solarbird | oh look, i’ve stopped screaming (Reply)

After we got back, I discovered that my digital audio workstation had decided to Not anymore. No idea why; it was fine when I turned it off, it was Not At All Fine when I turned it back on.

I blame Bond, James Bond, somehow. Or maybe that turncoat Q. He used to be a supervillain scientist, you know. That bastard.

Anyway, since Ubuntu 12.04 LTS was going to fall out of support in the spring anyway, and since the problem appeared to be some sort of USB driver issue with the new sound interface, I decided I’d upgrade. That went… very badly. (See also, see also, see also, see also, there’s even more on my personal Facebook account, and none of this even covers the first half.)

But I did eventually get it working, and! I found a good use for an under-desk add-on keyboard tray. Look! It’s a LazyRack!

Hello!

Are you still there?

Targeting acquired!

I can do this because unlike my old interface, it’s meant to rack-mount, so almost everything is front-facing. Reclaimed desk space, and pushed back, all the cable ends are still out of the way! It’s great.

Also, I love these mic preamps oh my gods they are so much better. This probably won’t mean much to you listening on laptop speakers, but here’s a quick zouk sample straight into the mics I recorded last night, once I had things up and running. No processing at all, as there shouldn’t be… it’s… it’s just that these preamps (and same mics I’ve had before!) are picking up all these subtleties in the low-end that the TASCAM buried, and I’d have to dig back out with EQ and stuff. This is an absolutely raw recording and it’s all just there already.

It’s kind of like I didn’t just get new mic preamps, I got new microphones too thrown in.

I’ve written many times that you can do a lot on the cheap, and I think I’ve proven that, but I’ve also always said you’re trading time and knowledge (work) for money. I finally decided to run that trade the other way, and still ended up with a boatload of work thanks to Ubuntu. But for the improvements I’m hearing so far, in the studio? I’ll take it.

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