I own a top-quality multiple-channel digital audio recorder -- a Tascam 2488 Neo -- for my part-time hobby and business. Prior to purchasing last year, I made sure that the recorder had a USB port so I could move songs (.wav files) to and from my PC.
The recorder allows me to assign each song a unique name and save it, by name, on the recorder hard drive. The recorder drive has several partitions where songs are saved, but only the FAT (file allocation table) partition can be accessed through the USB port.
The problem is that the songs (.wav files) on the FAT partition are not the actual song names but default names created by the recorder, such as "SONG001.WAV, SONG002.WAV, etc." Also, the songs on the FAT partition all have the same date: 8-22-2008. Therefore, when viewing the recorder files from my PC, there is no way to tell the actual song name or the date the song was created. When dealing with multiple files, this is a hassle.
Worse yet, if I delete file SONG003.wav from the sequence SONG001.wav to SONG007.wav, the next song saved will be named SONG003.wav even though it was created after SONG007.wav.
The recorder manufacturer says this is normal, as 8-22-08 is the default date for Windows 7. And the file renaming "is just the way it is."
This is a really high-performance, state-of-the are digital recorder. You would think the designers could have, at the least, put a unique date on each of the .wav files.
This entry was submitted by Tom Spink and edited by Rob Spiegel.
Tell us your experiences with Monkey-designed products. Send stories to Rob Spiegel for Made by Monkeys.
On some of our machinery, exporting the process file from the machine to an SD card will automaticly safe the process file to an sfxxx file while on the machie process, the file has a part number and a descriptive note. You can only save one process on one card to avoid cross naming it when you transfer it to a PC.
All of the bad designs and lack of adequate thought put into a product. Well, bad designs are bad designs...still probably caused by people being asked to cut costs. I don't blame the engineers or the programmers. I know we always want the best. Problem is, the best isn't cheap enough. That's the problem. Money money money...no worries about it failing in a month. We saved a penny on every unit! Even though that penny would have made it last 5 years longer.
That's the thing though. Why go so far as to make a "high quality" product and drop the ball on the software end. Just cause it looks cool and has lots of features...if the interface sucks and it doesn't function in a good way...you still failed.
I disagree. I am schooling to be a programmer and I would never let that fly. That isn't the programmers fault...and if it is...they have the wrong programmers. Programmers..I tend to think....like to make cool stuff...usability is a main part of that. So to blame the programmers.....nah. it's saving money...just make it work...who cares about the end user anymore?!
That seems to be the norm anymore. Do as little as possible and let the end user figure it out. There used to be a day when people made a quality product and were proud to do it. Read some of the monkey stuff, people are fixing their own equipment because the company won't spend a few cents on a washer...just an example..what is a quality product anymore...high dollar? not always arg!
This is what happens when software is developed by programmers. That is probably the way that they organize their records at home, as well.One option might be to copy each file to a better name in another directory. Of course, that would take up lots of space, so an alternate mathod would be to save them by name on a backup disk.
I've seen the same problem on a few of the recorders, including the Zoom. It seems that you get plenty of features on the recorder, but the interface to the memory cards is a little primitive. Of course, if they added file naming you need to be able to type in the name, edit the name, check for illegal file names, check for duplicates. It would take a fair amount of code to add the feature.
Thanks for the comments - now I know why they do it as they do.
The "high-end" comment is definately subjective. As an amateur with a hobby budget I found the Tacam has everthing I needed for under $1K. I recorded a 20Hz to 20Kz sine thru a Zoom and the Tascam and found terrible distortion on playback from the Zoom, especially above 8KHz.
Once I've made my .wav files and transferred them to my PC, I use Wavepad by NCH Software for editing files - separating them into audio tracks, setting amplitude, Etc. Wavepad is free and it looks similar to Audacity. I used Audacity in the past but I thought I heard some type of distortion in the playback. I switched to Wavepad and the sound seems clean to me.
I agree, Cadman-LT. Since one of the accepted uses of the device is moving songs to and from a PC, the manufacurer should have been more prepared. Unfortunately, it's all too easy to release a product and let the customer deal with the problem after it's purchased.
I agree with naperlou. They could have done a much better job, well they could have at least done something! It doesn't seem like they even gave it a thought. I would be like you and have expected at least something....something better than that. Just the simple correct dating of the song would be enough...how hard could that possibly be!?
When your lab is only one scope, one meter, and one homebrew function generator and power supply, the scope is stage center. But this one wasn't working right.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
14 
