Stopping buying stuff

[Arpangel]

I challenge anyone to resist filling a gap in a modular case, it glares at you and demands to be filled.

[Rich Hanson]

I challenge anyone to resist filling a gap in a modular case, it glares at you and demands to be filled.

You've put your finger on the main reason I've never dived into that rabbit hole!

[OneWorld]

All those things could have happened, or could yet, but we've chosen to support an economic and political system that prioritises short termism and quarterly profits over people long term benefits.
We do get what we deserve.

There have been many great points made here, but at the core of it all, your comment is the sweet spot, gets right to the nub of the issue

[Drew Stephenson]

your comment is the sweet spot, gets right to the nub of the issue

I'm half as accurate as a stopped clock.

[SafeandSound Mastering]

When I went ITB with music making I did it 100pct, no HW controllers etc. Mouse and keyboard and musical keyboard (an old Yamaha SY-35) and nothing else.

For myself this has worked very well and suits my way of constructing tracks which involves piecemeal composition over multiple days, weeks, months.

The computer side is a headache, at specific times more than others. End of life of the PC is of course the obvious one. I have embraced it all, all those gigantically annoying copy protections bring them on, I love the tools I can use and will use 40kg padlock protection, if it sounds 95pct as good as the original.

I have never recorded ideas into tracks as quickly or efficiency. As such I think we live in totally amazing times for being creative and getting quality music product ready and released.

No mixing consoles problems, no crackling, no tuning problems, more simple once running, quicker to create, less noise unless I add it, smaller equipment footprint, sonic flexibility (super clean to "over analogue'd"). Access to amazing synthesis emulations and plug ins that make producing music a dream.

And all capable of exceptional sonic quality.

The most important is it is faster to get results recorded and sounding good.

For myself there is no turning back, however much I love the look and allure of those nice big analogue consoles. (That I still cannot help myself but drool over from time to time)

But I keep in mind that I can achieve anything and more with what I have invested in thus far.

I am happy to broadly recreate console sound and their sound digitally if I wish to. And with vast flexibility and sonic choice.

I will just remind you, what you can do with £3,000 - 7,000 of PC and software over many years you could have paid close to a £500,000 or more for the gear in the past.

If that is not totally amazing then I am not sure what is.

Computing updates are annoying but I always put that into perspective.
In the end. (after the head scratchingly annoying update-o-rama days have passed).

[OneWorld]

and is it one of those dratted download managers that are more pervasive these days.

I find them to be an improvement, they show you what you own and which ones need updating or repairing.

That's my point, in the case of one application I bought, the confounded download manager refused to acknowledge my verification details, I tried over and over and over, on the internet there were hacks, patches, fixes and goodness knows whatever, the Support team finally responded to my problem submission after about 1 month - useless, and I finally found a way around the procedure and got the downloads done.

I am convinced software creators are creating more and more complex products, in order to keep themselves in a job, after all, once you've invented the wheel, what else can you do except get on yer bike, or bolt on more and more flotsom and jetsom

Yes in theory the Download Manager is a useful thing, but there is a plethora of them on my PC now, many or all of them I could easily do without, and can just as easily download stuff myself where there is clear and concise instruction....."You need this, it does that, you put it here" then I have control over things and do the house-keeping in the manner I am accustomed to, what goes where and what's it called.

[OneWorld]

OneWorld, not heard great things about Nektar stuff, support etc.

The Nektar CS12 is replacing a Steinberg cc121 which was fantastic, except being a bit old now, one of the buttons has got sticky. But after some days with the CS12 I am starting to miss the cc121, which just worked, so intuitive and predictable.

The CS12 is a nice piece of kit, but you have to press this then press that to do that then this, it's not as intuitive. If I can get to become 'fluent' with it, I am sure I will become delighted with it, the colour display is really useful

But I am at that stage where press whatever and nothing happens, yes there is an online manual but nothing beats having a manual at your side. I am paying to have a copy of the manual laser printed

[alexis]

... I am paying to have a copy of the manual laser printed

Nice idea, the only downside I might think of is that, its being a new piece of equipment with major updates pending(e.g., allowing VSTs to be controlled as plugins, without the need for Nektarine) , the printed manual may become outdated rather quickly.

[Arpangel]

The most important is it is faster to get results recorded and sounding good.

Nail on head.
As for computer life span, my first music computer I used for 12 years, and never had any issues , the one that replaced it has been here for 12 years also, and is still working fine. May I add that I have never updated the software on both machines, as my software wont run on new OS.

[OneWorld]

The most important is it is faster to get results recorded and sounding good.

Nail on head.
As for computer life span, my first music computer I used for 12 years, and never had any issues , the one that replaced it has been here for 12 years also, and is still working fine. May I add that I have never updated the software on both machines, as my software wont run on new OS.

I'm thinking of going down that road. Get what you need, get it running and bolt it down, because the flim flam they lumber us with seems to have its impact.

This machine I am using now to type this is about 1 year old and was like a little whippet. But Win11 did a big update the other day, trashing my High Contrast colours, fonts seem fuzzy and the SOS website, in common with others, is quite noticably slower. But Microsoft makes it a convoluted process to turn off automatic updates, but I really do wish I could go back to when I first got the machine. How many times can you re-invent the wheel before it falls off

[amanise]

The most important is it is faster to get results recorded and sounding good.

Nail on head.
As for computer life span, my first music computer I used for 12 years, and never had any issues , the one that replaced it has been here for 12 years also, and is still working fine. May I add that I have never updated the software on both machines, as my software wont run on new OS.

I'm thinking of going down that road. Get what you need, get it running and bolt it down, because the flim flam they lumber us with seems to have its impact.

This machine I am using now to type this is about 1 year old and was like a little whippet. But Win11 did a big update the other day, trashing my High Contrast colours, fonts seem fuzzy and the SOS website, in common with others, is quite noticably slower. But Microsoft makes it a convoluted process to turn off automatic updates, but I really do wish I could go back to when I first got the machine. How many times can you re-invent the wheel before it falls off

It's a very tempting approach, which I use myself, but I do worry about things like iLock licencing. You can't sandbox your environment from the Internet if you have any online licence stuff, so you need at least up to date antivirus stuff, which stops being updated when OS obsolescence kicks in. As it will with W10 soon. The trick would be not to get hooked on plugs that use iLock, but that shuts the door on a lot of great stuff.

[Arpangel]

I have a Mac and a PC, my Mac is running High Sierra, and all my programs work fine, I have no iLock stuff. It won't be updated, and I don’t need any more programs.
My PC is a mirror back-up of my Mac, same spec more or less, it's there if the Mac goes down, it matters not a jot, I can work with either.

[James Perrett]

The trick would be not to get hooked on plugs that use iLock, but that shuts the door on a lot of great stuff.

Does it? No iLock here and I don't feel that I'm missing out on anything.

[Arpangel]

The trick would be not to get hooked on plugs that use iLock, but that shuts the door on a lot of great stuff.

Does it? No iLock here and I don't feel that I'm missing out on anything.

Theres always an alternative, to anything, plug-in’s are no exception, you don’t have to have any "one thing"

[amanise]

The trick would be not to get hooked on plugs that use iLock, but that shuts the door on a lot of great stuff.

Does it? No iLock here and I don't feel that I'm missing out on anything.

Theres always an alternative, to anything, plug-in’s are no exception, you don’t have to have any "one thing"

Yes - if you're highly proficient. I don't count myself as that when it comes to stuff like synth wrangling, or sound design sorts of things. There are things I like to use that are obviously proprietary (like Leslie effects - or Rhodes piano for examles). True - there are alternatives in things like Reaper (ReaSynth for e.g.) with which I managed to cobble together a pretty good Hammond feed into my Waterfall plug. Not rocket science - but tricky for me. I'm pretty lost with synths though. If you really know what you're doing - fine - but there's always some area that someone finds tricky. But it could be worse! I could be trying to live my life on Linux

I jest of course. Maybe I should pull the Internet plug and see how it all goes

[Martin Walker]

How many times can you re-invent the wheel before it falls off

Love this!

[jimjazzdad]

This machine I am using now to type this is about 1 year old and was like a little whippet. But Win11 did a big update the other day, trashing my High Contrast colours, fonts seem fuzzy and the SOS website, in common with others, is quite noticably slower. But Microsoft makes it a convoluted process to turn off automatic updates, but I really do wish I could go back to when I first got the machine. How many times can you re-invent the wheel before it falls off

My old W10 laptop is lumbering along as it always did. Windows keeps telling me to prepare for the "W10 End of Life" (will there be a celebration of life?). However, I have my internet connection set as 'metered' so the OS never updates. Obviously I keep anti-virus, and drivers, etc. up to date and I haven't had any issues to date. My studio machine is locked down from the internet and running blissfully ignorant and fast on W7. No iLoks or dongles in my world either. I'll just get my tin foil hat and be on my way...

[Arpangel]

Yes - if you're highly proficient. I don't count myself as that when it comes to stuff like synth wrangling, or sound design sorts of things. There are things I like to use that are obviously proprietary (like Leslie effects - or Rhodes piano for examles). True - there are alternatives in things like Reaper (ReaSynth for e.g.) with which I managed to cobble together a pretty good Hammond feed into my Waterfall plug. Not rocket science - but tricky for me. I'm pretty lost with synths though. If you really know what you're doing - fine - but there's always some area that someone finds tricky. But it could be worse! I could be trying to live my life on Linux

I jest of course. Maybe I should pull the Internet plug and see how it all goes

Don’t assume I know what I’m doing, in any way.

How many times can you re-invent the wheel before it falls off

What’s the point in pushing the envelope if there’s a postal strike.

[ManFromGlass]

All things in moderation including moderation

[OneWorld]

'Moderation?' at my age it's more like dodderation