Tom, it sounds like they need some more sophisticated software engineers.If they are going to use FAT devices, they need to have some sort of database of the songs.It seems like they are relying on the file names alone.They could do so much more.
That would be incredibly frustrating. For a high end product it sounds to me like the USB capability was added as an afterthought to the design - they focused on doing well for the recorder part and then someone said - hey, we better come up with a way to transfer the files through a USB port since so many people are doing that now...
First, I wouldn't call the Neo a "high end" digital recorder, I'd call it a pro-sumer grade swiss army knife device, so I sort of get your frustration...but nevermind that - the "only generic" file naming issue upon imports is fairly common to all truly professional platforms. None of the big three concern themselves with friendly name management of end-user naming conventions for importing files - (Avid / Nuendo / Steinberg). All three provide robust file naming tools for newly created content. It may sound counterintuitive to non-professionals and hobbyists, but this is in line with Avid (and others') philosophy that they are about creating new content, not ripping copyrighted materials from consumer CD and MP3 files.
Yes, I work in audio - over 35 years - yes, I do this full time for a living, and yes I work on one of the above platforms for almost two decades.
You might look at Audacity, if you want such robust file naming transfers - Audacity is quite good at that, if memory serves me - and it is free. Audacity is a great piece of collaborative freeware.
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'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.
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 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!?
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.
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 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?!
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.
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.
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