Steven Slate Raven MTi

[Dan Worley]

Hi guys, I'm looking forward to speaking more with MOTU, and along with your support, I'm now confident that we can release a DP RAVEN control software in 2014.

Cheers,
Steven

Blessings.

[wonder]

[Killahurts]

Hi guys, I'm looking forward to speaking more with MOTU, and along with your support, I'm now confident that we can release a DP RAVEN control software in 2014.

Cheers,
Steven

Really great news Steven! OK, I'm gonna go down there and check out the big Raven this week. I'll see if I can bring a Protools session with me to try it out, and I report back..

[dave pine]

hi steve, 64 bit trigger first please.... that is all

[Dan Worley]

hi steve, 64 bit trigger first please.... that is all

Let's pile on.

And 64-bit FG-X.

[James Steele]

hi steve, 64 bit trigger first please.... that is all

Let's pile on.

And 64-bit FG-X.

How about we don't and just SAY we did?

[labman]

Hi guys, I'm looking forward to speaking more with MOTU, and along with your support, I'm now confident that we can release a DP RAVEN control software in 2014.

Cheers,
Steven

Makes me happy. We would love to see a Raven or two in our suites.

I am a very old buddy of Wes Lachot whom your FAQ quotes. (from the late 60's) And if Wes says there is no audio glare from the 40% tilt, then that is good enough for us. His rooms are superbly designed and sound unbelievable.

But I do have one question. Why is the Raven not hardwired via ethernet or some protocol not susceptible to airwave oddities. How do we work it well from macpros that are located in machine rooms? What happens with bluetooth interference with wireless kybs trackpads etc?

Thanks for the expertise. And my engineer nearly daily thanks you profusely for VCC, VTM, and VBC.

[toodamnhip]

hi steve, 64 bit trigger first please.... that is all

Let's pile on.

And 64-bit FG-X.

How about we don't and just SAY we did?

I agree. It is very nice and very rare for Steven or any president of a company to surface here and interact with members. It is VERY refreshing to see! A good way to blow it is to ask for too much to where the guy feels overwhelmed and doesn't want to come back. Does anyone here believe that Steven doesn't already know everyone wants 64 bit versions of everything? He knows, I assure you. Shhh,,,,lol

[Killahurts]

Steven, I've seen so many comments and reviews about the Raven having to do with mixing and post, but almost nothing about the incredible potential it has for composers (think virtual instruments, etc.). A lot of composers still use DP, especially those writing for film and TV, so I think it's great that DP will eventually be supported..

When I try it out this week, I will be approaching it from a composer's perspective, primarily.

[labman]

When I try it out this week, I will be approaching it from a composer's perspective, primarily.

Hey Killa. Can you please give us all a full report from that perspective? That would be most helpful. I know some of my european film score buddies who dont have access to Ravens yet would most likely also like to hear.

[Dan Worley]

How about we don't and just SAY we did?

I agree. It is very nice and very rare for Steven or any president of a company to surface here and interact with members. It is VERY refreshing to see! A good way to blow it is to ask for too much to where the guy feels overwhelmed and doesn't want to come back. Does anyone here believe that Steven doesn't already know everyone wants 64 bit versions of everything? He knows, I assure you. Shhh,,,,lol

It was just friendly ribbing. I think Steven can take it. No one's attacking him.

Besides, I think it was my money I spent on FG-X, not yours.

[rainmaker]

Hi Steven,

Thanks for your involvement. I'm happy to hear about the possibility of DP support. I have been interested in the full size Raven since it was first talked about. I'll be watching how this proceeds with interest.

[Killahurts]

I went to try out the Raven (the larger one) on Wednesday. I didn't get to spend as much time with it as I wanted to, unfortunately, but it was enough to get a good feel for it.

The other unfortunate thing is that there was only Protools to check it out with. I really just don't care for that DAW. I wanted to edit some MIDI with the touchscreen, but we couldn't get Protools to size the window right or something, so with limited time we had to move on.. I did edit some audio though, and PT has a little thing called "smart tool" that makes multiple tools show up depending on where your cursor is hovering- a feature that DP users have always enjoyed without having to turn it on.

So what was it like? Essentially a giant iPad.. but there is much more. The ways that you can layout the controls and customize your workflow, is astonishing. A great deal of thought went into that design, I can tell. I thought I would be blown away with the hardware, but it was actually the software that most impressed me. It is a multi-touch controller, and Slate took full advantage of that technology in the design, particularly the faders/channels. It could enhance my mixing workflow hugely.. of note though, is that the plugins do not support multi-touch. It's not Slate's fault, the plugin manufacturers would have to build that functionality into the actual plugs, maybe in the future they will (might be the next craze, like 64 bit).

The Raven uses the Neyrink technology that can be found in the V-Control Pro app for the iPad, so editing plugins is a lot like that, just way bigger! An important difference though, is that with V-Control you edit on the iPad, while looking at a larger screen with the whole DAW, whereas on the Raven, you're editing right on that large screen. It's actually very cool. The controls didn't respond as easily and quickly to my touch as I had hoped, but in all fairness, we may have rushed through the touch calibration process at the beginning (everyone has a different way of touching the screen, so you calibrate it to your individual user's touch, which can be stored with others). The center section/monitor control was fully functional and does what it should, and the lights in the buttons are very bright.. I love that!

The only thing I did not like about it physically, was its height. I don't use near field monitors in my studio, and the thing comes up to or nearly up to ear level, suggesting to me that near fields placed on either side of the Raven is pretty much all you could do, or or have it set so low your knees don't fit under it.

The Raven could not be a replacement for my Matrix because it doesn't have any analog inputs for latency free recording. If they added a couple of nice line inputs and/or mic pres into this unit, I would then consider it an all-in-one, and possibly reconsider.

I actually think the MTi could work better for me, because I could have most of that control for much less space, much less $$, and I could add it to my setup, rather than replacing it.

[labman]

Killahurts. Thanks so much for your detailed response. I certainly appreciate the effort.

[rainmaker]

Another question for Steven... just wondering if two units can be chained together for 48 tracks? If so, can both models do this?