Greg Mein

I'm making some progress on this project. Something I'm really happy about and definitely recommend is the height adjustable desk. The ability to sit or stand at the same desk is already proving very valuable. The "Open Slot Wiring Raceway Duct" is also another valuable "infrastructure" addition. With the rack on the opposite side of the desk from the keyboards this keeps the cabling neatly tucked away rather than laying around the floor. I have a wheeled wire rack next to the desk where I put the desktop "administrative" PC, UPS, backup drives, etc.. Space is tight of course but the arrangement allows me to easily pull out and get to the back of my wheeled rack case. I've populated my rack case and put in some of the wiring. Tomorrow I hope to get the wall mount for my 43" monitor, I'm considering buying a new one with USB-C but not sure if I want to spend on that yet, HDMI has always worked fine and I'm looking at some upgrades for our live show.

A DBX 166 was the best compressor I'd had but like a lot of the hardware I used to have, it got sold for move downsizing. The Antares AVP-1 I've held onto has a compressor section but is no doubt software based. When I get going with recording again I'll do most processing with software and, in fact, even when I was on my last recording spree many years ago I typically used the DAW's built in stuff on tracks after the fact. I have a lot of work to do before I'm ready to record again and I have a lot of options with computers, software and the external units I held onto so it's hard to envision the approach I'll like best as I get my studio up and going again. I tend to think of compression in terms of the function and purpose of it rather than any type of sound it may impart. To me it's typically about leveling out vocal tracks but also comes in handy for acoustic guitar and maybe some other bits here and there.

I don't have a Helix unit but now I kinda want one, do they have a rack mount version?

At the risk of stating the obvious, ever since the internet became available for mass consumption people have been emboldened to write things they would never say in your presence. An unknown venue, 100 people in attendance and a band not known outside your area, yeah, I'd have to say you nailed it in your final paragraph.

I like the idea since Vegas is roughly an hour drive away, however, I'm never going to pay that much for a ticket unless they can resurrect and reunite the Beatles.

While I was still working I had my phone set so that it wouldn't ring unless the caller was on my contacts list and that was reflected in the voice mail message so that if it was legit they'd know to leave a message. As a doctor my wife couldn't do that and she often got scam callers. I turned that feature off after I retired but I honestly don't get many calls anyway, scam or otherwise. When it comes to internet stuff; Craigslist, messages, Facebook, email or whatever these folks are so incredibly obvious I no longer give it a second thought.

Wait...didn't Apple still make MacBook Pros in 2020? The M1 machines didn't come out until November of 2020, and they weren't MacBook Pros. When I go to About This Mac in the upper left hand corner it reads, "MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)" and I can certainly prove that I bought this from the Apple website in August of 2021.

People like to think of Apple as being cutting edge but that's not necessary the case. I bought a brand new MacBook Pro from the Apple website in August this year along with a "magic" mouse. The MBP is apparently a left over from 2019 and the mouse came with a USB charging cable.......a 2019 MBP doesn't have a USB port.

I can't understand what the motive behind this would be or why some old PDF files would even qualify as an issue?

Due to the theft of my computers in July insurance paid for my new one. Even though I knew the M1 was coming I couldn't wait for that. Apple has a long history of leaving users in the dust and I've learned to cope by just trying hard to avoid OS updates. I actually had a frustrating day recently when I went ahead and updated from 11.6 to 11.6.1, an update you wouldn't expect to cause much trouble. After the update the computer wouldn't recognize the power adapter. What I've learned is that the SMC chip on this one needed a reset, an annoying problem I've not had in the past. 12.0.1 is available to put on here but there's no way I'm going to try that. Apple has taught me that when you get things working the way you like just leave it alone. That sentiment goes double for the 2017 model I bought to replace our stolen gigging computer. It's highly unlikely to ever go beyond 10.14.6. I suppose if your'e just experimenting then there's no harm done and you almost expect to have problems.

I have never tried Bootcamp and although it may work fine I just don't like the idea of it, I like my Macs separate from my Win machines, especially if a problem develops.

That's some sad news, I'll certainly miss reading his posts. He was typically straight forward and knowledgable in technical know how and experience. His no nonsense approach was something I really admire and appreciate. My deepest sympathies to his family and close friends.

This seems like a great approach and would probably help avoid some of the burnout that can happen. So you have a whole albums worth of songs to listen to before you start this process?

I recently retrieved a box full of my CD's from the storage unit we're trying to get emptied out and have them in a cabinet in the garage where they'll likely stay......not in the box but in the garage. The only actual CD player we have now is a Bose Wave Radio that's in the garage and I turn on when I'm working out there. Now instead of just the radio, I'll be able to pop in a CD when I'm out there if I want. All our record albums are out there too but no turntable yet. It's really amazing to me to think about how I bought most of those records while I was still in school.

I use a cable that is dual RCA male plugs on one end and 1/4" tip/sleeve on the other to run my backing tracks from my interface to my JBL stick speaker. I bought Pig Hog on Amazon. One of the metal sleeves on the RCA side came off but they claimed their cables were guaranteed for life and sure enough, I sent them a photo of the damaged cable and they replaced it. It doesn't get much better than that.

In all honesty I'm mostly just curious. I don't plan to do any deep dives or jump ship from what I already have. I've only been revisiting because I still have the StudioLive 16.4.2 unit and am wondering how much good use I may still be able to get out of it. My main DAW continues to be DP, mostly because of its great live performance functionality. I had Logic 10 put on my newest MBP and haven't even looked at that yet. I have two MOTU 828x interfaces that will work with any of the software I already have. Between our upcoming live gig, getting my studio room ready and a bunch of upcoming travel plans I just won't have time to get too distracted with the Presonus stuff for the foreseeable future.

I got back to the forums and from what I was reading I got the impression I could still use the 16.4.2 as an interface on my 10.14.6 machine but that was the end of the line for it, OS11 is a no go. If true that's actually fairly impressive, I believe I've had the 16.4.2 since 2013 so that's a long lifespan in Mac years. So I was just curious about the Studio One program, it appears version 5 is the current with Professional as the top dog and two or three lesser editions. My unit came with Studio One 2 Artist which I can apparently still download. Oddly enough they don't offer me any upgrade options from my account page. I somehow got to the Presonus main page where I could look at their software and poked around looking at the options but then when I go back to my account it seems I'm stuck in there and can't break back out. I'm probably doing something wrong, overall the website seems reasonably well laid out but I can't get from one part of it to another; main products page, my account area and the forums are all apparently separate ecospheres.

A discussion about Presonus is rather timely for me. As I try to get my home studio back together I'm hoping I can get the original big 'ole SL16.4.2 working with my newer MBP's; a new one running 11.6 I bought earlier this year and a 2017 model with 10.14.6 I also bought earlier this year to replace a stolen 2015 model. Both of these have thunderbolt 3 ports only but I have the necessary adapters to convert over to firewire (thunderbolt 2 - 3 & thunderbolt 2 - firewire). I still have an older 2010 17" MBP that I was using when I originally bought that mixer/interface but these things have been on the back burner for a number of years and the StudioLive unit got very little use due to extenuating circumstances. So anyway I've recently visited the Presonus website where I still have an account although I hadn't logged in for perhaps a few years. It still shows my registered products however, a couple of which I wasn't even aware of. Where it gets weird is that I can't seem to get to the forums from my account page there. I recently was able to add to a relevant forum discussion there but now can't seem to get back there, strange.

This is the same feeling I've always had, I don't even miss Sirius as much as I thought I might.

That's essentially what I did a few years ago after getting married. The band I was in was real popular and the money was far better than most area groups but it just became too much work and scheduling got complicated. My wife was more about sight reading classical pieces and had been a church organist but quickly adapted to playing classic pop/rock covers with me so doing our own thing was really the only way to go. We're in a completely new area now but already have a gig booked for next month. In all honesty I would have preferred to focus more on getting my recording setup together.

I believe I've convinced myself to pull the trigger on a height adjustable desk. These seem like a great solution in that I have the option of sitting at the desk or raising it to a standing level when playing some bass/guitar or doing a vocal. Has anyone tried this?

Grandkids parents do not want any toys for kids at Xmas anymore, they play with them a while and then they just become more clutter. I believe the plan is to gift them with a family vacation instead.

I don't know your room, but where are you going to put the speakers? Might be out of your price range, but I have a Stealth chair and it has a removable arm, specifically for this reason. Speakers won't be placed in any tight corner, I have some ideas but have only moved into the measurement "phase"; determining where studs are, block diagraming, measuring walls, etc.. In the past I had a full size keyboard that rolled out from under my desk, it's good for a compact setup but the situation is that the desk is either always a little too high or the keyboard too low. This time (or I should say, for now) I'm going to keep keys on a stand next to my desk and wow, after selling off a lot of gear in recent months I'm down to only having three electronic keyboards! I have a 46" LG TV/monitor I will wall mount and want to be able to see from both the keyboard and desk which means at least part of the desk has to be against the same wall as keys. A little of a downgrade, I had been using my 55" Samsung before but that got re-appropriated to the bedroom. Thanks for the chair link, certainly expensive but I'm a believer that office chairs are a get what you pay for item. The one I have is still satisfactory but I'm keeping this link for future reference.

That's a good idea, after the room is a bit more "established" I'll ascertain what I need to do for diffusion, absorption and so forth. Our area is a private community and noise is not a huge concern here.

Your efforts are appreciated! If you find that the concept works, I'm sure there are plenty of people who would be willing to put the time into making their own instead of spending the extra $$. In agreement on that! Great suggestion on the floor mat, easy enough to do and I can leave the floor as is. I'm pondering what to do about my desk. I've looked at some of the studio workstation types available but I'm not sure I like any of them and it's especially hard to know when you can't actually see them in person. I'd built my own before and may just go with my same design albeit reduce the width a bit. Alternately I'm thinking about a corner design. There's an problem I've often had when it comes to this stuff, maybe others understand what I mean; I'll build something for a specific purpose and design but then almost immediately start changing things around or come up with better ideas that render my creation somewhat obsolete. For that reason I think I'll try to keep it as simple as possible for maximum flexibility. There's another issue when it comes to chairs, seems hard to find a high quality office chair that doesn't have arm rests. Arm rests can be annoying when trying to record some guitar/bass while sitting at the computer.