Rick Sarson
Senior Engineer
In search of fidelity
Posts: 106
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Smaart
Mar 17, 2008 16:22:50 GMT 1
Post by Rick Sarson on Mar 17, 2008 16:22:50 GMT 1
Does anyone out there use Smaart? I have just got a new laptop, a Toshiba Satellite U300 13v, 2.4 Ghz Centrino duo with 4GB ram, running Vista Home premium. For the life of me I cannot get Smaart 6 to run. I have turned off Windows defender and the User account control but all to no avail. Also the Yamaha DME network stuff for connecting to Yamaha digital desks is unstable. I have had to bring my old, steam driven, Sony which runs XP back out of retirement. It runs perfectly and seems to run faster anyway. I have asked the people at EAW but they are not getting back to me. Any clues gratefully received.
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shepz
Senior Engineer
Posts: 135
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Smaart
Mar 17, 2008 16:57:23 GMT 1
Post by shepz on Mar 17, 2008 16:57:23 GMT 1
I don't know smaart but Vista is more than likely the source of your problem!
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Smaart
Mar 17, 2008 18:54:39 GMT 1
Post by gingerbiscuit69 on Mar 17, 2008 18:54:39 GMT 1
yeah, all the ICT pro's will tell you the fastest and most stable platform is XP Pro. Vista is a piece of nutse!!
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Smaart
Mar 18, 2008 17:19:39 GMT 1
Post by soundmanjim on Mar 18, 2008 17:19:39 GMT 1
can anynbody tell me if there is ANY audio software that will run on vista? I have a vista laptop (im using now) so was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction?
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Simon Ryder
Boss
Bringing out the best through sound
Posts: 212
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Smaart
Mar 19, 2008 0:35:45 GMT 1
Post by Simon Ryder on Mar 19, 2008 0:35:45 GMT 1
I sympathise Rick. I am still running Smaart 5 - Smaart 6 still didn't have all the features of the previous version last time I looked at it (admittedly 9 months ago)
For this very reason I am running XP on all my machines. Even on the laptop my wife bought last week, I insisted to the manufacturer that they ship it with XP. Vista seems to have MASSIVE compatability problems with so much software and hardware.
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Rick Sarson
Senior Engineer
In search of fidelity
Posts: 106
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Smaart
Mar 21, 2008 15:29:06 GMT 1
Post by Rick Sarson on Mar 21, 2008 15:29:06 GMT 1
You are a wise man. Mr. Ryder! According to all the blurb from EAW they have done quite a few updates to 6. If only I could get it to run I would let you know. Forgive my ignorance Herr Biscuit, but what is an ICT Pro? In answer to Soundmanjim, Protools LE, Sound Forge 9 and Sony Acid Music Studio 7 all run on my Vista machine. I am told that the (insert your own expletive) people who wrote Vista did not talk to the division of Microsoft that deals with DirectX and decided to have only DirectX 10 and above with no backwards compatibility. Most sound stuff is not yet written to work above 9. It sounds stupid enough to be true.
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Rick Sarson
Senior Engineer
In search of fidelity
Posts: 106
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Smaart
Mar 21, 2008 16:03:16 GMT 1
Post by Rick Sarson on Mar 21, 2008 16:03:16 GMT 1
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Smaart
Mar 22, 2008 12:55:46 GMT 1
Post by gingerbiscuit69 on Mar 22, 2008 12:55:46 GMT 1
our university bought licences for every workstation in the campus, probs over 3000 workstations.....
stuck it on, and by the end of the freshers fortnight, it was all back to xp pro, and the uni demanded a refund from microsoft as it failed considerably. It was the head professor techy blokey who said dont bother to me, and gave me a lecture about how they use a different sort of 'background code' to XP, and it wasnt written very well, is slow and inefficient, and very insecure for system stability. he wears a labcoat, has a beard and large glasses.... he must be right!!!
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Smaart
Mar 24, 2008 16:46:43 GMT 1
Post by donmcbass on Mar 24, 2008 16:46:43 GMT 1
You are a wise man. Mr. Ryder! According to all the blurb from EAW they have done quite a few updates to 6. If only I could get it to run I would let you know. Forgive my ignorance Herr Biscuit, but what is an ICT Pro? An ICT pro is someone who earns their "biscuit" finding out just how bad Microsoft products are, and creatively adapting. I do not however knock them, as I would not have a day job if they got it right!!! MS offer an "upgrade" from vista TO XPSP2 for roughly £90. I am a pro and have avoided Vista because the golden rule in my fraternity is, Do not install an MS OS until Service pack 2 is available!!. I saw it last week and thought EEEEEUGGHHHH!!!!
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Smaart
Apr 27, 2008 14:08:57 GMT 1
Post by soundmanjim on Apr 27, 2008 14:08:57 GMT 1
im beginning to think i should get this. where do i start? Im increasingly finding it hard to sort venue systems to suit the band, dunno if its my ears or the fact that im panicking, but if i had a visual display of the eq of the venue and where the hionky frequencies are, that would be cool.
ive got a vista dual core laptop, but will need a flat response mike.
is there any other software i could use?
Ive got TRUE RTA at the moment.
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Simon Ryder
Boss
Bringing out the best through sound
Posts: 212
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Smaart
Apr 27, 2008 20:06:36 GMT 1
Post by Simon Ryder on Apr 27, 2008 20:06:36 GMT 1
Smaart is for system alignment. Analysing phase issues, time aligning drivers and so on. For system tune use your ears!
RTAs are of very limited use in EQing systems and people using RTAs is a source of VERY bad sound. An RTA can not tell you if the peak it is hearing at 10k is the result of a system problem, a timing problem or the fact that you are standing next to a hard reflective wall when you took the measurement.
Smaart CAN differentiate between system anomalies and room anomalies but its use requires significantly more knowledge than an RTA.
I am not saying don't buy it but rather it (and certainly RTAs) are not the magic bullet people believe them to be.
I carry a Phonic PAA3 in my headphone case which if I really need to second guess myself I look at. I do not try to use it to tell me what EQ curve to use. It is an aid to the ears not a substitute for them. More times than not it stays in the case.
I take Smaart with me when I am the system provider (or mixing monitors) to assist with set up but most importantly I use my ears.
If you just want something to tell you that 3k is ringing then there are plenty of cheaper units out there that will do the job. Phonic PAA3, Samson make a rack unit thing, Klark Teknik make the DN60.
RTAs were state of the art in the 70s - since then we have learned what their severe limitations are and have moved on to Fast Fourier Analysis (FFT) systems like Smaart and Spectr Foo.
Nothing has superseded the ear. Which is, lets face it, what we are primarily supposed to be using.
To develop the ears I recommend you search for "simple feedback trainer" on google
and maybe try the Golden Ears training program.
Rick, do you have anything to add? I know you use Smaart as well.
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Rick Sarson
Senior Engineer
In search of fidelity
Posts: 106
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Smaart
Apr 30, 2008 12:05:01 GMT 1
Post by Rick Sarson on Apr 30, 2008 12:05:01 GMT 1
You are right on the money there. If your ears say it is wrong then it is, no matter what any kind of analyser says. One of things I like about Smaart is that in the manual they keep on telling you to go and listen. That said, I find it a very useful tool, especially for time alignment. An out of time system is an incoherent system. Since I bought Smaart I have had more positive comments about my systems than ever before. My old rule of thumb being that if no one complains you must be doing something right! So, very good tool, but not an end in itself. Just listening is the best thing, always will be.
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Smaart
May 1, 2008 20:27:16 GMT 1
Post by soundmanjim on May 1, 2008 20:27:16 GMT 1
all recieved and understood! (and the offending frequency was 500hz btw!!)
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