Re: A Repeater suggestion

[Andre LaFosse <altruist@altruistmusic.com>]

Hallo people (again),

Miko Biffle wrote:

>> With all due respect Andre, this is a system integration problem.
EVERYONE using a mixer and bussing the looper on an aux send is going to
have this problem, and provide a workaround to solve it. Managing
multiple inputs/instruments/voices usually involves a mixer.<<

Thanks for your graciousness, Miko.  It's genuinely appreciated.

And with all due respect to you, I personally have never used a mixer
and/or an aux send bus with a looper, and I've been using an Echoplex
since October of 1995.

Now, clearly, this is an issue for someone like yourself, since it's an
intrinsic part of the way you work.  On the other hand, there are people
who don't use loopers in the way you're describing it, who aren't going
to be thinking in those terms.  I would suggest that the design team at
Electrix is one such group of people.

>> In the multi-track paradigm, most multi-track studios manage their
dsp's/loopers etc using the same fx buss / aux buss architecture most
mixers are designed with. <<

Doesn't it seem like the Repeater is designed as more of an "all-in-one"
multitrack feature box, rather than being something that you
fundamentally integrate into a larger system?  

It seems less like a component you'd plug into an external mixer, and
more like a thing you'd use independently, in and of itself.  The
absence of a wet/dry control certainly seems to lend credence to that 
theory...

>> ACID is a DAW multi-track with it's own limitations etc. <<

And Repeater is a hardware DAW-style multitrack with its own limitations
as well, clearly.

>> A universal balance. That way it WORKS on an aux send of a mixer.
This is basic, studio setup stuff here. <<

But a Repeater isn't a basic piece of studio gear.  It's a product that
draws on a lot of different points of view and combines them into
something that we haven't seen before.

Look, I'm not trying to be a salesperson for the Repeater (where's my
endorsement deal, Damon?!)  I don't own one, and I don't have any
particular need for one in the work I do.  

But I do think it's worth stopping for a second, stepping outside
onesself, and looking at where the unit is coming from before chastizing
the company for not fulfilling any individual user's vision of the ideal 
tool.

>> Once again. Conventional Multi-Track style is typically the usual aux
send sorta deal, which asks for 100% wet operation. Standard studio
practice. <<

And once again :-), the Repeater ain't your conventional studio tool,
and I don't believe it was designed as such.

>> This is the reason I don't use Vortexes, and Line 6 DL4, as much as I
love them both. <<

You are aware that the Vortex can set up an independent wet/dry mix for
each individual patch, I assume?  It's not a hardware balance knob,
certainly.  But I personally wouldn't let that stop me from integrating
it into the very sort of mixer-aux-send scenario you describe yourself;
in fact I've used a Vortex as an effect through a send, as my main
external unit, dozens of times, and it works great.

>> If I were selling a product and KNEW I'd lose users due to a simple
oversight, I'd clear that up. If Electrix is listening, I'm adding my
request for wet/dry mix as well as single button press to go from record
to overdub. This is also a serious ommision. <<

Well,

1) Obviously Electrix didn't KNOW that this was a serious problem;

2) Considering that they've had a waiting list of users for about a
year, none of whom had ever even USED a Repeater before placing their
orders, I don't think Electrix is saddled with a lack of customer interest;

3) Until such time as people have ACTUALLY USED the thing in the real
world, I'm not convinced that this is the end of the world for anyone.

Again, folks: A lot of these posts have the ring of, "Wow, this thing
isn't what I thought it would be."  And, again: The specs and details of
the unit have been readily available for the better part of a year. 
Nobody made anyone buy a unit without trying it first.  

If you actually try working with the thing and it absolutely cannot do
what you want it to after you've learned its interface, then that's the
time to start making requests for design modifications.  Until then, 
though...

Chill, peeps!

Again, all said with all possible respect to all parties involved...

--Andre