I have a TC Electronic BMC-2 monitor controller, that I use and like,
for controlling volume on nearfield monitors and headphones in my studio.
But it has a usability problem. We talk about usability in software all the time,
but here’s an example of a hardware usability problem.
Here’s the back panel:
Whose brilliant idea was it to put the headphone jack under the power jack?
When I use it, I’m always in front of the unit, reaching over the top to
control it.
Which one of these jacks is likely to get plugged and unplugged more often?
Maybe the BMC-2mkII will reverse the positions of these. I doubt it will be
a free downloadable update though.
Opinions
Mac, Music
Audio Plug-In manufacturers would do well to read and re-read this paragraph.
Adding Copy Protection
If you choose to add copy protection to your audio unit, it’s especially important to consider the audio unit’s opening sequence. The time for copy protection is during audio unit initialization—not instantiation. Therefore, you put copy protection code into an override of the Initialize method from the SDK’s AUBase superclass. You do not put copy protection code into an audio unit’s constructor.
Here is a scenario where this matters. Suppose a user doesn’t have the required hardware dongle for your (copy protected) audio unit. Perhaps he left it at home when he brought his laptop to a performance. If your audio unit invokes its copy protection on instantiation, this could prevent a host application from opening. If your audio unit invokes its copy protection on initialization, as recommended, the performer could at least use the host application.
Opinions
Mac, Music, Programming
