Hey now, Jay. Samplitude is far more than a simple DAW, both in
functionality and in price. At $1295 US there are far less expensive
products out there, but overall I'd agree with what you're suggesting. Of
course there's going to be some additional element of cost with 24 inputs to
easily do 24 track transfers (like maybe a MOTU 24 I/O for another $1895 US
(retail)).

As I said, I agree with the assessment of doing this type of work on a DAW
rather than a hardware piece, simply because a DAW would be far more
flexible for such functions. Plus, to me, having a hardware piece limit
your output might tend to push one's work into a rut, meaning that any
"mastering" stuff I would tend to do might change because of differening EQ
plugins or limiting or bus compression, etc, that a hardware piece is
lacking the flexibility.

However, I do believe that the Masterlink can still have a place, mostly in
the ability to record/playback 24 bit formatted CDs. Just too bad that
things come to the market and leave so quickly. Hardware designers have to
be getting scared.

--


Roger W. Norman
SirMusic Studio

301-585-4681




"Jay - atldigi" wrote in message
...
I usually like to give people encouragement in this area, even if also
cautioning about the differences between project mastering and pro.
However, the thougt of mastering solely with a masterlink sends a shiver
down my spine, especially if the source is something with potential like
the 24 track analog you mention. Even if you're not planning to EQ and
only looking to attain "modern levels" (hopefully within reason as some
modern levels are distorted flattened crap) and want to put songs in
order and burn a CD, why not use a simple DAW like Samplitude and get an
L2 plug-in for some limiting? Normalizing won't get you the level you
are after. There's going to need to be some limiting, and the masterlink
isn't what I would choose to do any processing. There's a better way to
accomplish your goal, even though your needs may be modest. I just can't
recommend processing inside that box, no matter how much I'd like to say
somthing encouraging. Your goal is reasonable; this particular tool,
however, is not really the one for the job.

--
Jay Frigoletto
Mastersuite
Los Angeles
promastering.com