VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

chuckweis · Contributor IV Joined: 27 Feb 2008 Posts: 136

Just wondering how many people subscribe to the thought of NOT having the net connected to your recording rig.

I had asked a guy at Guitar Center about a USB interface and this was included in his reply......

"Personally, I have many things connected to my primary recording computer (ie, printer, USB mouse, scanner, etc.), but one thing that I strongly believe should not be connected to any professional recording computer (at least at all times) is the Internet (as it does nothing but maul your sound configuration and display settings)."

I've never really heard anybody so adamant about that. Are most people here following that...or not.

louzucaro · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:04 pm Post subject:

He has no idea what he's talking about...you don't "have the internet" on your computer...networking, including TCP/IP, is there anyway by default. Networking settings have no relationship to sound settings whatsoever. Ditto for display settings.
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chuckweis · Contributor IV Joined: 27 Feb 2008 Posts: 136

I'm no tech dummy, but thre's plenty I DON'T know, so I was wondering if he knew what he was talking about or not. I would think for many people anyway, it wouldn't be too cost-effective to have a separate PC soley dedicated for recording and really nothing else. Plus, he was speaking specifically of the relation to USB interfaces, which I have no expereince with using yet. Like I said, this was the first I'd heard of anybody making it sound like the worse thing in the world to be online and have your USB interface on the same PC.

Yoda117 · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:18 pm Post subject:

I've learned to take most of the advice from the folks at Guitarget with a grain of salt.

Unless you know the guy, and know he knows his stuff I treat this stuff with a little skepticism.

And here's a reason why.

Unless you're using WiFi, there's no reason why having the Internet on your computer should be screwing with your sound config (and even then, it's not all that common any more).

Screwing with your display settings? I'm not even touching that one.

Now do you want your primary and solitary DAW connected to the Internet?

I'll give you a resounding "no", but for a different reason. If your system goes down due to some nasty that you downloaded by accident, or you have a Windows/Mac update that goes South (yes kids, even Apple releases bad stuff now and again), then you're pretty much up a creek. You've increased the system's availability and usefulness, but at the cost of system integrity and confidentiality.

I'm the first to admit that I wear my tinfoil hat when it comes to this stuff, but most studios keep their DAWs off the Internet for this very reason. If you only have one system, then you're stuck with having to keep a net connection, but you're playing Russian Roulette if you choose to do so without regular backups made to the system and all files (even those on secondary HDDs).

Here's the question I usually ask folks when talking about COOP (Continuity of Operations), which is what this basically is. What's the worst that could happen? Not what might happen, or what you expect to happen, but what is the absolute worst possible threat to this particular enterprise/information system/computer/etc.?

Let's imagine that this most horrible event comes to pass. How much $ does the downtime cost you? What resources have you lost?

Now... what are you willing to do and spend to minimize that disruption? What steps are you willing to take to avoid the risk and what will that cost you in time, budget, and efficiency?

I know I'm going overboard in asking these questions, but when the time comes (and it will), was the acceptance of a known risk (such as downloading a virus that wipes out my computer) worth the cost to regain operational status?

That's a question which only you can answer for your setup?

EDIT: Lou, you can get interference from wireless signals on poorly made cables. Hosa have shown this tendency from time to time (seems like a batch issue more than one which affects the entire line).
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louzucaro · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:29 pm Post subject:

My DAW isn't my only machine and it's connected to the net. A bit hard to upload MP3 files to people and send/receive e-mail otherwise Smile

Guitarget = funny Smile

Yes, true about the interference, however I see that as a separate issue from whether or not a computer is connected to the net in general.
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Yoda117 · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:39 pm Post subject:

Ed Gambill · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:54 pm Post subject:

I have to agree that all the mumbo jumbo for the GC guy was just that a useless opinion. However I think in the main that folks who do a goodly bit of recording and editing stuff for a living or hobby have learned the hard way that the internet is a bad thing for any DAW to be connected to. I have one DAW, a custom rack mounted job that I use for most critical work. It only has sound and video software on it and nothing more. Then I just use a flash drive to off load and upload via a second machine. Word processing and other computer needs are handled by the Desktop.

I am wanting to use Source Connect or other VOIP in the future and figure I will send audio out of DAW to my Laptop that I will hook up to the net for getting stuff on line.
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Edo · Guest

Maybe I'm just lucky, or maybe I will regret even making this remark tomorrow... I don't know. I have always tried to avoid connecting my main PTHD rig to the Internet for the simple fact that active firewall and antivirus software don't do system performance any good. A second system has always been connected to the internet via WiFi through a hardware firewall controlled Wireless ADSL Router. I'm pretty happy with the fact that virusmakers want to hit on the most commonly used systems, so if you're on a PC you are more likely to get in trouble. I know I have been when working on my PC's.

Nowadays we are aware of all the hidden dangers well enough to take action in case some disaster strikes. We backup, image and even have a couple of spare pre-installed harddrives at hand should something really bad happen. I have never used any antivirus software on my G5's and just last week (for the first time since purchasing those beasts in 2004 and 2005!) checked whether there were any malicious things running on them. Clean...

I hooked everything up to the Internet and have yet to experience any bad things... I've been fortunate enough not to have any issues in both performance and virusland... My link to the outside world is via a PC running the network connections. A friend of mine helped me out. He states that you're pretty much "safe" when your computer cannot be 'seen' from the web. I believe the proper term is "stealth", but I may be confused here. The main thing to consider according to him, is closing vital ports on your PC or at least make it LOOK you did. Port scanning is a handy way of making sure you're doing all you can.

He pointed me to a website to check on stealth status, maybe it comes in handy for my fellow VO-BB'ers as well, if you don't already know it from ages ago, that is Wink

You can find everything you need in that respect at Steve Gibson's website, located at https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 but I guess there are many more websites like this one, so you might want to Google a bit to find one that suits you.

Good luck!

Jon Morss · Guest

I'm with Edo. I keep the network interface disabled or just disconnected on my Recording system and just enable it when I need to perform an update on the system or I really need to send a file in a hurry. I always I ensure I toss my cookies and temp files after each session though. Otherwise I use a USB flash to copy the .mp3 to my Mac system and just send the file from there.

I think what the GC guy was referring to was that when you are surfing the net, there always seems to be some site that wants you to down load some sort of plug-in or what not that could have some sort of an effect on the sound config or display settings. This does happen. However, this is something that is more of an issue with Windows then with Mac or Linux. Either way, I would try to keep my DAW as clean as possible and avoid internet activity unless absolutely necessary. At least, this is what I do.

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 1:58 am Post subject:

I'm connected to the internet without antivirus or malware protection and the only firewall I use is built into my router. My wireless network requires a WEP key and I've never had a problem.

From my experience, most virus infections and malware problems are completely user-created from doing stupid things.
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allensco · Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 3:39 am Post subject:

Me too, Jeff. I do use anti-virus though...the lightweight AVG Free version. No other firewall but the router and the wireless is encrypted.

ricevoice · Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 5:35 am Post subject:

My dedicated DAW is internet-free... 4 years ago shuttling files back and forth between my DAW and my internet PC was a pain, but now that you can get a 4GB thumb drive for $40 it's really no hassle at all.
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todd ellis · Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 6:28 am Post subject:

i actually went the other way -- i used to be off-line with my DAW - then when i built my new system - i built a similar system for my kids ... if mine takes a poop - i'll just swap sound cards and i'm good to go. of course, i back up regularly and don't download stupid things. i do, however, have a rack mount case in the garage - next time i re-build i think i'll do it in that and keep only my old system on line. we'll see.
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louzucaro · Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 6:46 am Post subject:

Jeff and Allen...I'm with you, too. I don't run A/V on my DAW.

At home I've had DSL or Cable for 10 years. Never ran A/V software on either computer at home until last summer. Never had a virus. The only reason I started running A/V last summer is because my wife had some spyware issues. I installed Windows Live OneCare on her machine and it runs so efficiently that I use it on my PC now, too.
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TheVoiceOfBob · Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 7:15 am Post subject:

I don't have AV up on my DAW most of the time, though I do fire it up and run scans now and then. It's disabled when recording.

I think some of this comes from just how "savvy" you are with infections, trojans, scams, etc... I notice the ones that have this same configuration tend to be on the savvy side. I'd forget to turn my AV on for months, my PC is attached to the web 24/7 with just the router as my firewall. No problems.

But it never hurts too much to err on the safe side. Whatever procedure or connection works for you, then that's the way to go. I certainly will suggest to thers to be more safe, just because I don't want to come rescue their data when they click on the wrong thing.
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