RADAR studio the "integrated audio appliance"

Here's an interesting release. i know we have other threads on this and it's old news but the more i see it, the more i like about it. just think, OS, DAW of choice, plugs all in one TURN KEY system. plug & play. me likie!

from SOS;

"Recording is a daunting task. Music producers must research and choose computers, software, audio and sync interfaces, hard drives, and unwieldy digital interface cabling and integrate them all into their studio," says Barry Henderson, President of iZ Technology Corporation. "RADAR studio is a turnkey solution that makes recording as easy as turning on the power and hitting the record button. The best hardware and your favorite software now seamlessly work together in one box to deliver the highest sound quality. Easy."

a new approach for the "Sans console" set ....... i like the idea of the elegance a work surface would have with this system ... a keyboard controller, a mouse, screen(s) and monitors.




for me as a business plan, the price is prohibitive for the full blown system but if i had clientele and location to exploit it, i think i'd be looking at this.

my guess is "homies" on a budget will stick with the more traditional approach. i know i will ...... too bad someone doesn't develop for wide spread distribution, a pre configured / optimized lap top with built in multi channel converters that would do the job, so we could dispense with all this constantly evolving / changing fire wire / thunderbolt / usb / ethernet / madie interface nonsense.

one thing that intrigues me is all the in out ability this box offers. that alone would probably cost more than the core system.($5kish on a current offer.) .... it's the peripherals that come back to bite you in the ass. controller, meter bridge add up to double the price of the system.

 

The $5kish on a current offer is somewhat limited in just what it offers. To put together a system that would not even cover a 1/3 of my current system would be well beyond double that.
But I to do like what has been tossed out there.
I do feel that RADAR is still not hitting the nail on the head as they say, I think their AD / DA system should and could well be better capitalized upon.

 

It looks kinda cool in an 80's sampler kind of way . It would be really difficult to believe it would come close to what I have at half the cost. Sound wise, I'm sure its comparable to anything today. Its only as good as the DAW and the guy behind the wheel keeping an eye on it.
Its got way too much crap in one box for your own good.
I wonder how hot and hot loud the fans are when this thing starts getting loaded up? Today, everyone wants silent desktops to track in control rooms. And the less heat around your converters the better.

The touch screen response is no better than my O3D 20 years ago as a controller. I can see the latency on this video, which would drive me nuts. What are these guys thinking. They are selling this to the people who have had a poor experience with DAW's. Most likely Pro Toolers as well. Which is all because of the excessive plugins and slow CPU around that platform.
24 channels... In another 2 years 64 channels will be common. All those added ports are added costs I don't need. Who needs all that.
Once you start adding in"plugins" lol, its no more stable than the DAW itself. Who are they kidding here.

imho, this is as dated as the last versions and will never take off in a big way. No disrespect but coming at Pro Audio from where I sit, you couldn't sell this to anyone who has had the great experience modular hybrid systems offer today.

Being said, if it gets the job done, then its great for whom ever uses it. Thats really the most important thing.

 

If I recall correctly that 5k is only for a 8 channel striped unit with no controller or much of anything.

 

http://www.izcorp.com/dealers/price-a-radar/

 

I didn't run the price but I'm sure its going to be just around $20,000 to get a good start on it.

I loved seeing this
Windows 8.1 OEM Professional: full license, stripped down to maximize performance.
And who said Apple was better? The reason why PC is the system of choice is clearly because it can be stripped down to just whats needed. And Apple has no interest is allowing anyone to mess with their cloud market.

Is Windows the better choice in Pro Audio now?

 

I like Frenchie, he inspired me to look at Pulse Techniques Pultecs.

 

Turn-key systems can be great - if they do what you need them to.

In the end, you just need to be sure that it can accommodate your needs, that it's expandable for when your needs change, and that it's giving you a bang for the buck that is acceptable to you.

 

about 15k for a basic 24 channel system .... and that's without the digital ins and outs ...

i agree with what Donny just said. i was wondering the same thing ... can the processor be upgraded later? how about digital in out protocol? what happens when the next thunderbolt comes ... will Radar Studio be able to upgrade or will it turn into a door stop? .... a 15k doorstop.

 

Thats the same thing I'm saying just not as pretty in my words,. Its nothing but a dead end. I'm sure it will be upgradable but who cares. If you used what I have, and saw how stable and wonderful a simple DAW is with a DAW that only uses Windows, built for Windows, and you don't fill it up with a bunch of crap, and you have nice converters, there is nothing more you need. I don't even need to upgrade. It works.

I would challenge anyone who claims Radar sounds better than Samplitude straight out of the box and the Orion32. Those two pieces are everything Radar is and more. $4200 plus a nice custom built PC. perfect.

 

actually less than that. samplitude pro x $489. orion 32 $2435.

it's the "custom built PC" that i have problems with. i just don't see them lasting more than a couple of years before they are rendered useless by manufactures and software designers "advances". how long can you continue to use an OS that no longer has support? how long will you be happy when you can no longer get the latest plugs?

 

Wow that's cheap for the Orion 32. But I'm also thinking Samplitude pro x 2 suite which has the mastering suite . It's excellent.
So add a custom pc for $2000 and you'd really have a great setup
Add the mp32 and you'd have 32 pres
Add a few boutique pres and maybe an la2a / 1176 and a few mics. You'd still be less $ than Radar.

 

at the Antelope e-store

i'm still thinking a maxed out computer is going to be more than 2k ...

 

If I were in the market for someth g like this, a turnkey, I'd be looking into the Yamaha/steinberg nuage.



It's not like mouse free, but the the mouse has a valuable place and is very good for some things. I like where this is headed. And the gap between studio and live is getting small. With wireless transmission and realtime mixing on the brink for the common mortals, logistics are no longer gonna keep pro rooms off of basement productions.

I like the idea of my audio system doing only audio. I like that it's not a mutt. I like the neat, and clean look. But still has a definite life span.

Waves wants like $200 per package to allow plug-insthe studio already owns, to work w the new OS. Or use the upgrade plan. Subscription audio scares me but really it makes the consumer no more powerless than they already are. Its no different than planned obsolescence. At least things are improving.

I dunno how much this nuage system is, but I would gues in the 20k range. All I could find in a quick google was 12k for 16faders, so this thing ain't cheap. But I have a lot of respect for Yamaha.

 

I have gear like that. LOL. like the four Tascam DA88's in my attic. $1900 ( each) boat anchors... and along with those, there's also the:

Behringer UltraGain 8 ch FW I/O (I still don't know where I got this)
Mackie SR32x4 Mixing Console (I do know where I got this and I sure wish he'd come and take it back)
Mackie VLZ 2 ch Mixer (actually 4 channels, but only 2 XLR)
Aphex 124A Line Amp (I don't know how I got this, either, and, I don't even know what it does)
AudioLogic Dual Compressor (I think I won this in a poker game. Seriously.)
Symetrix Dual Paramteric EQ (a friend gave this to me. I think he was shooting for a joke that I never got - until he moved and it was too late.)
Aphex Model AX Type C Aural Exciter (Silver Face, circa 1987. I used it just once, which was plenty of time for me to find out I didn't like it a bit)
Digitech TSR-1 Guitar Processor (Don't have a clue how I got this. I'm not sure I've ever plugged a guitar into it.)
DBX 150x Encode/Decode Noise Reduction module ("okay... so the tape deck out goes to the in of A, and then A goes out to the in of C , and B gozinta D, which then goes... HISSSS... uhm, guess not.)
DBX 163x Compressor (single action, has just a single fader that adds compression... or not.)
Lexicon Prime Time DDL (awesome when Reagan was President...and I mean the Lexi, not Reagan. )
MXR dual graphic EQ (I love the shade of blue that this is. A very "1977" shade of blue.)
Tascam 1641 USB i/o (with a whopping 10db of gain! Hello? Can you hear me now? Hello? Is this thing even on?)
Proteus FX Midi Mod
Proteus Ultra Midi Mod
Alesis Midiverb
Alesis Microverb (sounds just like the midiverb, but smaller... and by small I mean the unit itself, not the reverb.)
Alesis D4 (Used on thousands of records. Awesome 16 bit technology. But the display is broken and dark, so I can't select anything other than"001-Industrial Kick", which is great, if you are 9 inch Nails. Not so much anything else.)

....not to mention the 4 Nakamichi MR2B cassette decks ... and a partridge in a pear tree.

Yeah, I got lots of stuff - stuff that doesn't really do anything other than weigh a lot.
My girlfriend has asked me, several times... "what is this stuff and why is it in this closet?" and I have no answer. None whatsoever. Zero. Nada. Zip. Goose Egg, Daddy-O.

I think it's a disease of the craft. Is there a 12 step program available for guys like us?

The first thing we have to do is to admit that we are powerless over anything and everything that makes, breaks, records, or alters sound in any way.



d.

 

indeed.

As another example,
StudioLive is an amazing product that starts under $2000. Capture, the tacking software that comes with StudioLive consoles is unbelievable. It makes Radar tracking look like an over bloated joke. Radar is for people that don't see the new Capture concept coming. When, not if, StudioLive converters and pre's get as good as pro audio, thats all we would ever need. How long do you think it will be before PreSonus or anyone for that matter gets their pre's and converters one step up? I better not to far off.

 

@DonnyThompson Donny, don't throw out that Prime Time. I've got some doors that need propping open, a trailer that needs the tires chocked, some papers I don't want to blow away.

(of course now this will be like the MD409's all over again, now that someone has shown some interest, you'll fall in love with the PrimeTime all over again…. so I'm trying reverse psychology, when in truth we've got a Model 93, and love it.)

 

You are right, Kurt, they have gone up in price. I am looking for a new custom PC builder as we speak. It looks like I would want a PC that comes in around $3000 now. I know I could build one for less but I have no interest in building one.

 

and how long until the processor / ram / drives / os become obsolete? backward compatibility is a lost concept in computerland. just buy new sh*t every year or two. and if you can't afford it, die. keep in mind new computer usually means new audio interface .... look at all the firewire interfaces for sale ... you can't give one away. everything is thunderbolt now ....but even this shall pass.

 

I've got a 5 year old system I use for mastering, it will last another 5 years.

AES EBU, firewire, MADI, USB, all those work great. I don't need to upgrade that. I simply want a DAW that will be for 100% ITB and once its seems solid, I would be happy to promote the company that supplies the product tested and true.

To be honest, which isn't serving me well on this but I have tried a lot of things over the years, including UAD now and most of this stuff is for people who think they need 40 eq's of all flavours. One DAW and few plugins is all I need. Once you have a good system, its really about having self control. Avoid being lead down the path that things are new and improved.

My thirst for a new DAW is really to host Sequoia and become more familiar with spectral editing and replacing my Dangerous Master matrix. Some of this mastering code is pretty cpu intensive. If all I was doing is recording, Reaper and an i7 would be plenty.

Too many plug-ins is why we are all messed up.