Dabmeister17, this seems to be a subject better suited in the DAW products forum so I am moving it there.

Originally posted by dabmeister17:
My question is, how can you tell who has a product that claims to deliver and stand up to the many top or highend companies controlling much of the market now-a-days.

easy, ask Kurt and Gaff. Read reviews. I find that even a glowing review of a low end/midrange product in a publication like SOS, or EM is revelatory.

Just check the wording carefully. If they're not saying things like 'this is the best converter I've ever heard inside a computer," but rather "these are affordable, high quality A/D/A converters that will bring a new level of quality to desktop producers,' Then you're looking at a reviewer who is aware of the product's intended market and is consciously writing the review for that market. SOS, I find is especially fond of this technique. But you can still clearly make out the top dog products and the so/so stuff, and not just by price.

The above (paraphrased) quotes are what I witnessed for an Audiophile and a Lynx Two, both soundcards, in different leagues with different intended audiences.

mitz

the wording is important as well as the place you're reading the review. On the internet, I pretty much don't believe anyone that says somethign sucks. XYZ sucks on my computer. But they don't tell you that they have every single application from shareware.com installed.

I've also found in some magazines that they don't ever give ANYTHING a bad review. Or even a less than mediocre review.I'm not saying that they have to rip on the product, but thingns like 'it's great, but the knob arrangement isn't the best' is nice to know.

As far as reading things in context on companies products, I always like to compare it to movie reviews. They do it all the time. They say 'This is the best movie this year!' But they leave out the rest of the quote that says 'if you have the sense of humor of a 4 year old!'

Overall, don't base your opinions over one opinion or review. Someone that's used to working on a budget of tens of thousands of dollars (or more) in a real studio is going to have different opinions on things than someone who has tens of dollars to work on something.

Exactly the point I was trying to make.

Nobody gives bad reviews, because manufacturers will stop sending them gear. (Got that tidbit from Kurt, btw)

That's why the wording is of utmost importance. I'll give an example.

Focusrite Platinum Voicemaster from Pro Audio Review:

Summing up, the Focusrite Platinum VoiceMaster is a powerful, flexible processor that offers fine sound and great creative potential. Plug it in and have fun!

Great River MP2NV, Pro Audio Review:

The MP-2NV quickly became the choice for both projects, though we had several other "top" mic preamps available... Great River has indeed delivered a great sounding, very well researched and designed, unit.

See the difference?

"I like to lust over certain performance specs that most manufactures post..."

Silly boy. That is why they do it.

"...one that gets me is, products claiming to stand up to gear costing 5 times as much ..."

If you remember when the original Sound Blaster came out, they claimed "CD Quality Audio!". Anybody remember what the original Sound Blaster sounded like?

"..how can you tell who has a product ..."

You could take the advice of people who have been doing it for a living for 15/20 years or more. They usually have a handle on what is real and what is bogus. Be prepared not to be happy with all the answers, though.

"Will going with a (native) program like Nuendo and an interface such as Apogees' Rosetta 800 or Logic Audio based around a Metric Halo 2882 interface work in place of a Pro-Tools setup? "

Of course it will. The options are many. I've chosen SAWStudio, RME, Mytek, Waves for my base system, and I'm playing with Sequoia now. Not heard of most of this stuff? I'm not surprised. But it is some of the best, even though you don't read about it much or see it in Guitar Center.

""native has'nt gotten their yet"."

This is just BS.

" Then where do we stand now-a-days with Native technology compared to TDM? "

Some computer geeks will tell you that native defeats TDM by the very nature of it's construction.... 32 bit float verses 48 bit fixed.

Others will tell you that you are comparing apples and oranges, which is closer to the truth, because each of these is only a format, and it is the various manufacturers implimentation of that format that determines how good or bad any of the products sound or how well or poorly behaved they might be.

In my view is it all smoke and mirrors. If your goal is to have the biggest penis in town, buy all the gear that everuyone has read about and raves about. You'll impress us for sure.

But if your goal is to have a geat sounding studio and make great recordings, get a plan, set a budget, and start to look around. Don't be in a hurry to buy, and try not to deviate too much from your plan. Remember that good recordings are made by good players and engineers, not good consoles, plug ins and effects. What is available to you now on a $700 PC with a $900 sound card/converter set and $300 software trumps anything that was available to the Beatles. So how do YOU make good recordings?

Bill