Real pics of the Digi 003 & 003R

[Dubnick]

There have been rumors that it will be announced tomorrow and now what appear to be genuine pics have turned up on this Italian Pro Tools site:

http://www.protoolers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6834

The pics look absolutely real, but the Digi 003R is pretty underwhelming from the looks of it - like they just added Word Clock and spruced it up a tad (looks to still be 2 space unit). Unless it is packaged with new update of PT LE with Delay Compensation or it employs something like the DICE II chip with J.E.T., it's an easy pass for me. Maybe the pics are fake, but they don't look it. Anyhow, don't know if anyone on this board would care about this, but I figured I'd share.

[Watershed]

There are definitely those of us here who care.

I agree, this is extremely underwhelming.
The only 002 users they will get upgrading are those who really need word clock and/or SMUX.

Pretty disappointing realy.

[robmacki]

It looks just like an 002 with an air brush finish, Iconish looking rotary encoders and D-Command fader caps.:Confused:

[luke_m]

interesting, thanks for posting

[6x2]

There have been rumors that it will be announced tomorrow and now what appear to be genuine pics have turned up on this Italian Pro Tools site:

http://www.protoolers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6834

The pics look absolutely real, but the Digi 003R is pretty underwhelming from the looks of it - like they just added Word Clock and spruced it up a tad (looks to still be 2 space unit). Unless a it is packaged with new update of PT LE with Delay Compensation or it employs something like the DICE II chip with J.E.T., it's an easy pass for me. Maybe the pics are fake, but they don't look it. Anyhow, don't know if anyone on this board would care about this, but I figured I'd share.

Otherwise sounds very underwhelming (complete rubbish, I might add), but I may have to buy it cause of the ADC. Word clock wouldn't hurt either, but ADC is the key. It really matters.

And yes, they indeed are real.

6x2

[jfee]

...there's gotta be something more to it...some sort of catch...otherwise this is so close to being just a prettier 002.

[lebouche]

Yo whats ADC???
& isnt this just gearlust. I was lent...i dont know until when, three 888's by a reco boss. You can make a good record on those with a G4 and so on and theyre prob over 10 years old.
Think Brittney Spears might have made a record on them cos it says Britney Crazy on the auto tune n its a Zomba records rig.
If its good enough for profesional releases why do we always need more.
Where do we draw the line??:icon_eek: :icon_eek:

[Oreganmusic]

Otherwise sounds very underwhelming (complete rubbish, I might add), but I may have to buy it cause of the ADC. Word clock wouldn't hurt either, but ADC is the key. It really matters.

And yes, they indeed are real.

6x2

Yes ADC is the key... but ADC is software related ..why would we have to buy this airbrushed 002 to get ADC?? :Roll eyes:

[Ashley Smith]

More here:

http://akmedia.digidesign.com/navigation/base/003.jpg
http://akmedia.digidesign.com/navigation/base/003r.jpg
http://akmedia.digidesign.com/navigation/base/003family.jpg

http://akmedia.digidesign.com/global/360/003.html
http://akmedia.digidesign.com/global/360/003rack.html

[Donovan Murphy]

Yo whats ADC???

Apple Display Connector?

I can see this pretty legit because Digidesign has a way of releasing totally awesome products which at the same time are kind of disappointing.

Oh please Digi make the tape plug-in not suck!

[6x2]

Yo whats ADC???
& isnt this just gearlust. I was lent...i dont know until when, three 888's by a reco boss. You can make a good record on those with a G4 and so on and theyre prob over 10 years old.
Think Brittney Spears might have made a record on them cos it says Britney Crazy on the auto tune n its a Zomba records rig.
If its good enough for profesional releases why do we always need more.
Where do we draw the line??:icon_eek: :icon_eek:

ADC = Automatic delay compensation, plugin latency is compensated for, which is not the case with Mix-era rigs.

And though it is presumably software related, but you can guess twice whether a software update enabling ADC is going to be released for the 002... :Roll eyes: And also sooner or later, software updates will not be available for 002 any longer.

Oh, they had gear 40 years ago that made better records than what are made now.

If a rig works for you, stick with it, don't mess with it. But if it has clear, huge fucking flaws and a remedy seems to finally be available, wouldn't you get it?

So no, it's not gearlust. There isn't much to lust for in this piece of kit anyway.

6x2

[lebouche]

Apple Display Connector?

Hee hee hee..
close but no cigar. Apparently.
Looks like you know as little as me.

um ok... my turn
Autistic digidesign computing??

:D

[macr0w]

It does have a jog wheel. :D

[Barish]

The only 002 users they will get upgrading are those who really need word clock and/or SMUX.

Pretty disappointing realy.
There's no S/MUX feature in there as far as I can see, Mark. Not enough number of lightpipe sockets on it to run it in that mode.

It's either ADC or SSDC* to me.



No thanks, I'll pass.


*same shit, different colour.

B.

[Watershed]

You're right. I was going by a post from another board where someone said it would accept SMUX.
Doesn't bother me. i do everything in 44.1

[Dubnick]

In regards to Automatic/Plug-In Delay Compensation, I wasn't saying that it is included, I was saying that, if the pics are real, I wouldn't be tempted at all, unless A/PDC were bundled - it probably won't be though - sorry for the confusion.

[Watershed]

You're right. I was going by a post from another board where someone said it would accept SMUX.
Doesn't bother me. i do everything in 44.1

And thinking about that more... the same post said the 003R would be 1RU :lol:

[DaveC]

the 003 is a big upgrade to the 002 - it has a 'save' button

[Barish]

You mean, "save money, don't buy it" button?

Yah, it's good to have a shortcut for that one...


B.

[Brendo]

And it's still ugly as sin. Great!

[lebouche]

Hey man....sometimes sin can be mighty attractive:grin:

[Barish]

http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?navid=31&itemid=5025

...apparently.


Tons of junk BF plug-ins that no one needs instead of S/MUX and DAC, as you see.

Hehehe.

They know how to make money out of selling the same shit to same people over and over again.

That's called a "successful business".

B.

[Dubnick]

So I guess it's official now - it's up on the site and even more underwhelming than expected. This is really short-sited and a dumb move on their part. Wow - totally lame. If the Logic 8 rumors are true about it being rebuilt from the ground up to actually compete with Pro Tools (read: improved audio editing features and a retooling of the interface), then they're going to have scramble to make the LE systems look worthwhile to consumers - there are so many great, cheaper and more feature-laden firewire interfaces out there these days, I can't believe this is what they put out. Amazing arrogance. Maybe with the 003s they'll just ship the extra power harness in the box for when it shits the bed, like they always do - that'll save some downtime.

[robmacki]

Hey man....sometimes sin can be mighty attractive:grin:
:icon_eek: only for a season :Wink:

[Brendo]

so whats the actual difference, apart from the fact that my 002 will eventually stop being supported?

[ryst]

First of all, there is no way that Digi would include ADC. It has nothing to do with the hardware. And they just released 7.3 a little bit ago so I don't see how anyone would expect another software upgrade so soon. If ADC ever comes, it will be in a software upgrade form. Not with any new hardware release.

Second of all....After seeing this 003 thingy I feel even better about purchasing the M-Powered version of PT. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Oreganmusic]

Would the Digiengineer who is supposed to be part of this forum like to comment on the 003 release (002 re-issue:Thumbdown: ) please?
Do they enjoy shafting people, i.e LE users?...:Uh oh:

[Tim Halligan]

Do they enjoy shafting people, i.e LE users?...:Uh oh:


If you look at the larger picture...I understand it ain't just LE users that digi/avid enjoys shafting... :Confused:

Cheers,
Tim

[DaveC]

give digi a break for goodness sake!

It looks like a minor but sensible upgrade. It has more shortcut buttons, and it now has seperate level meter lights (the pan lights doubled as level meter on the 002).

It's still the mid level LE product, it aint HD, so what do you expect?

The lack of ADC is a software issue with LE, not a hardware issue and so has nothing to do with the 003.

It looks pretty good to me. I won't be upgrading from my 002 unless there are more features or a cheap way of trading it in, but it looks like a worthy successor to me.

[6x2]

In regards to Automatic/Plug-In Delay Compensation, I wasn't saying that it is included, I was saying that, if the pics are real, I wouldn't be tempted at all, unless A/PDC were bundled - it probably won't be though - sorry for the confusion.

OK.

So now it's official that 003 is complete and utter rubbish.

:Roll eyes:

6x2

[Mixerpuppet]

The M-Audio/Avid Project Mix has 8 Pre's (XLR with phantom) and a jog wheel for $1200 and PTLE with the Ignition pack is $495.... so why would anyone buy the 003 for $2495?

This looks like a 002B to draw in gear slut wannabe close for the kill....

Would someone explain to me why the 003 is better from a performance standpoint or functionality standpoint over the other Avid tactile interface?

[leester]

so whats the actual difference, apart from the fact that my 002 will eventually stop being supported?

Ya see that lil 3 in the pic? :lol:

[LIMiT]

Digis LE line is like what McDonalds is to fast food, what Electronic Arts is to video games....same shit, different box....barely (if at all) innovative....

Sticking with my 002, unless you can daisy chain the 003s together....


-LIMiT

[6x2]

Sticking with my 002, unless you can daisy chain the 003s together....

Dream on.

I reckon in 6 to 12 months Digi will bring out a 003 Pro, which may or may not address some of the issues.

And best of all, that it'll be much moister and much proer.

6x2

[Dubnick]

give digi a break for goodness sake!

It looks like a minor but sensible upgrade. It has more shortcut buttons, and it now has seperate level meter lights (the pan lights doubled as level meter on the 002).

It's still the mid level LE product, it aint HD, so what do you expect?

The lack of ADC is a software issue with LE, not a hardware issue and so has nothing to do with the 003.

It looks pretty good to me. I won't be upgrading from my 002 unless there are more features or a cheap way of trading it in, but it looks like a worthy successor to me.

I expect them to compete with other native based systems, which they are not doing with the LE series, and not because they can't. Also, I brought up ADC originally in the context of saying that the only thing that would make upgrading to the 003R appealing at all would be if they bundled it with some sort of Toolkit pack (like the Music Production Toolkit) that enabled plug-in delay compensation - I know that the hardware has nothing to do with plug-in delay compensation - I think most people are misreading my original post in that dept. The point is that, at the rate that lower end interface options are gettting better, more affordable and prolific (not sure if that's the right word), all it would take for Apple to take a huge chunk of both the native and HD market from Avid would be to overhall it's user interface and bridge the admitedly formidible gap in it's audio related features (particularly in the editing dept). By committing to such a lame upgrade to thier LE line of interfaces, they are leaving themselves very vulnerable - if Apple came out with Logic 8 and it was a PT-killer app, what can Avid do besides offer up thier Music Production Toolkit features for free and maybe add plug-in delay compensation (finally) - that still leaves the LE consumer choosing between sticking with PT or M-Powered and the very lame interface choices, or jumping ship to be able to have a choice in the interface they want to use. I love Pro Tools, both LE and HD, and it is by far the best overall DAW and the tech support at Digi is awesome, (unlike, say at MOTU), but the major studio market is going to continue to shrink as will thier HD revenue and it would be nice if they attempted to inspire more loyalty from the LE users by just remaining competative in the native market, instead of treating us like a secondary revenue stream that will pay for scraps from the HD table. The fact that a lot of the formerly RTAS/TDM exclusive plug makers are all starting to come out with AU versions just now says to me that Apple is coming out with something big, but maybe I'm wrong. If I ran Avid, I would have brought improvements to the Digi 003 more in line with the Focusrite interfaces or the Konnekt series and I would have thrown plug-in delay compensation into 7.3 but keep it 32 tracks only, to retain and even enhance the MPT/AVT revenue and hold off any forthcoming Logic release, should it be a real effort to compete with Pro Tools. Anyhow, sorry for the rant - I know nothing.

[halfguard]

my only concern is how long they will support the 002. no need for me to really upgrade.

[idaguide]

Wow.

Besides the fact that it doesn't include things many have been expecting, it looks, at least from the pix, like the controller unit is made of hard plastic, not steel. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong.) My Command|8 is built like a tank, with a steel case. Sure glad I went that direction.

Little more than a facelift...

Unbelievable.

:icon_eek:

[idaguide]

...and not much of a facelift at that...

[Dubnick]

Wow.

Besides the fact that it doesn't include things many have been expecting, it looks, at least from the pix, like the controller unit is made of hard plastic, not steel. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong.) My Command|8 is built like a tank, with a steel case. Sure glad I went that direction.

Little more than a facelift...

Unbelievable.

:icon_eek:

I think the real question is this - is the guy in your icon Steve Balmer or the head of the PT LE dept at Avid :)

[theshaggyfreak]

According to someone on the DUC, it seems that there is a reason for the 003s lack of major upgrades. It looks like Digi was pushed to put out a new product to comply with international standards with concerns to lead components. I know quite a few manufacturers that are having this problem as well. It looks like the 003 was designed to replace the 002 so that they didn't loose world market share. According to the rep, it does have a better A/D/A and pres, though.

[Dion Stewart]

According to the rep, it does have a better A/D/A and pres, though.

I received a marketing e-mail from Sweetwater today about the 003 announcement. The e-mail listed "Four redesigned mic preamps" and "Upgraded A/D Converters" among the features.

It seems a bit odd to me that there's no details on those features on the Digi site (maybe I missed them?). You'd think they'd be pushing those with all the forum threads on various sites about Black Lion Audio mods and 002 sound quality.


Dion

[Ashley Smith]

What are Black Lion Audio mods?

Edit;

Found their website. Will do some research ;)

[theshaggyfreak]

What are Black Lion Audio mods?

http://www.blacklionaudio.com/digi002_mod.html

If you have the 002R, you might as well go with this unless you need the BNC clock connections.

[Dubnick]

According to someone on the DUC, it seems that there is a reason for the 003s lack of major upgrades. It looks like Digi was pushed to put out a new product to comply with international standards with concerns to lead components. I know quite a few manufacturers that are having this problem as well. It looks like the 003 was designed to replace the 002 so that they didn't loose world market share. According to the rep, it does have a better A/D/A and pres, though.
This makes sense at least.

[Charles Dye]

Would the Digiengineer who is supposed to be part of this forum like to comment on the 003 release (002 re-issue:Thumbdown: ) please?
Do they enjoy shafting people, i.e LE users?...:Uh oh:

Just fyi, digiengineer has nothing to do with the company digidesign.

[Charles Dye]

I expect them to compete with other native based systems, which they are not doing with the LE series, and not because they can't. Also, I brought up ADC originally in the context of saying that the only thing that would make upgrading to the 003R appealing at all would be if they bundled it with some sort of Toolkit pack (like the Music Production Toolkit) that enabled plug-in delay compensation - I know that the hardware has nothing to do with plug-in delay compensation - I think most people are misreading my original post in that dept. The point is that, at the rate that lower end interface options are gettting better, more affordable and prolific (not sure if that's the right word), all it would take for Apple to take a huge chunk of both the native and HD market from Avid would be to overhall it's user interface and bridge the admitedly formidible gap in it's audio related features (particularly in the editing dept). By committing to such a lame upgrade to thier LE line of interfaces, they are leaving themselves very vulnerable - if Apple came out with Logic 8 and it was a PT-killer app, what can Avid do besides offer up thier Music Production Toolkit features for free and maybe add plug-in delay compensation (finally) - that still leaves the LE consumer choosing between sticking with PT or M-Powered and the very lame interface choices, or jumping ship to be able to have a choice in the interface they want to use. I love Pro Tools, both LE and HD, and it is by far the best overall DAW and the tech support at Digi is awesome, (unlike, say at MOTU), but the major studio market is going to continue to shrink as will thier HD revenue and it would be nice if they attempted to inspire more loyalty from the LE users by just remaining competative in the native market, instead of treating us like a secondary revenue stream that will pay for scraps from the HD table. The fact that a lot of the formerly RTAS/TDM exclusive plug makers are all starting to come out with AU versions just now says to me that Apple is coming out with something big, but maybe I'm wrong. If I ran Avid, I would have brought improvements to the Digi 003 more in line with the Focusrite interfaces or the Konnekt series and I would have thrown plug-in delay compensation into 7.3 but keep it 32 tracks only, to retain and even enhance the MPT/AVT revenue and hold off any forthcoming Logic release, should it be a real effort to compete with Pro Tools. Anyhow, sorry for the rant - I know nothing.

[/digibash]


The key just above the shift key is called the return key. It's purpose is to create what we call "paragraphs". Those are used to seperate ur thoughts + make ur post easier to read.


[digibash]

[Skwaidu]

[/digibash]


The key just above the shift key is called the return key. It's purpose is to create what we call "paragraphs". Those are used to seperate ur thoughts + make ur post easier to read.


[digibash]

...And here (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/FI/EN,CRID=2162,CONTENTID=11420) is a nice new keyboard which has all the keys intact so that you can use all of them and make your post "moist easy" to read! :lol:

[Brendo]

He's actually making sly references to Ur by Steve Tibbetts. Geez, Skwai, ruin his fun, will you?

[theshaggyfreak]

From the horses mouth:

"Hi All,

Sorry for this relatively slow response post to what is clearly a headline issue for many DUC citizens – the thread arrived ahead of the actual launch, and I didn’t want to post until after we’d got the official news up on our own website, and given it time to propagate around the world a little.

As several posters have concluded, our intention with the 003 family was to provide a refresh of an already successful product. This is a smaller scale effort than some of the projects we do at Digidesign, and the decision to approach it this way limited our freedom to innovate with features, or change the price.

Why would Digidesign choose to just do a refresh? It’s certainly not our first preference: we’ve come into our current position in the creative world of audio on a foundation of innovation. We’re wired that way still. Even a relatively large company like Digi still has to make tough trade-offs over what to spend time on however, and since the 002’s continue to fit the bill for many users, we decided to go with a refresh. This left us free to pursue some other projects we’d long wanted to do, like the Mbox2 Pro, Mbox Mini, the Profile live console, a lot of Pro Tools feature development, and a bunch of other things I can’t talk about yet.

Despite the constraints of doing a “refresh only” project, we still worked at making improvements to every aspect of the design that we could.

The I/O complement had to remain the same, so the differences in that area are relatively few. The biggest change is in audio quality. The mic pres were completely re-designed, and we upgraded their dynamic range by almost 6dB, and their distortion performance by almost an order of magnitude from 0.004% to 0.0007% (note the three zero’s after the period.)

We found several ways to enhance the 002 control surface as we re-worked it for 003: it now includes dedicated automation controls, and you can use the meters to provide an auto mode status display. The 2-line display provides much better visual feedback for all functions, allowing you to see 6-character channel names at the same time as parameter value readouts. With a jog/shuttle wheel and an external clock input, the product is more at home than before in post production environments. And the updated MIDI mapping mode will make controlling other MIDI apps and devices much more fluid for music producers.

Despite these changes, I can see how this intro is disappointing to existing 002 owners who were looking to upgrade to a product that would take them to the next level. We don’t mean to limit anyone’s options, and clearly the 003 family is not intended to serve that “step-up” purpose – it’s for new users. We understand the desire, though: we are hard at work on products which will allow people to move beyond today’s LE family (whaaaat! like I said, I can’t talk about that stuff!)

I hope this post helps with understanding our moves (I know it won’t help much with the disappointment) and that we are thinking along the same lines as many of you. Despite some of the harsher comments, I’m glad we have such a passionate and engaged customer base – it makes the communication open and easy.

One last note: some of the posters on this thread were concerned that 002 support will be going away with Vista. As we state elsewhere on our website, we’re beavering away at Vista support right now, and I’m glad to confirm that 002 will be fully supported in the forthcoming Vista-compatible release of Pro Tools.

- David

Senior Director, Product Marketing
Digidesign "

[Dubnick]

That's a pretty decent and honest response and more than some companies in Avid's position would put out - have to give them credit! Besides Pro Tools itself, it's clear that Digi's biggest strength is thier proactive approach to tech support and customer relations via the DUC. That having been said, I'm still not buying a 003 (not that anyone cares).

[Dubnick]

[/digibash]


The key just above the shift key is called the return key. It's purpose is to create what we call "paragraphs". Those are used to seperate ur thoughts + make ur post easier to read.


[digibash]
Hahaha - sorry bout that. I don't sit down thinking I'm going to run on like that, and when I'm done, I'd rather not waste my time going back and editing/spacing things correctly, etc. For the record, I don't know if I'd consider my opinion/analysis a digibash - I love Pro Tools - just calling out what I saw as a bad call on thier part. Honored that you'd goof on my lack of grammar skills though - thanks!

[Charles Dye]

...And here (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/FI/EN,CRID=2162,CONTENTID=11420) is a nice new keyboard which has all the keys intact so that you can use all of them and make your post "moist easy" to read! :lol:

uhm... it's 07

IMglish iz in

luv ya, skyy!

[Ashley Smith]

Thanks for that post m8, much appriciated. I look forward to hearing more info on what they do have lined up for a step up from the LE line in the future.

:)

[bunnerabb]

DigiDesign know where it's product user base lies, like any good company.

The predominant profile of the LE "family" is the kid in the burbs with a band and some disposible income, the workaday guy who wants to record at home..

In other words, home studio enthusiasts.

Like guys who, you know, like gear and want to have the shiniest, newest release of what ever products are avaialble.

The coolest boys with the newest toys.

Nothing wrong with that. They have a whole nother box of cookies baked for the guys laying down the Icon / Accel cash and studio owners.

And.. you know.. yeah. Shiny metal boxes sell.

[Ashley Smith]

lol @ gear sluts :)

[halfguard]

m8, wil you guys still support xp for a while?