4. The ultimate work surface. Here’s the problem. Engineers love to work with faders and knobs. The problem is that faders and knobs take up space, which changes the room acoustics, and which are expensive to implement.
When the faders and knobs are reduced to banks of 8, it gets confusing switching between all the banks needed during a large mix.
What we need is a work surface that takes this hybrid to the next level, giving the engineer enough faders and knobs to do the job, yet making it totally easy to look at the banks underneath or above.
I realize that the bank concept has been implemented on digital consoles for years, but there’s no way to actually view what those other banks are unless you call one up. There has to be a better way.
5. The ultimate audio file format. I’ve done experiments recording the same instrument at 48k, 96k, and 192k and I can tell you unequivocally that the 192kHz recording won hands down. It wasn’t even close. Consider this – the ultimate in digital is analog! In other words, the higher the sample rate, the closer to analog it sounds.
We need a universal audio format with a super high sample rate that can easily scale to a lower rate as needed. Yes, I realize it’s a function of the hardware, but lets plan for the future, people.
6. The ultimate storage device. Speaking of the future, there are a lot of behind-the-scenes audio people that are quietly scared to death that the hard drives and SSDs of today won’t be playable tomorrow. Just as Zip and Jazz drives had their brief day in the sun, how would you like to have your hit album backed up onto a drive that nobody can read? That’s a more real possibility of that happening than you might know.
We need a storage format that is not only robust and protected, but has a lifespan akin to analog tape (tapes from 60 years ago still play today; some sound as good as the day they were recorded). We just can’t guarantee the same with the storage devices we use today.
What are your thoughts? Any other products that are needed?
Bobby Owsinski is an author, producer, music industry veteran and technical consultant who has written numerous books covering all aspects of audio recording. For more information be sure to check out his website and blog.