When it comes to devices like Overbridge enabled Elektrons, the Isla S2400, modern Rolands, or any other hardware device with ADC audio streaming/interface abilities, are we looking at a ticking time bomb until the company no longer adapts the software side to work on new machines, as operating systems change over time?
With the last Mac M1 rollout rendering so many interfaces unusable on updated systems, I feel paranoid about purchasing hardware products where part of the cost and expectation is for an internal ADC that communicates with a computer. Obviously nothing lasts forever, but how long do you think weāre looking at for features like these, particularly from smaller companies? Is this an unfounded concern?
Yeah, I remember when Jeff Mills threw his 909 out after tape memory stopped being supported.
Decent hardware is decent hardware. If you can plug it into a computer and do stuff with it, great, but my expectation would be about a decade (15 at a push) before that part of it is useless.
Class compliant audio might last but anything that needs a driver is probably toast.
But there are workarounds ( eg nord modular editor runs in wine ).
Or buy a 10 yr old laptop for āye olde modern synths ā to work with. About Ā£100
Lol your tape example there is not analogous at all, but I understand your style is to be a little cheeky and derisive so I will roll with it. I appreciate your educated guess however.
Yeah, it would be a hassle to have one computer per era of device, just for tracking old hardware. I guess you have answered my question though, that this should be considered a temporary feature for anything non class compliant.
My point is that an Analog Rytm will still be useful in 100 years (if you can keep it alive that long), but some of its (nonessential) functionality will be lost, just like the 909 and itās tape memory, as it relies on other, more obsolescence prone gear.
Something like a maschine MK3 though, probably looking at a decade or so before itās a massive pain in the arse to use, as itās much more heavily reliant on being connected to a computer.
All depends on what you buy and why you bought it.
Not really - if you buy stuff that relies on current desktop operating systems, I avoid that stuff like the plague for exactly these kind of reasons.
Iām quite happy to have an old XP laptop around for some old gear, but modern stuff since W10 or current OSX that relies on computer integration for it to function should be considered a consumable IMHO. Iām not talking about Elektron/overbridge or stuff like the Roland gear which can function without a computer, but anything like Push, Maschine etc seems just like a really expensive non standard controller tied to software that it wonāt work with in a few years if you update.
I donāt always want to own a piece of gear for 10 years either, the nature of technology means that inevitably some things will be better in 10 years, but I definitely donāt want to pay purchase money for rental.
Class compliant stuff is not a problem, but proprietary or cloud based products have no interest for me.
I still have an Atari ST because my first ever synth (an Evolution EVS1 if anybodyās interested) can only be edited via editing software on the ST. This isāt a joke, itās completely true (although I havenāt used it for years)
People are still updating drivers for old drawing tablets from the 90s so they can run on Linux. Windows still supports pretty much all legacy software (like back to the MSDOS era). Itās really just Apple thatās quite aggressive at telling consumers to ditch old tech and get with whatever the new thing is.
Makes sense. Iām not saying any device would be worthless, just wondering if i should look at audio streaming ADC as a ābonusā, or part of the āprice i am paying.ā My take on that is that cassette is a different ballgame than having to keep around various computers and operating systems to do audio streaming, which would be a mess and totally defeat the purpose of the convenience. Having one cassette player/recorder which were sold up to the mid 2000s at walmart for $15, for patch storage and most vintage devices from the era, is not nearly as big of an issue in any case. My specific concern relates not to memory storage but to audio streaming (having limited interface inputs, and maybe i will still have limited inputs in the year 2050), and buying a device with the intent of using individual track audio streaming, and factoring that into the cost of new devices.
If you are comfortable with your current computer/hardware setup then there really is no requirement to change your operating system.
Modern computers are already more than powerful enough to meet the demands of professional and hobby musicians. Upgrading is merely responding to market forces.
Unfortunately this is not always possible, for example OB does not work on W7 anymore, and the machine firmwares often require the latest version, so if you want the firmware updates you have to also update the computer - if you want to use OB.
itās only obsolete if it were the only way to get the audio outā¦ but iām thinking analogue audio outputs are here for the stayā¦so to answer your question , people will still be making beats on Digitakts for years / decades to come ā¦
Iāve got some friends that are still rolling like, Snow Leopard.
Macās last a pretty long time. Iāve got a MacBook Air from 2012 Iāve literally been using all day long.
Just look after your computer like you look after your music gear and keep it on the shipped OS if you need to. Youāll probably be over the gear before the gear is.
I actually thought this post was about something like Blast Radio. I feel like that sort of thing is much more prone to becoming abandonware.
I got my Access Virus TI2 way after the TI-Support was dropped and will never come back. Why? Because its a great device. I owned DT, DN and AR2 and never used Overbridge for more than testing, so I wouldnāt even mind, if support were dropped.
Only device I depend on working with my computer and Audio is my Soundcard.
