DP6 : Hobbit Meets With MOTU

kassonica · Post by **kassonica** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 11:19 pm

Um a long shot Mr Frodo did you glean a hint when an update maybe coming to the DP lands?

2 Do you think wearing a baseball cap helped

kinnylandrum · Post by **kinnylandrum** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 11:21 pm

Thanks Frodo. You da man. I will submit my rather odd bug directly to MOTU.

Frodo · Post by **Frodo** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 11:24 pm

FMiguelez wrote:.

Frodo:
I salute you for your efforts for all this, that, hopefully, will help make of DP a greater app.

Regarding points 19, 22 and 23, I'm so glad they were met with interest. By what you wrote that they would need to know more detail about them, and why they would be a good implementation, should this be done through the "regular" channels (motu suggestons), or what would be a good follow up? Phone call maybe?

If the MOTU rep you spoke to wishes to remain private, I would be happy to type a detailed list as to the "why's and how's" of those points, and, if appropriate, sending you a copy. Please let me know what you think the best way of doing this is.

Recibe un fuerte abrazo de mi parte, amigo!

Perro que no camina, no encuentra hueso.

Graçias, amigo. Mi placer sempre.

Sending PM...

Frodo · Post by **Frodo** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 11:31 pm

kassonica wrote:Um a long shot Mr Frodo did you glean a hint when an update maybe coming to the DP lands?

2 Do you think wearing a baseball cap helped

1. No idea when an update will appear. I do suspect that since DP6 will not be officially released until next week that this will mean a lot of vendors and other DP-ers have yet to chime in. At present, I can imagine a relatively small number of users have gotten DP6 and a fraction of those have even begun to send in reports of bugs, etc.

2. Indeed, yes. My cap bore no team insignia, but only said "One Ring". The rep walked to me and said "you must be Frodo"!!! The meeting was off to a good start!

kinnylandrum wrote:Thanks Frodo. You da man. I will submit my rather odd bug directly to MOTU.

You know, Kinny, I only hope more people make a habit of the practice of letting MOTU know. The more reports they get on any given quirk, the greater the chance that a solution will be found-- and more quickly.

And no... YOU da man!

zed · Post by **zed** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 11:40 pm

Frodo wrote:29. Right-click functionality-- contextual menus-- when?

The rep ached for this, too-- this was among the more serious feature requests

Yabba Dabba Doo! Contextual menus, here we come! Glad to learn that the rep was so agreeable and responsive.

Thank you, sir Frodo... you're a upstanding hobbit.

Frodo · Post by **Frodo** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 11:50 pm

zed wrote:
Frodo wrote:29. Right-click functionality-- contextual menus-- when?

The rep ached for this, too-- this was among the more serious feature requests
Yabba Dabba Doo! Contextual menus, here we come! Glad to learn that the rep was so agreeable and responsive.

Thank you, sir Frodo... you're a upstanding hobbit.

Hey Z:

I was just thinking-- this rep could have easily been someone like Christopher Walken or James Gandolfini. But he was clearly a most ideal person to have "on the ground" that any company could wish for. I only hope his employers take him as seriously as he deserves.

Frodo · Post by **Frodo** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 12:30 am

kassonica wrote:Much thanks for taking the time and energy to do this.

It is an insight into the company and the way it works.

I really like motu as a company and this only strengthens it for me.

Although we might get frustrated with their secrecy this and DP6 shows in spades that they really do listen to their users which is NO 1 in my book.

Ooo, kass. Interesting thought.

Truth is, dunno. I do get a sense that the reps have a different balance of info and a somewhat "sundry-er" perspective on things than, say, the parent company who may never have the occasion to see things first hand from the ground up other than through the eyes and ears of their reps.

That's not to say, really, that MOTU is out of touch because if they have the likes of Matt and MagicDave out there communicating the reality of reality back to the front office, I really have to say that MOTU is in good shape.

No, MOTU is not the most talkative company I've ever dealt with but I can't say that I have a bad feeling about them because I really don't. I will say that there are other companies I've been dealing with of late whose practices I call into question in no uncertain terms. I don't get the same feeling from MOTU-- never have. I don't always understand their general approach to customer service but there was only one occasion where I felt that I'd been "dissed"-- and I don't believe it was intentional.

Some other companies? Just telling them I have a question generates a groan.

I've used DP since the early days of 2.x. That's longer than most marriages!! I have no intention of leaving now, and this recent meeting with the rep has left me with a pretty nice feeling. Hopes are high.

mike_o · Post by **mike_o** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 1:04 am

awesome, thank you so much.

kassonica · Post by **kassonica** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 1:53 am

edit double post

kassonica · Post by **kassonica** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 1:57 am

Frodo Wrote:

That's not to say, really, that MOTU is out of touch because if they have the likes of Matt and MagicDave out there communicating the reality of reality back to the front office, I really have to say that MOTU is in good shape.

Aint that the truth

Magicd is somewhat the face of MOTU and he is one of us in a way, a working musician and a cornie.

nadeama · Post by **nadeama** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 2:21 am

Frodo,

Thanks so much for the time and effort that you put into this. It's greatly appreciated not only by me but obviously everyone else on the forum.

Frodo wrote:1. volume burst issue?

This was something that was never officially recognized by MOTU as a problem that could be reproduced in DP5. User workarounds included saving the VI settings in the VI menu and reloading them or otherwise dumping the buffers, which could also be accomplished by opening and closing the Hardware Settings. AFAIK, no one has reported the bursts in DP6, but keep your eyes peeled...

Sigh.... For what it's worth, I've reported it in another thread on the first day I got my copy of DP 6 and well, I guess I'm reporting it again here today. Not only volume burst but also MIDI bombs and all the other MIDI bugs often discussed in the past.

You know, if they had accepted my offer, one year ago, to send them my computer with the bug present in a test sequence, with only MOTU plugins and VIs loaded, on a copy of OS X freshly installed on a separate partition, with not extra software added, and no cables connected to the computer, except the power cable of course, well then maybe they would have officially recognized the problem as being reproducible in DP5 (boy, that was a long sentence).

And this has nothing to do with VIs. The volume outbursts happen all the time when sending MIDI to external hardware, with no VI loaded. I've explained this in detail in my tech link to them. I don't understand why they say the workaround has to do with VIs. Unless of course it's two different problems with the same symptoms.

Well, I guess the time for email communication with them has passed. I'll have to pick up the phone and call them up, and do my best to get past the humiliation of my embarrassingly thick french-canadian accent. Oh what fun this will be...

If I still hit a brick wall with phone communication, then it'll be time to reluctantly move on to other (hopefully better) pastures. I was really hoping it wouldn't have to come to this.

But enough about that. I'm actually quite pleased about all the rest of your report. And it's nice to see that they're listening to the comments about the GUI. I actually wasn't expecting thtat. Nice surprise.

Thanks again Frodo.

Frodo · Post by **Frodo** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 2:50 am

nadeama wrote: Sigh.... For what it's worth, I've reported it in another thread on the first day I got my copy of DP 6 and well, I guess I'm reporting it again here today. Not only volume burst but also MIDI bombs and all the other MIDI bugs often discussed in the past.

I've been going on power naps for the past couple of days, and I really hope your other post wasn't something I saw and responded to but had forgotten in just a few days. How embarrassing would that be?

Certainly, bursts would be of particular bad news to me because that's what was happening to me for most of 2007. Hmm.

nadeama wrote: And this has nothing to do with VIs. The volume outbursts happen all the time when sending MIDI to external hardware, with no VI loaded. I've explained this in detail in my tech link to them. I don't understand why they say the workaround has to do with VIs. Unless of course it's two different problems with the same symptoms.

Now, if that doesn't snatch all the hind fur off a wolverine!!!! I'd not heard of this happening with OTB MIDI devices. I tested this on some outboard MIDI gear and it didn't happen for me-- only on VI tracks. There's something else afoot going on here, then. This is SO odd!!

I don't know if you've seen all the long threads on volume and MIDI bursts with DP5, but none of them were conclusive, and a number of us were running tests of all sorts. DP 5.13 and 10.4.11 seemed to reduce this quirk almost entirely-- maybe 95-97%. I think that's when we all sort of gave up talking about it and started waiting for DP6. I'm totally befuddled.

All I can say is keep reporting the issue and keep reporting back with your results. Once again, until I get going with DP6 on my system and dig into it, I can't even test or confirm anything. Am feeling quite helpless at the moment.

nadeama wrote: Well, I guess the time for email communication with them has passed. I'll have to pick up the phone and call them up, and do my best to get past the humiliation of my embarrassingly thick french-canadian accent. Oh what fun this will be...

If I still hit a brick wall with phone communication, then it'll be time to reluctantly move on to other (hopefully better) pastures. I was really hoping it wouldn't have to come to this.

But enough about that. I'm actually quite pleased about all the rest of your report. And it's nice to see that they're listening to the comments about the GUI. I actually wasn't expecting thtat. Nice surprise.

Thanks again Frodo.

Yeah, the whole GUI thing has gotten "quite popular" in a hurry, to put it mildly. Glad they're listening, watching, and reading.

I think if I experience the volume bursts, I may have to just run a video camera during a session one day since the bursts are too unpredictable to reproduce. Then, I can send MOTU a DVD just to make sure they've seen it happening even if they can't make it happen on their own systems. The video may be the best way of "sending them your computer".

audios22 · Post by **audios22** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 3:32 am

Great Job

tomeaton · Post by **tomeaton** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 5:41 am

Thank you, Frodo. You have no idea how helpful (and hopeful) that was.

tom

carrythebanner · Post by **carrythebanner** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 6:10 am

Frodo wrote:26. white papers, more frequent RSS updates with software releases and announcements, reports of official bugs, bug fixes, better organized tech data base

RSS feeds, especially when new updates are posted. Would be a step in the right direction to keeping users posted.... and it's a wasted resource where tech links, e-mail, and phone calls could be freed up for more urgent needs

RSS feeds are already there:
http://www.motu.com/other/rss-feeds

Frodo wrote:Certain MAS plugins have not been updated yet to support offline bouncing. Since the AU protocols *have* been updated, MOTU suggests using the AU versions of Ethno, MachFive, etc. One question missed, my bad, was how this impacted on the bundled plugins. But at least the issue is known and is being addressed.

All od DP's included instruments support bounce to disk, it's in the manual.