DP 6 GUI - What do you think of it?

[bayswater]

I know the DP font has been brought up before, but I want to know if I'm missing some kind of adjustment or a system font or something. I'm using a Dell 1703FP. Take a look at this screen grab. I tried every screen resolution, and I simply cannot see the numbers in focus.
http://homepage.mac.com/bgarratt/.Publi ... yfont.tiff

Something wrong with your image link... I tried fixing it and may have changed the URL a bit which didn't help. It could be my browser won't display a TIFF. Anyone else? Otherwise, try JPEG.

Looks clear here, both in the message and directly from the link. Event information bar says there is a sysex event at 21/3/032. Maybe anti-aliasing not set properly?

[James Steele]

Ok, I added a .jpg version and edited the link. Thanks for checking, James.

I don't know what that's about. Looks like I'll have to open a project where I have a sysex message in a track to see how it looks on mine. It looks like it could be some of that system-wide anti-aliasing. You might try adjusting that setting. Isn't there one that turns off antialiasing under certain font size or something?

[bayswater]

It looks like it could be some of that system-wide anti-aliasing. You might try adjusting that setting. Isn't there one that turns off antialiasing under certain font size or something?

In the Appearance Preferences.

[James Steele]

Thanks... I was on my Windows machine when I wrote that.

[bayswater]

Thanks... I was on my Windows machine when I wrote that.

I know. My Dell has the same effect on me.

[bayswater]

I guess I'm becoming an over-sensitive curmudgeon.
And I *do* have use for MOTU. Plenty of use.
Regards,
Bill

Bill, as a follow up: I finally cracked open Logic Pro which I bought on a whim that day it came out (upgrade from Logic 5 Big Box). If you are suffering eyestrain, stay away from this. Fuzzy white tiny font on mid grey background. Work areas made of sort of dark objects on a slightly less dark background. It all looks like an old Yamaha MX mixer An hour was all I could take. What a disappointment.

[monkey man]

Well, I finally checked out '6.01 last night.

As I suspected I would, I tend to agree with most of what kats_corner said. Many windows are now so space-inefficient in their upper portions that I can no longer include them in my screensets. For example, I used to have the SB window, at a small size, always available in the top left corner of the screen; 'bites could always be seen at a glance. Now, all one sees is the aforementioned area.

The mixer, as I said I expected yesterday, definitely posed challenges. I lost 3 insert rows (out of 5, an already maximally-reduced number) and will need to re-save all window sets accordingly. The now fiddly process of calling up mixer layouts was certainly frustrating as I use the feature a lot. The send knobs played tricks on my eyes; I'm amazed anyone can see their various levels at a glance.

Didn't get to any edit windows as there's plenty to do, what with rebuilding bundles (which didn't import properly, even when repeatedly attempted), CueMix settings (as before, but almost complete), the PCI config (near complete), DP's prefs and so on, but figured it was about time I chimed in with something from a real-world-use perspective.

[Bill O'C]

Bill, as a follow up: I finally cracked open Logic Pro which I bought on a whim that day it came out (upgrade from Logic 5 Big Box). If you are suffering eyestrain, stay away from this. Fuzzy white tiny font on mid grey background. Work areas made of sort of dark objects on a slightly less dark background. It all looks like an old Yamaha MX mixer An hour was all I could take. What a disappointment.

Yes, I agree. The type in the Properties areas on the left have gotten much tougher to read, and the new control panel type is smaller. My favorite GUIs are Cubase 4/Nuendo 4. They are quite solid on Intel Macs now. But there is still one big problem: Steinberg is still Steinberg, and they are dragging their heels on fixing some major bugs.

Like us all, I really am looking forward to the the next DP6 update. Maybe I'll just bite the bullet and lower my screen resolution a notch. Although we have an abundance of DAW choices, and many say we have no business complaining--to me they are all problematic in their own ways, and it's a matter of using one or more of them that "s--k the least" for one's particular needs.

Regards,
Bill

[bayswater]

My favorite GUIs are Cubase 4/Nuendo 4. They are quite solid on Intel Macs now. But there is still one big problem: Steinberg is still Steinberg, and they are dragging their heels on fixing some major bugs.

Agree about the C4/N4 UI. But they have declared too many general functions to be "legacy", abandoned backwards compatibility, and rendered the entire app pretty much useless to me past V3.1. I've managed to close a lot of the gap in the UI's by learning and customizing key commands. If MOTU introduced MIDI regions, and a simpler means of navigating around the Sequence editor, I'd be happier with V6.

[Bill O'C]

Agree about the C4/N4 UI. But they have declared too many general functions to be "legacy", abandoned backwards compatibility, and rendered the entire app pretty much useless to me past V3.1. I've managed to close a lot of the gap in the UI's by learning and customizing key commands. If MOTU introduced MIDI regions, and a simpler means of navigating around the Sequence editor, I'd be happier with V6.

Actually it was Cubase 4 which drove me back to the Mac side (after years on Windows machines). The no-warning elimination of Direct X plugin support, the cancellation of the final SX3 update, the incompatibility of plug-ins prior to VST v2.4, and, of course, the compatibility problem with SX3 projects. When Nuendo 4 came out, I upgraded essentially to protect my investment, since I originally bought it before they greatly increased the price. As you may be aware, we are waiting to hear whether or not they will fix a bug with solo/mute automation (and hopefully several others) before they introduce version 5.

Back to MOTU: It was my musical home turf in the late eighties through mid nineties, and I not finished with it yet.

[bayswater]

[As you may be aware, we are waiting to hear whether or not they will fix a bug with solo/mute automation (and hopefully several others) before they introduce version 5.

Obviously they will not. They reneged on VST 5.1, SX1 and SX3. But they will relegate more features to "legacy" (Cornfield) status and introduce new bugs. I have sympathy for long time DP users that have to make some adjustments in V6, but it's not like being told that parts of the MIDI spec are obsolete, along with your workflow and plug-ins. DP 6 at least tries to bring some newer IT to its users without abandoning large parts of the application.

[monkey man]

... Steinberg is still Steinberg...

Perhaps Yamaha's ownership will lead to a much-hoped-for identity crisis, Bill.

Fired '6 up for the second time yesterday. Worst eye-strain I've ever experienced on a computer set in after just 1 hr 50 mins... at 8PM (still daytime due to daylight saving). 'Nuff said.

[Bill O'C]

... Steinberg is still Steinberg...

Perhaps Yamaha's ownership will lead to a much-hoped-for identity crisis, Bill.

Fired '6 up for the second time yesterday. Worst eye-strain I've ever experienced on a computer set in after just 1 hr 50 mins... at 8PM (still daytime due to daylight saving). 'Nuff said.

They announced today on the Nuendo forum that the solo/mute automation bug will be fixed in Nuendo 4, free of charge-- although not until the second quarter. Well, that's progress, anyway.

I wish MOTU would break their hermetically sealed code of silence, and stop by with a least a general statement about the next update.

Regards,
Bill

[bayswater]

They announced today on the Nuendo forum that the solo/mute automation bug will be fixed in Nuendo 4, free of charge-- although not until the second quarter. Well, that's progress, anyway.
I wish MOTU would break their hermetically sealed code of silence, and stop by with a least a general statement about the next update.

History shows an announcement from SB is as informative as silence from MOTU.

[Bill O'C]

They announced today on the Nuendo forum that the solo/mute automation bug will be fixed in Nuendo 4, free of charge-- although not until the second quarter. Well, that's progress, anyway.
I wish MOTU would break their hermetically sealed code of silence, and stop by with a least a general statement about the next update.

History shows an announcement from SB is as informative as silence from MOTU.

Yes, I've been with them since VST3. Let me bask in my denial for at least a little while.