Re: To be (digital), or not to be, that is the question. ( to Frank and Bob mayb
Ok, I'm a bit too quick with my '"should"s.. I should have stayed out of radio. I did. I knew when I was 11 in 1972 and discovered Cab Calloway, that
I was never going to get many other people to realize that smokin hot jazz from 1927 was the same as rock-n-roll.
I still went on to radio engineering school, only to have the 1st Class license door slam in my face.
Nevertheless, I have my experience in radio as a more than casual listener, collector, equipment builder, RF engineer and audio engineer.
I won't say say digital is better or worse as regards audio, but there's a devil in the details.
Indeed those who most need help often cannot afford to pay for it, and may even be so inexperienced they don't realize they need it most.
It is difficult to provide training that is non-partisan in today's environment.
Everyone is ignorant, only on different subjects.
In the printing industry, we have GATF, the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation, providing standard references for printers to determine
whether the sum of their process steps results in a uniform output.
On a new press, everyone runs a GATF standard form to check for grayscale, "fit", slurring, dot gain and other print deficiencies, all measurable
compared to the GATF reference standard.
Wouldn't it be a wonderful world had such an audio "proof" been developed for use by the broadcast industry?
Competition would still exist, as does in graphic arts, but there wouldn't so much of "my ears" vs "your ears".
I still love real knobs.. Debounce timing on most mfr's equipment enrages me. When I push a button firmly, I expect action NOW, not in 250 ms.
They all seem to act like there's a 10 Henry choke on the DC return circuit. Push, wait, push wait.
A double-click in a computer is nothing more than a switch that acts funny. Why not define a "7-click"?
"7-click" to confirm now.
I'd much rather open my car door with a key, reach in and across to open the other car doors with my hand, than fuss with trying to make a double-click
on a gigantic car key to open the other doors.
Why must car keys now be SO huge and unwieldy as to endanger my femoral artery when placed in my front pocket?
Call me a luddite if you will, but I don't accept change for the sake of change. I prefer progress.
I accept it in digital or analog form, if it's REALLY progress, not just marketing, or eyewash.
David Reaves said:Tom Wells said:
Tom, presets can and do coexist with 'knobs.' Virtual knobs, anyway. And be careful with that word "should."
Rather than a lack of knobs, what I see as the problem are people who **should** be preset users who do not have time or interest enough to approach the 'knobs' with the expertise it takes to use them.
Yet, even with the best intentions, because of either peer or corporate pressure or perhaps ego, many end up jumping into the deep end without a life preserver (and up the creek without a paddle, to mix metaphors).
Yes, they have the presets with, in Orban's case, the 'Less... More' control to fall back on. And, God bless 'em, a lot of people do just that.
But the industry (gee I hate to bitch but really, I can't help myself) has so overworked and stretched the engineering resources, that many engineers simply don't have time to focus on processing. Sometimes processing becomes a drawn-out 'work in progress' that goes on for months; meanwhile the station sound suffers while the engineer's attention is diverted putting out fires. Busier than a set of jumper cables after a redneck family reunion, as they say.
FFoti1 said:
Frank, (and Tom) I've long had the thought in the back of my mind to offer a (non-partisan) series of processing courses. It's not much different from the consultancy I've done in the past. It would be really useful for those who need it, and I'm pretty sure others on this list would be interested in pitching in, too.
But I'm afraid those who need it the most are the ones who have the least amount of time to take such a course.
Kind Regards,
David
Ok, I'm a bit too quick with my '"should"s.. I should have stayed out of radio. I did. I knew when I was 11 in 1972 and discovered Cab Calloway, that
I was never going to get many other people to realize that smokin hot jazz from 1927 was the same as rock-n-roll.
I still went on to radio engineering school, only to have the 1st Class license door slam in my face.
Nevertheless, I have my experience in radio as a more than casual listener, collector, equipment builder, RF engineer and audio engineer.
I won't say say digital is better or worse as regards audio, but there's a devil in the details.
Indeed those who most need help often cannot afford to pay for it, and may even be so inexperienced they don't realize they need it most.
It is difficult to provide training that is non-partisan in today's environment.
Everyone is ignorant, only on different subjects.
In the printing industry, we have GATF, the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation, providing standard references for printers to determine
whether the sum of their process steps results in a uniform output.
On a new press, everyone runs a GATF standard form to check for grayscale, "fit", slurring, dot gain and other print deficiencies, all measurable
compared to the GATF reference standard.
Wouldn't it be a wonderful world had such an audio "proof" been developed for use by the broadcast industry?
Competition would still exist, as does in graphic arts, but there wouldn't so much of "my ears" vs "your ears".
I still love real knobs.. Debounce timing on most mfr's equipment enrages me. When I push a button firmly, I expect action NOW, not in 250 ms.
They all seem to act like there's a 10 Henry choke on the DC return circuit. Push, wait, push wait.
A double-click in a computer is nothing more than a switch that acts funny. Why not define a "7-click"?
"7-click" to confirm now.
I'd much rather open my car door with a key, reach in and across to open the other car doors with my hand, than fuss with trying to make a double-click
on a gigantic car key to open the other doors.
Why must car keys now be SO huge and unwieldy as to endanger my femoral artery when placed in my front pocket?
Call me a luddite if you will, but I don't accept change for the sake of change. I prefer progress.
I accept it in digital or analog form, if it's REALLY progress, not just marketing, or eyewash.