me here so I'll do so and report back (later tonight!) It is indeed 64-bit plugins only, but Apple did give the plugin devs some huge lead time with that change - everything I use except from one terrible plugin developer was long ago upgraded to 64-bit and I was running LP9 in 64-bit mode exclusively for almost two years. Thankfully most of the devs I do trust also included 64-bit AAX native versions in recent updates so my plugins are at parity across both LP and PT. Having said that, I found the 32-bit bridge clunky and crash-inducing anyway - but that's just me!

Yup! All the old content remains alongside the new content. So far, my limited time with LPX see it streamlined in the right places. I'm not a fan of some of the massive new UIs but clearly (to me) they were designed for use on Apple's second-screen (iPads.) Can't see anything that would slow me down yet and lots that would speed me up. Still missing slip, slide, ripple/shuffle for audio. Content took forever to download too (35GB), but works well off an external Thunderbolt SSD array with my other sample libraries.

I'm a longtime Logic-for-post user. I'm a longer-time Logic user; since the days it was Emagic Logic Audio Platinum on windows no less. I started using Logic when I was recording a lot of music and working on a lot of soft-synth-based compositions. My favourite DAW (at least for strict-audio-only projects) was Samplitude/Sequoia. But when push came to shove and I had to choose one to purchase, I chose Logic because it met all of my needs in a single package. It didn't do audio quite as well, but it got my projects delivered. Logic also worked quite well for doing mixing and re-recording on Final Cut projects, even more so when I would be working on the music for said projects. 13 years later, I still use Logic almost every day for something or other. For composing and music production, I really can't see moving anywhere else for a long while. I'm too invested in the workflow, and it's one I enjoy. To me, Logic Pro X looks like they streamlined Logic for the newcomer, and I don't think that's a bad thing. Over the years with all the features added on to Logic, the interface became very, well, "cluttered." The number of times people would ask how to insert a plugin or soft-synth alluded to some UI issues that needed fixing too - basic things shouldn't be counter-intuitive. I am a big "RTM" fan - but at the same time, there's some fun in just diving in. From watching a few tutorials and "new features" videos, it looks like everything longtime users were used to having is still there, but a lot of work was done to streamline the most common needs when you just want to bang out an idea - the very reason I enjoy using Logic so much. For want of exploring and playing around, I give Ardour a shot now and then, and remain a staunch (financial and otherwise) supporter - but it's not quite there yet, what with MIDI just making an appearance only recently. For audio-only work though, it is surprisingly robust and feature-complete. I did purchase a PT seat when it went "native." I decided it was time to learn it, at least on a basic level, and see what strengths and weaknesses it had over what I was used to. A nasty PT limitation saw me stop using it for over a year (related to larger SAS RAID systems that Avid has somehow engineered the software specifically not to support). But every now and then a project would come up where PT was a better choice. PT's method of track grouping and the Shuffle mode are audio-editing tools (Dialog, VO, layered-SFX) that I can no longer live without and allow me to move through some projects at an incredible pace. So now I use both depending on the context of the project. The price of Logic dropped from the $1k+ a seat at version 7 ($499 upgrade I believe) - I still have my XS key - to now an across-the-board $199, which was the previous version's (9) upgrade pricing. Upgrade pricing for all - pretty smart. With PT (non HD) being $299 per-upgrade per cycle ($100 more if you skip one), and Logic only $199 to stay current for some time to come (based on how much they've worked on FCP X as a single release) - both are pretty affordable now if you're making a living using them. There are so many great pieces of software out there now, I think we're going to see the slow erosion of the "industry standard" software, into hopefully some actual "industry standards" for project interchange. At least, that's my pipe dream.