LOL! I have a vintage Herman Miller chair in my studio as well as a Danish light fixture from the 1950s.

At work I have one of those new HM chairs as well.

DP, do you really know the market? It's not that I don't care what anyone says, it's that I disagree. And I'm also not convinced you can picture what it looks like with the modified bridge shelf.

Okay, I'll admit it: as soon as the woodworker brought that shelf in, my heart sank. That edge cutting is totally wrong in my opinion, which is why the ad says something about it being an option. At some point we'll shoot another picture.

In any case, I can tell you that the segment we're really missing out on is the segment for whom the desk is too expensive. That's what we're working on.

Getting back to the original topic of this thread, has anyone looked at Avid's new interfaces? I'm not in the market really, but I'd like to stay current with what they are doing. Trouble is, I see pretty much the same box. I know they improved the AD conversion but really, was it so bad before? One complaint they've had is that the cooling fan inside the 192 is loud. Did they remove the fan in the new interface. Also, with competing interfaces from Apogee and Aurora, what benefits (if any) do these new boxes offer? Anyone?

Justin,
I heard that the new Avid interfaces are going to look just like a Hammond B3 and will be offered with a matching Leslie cabinet.

Nick,
Like I said earlier, I think that the (music) industry in general is tech savy and forward looking design wise - hence my suggestion. Ideally, it would be a good idea to offer the "composers desk" in a variety of styles (obviously!). Understandably this is difficult from a financial and manufacturing standpoint. Anyway, good luck with it - I hope you seel a bunch of 'em...

Thanks. But I have to repeat: it's a modern design as soon as you get rid of that edge cutting on the bridge shelf. I'll try to post a picture - it really does look different, almost like a stylized roll-top desk.

Hmmmm.....

Is this really true?

If so, it doesn't explain the popular practice of dressing up thoroughly modern gear and applications in various forms of "classic" and "vintage" packaging and interfaces, does it?

That's something that I see all the time and take particular notice of, because I never really understood it. Take a brand-new, all-digital modeling amp and put it in a package that looks like it was designed and built in 1959? Make some incredibly flexible, powerful and modern program or plug-in, and not only design it - but actually market the fact that - it looks on your computer screen, like a picture of a piece of gear that is half a century old?

Musicians, engineers and composers seem to be just as (even more?) likely to find comfort in established design as everyone else. At least many of them apparently do.



But I think we ALL agree that the quarter-round edge routing on that upper shelf is truly heinous...

Knife,
+1 on the 1/4 round edge routing. Get rid of that and the overall design is just fab!

I suppose you are correct in your observation, but I don't think that's the whole story. Certainly there is a comfort level in tried and true designs - hence the old looking cabinetry on amplifiers or interfaces that look like old tape machines or whatever. I just think that is the idea that "the original sound" is being captured (i.e. it's modeled) along with the feel of the interface. So, that's clearly a case that it's being sold as a "virtual" copy of the original. In Nicks case, I think he's come up with this notion of "The composers desk" (which may or may not be an original idea or product - I've certainly never heard the term befor)and therefore could use a more progressive/forward looking/contemporary design.

So I was browsing GearSluts and came across this reworked Omnirax desk. Looks good.

Desk

That's an almost.

Okay, here's a recent installation showing what it looks like without the shnorkle at the edge of the bridge shelf:


[img]http://gallery.me.com/virtualinstruments#100245/IMG_0002&bgcolor=black[/img]

Dunno why the pic doesn't show up in the post, but the link is good.