TC Electronic Clarity M: hybrid hardware/software monitoring

[mhschmieder]

http://www.tcelectronic.com/clarity-m/? ... uct%20Page

This looks incredible! I have long wanted an external monitoring tool that is always in line of sight but not obscuring basic DAW and plug-in workflow and visibility.

I haven't checked our Sweetwater sponsors yet to see about availability and price, but the news flash says $599 -- perhaps that's list price. Even if street price, it's worth it.

[Robert Randolph]

I'm sold if this is around $500 or less.

[mhschmieder]

Here's the Sweetwater page for this product, listed as "coming soon" and at $599:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ClarityM

We can always count on our sponsor for the web's most informative product pages and presentation videos.

[Armageddon]

I'd strongly advise skipping it. I bought a TC Konnekt 24D back in 2008 over a MOTU 828 mkII because I was sold on the idea of a decent 192 kHz FW interface with powered plug-ins. The interface was fairly decent (though I never actually used the two low-end powered plugs, Fabrik-R and Fabrik-C, that the unit could run), except one of the FW ports eventually gave out and I contacted TC to see about getting it repaired. They had also stopped making the Konnekt line a year or two earlier. Their advice? Buy an IMPACT TWIN, which they also stopped making a short while later. They seem to come up with these great interfaces -- at one point, they were the only other game in town beside UAD to offer a serious lineup of powered plugs via the Konnekt series and the Powercore units -- then drop them after a couple of years and stop supporting them, aside from some increasingly-wonky drivers. It's a shame, since their hardware and software (I was a huge fan of their Native Plugin Bundle, which is what had convinced me to buy their hardware) is actually pretty great, but the company either lacks the resources or the ability to care enough to support them.

[Robert Randolph]

I'd strongly advise skipping it. I bought a TC Konnekt 24D back in 2008 over a MOTU 828 mkII because I was sold on the idea of a decent 192 kHz FW interface with powered plug-ins. The interface was fairly decent (though I never actually used the two low-end powered plugs, Fabrik-R and Fabrik-C, that the unit could run), except one of the FW ports eventually gave out and I contacted TC to see about getting it repaired. They had also stopped making the Konnekt line a year or two earlier. Their advice? Buy an IMPACT TWIN, which they also stopped making a short while later. They seem to come up with these great interfaces -- at one point, they were the only other game in town beside UAD to offer a serious lineup of powered plugs via the Konnekt series and the Powercore units -- then drop them after a couple of years and stop supporting them, aside from some increasingly-wonky drivers. It's a shame, since their hardware and software (I was a huge fan of their Native Plugin Bundle, which is what had convinced me to buy their hardware) is actually pretty great, but the company either lacks the resources or the ability to care enough to support them.

TC definitely did seem to have some sort of financial issues for a while, and made some really strange decisions with their products.

However, they were purchased by Music Group about a year and a half ago. Since then I haven't seen anything odd from them, and they certainly have much more stable financial backing.

Regardless of that, I had quite a significant investment in powercore and I absolutely loved it. It was unfortunate that they discontinued it, but I got my money's worth from it. Given that TC Electronic cancelled their porting to UAD when they were purchased by Music Group, I suspect there may be some native or new DSP-based solutions coming out in the future.

[waxman]

$600 bones to do what my DP meter bridge and Izotope Insight already does.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/vCSjR9XVC ... autoplay=1

[Armageddon]

TC definitely did seem to have some sort of financial issues for a while, and made some really strange decisions with their products.

However, they were purchased by Music Group about a year and a half ago. Since then I haven't seen anything odd from them, and they certainly have much more stable financial backing.

Regardless of that, I had quite a significant investment in powercore and I absolutely loved it. It was unfortunate that they discontinued it, but I got my money's worth from it. Given that TC Electronic cancelled their porting to UAD when they were purchased by Music Group, I suspect there may be some native or new DSP-based solutions coming out in the future.

I loved their stuff; it was just unfortunate that they didn't seem to support it.

If they somehow revive their Native Plugin Bundle (or just start selling native versions of their Powercore stuff), I would definitely have my credit card out. They ported their Native plugs to OS X, but at some point decided not to go UB, rendering them useless as of 10.4.

[kgdrum]

TC definitely did seem to have some sort of financial issues for a while, and made some really strange decisions with their products.

However, they were purchased by Music Group about a year and a half ago. Since then I haven't seen anything odd from them, and they certainly have much more stable financial backing.

Regardless of that, I had quite a significant investment in powercore and I absolutely loved it. It was unfortunate that they discontinued it, but I got my money's worth from it. Given that TC Electronic cancelled their porting to UAD when they were purchased by Music Group, I suspect there may be some native or new DSP-based solutions coming out in the future.

I loved their stuff; it was just unfortunate that they didn't seem to support it.

If they somehow revive their Native Plugin Bundle (or just start selling native versions of their Powercore stuff), I would definitely have my credit card out. They ported their Native plugs to OS X, but at some point decided not to go UB, rendering them useless as of 10.4.

I have to agree,when I used Powercore I had problems which I couldn't resolve & it has been gathering dust since then.TC has to be the worst support I ever encountered,totally no help whatsoever .I pulled the Powercore card from my rig,I've never used it again and anything TC.
In my view this a shame as they've had some great products but they once they discontinue a product they treat it as abandonware and their support is absolutely nonexistent.


Maybe they've improved since they were acquired,I felt burned to the point I don't know if I'd ever try TC again......

[Armageddon]

I have to agree,when I used Powercore I had problems which I couldn't resolve & it has been gathering dust since then.TC has to be the worst support I ever encountered,totally no help whatsoever .I pulled the Powercore card from my rig,I've never used it again and anything TC.
In my view this a shame as they've had some great products but they once they discontinue a product they treat it as abandonware and their support is absolutely nonexistent.


Maybe they've improved since they were acquired,I felt burned to the point I don't know if I'd ever try TC again......

I almost got a Powercore years ago and was eventually glad I didn't. The two powered plugs that came with my Konnekt 24D were actually pretty generic, though the Fabrik-R sounded decent (like their other software and hardware 'verbs, it was very down-the-middle, but maybe useful as a general purpose powered reverb). Like I said above, I never actually used them.

I think if they'd supported their product line more, they'd have accumulated a larger following. For example, as niche as MOTU is, I'm pretty sure that if I contacted customer support right now and told them I was having a problem with my 828 mk1 from 2000, they'd do whatever they could to help me get it fixed (which they actually did about eight years ago).

[mhschmieder]

FYI our sponsor, Sweetwater, has had these in stock for a week or so now, in limited supply.

This is not an endorsement of the product itself; just a helpful informational message.

[mhschmieder]

I've decided that, at 5.5" x 7", it's just too small to be positioned in a place that is within peripheral line of sight while focusing on a main screen.

I thought it was much bigger until looking at Sweetwater's detailed specs, and even then, I had to get out my ruler as I don't have a very good sense for English units even though that's all anybody uses in the western half of the USA.

Growing up in the northeast, we learned metric early on, and I find those units much more manageable in terms of having strong visual concepts of their scale.