Darren

Don't even worry about dust, as long as its mounted in some sort of relatively enclosed sound cart. I'm still using the same laptop that I first started using Metacorder on back on The Fog. Over the last few years, I've spent many a week working in some incredibly dusty environments. I recently dismantled my PB to put a larger HD in it, and was planning to use that as an opportunity to try to clean out the massive amount of dust that I expected to find in there. Much to my surprise, it was perfectly clean inside. Much cleaner than what I used to find with my office's desktop during its annual vacuuming out. Cheers, Darren

Good to know, that's what I was curious about.

I just read this post for the first time and noticed that both of these mixers are DC powered. The NRV10 with a laptop could be a nice little "carry on" system when you need portability but don't want to give up recording to your laptop.

For those that do run windows on their macs via the various solutions available, are there spyware, virus, trojan horse, etc issues? Does this have to be dealt with, and if so, do you now need to run the appropriate utilities to keep your computer safe and secure?

John, Had a look at the VM software. Looks good. Coincidentally(?), An offer to buy it a discounted rate showed up in my inbox later that day. But then I'd still need to buy a copy of XP, and that still doesn't seem worth it to me right now. I may change my mind at some point if some utility becomes available that I just can't live with out. Of course my kids would love it as they could use it to play the myriad of games that aren't available for OSX. On another note... Any Reaper users out there that would care to share their evaluation thus far? Cheers, Darren

I have been experimenting with the concept of using an interface with a hardware DSP mixer, and a control surface for a number of years now. I firmly believe that this is the future.

My thoughts exactly Jeff!

Wow... The more I read about Courtney's program, the more I wish it was available for Mac. Cheers! Darren

At 30-ish $, I'll take 2 please. -Darren

Thank you. These are perfect for me. Best, Darren

Price please?

From the user's manual: "The mix bus/recorder switch is utilized to quickly monitor the output of Cameo or the tape return from a digital or analog audio recorder. When in the mix bus position, the switch will route the output of Cameo mix buses to the headphones. When in recorder position, the digital or analog tape return inputs will be routed to the headphones."

Connect your camera returns to "tape 1 / tape 2" on the mixer. These are the analog tape returns 1 & 2. The rest of the analog and digital tape returns require 25 pin subD connectors, you can monitor the output from your deva using those.

It's been a while, but I believe I recall that the Cameo has 6 analog tape returns. -Darren

OSX version: http://xs1.iphwn.org/appcast/PwnageTool_1.1.zip Instructions available upon request.

For those that are interested, here's a site that lists of some of the iphone apps that are currently available, you may want to scroll down and look through "categories". http://www.installerapps.com/ Jailbreaking the phone has gone from requiring a hardware mod, to a 2 hour software process, to where it is now, which is a 3 minute process that you can do yourself quite easily.

And... you can continue to use the .mac name that you previously paid for, or acquired during the 30 day free .mac demo. Even without a .mac account, your xxxx@mac.com name will still work with ichat for free. It becomes your de-facto AIM username.

Absolutely! Loving my 3rd party apps.

speaking of voip type services, for those of u with wifi smartphones, u can install "fring" to make skype calls over wifi with your cell phone. I'm using it on my iphone and the sound quality is much clearer than using skype with a bt headset with my powerbook. Fring also connects to ichat (via AIM), MSN, Google talk, etc, etc. Cheers, Darren

The funny thing is.... The more that we lower the costs of meal penalties, night premiums, turnaround, etc, the more often production forces us into those conditions. As a result of them using them more, their penalty costs go up, and they complain that its costing them too much and that the premiums should be further lowered. I've always felt that meal penalty and turnaround should be about $1,000,000 per hour. Then production would NEVER use them, and we'd actually be saving them money! One man's opinion.... -Darren

Sound truck. Life is good since purchasing this truck several years ago. The transport dept drives it, so I don't have to show up early enough for the locations dept to remember that I need a parking spot. Also, since the transpo dept started doing the driving for me, it always seems to get a prime parking spot, usually right next to camera. As well, I really appreciate arriving at work to find my truck already levelled, powered up, warm, and with all of my rechargeables and my sound cart fully charged and ready for the day. Cheers, Darren

Hi Richard, I was a little confused because I missed the part in your post about that being a photo of -Brett's- cart, and not -your- cart. Because the rack pictured there looks pretty much the same as the one that I am using. That did cause me to question the value of the price differential between the two. I can definitely see in your comparison photos below that the SKB has much thicker walls than the Gator. What appealed to me about the Gator was its size and weight. It fits my cart perfectly and is very light. At the time I was building my cart, SKB did not seem to have anything of the dimensions that I was looking for. I have a LOT of SKB equipment cases, including some of their largest ROTO-X crates that I use for shipping my entire package in via air freight to anywhere in the world that I might need it. I have converted one of their medium sized ROTO-X crates into a "buddy cart" that travels with us on set. It makes a great auxiliary case as it is waterproof and lockable. Great for bad weather outside, and for walkaways in the stage. I think I have about 6 different sizes of SKB racks as well. I really like their stuff. While SKB cases, shipping crates, and racks will undoubtedly last a lifetime (mine), I have had numerous SKB hardware failures. However, they offer excellent customer support and free replacement parts have never been more than a phone call away. This is no different to the what I have experienced with my Pelican Products as well. All of that being said, the Gator case is fitting my soundcart needs perfectly. It is keeping the elements out and the gear in, and it is very light. The fact that it is lockable brings me piece of mind over lunch breaks and walkaways as well. I do not need the extra ruggedness and weight of the SKB as, when -shipping- my cart, it travels empty with all of the gear going into individual cases and then into the ROTO-X crates. Of course for day to day use, 99.99% of the time, the cart just travels in my truck and remains assembled. I have always known that SKB is of course priced higher than the Gator products. In this case, I was surprised by just how much the difference was! Best! Darren

$2100. Wow. I paid $375 for my 16RU Gator Shock Rack. http://www.gatorcases.com/productsmodeldetail.aspx?LID=1&PID=21&MID=293 It's 19" from the front rail to the inside of the back lid, 21 1/4" inside overall with both lids on. I did successfully mount my 01v96 in it, but it was a close fit. Cheers! Darren

Wide angle lens is my bet.

Yes. I have, I think, 4 Acomdata drives. They have all been incredibly reliable. One of them has been on my cart thru thick and thin being bumped around, rained on and covered in dust for years and is still running perfectly as my b/u drive. -Darren