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VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!
Established November 10, 2004
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Ed Fisher
DC
Joined: 05 Sep 2012
Posts: 605
Location: East Coast, U.S.A.
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 Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 3:19 pm Post subject: |
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When you see how little bandwith ISDN actually needs and HOW MUCH most of us have piped into our homes on Cable or otherwise...it's a shame that ISDN has held on for so long. (IMHO)
I think anyone trying to replace it should take a page out of the "Google' playbook. Give something great away for free. That is, until EVERYONE is using it.
Then when everyone feels they can't live without it...start charging.
Oh wait....that's also have drug dealers work.
Hmmmm. NVM. |
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Frank F
Fat, Old, and Sassy
Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Posts: 4421
Location: Park City, Utah
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| Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 3:59 pm Post subject: |
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I have avoided chiming in on this product for various reasons; but it is time to say a few words. Soundstreak is a workable product. So is SC, Luci, Audio Compass, or even old ISDN. Each has their place.
As has been discussed so many times in past posts; ISDN is dying. But so is the NEED for much of the immediacy of the service. ISDN is still being used - Yes! But, it is used more for convenience than as a necessity. The services provided by ISDN are: immediacy, (some) quality, limited availability, and; at one time" price stabilization.
Lets look at the alternatives today.
SC: Good, reliable product - not well accepted.
Luci: new, and still a "toy" for the most part, not designed for VO but for broadcast news.
Audio Compass: good product, a bit difficult to start- but reliable with varying degrees of quality.
Soundstreak: UI problems, not real time recording, file transfer, possibly expensive for Producer, billing issues.
Skype: Free, Simple to use, cross platform - not quite ready for studio quality audio. No recording within it's interface.
And, there are so many more ISDN "wannabee" killers available.
Personally I have developed a product which works, is simple to install and operate - like Skype, and inexpensive. However, due to the current trend away form the immediacy of ISDN connections I have decided not to continue promoting or selling the software or products. There is no profit in it today. There are too many alternatives.
Skype patches work well for most sessions and for those who need/require/want ISDN - there are options. If your clients want or need a specific service or product and there is more likelihood in using it than not; purchase, steal, borrow, or otherwise do what you are able to earn money from your client. Until such time, wait for the dust to settle - and hope you live long enough to see a return on your investment.
Frank F
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com |
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Jen Gosnell
A Hundred Dozen
Joined: 14 Jan 2010
Posts: 1290
Location: Portland, OR
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| Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 11:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Frank F wrote: | | If your clients want or need a specific service or product and there is more likelihood in using it than not; purchase, steal, borrow, or otherwise do what you are able to earn money from your client. Until such time, wait for the dust to settle - and hope you live long enough to see a return on your investment. |
Hear, hear Frank - you've just articulated my approach quite clearly. I can't see how it makes sense for me as a tiny business to invest in emerging solutions (either with my dollars or my time in assessing and testing those solutions) until there is a very clearly dominant choice that buyers seem to agree on as a solution.
I often think that the pining for a sole, feature-by-feature replacement to ISDN is just about as outmoded a notion as ISDN itself is an outmoded technology. I'm secretly hoping for some fresh, robust, killer a which suddenly makes the choice so exceedingly obvious that we can all quit fretting about it. Further, I am hoping that this is not the nature of what Frank just mothballed. 
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jen@jengosnell.com
https://www.jengosnell.com
Skype: jen.gosnell
971.258.2448 |
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Frank F
Fat, Old, and Sassy
Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Posts: 4421
Location: Park City, Utah
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| Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 7:26 am Post subject: |
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Well, it is Jen. And, thank you. But it's not in the cards in today's economy.
Frank F
_________________
Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com |
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Bish
3.5 kHz
Joined: 22 Nov 2009
Posts: 3738
Location: Lost in the cultural wasteland of Long Island
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| Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 8:38 am Post subject: |
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ISDN is unique, and the current crop of "replacements" only go part way to fulfilling the need. It's not a question of bandwidth (it's surprising how little bandwidth you actually need for a high-quality audio link). It's a question of latency and continuity. The beauty of ISDN is that a simple call from the studio establishes a fixed link, and then I'm plugged into the studio's mixing console, virtually in the booth. No UI to worry about, no compatibility issues... it's dead simple.
Accepting that there must be a technical solution (or work-around) to this virtual direct connection is paramount. You cannot replicate the ISDN service, so what the new contenders must do is to (at least) emulate its ease of use. Currently, they offer a relatively arduous process to obtain a work-around. It's a failure on both counts.
ISDN will eventually go away (which will be a real shame because mine gets used at least once a week). In the meantime, the more people who offer solutions the better... some will fail, some will unite... what we need is a clear winner. SC has failed to capitalize on its market position (debatable, but partly due to cost and business practices from the last century). The young pretenders saw a sleeping lion and decided to poke it.
As a community of users, we absolutely need the equivalent of the Beta/VHS, 8-track/cassette, HD/BlueRay wars. We need a winner here. Where Soundstreak has made a good move is to make it free for the talent. If a studio wants to use it, no problem, I just fire it up. If a studio want SC... I've got to buy software, deal with licenses, iLok dongles and some funky DAW integration issues... ain't nobody got time for that!
In the meantime, I'm rebuilding my studio so it's less of a pit and can offer ISDN services to other local talents and a very reasonable hourly rate 
_________________
Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls. |
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Lee Gordon
A Zillion
Joined: 25 Jul 2008
Posts: 6866
Location: West Hartford, CT
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| Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 10:05 am Post subject: |
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| Bish wrote: | ISDN is unique, and the current crop of "replacements" only go part way to fulfilling the need. It's not a question of bandwidth (it's surprising how little bandwidth you actually need for a high-quality audio link). It's a question of latency and continuity. The beauty of ISDN is that a simple call from the studio establishes a fixed link, and then I'm plugged into the studio's mixing console, virtually in the booth. No UI to worry about, no compatibility issues... it's dead simple.
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Despite the fact that "ISDN is dying," it is, nevertheless, the incumbent. It has an installed base and producers are accustomed to using it. Any would-be replacement not only has to meet the requirements Bish has spelled out, it has to exceed them, either through dramatic cost savings*, widespread availability, or some killer technical benefit. Any potential ISDN replacement not only has to be accepted, it has to give existing users -- and not just some, but most or all of them -- a compelling reason to abandon the technology they are comfortable with and adopt something new. Even if one of the "pretenders to the throne" emerges as a clear favorite, that is a huge mountain to climb.
*For the most part, the price of equipment does not factor into "cost savings" because that money has already been spent by the studios. In fact, the perceived need to amortize their investment in codecs and other gear may even make them more resistant to moving on to something new (and unproven).
_________________
Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
Voice President of the United States
www.leegordonproductions.com
Twitter: @LeeGordonVoice
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Ed Fisher
DC
Joined: 05 Sep 2012
Posts: 605
Location: East Coast, U.S.A.
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| Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 12:27 pm Post subject: |
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| Lee Gordon wrote: |
*For the most part, the price of equipment does not factor into "cost savings" because that money has already been spent by the studios. In fact, the perceived need to amortize their investment in codecs and other gear may even make them more resistant to moving on to something new (and unproven). |
Good stuff. You bring up some good points. I am not an accountant, however, I think that as a "business investment" the studios should still be able to "amortize their investment" even if they move on to something else (hopefully better). But, perhaps what you meant by "amortize" was simply the quite human tendency of being determined to get your "money's worth" out of the expensive ISDN equipment.
I see the main resistance factors to moving from ISDN as (1) ease of use (2) reluctance to change (3) Universal acceptability
My experience with people in business (and in General) is they pursue whatever path has the least resistance. (in other words - Whatever is the easiest. And in this case..(as far as the studios are concerned) it's EASIER to do nothing) |
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