A PDF Manual for DP

[nickmorgan19457]

Anybody know where I can find one? I've looked all over the MOTU site and can't find it. I've been looking for the right DAW for me, and I've narrowed it down to DP or Logic. I want to look over the manuals for both to see which one looks better to me. DP is my first choice at the moment and I doubt it will change, but I'd like to check them both out.

Does anybody know where I can find a PDF manual for DP 4.6 or higher?

[Yiannis]

.....man not again
There is no PDF manual for DP

Do a search please

[ryst]

GESUS KHRIST! Can we make a sticky that explains the "PDF" thingy? It's like every couple weeks there is a new thread.

[Spikey Horse]

Just to be clear: DP's only copy protection is its serial number ...... the fact that you need to buy it to get the big book of a manual (1074 pages) acts as an additional copy protection.

So unfortunatly there is no .pdf manual to check out first before buying.

I'm sure you have already looked but you can check out MOTU's site for an overview of DP5 here

http://www.motu.com/products/software/dp/features50/

BTW If you are looking to get DP I would suggest getting the latest version DP5 - I don't thinnk you can get DP4.6 (ie 4.5 + free upgrade) now anyway ... unless it's either second hand .... or 'second hand'

I'm sure if you email MOTU with feature questions they will be happy to answer and likewise here on Unicornation. It's only when people ask specifically how to do stuff in a way that shows they obviously have DP but don't have a manual that alarm bells start ringing!

HTH!

[Aramis]

GESUS KHRIST! Can we make a sticky that explains the "PDF" thingy? It's like every couple weeks there is a new thread.

GESUS KHRIST does not spell that way !!!!

[supersonic]

You can always try to do a PDF OCR-ed version of you paper manual but firstly it would take you for ever, and secondly you'd have to ask MOTU about it and I'm not sure they would say yes, for the reasons mentioned above.

[taggart]

GESUS KHRIST! Can we make a sticky that explains the "PDF" thingy? It's like every couple weeks there is a new thread.

GESUS KHRIST does not spell that way !!!!

Help me, Jebus!

[richardein]

Dear Mr. Where'sMyDP5pf,

Perhaps you don't understand why we are all ready to hurl whatever spare pixels we can find at you and yours for inquiring about a pdf manual for DP5.

As mentioned above, the only copy protection for DP is a serial number. This practice harkens back to a time in the dim past when challenge-response and dongles - both royal pains in the neck, if not downright unsafe if you're under a deadline or in a remote area - were not ubiquitous in music software.

Now here's the thing, dear sir: We DP users really like serial number copy protection precisely 'cause it's easy and very safe. A lot. We respect MOTU's intellectual property and more importantly, our own self-interest, by NEVER, repeat, NEVER, distributing unauthorized copies of their software or condoning/abetting those who do. Why?

Because we don't want MOTU making DP as scary to install and register as other sequencer programs. We thrive on confidence and simplicity. And honesty. And most of all, good music.

Now why on earth would you want to download a thousand page pdf?

It's not to get "a sense of the program" 'cause you could do that just by asking us. We'll tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly. Trust me: you will not be able to compare DP5 to Logic by reading the two manuals, even if you read every single word of both manuals and had a photographic memory. The only way to compare them is to use both extensively or ask someone who has. The manual is next to worthless in making a decision to choose DP over another professional program (or vice versa).

As for the seeming usefulness of a portable manual, please. If you don't know how to use a feature in DP and you're on the road...that's what long plane and bus rides are for. Boot up DP and experiment. That's what the rest of us do, for heaven's sake.

Let me blunt. I don't care who you are or how poor you are. If you can't pony up for DP, don't you dare steal it. Because your doing so has the potential to make life very unpleasant for me and other honest users and that makes your theft intolerable. I, too, have been poor, but poverty is never an excuse for a committed musician. It's simply an excellent incentive to buy the best tools available and work like hell to make a living in music.

So, Mr. Where'sMyDP5pf, go away. We've got work to do.

[The Sinner]

wow. i am staying out of this after last time causing so much trouble.

I wonder if DP should go more towards the NI type of registration where you type in the serial then your computer generates a code and then you email it to them and they give you the unlock code. I kinda like that, cuz then I am registered right away and get those cool emails from NI, nothing else to worry about.

[BobK]

Another couple of options, Nick: I understand wanting to look through the manuals to compare the two programs. When shopping for various things, I've found it helpful to download owner's manuals to get a better sense of the products.

Since that's not possible with DP, your could look for a retailer that will give you an in-store demo, or at least let you try out the program. If it's a chain like Guitar Center, the chances of finding a salesperson who knows what they're doing is pretty low (based on my experience), but if they'll give you an hour alone with the computer on a slow day, you could potentially learn a lot.

Another option is to use boards like this to find someone in your area who uses each program (or if you're lucky, someone who uses both), and see if they'll give you a demo. You might want to offer to compensate them for their time, if they run a pro studio. Yeah, it would be a drag to have to pay to demo a product, but you might learn a lot, and if you're a pro, you could write off the expense.

Understand that because of the anonymity of the internet, posts like yours do tend to arouse suspicion, because sometimes they're written by people who have a pirated copy of DP. As you can see, Unicornation members tend to be protective of MOTU; the flip side of this is that they're committed to helping each other too.

As for the manual, a retailer told me that MOTU may be the last holdout to include a hard-copy of the user guide. I just got a Digi 002R, and a hard copy of the user guide costs $50. Now I appreciate the hard copy of the DP manual even more.

[monkey man]

Does anybody know where I can find a PDF manual for DP 4.6 or higher?

Why would you need an old manual for a new app?
Unless it's a "new" old app.
Nick may have simply been trying to be polite in not assuming readily available 5.1 resources.
If this is the case, Nick; nice touch.

Unicorns, I love these posts; somehow the PDF question gets funnier all the time.
We've got a dungeon full of skeletons that is the database, and yet occasionally one slips through...
Hopefully there are more to come.

Oh, yeah, and if Geezuce is listening, mayte, please may we have one of these every month or so?
Ah, men!

PS: Nickmorgan19457, don't feel bad if you're guilt-free.
Your question has some seriously funny history, so brace yourself...

[Resonant Alien]

Let me be the Devil's Advocate here for a minute.....

First a disclaimer: I am a legal and registered DP user, and I have my 45lb, 1000+ page DP manual (which is great BTW); I love DP and I think MOTU is a great company......HOWEVER...........

The guy has a freakin' point!!!

Go to Apple's site, you can download the PDF manual for LogicPro and take a gander. Go to Digi's website, you can download the PDF manual for ProTools and take a gander. From Apple you can even download a 30-day demo of LogicExpress before you plunk down your hard earned cash. Apple has detailed and useful QuickTime demos about Logic you can view from their website that show the program actually in use and doing stuff.

Looking through a manual can be a very infomative and useful tool for deciding whether to spend your $500 here or there. Accusing someone of being a software pirate simply because they ask if there is a PDF manual is a bit paranoid, don't ya think? (And I do understand the history of why we all got this way here, but this guy shouldn't be punished for that)

The "DP Overview" on MOTU's site is a bunch of glossy marketing hooey - it doesn't tell you the guts of the program that you need to make an informed purchasing decision.

If a 45lb manual with a serial number sticker inside the cover is the only means by which MOTU can conceive to protect their software, they really need to move into the 21st century!

Even as a legal user with my own copy of "The Manual", I would LOVE to have a PDF version so that I could do quick searches for keywords, rather than the old paper-cut-on-the-thumb method of searching.

When I was deciding what to buy, I read every review I could get my hands on over the course of about 3 months. That gave me a pretty good feel for the various programs, and I chose DP because it seemed to fit best with my needs. But man, it sure would have made it a lot easier if I could have purused through the manual or tried out a demo.

As one stated, you can go to a music store and (possibly) demo DP and Logic, etc., but if you are really trying to make an informed decision, the only real way to demo is if you could try it out at home - i.e. like LogicExpress' 30 day demo.

Why can't MOTU do a demo version of DP?

I've never really understood how the serial number on the sticker in the manual really prevents piracy anyway. If I somehow get hold of a pirated copy of DP, presumably the person that I get the pirated copy from would also provide me with the serial number, right? There is no machine-specific locking of the serial number, and thus, nothing to prevent two people from using the same number on two machines. Isn't this true?

The sad part is, based on some of the replies this guy received - if he is a legitimate potential DP user, he probably now thinks that DP users are a group of paranoid A-holes (which of course, we are not!!).....OTOH, if he is a pirate, then he didn't get all he deserves.

[jgest]

and then there is the highbrow approach.........not to participate and feed the fire

[monkey man]

Let me be the Devil's Advocate here for a minute.....

Geezus, Reso-Boy; you sure can arbitrate!

...and I have my 45lb, 1000+ page DP manual (which is great BTW)

Gotta love that 50lb manual, baby.
The older it gets, the bigger it was.
Besides, it's proof high-quality timber still exists.

I've never really understood how the serial number on the sticker in the manual really prevents piracy anyway. If I somehow get hold of a pirated copy of DP, presumably the person that I get the pirated copy from would also provide me with the serial number, right? There is no machine-specific locking of the serial number, and thus, nothing to prevent two people from using the same number on two machines. Isn't this true?

True, however, allow me to assist; it's actually quite simple.
The kind person who provides the copy of DP, thoughtfully including its copy-specific serial number, fails to provide... a manual.
Many pirates. One manual. Case closed.
Oh, and a damn good reason not to provide a PDF.

Keep resonatin', alien boy.
Catch ya.

[monkey man]

and then there is the highbrow approach.........not to participate and feed the fire

Of course, you're right; that is an approach!

After clicking the link to jgest's DP inspired music...
http://www.mp3.com.au/artist.asp?id=10004

"Whooaa...Shpongle?" was my reaction.
Dude, I haven't seen that name in a while.
No one I know's ever heard it.

You've got taste, man.