Hi, I'm not sure if this is the right list, or if it's been talked about before, but I really like this idea & I am surprised it hasn't already been done. I've had problems with Logic & a G4 I bought a year ago & have wasted a whole year with problems that not even tech's seemed to be able to solve for me. It's at this point I realised that Macs were no longer the stable operating system that made them famous, in fact they were no more stable than a PC. Don't try to defend them, I know what I experienced. Anyway, my problem made me think about a way to resolve the situation, basically so I could have a sound module of VST instruments, that DIDN'T CRASH CONTINUALLY. Not a computer with all the attached protocols that have no place in a sound module, things like date & time, colour sync, etcŠ but more particularly anything that might conflict or be totally useless with music software. So I thought of a design, even a nameŠŠ The ApplEmagic AU1 * A 1 rack unit sound module for playing VST, or more likely now, audio unit virtual synths, FX, audio, etc. * A dedicated audio playback unit that focused purely on playing back audio, without any other functions. Hence it would be a pro audio interface. * Front panel: Data dial Enter button Left, Right, Up, Down Tweaking dials Compact Flash Card ports (x2) Large LCD * Back panel: Main stereo audio input Individual audio input (x2) Main stereo audio outputs Individual audio outputs (x2) SPDIF in/out Optictal in/out, with option to send stereo, or 8 channel ADAT signal Midi in/out ch1-16 Midi in/out ch17 -32 USB out (x2) USB in Firewire port Montor output jack Power cable * External Storage: Compact flash cards/Smart cards now available up to 1gig (or similiar removable media) * Internal Storage: Flash Ram, perhaps Compact Flash cards, or some form of easily instalable media that will hold all software, sounds, samples, programs, performances, setups, basically everything in an easiy form of quick reading storage. Apple ofcourse may have their own ideas about the sort of Ram used. * Hence instead of having a chip of internal wave files for instance, you'd have an internal memory that would allow you to put what ever wav/aiff files you desired, even EXS24 prorams for instance. * A laptop style HD could be an optional extra for those who want to record lengthy or many audio tracks. * So obviously it is there for one purpose, an open architecture synthesizer, that allows you to structure it in any form, from a simple FX unit, to an analog synth, to a beat sampler, or instrument sampler/playback, to purely audio file recording/playback & ofcourse a combination of all of those. * It wouldn't be a sequencer, because that would remove power from the audio engine, it could be sequenced/edited via USB, or midi. * Hence the OS could be optimised, because it's a reasonable dedicated unit, it wouldn't need to have many screens, so basically the mixer, sample editor, a catalogue page to store & arrange all the files & ofcourse the plugin windows themselves. * I haven't used the Emagic plugins, (too expensive at the time after upgrading) so I don't know them at all, but believe they're probably pretty good. So the basic plugins would be the Emagic instruments, & then other 3rd party programs (Native Instruments for instance) that have been tested by Emagic so that it would continue to be a stable crash proof system. (to the degree that most other hardware modules are) * To make it attractive to all players & not just Mac users, it would be worthwhile making it posible to edit it from the module itself, hence the monitor jack on the back. It would be possible to plug in any monitor & see the audio engine layout. * With the USB ports a mouse/keybourd could be connected to make it possible to edit it right there. * The other USB port could be used to connect an external HD or zip drive etc. * A 1RU module makes it hard to have a very large LCD screen, Yamaha & Roland seem to be able to stretch the limit though. Ofcourse if it was a 2RU module then there is much more room to move & it maybe possible to edit purely on the front panel, as many synths do. * As it would be possible to have up to 32 ch there is a large scope for complex playback configurations, hence there would have to be a buffer limiter level that sensed when processor power was getting overloaded & stopped any further expansion befor the machine totally collapsed. * Because a guitarist could use it to configure a super FX unit, or a drummer/percussionist could program the most amazing kit, or a keyboardist layer the biggest fattest sounds all over the keyboard, or even between several keyboards using different channels, if this unit was to be used as a single processor it could be worthwhile having a global performance channel/setup along with the 32 multi channel setup. * If it was used purely as an audio processor for mutitrack recording, then it would need to have a system for setting up the files. One option would be to create a playback sampler that only gave the file a note # so then all that happens is triggering sound files without any unneccissary filters, EG's, velocity, or other parameters. * Another useful instrument would be a small drum/pad sample playback (similiar to the Computer Music Magazine SR202) which has only 16 pads, a few parameters that isn't overly complicated. This is the sort of machine you use when you only want to playback one or two drum/perc. samples through one effect & then another through a different effect & so on. * Some functions that allow you to keep the files, audio, samples & programs tidy, as well as a way of optimising the flash ram, (if it was 4x 1gig Compact flash cards, that's all of 4gig) & the HD's so they're always fast. There are many other options, like knob or fader tweaking units to plug into midi or USB ports, or separate 8ch audio input/output box's (1RU) that take the optical 8ch ADAT format in/out's from the 8bus's & give more audio flexibility. What is the whole point of this you may ask when a computer does all this anyway. Well it's a dedicated unit, no other computer protocols using precious processor power, it already has the pro audio hardware & audio engine to run the VST/AU programs & is rack mounted & can be taken out to perform live from a keyboard, or midi controller, or a portable audio unit, whateverŠ there are many possibilities. Why am I telling you about this ideaŠ well because I'm wondering if you've thought of it yet, considering that Emagic & Apple are almost one company, there is tremendous potential to create something like this. Plus there are others who are already starting to work on this idea, but ofcourse they're doing it with PC's. The Chamelean, or the Receptor, which is particularly interesting, UNIX gives many opportunities, so OS X should too. My point beingŠ if I end up going out to buy a Receptor, I'll end up buying PC VST plugins, which means I'm getting further away from using a Mac. Maybe you don't care, but such an arrogant view is simply stupid, nieve & lacks any foresight towards the future musical direction & opportunities available. A rack mounted unit that can do all that would practically kill everything else on the market & could be used by all sorts of musicians/producers & audio engineers. Someone isn't going to stick a laptop in their rack to process FX for stage soundŠ but a 1 or 2 rack unit machine might be a different option. Think about itŠ What do you thinkŠ? Cheers -- William Menz 40 Cumberland Ave. Cumberland Park Adelaide, SA, 5041 AUSTRALIA Tel/Fax: (Int.618) 8271 7397 http://www.zygosin.com