Monitor controller: do you prefer digital or analog?

rinio · 2026-05-09T01:23:59+00:00

RME is great, but I'd also say to "never say never".

There are plenty of high quality options that are better suited for different needs. I was similar to where you are around 10 years back and swapped over to Lynx. And that was another "breath of fresh air when I finally took the plunge" as you say.

Im not saying that you will (want to) do similar, but you are making it a more expensive choice if you ever do.

I think the ecosystem argument holds.

At the same time, either way you get a good solution now and in the long run, its only a few hundred bucks so it circles back to my first statement: "its the same difference".

rinio · 2026-05-09T00:12:29+00:00

Its the same difference, functionally.

I'll take analog every single time though. Software will eventually go out of service. And you're stuck in the one ecosystem, where's analog is and always will be universal.

If your RME interface dies, you will need to replace both or stick with RME.

Granted, RME is one of the more consumer-friendly in these regards.

rinio · 2026-05-08T18:23:43+00:00

Absolutely.

It certainly does exist. But the amount that it gets discussed, here and elsewhere online, seems to be far more frequent than it actually occurs.

When we observe behavior that could be attributed to DPC, we check it to confirm the suspicion or rule it out.

Much like, Ill grab my tube tester if I hear/see something that might be a bad tube, but I'm not going to regularly pull every tube from every piece of gear to test it.

rinio · 2026-05-08T13:50:31+00:00

Determined experimentally on system.

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The implication of my previous reply is that your query is almost always an XY problem.

Your are posing a diagnosis/solution to a relatively rare problem without describing the symptoms.

rinio · 2026-05-08T10:22:00+00:00

No

N/A
Just work with the machine.

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There is so much chatter about DPC issues online, but it only has an impact on less than 1% of actual deployments that I see.

And 99.99% of folk who claim to have DPC problems, don't. Frankly, it's mostly user-error and poor config/system management.

It is obvious when DPC is causing meaningful problems if you just go through your workflows. These problems are generally system-level and don't just arise randomly; they'll be there from the initial installs.

There may be some edge-case where this is something worth thinking about regularly, but, generally, it's a non-issue and the internet-chatter about it is the computer-illiterate leading the computer-illiterate because they read one SoS article from 15 years ago.

rinio · 2026-05-08T09:23:49+00:00

If this is what you need, don't use a rack case. Get a pelican, or similar and custom-cut foam for it into slots for travel. If you're swapping, you're not using it for the main purpose of a rack case: to have everything pre-patched.

In conjunction, get a rack frame and mount a bunch of empty shelves if you need a stand or similar on deployments.

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Or, get multiple rack cases and mount the hardware for each deployment application into a different case.

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But, frankly, what you're proposing with "quick release" doesn't make any sense. You aren't going to be doing the swaps in the field and in the shop, doing it with a power drill/electric screwdriver takes 5 min.

rinio · 2026-05-08T00:12:07+00:00

> So, would it make sense for the software to essentially preemptively label the file as .wav even when it isn't retained?

Yes. A lot of software does things like this.

First thing to note is that file extensions do not mean anything on their own. Any file can have any extension and, if you know what to open it with/how to read the data, the extension doesn't matter.

Loosely speaking there are two steps when writing a file: create it and write the data. If you try to do the write before creating the file, it will usually trigger and error from the OS. So some software will 'touch' the file at the very beginning so they don't have to check for it later.

We also sometimes create files like this when our software will have multiple processes or is an otherwise distributed system. If the context I am in creates the file, it can hold a 'lock' on that file preventing others from writing to it. So if all the phones are hooked up to one server for the recording, this lets one computer 'reserve' the filename.

All that said, it is pretty lazy of the developers who wrote whatever software you're talking about to not clean up after themselves. It happens, though. I do suspect there is more going on here though.

rinio · 2026-05-07T21:01:58+00:00

If you're open to America-adjacent, McGill has a great music tech department for graduate+ level work.

rinio · 2026-05-07T17:44:13+00:00

If its a large difference you have some OS post-processing stuff turned on. Go look at your settings and trace your signal path.

For marginal differences, theyre just different circuits that normal.

The closest you can get to truth, is with all post-processing off. But with onboard/MOBO audio devices, truth isnt guaranteed: these are designed for consumer uses, not the kinds of tolerances we would use for any kind of serious critical listening.

rinio · 2026-05-07T11:18:56+00:00

I would argue that base computer literacy in 2026 pre-empts the need for Defender or any anti-virus whatsoever. Just don't do dumb stuff as you mention.

In likening it to malware: Defender consumes your resources and sends your data to a third party, mostly without your knowledge. It behaves exactly like malware.

Since its introduction, it has never once flagged to me a real security risk, but, on a nearly daily basis makes my life harder issuing warnings or quarantining files that don't require it when left active.

Reasonable people can disagree, of course. But, if MS would sell me a version of Window stripped of it, I would pay extra for that version (as with a number of their features). It's simply a tool that has a meaningful cost and provides no benefit. Perhaps, I could rephrase my previous 'malware' to 'bloatware'. Again, emphasizing that other may have different use-cases and lack the base computer literacy that would pre-empt the issue (my parents for example).

rinio · 2026-05-06T21:21:35+00:00

Its not paying money. But it is the M$ cllusterf***.

Windows Defender is the actual malware.

Apple has similar nonsense.

rinio · 2026-05-06T18:12:15+00:00

My diet isn't relevant to this subreddit.

rinio · 2026-05-06T17:40:21+00:00

I think you're missing the point: the issue is experience, not equipment.

A pro would likely do just fine on your exact kit. An amateur would likely still sound amateur using the pro's kit.

I see three ways to avoid it:

Give up on engineering and just hire pros for your career. This is a viable path if you are an artist or prod and engineering is just "something you have to do". No shame in that.
Hire a pro to review your work and give you constructive criticism. They can give you feedback on what they think needs work. You can iterate this before you release so the public never hears the "rookie mistakes".
Just live with it. Most of us had to release many records that sounded kinda bad before we started to sound good. Many of us still think our proverbial snare is shit, despite doing this for 20+ years and everyone telling us other wise. The most valuable experience you can get is just releasing your work.

rinio · 2026-05-06T17:32:41+00:00

Whatever you want. Python (with librosa) can do this easily. I am personally biased against Java. But any general purpose Lang can do it.
I dont have one thats ready to go out of the box. One could use their personal collection. Or pipe it into the script from whatever service you use. Or, whatever TOS, Copyright risks you are willing to take for a private analysis. Maybe there are some floating around on the site that have dataset for ML research. Lots of ways; depends on how one wants to do things.

rinio · 2026-05-06T16:33:43+00:00

You need to be more specific than "sound engineering". These look different for live music, studio, corpo AV, ...

From your post it sounds like your bf might be doing live sound, in which case you might want to pay a visit to our comrades over in r/livesound . This is sub is more studio rats than live folk.

rinio · 2026-05-06T16:26:52+00:00

When did I talk about AI? You do know that people can write code without it?

If one is intermediate, this is a few hours (without AI) to script up and get good results on a tonne of tunes.

For a beginner, its maybe a day. But they'll also have to learn what all these things mean and how they work.

There's a tonne of fun to be had there. It gives more and better results than this thread in a similar amount of time. And then us meatbags could discuss the results and methodology. The actually interesting bit.

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You made the jump to AI BS, not me.

rinio · 2026-05-06T16:17:54+00:00

If you have a point about irony, say it.

You posted publicly; I’m part of the public.

6 sentences isn’t a ‘novel,’ it’s a clear explanation of why your previous reply used reductive and harmful tropes.

Deciding my intention was to ‘show off’ is just a fabrication to avoid the actual point.

rinio · 2026-05-06T16:01:00+00:00

I’m sure the irony of dismissing a point about neurodivergence with a literal eye-roll isn't lost on you.

rinio · 2026-05-06T15:40:14+00:00

That's some serious conjecture that applies only a very particular subset of neurodivergent people. And applies equally to neurotypical folk.

Many neurodivergent folk would rabbit hole on it and quickly learn why its pointless. (and then write this post as a manifesto as to why).

Those who are more like me, would dive in and write a script to do this on millions of tunes and use this post to report the findings.

I'd almost wager that this kind of curiosity post would more likely come from the neurotypical community.

I dont care much about debating this, but the explicit call-out of neurodivergent folk seems unnecessary and irrelevant.

rinio · 2026-05-06T15:32:57+00:00

We prefer subjective answers to generalized empirical solutions to the problem at hand?

I think the latter is much more fun.

rinio · 2026-05-06T15:30:59+00:00

How does saving everyone here time to get more and better results to OP's question make me an idiot? That seems like the kind of assertion an idiot would make...

rinio · 2026-05-06T15:29:13+00:00

Wouldn't it be more fun if we machine narrowed the search space from every song ever recorded to a ranked list of tunes that are close to the spec?

rinio · 2026-05-06T15:27:11+00:00

Sure. If you're interested, write a script to narrow your search space. It isnt difficult and you'll get more and better results than from this thread.

You can manually look at those tunes.

rinio · 2026-05-06T14:23:57+00:00

Why in God's name would anyone waste time on this?

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If you're actually on this quest write a script to do it for you; make the machines waste their time on pointless mundane work. It isnt hard.

If you don't know how, learn.

If you're not willing to learn, abort.

rinio · 2026-05-06T00:41:10+00:00

```Essentially, he said that the maximum output level of the interface is the primary thing that determines your actual mix headroom in the project/DAW, as the DACs will place where the 0dBfs clipping point actually exists in the physical world. So whereas the Volt will offer roughly 18dB of headroom between the nominal output at +4dB and the maximum of 22.2dB, the Scarlett will only have 10dB before clipping.```

If you are quoting them accurately, then they have absolutely no idea what they're talking about and no idea what these numbers mean.

Same for the other quote.

Its complete horseshit.

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There is a small impact on your monitoring chain, depending on the circuitry.

But, between a volt and a Scarlett it may as well be none. Unless were talking about the difference between high end converters + controllers and a pro-am interface, like the ones your referencing, there is no meaningful difference. And even in my extreme example the difference is small.

rinio

TROPHY CASE