Convenience, Above All?
Posted on | August 22, 2008 | No Comments
The other day I was meeting another local studio owner/musician friend to lend him a microphone. After trying to meet up for weeks, he told me he would be at a studio close to my house, so I said I’d meet him there. After I handed off the mic he said, “hey, there’s a ProTools HD seminar going on in here…are you doing anything?” So, I decided to stay for a while and take a listen.
The seminar was touting the virtues of ProTools HD and the ICON worksurface. While I can say that I was impressed by the functionality of PT HD and the ICON, I wasn’t blown away by anything in the sound quality area.
I’m not saying that DigiDesign doesn’t deliver sound quality, but that they’re marketing their products to people based on the time you can save the flat-out convenience. As evidence of this, the two reps who were running the demo were going through a scenario of how you can build a video voice-over and soundtrack as fast as possible to satisfy a cranky client who keeps changing his mind.
This certainly reflects a segment of the music industry’s market, but (IMO) it’s another example of digital technology moving us further down the road of convenience and away from quality. Sort of like someone doing a demo for a digital camera with a ton of built-in editing features but a low-quality lens and low pixel capacity. If you’re an amateur, it’s fine. If you’re a professional, you expect more.
I think that, at least, DigiDesign should break up their seminars so that you can see the value of their product’s convenience while also showcasing some thought toward the quality they can bring.
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From Ohm to Om reflects the opinions of mastering engineer Paul Abbott, owner of San Diego's ZenMastering.
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