Gross. Glad you are not the FAS industrial design person. 3U is cool but I could not hack it any bigger.
Do you still enjoy the format of a CRT computer monitor on a desktop and a tower down by your feet? Nothing wrong with that if you do, but most folks these days seem to enjoy having just a flat LED display, which also houses all the pc hardware in it as well. Minimal space on the desktop, no tower at your feet. It’s just a clean and efficient modern design for how most folks use the modern computer.
I think audio hardware is similar. Nothing wrong with 19” rack format, and obviously it makes sense for some people’s needs, but more and more people aren’t using big racks these days. It’s kind of a dated format which was big in the later 80s and 90s....
As more and more people start using 100% in the box rigs, I think there is soemthing to be said for a stand alone format that easily fits into a sleek and uncluttered home use format and is easy to throw into a small bag for travel, pull out, plug in, play.
I’m sitting here at work looking my PC all-in-one and could envision a modern modeler that has like a 15” touchscreen/display, a row of knobs (for those that don’t like touch screens lol) and an assortment of I/o along the side panel.
Easy to carry, would allow for fantastic interface with a huge display, essentially putting Axe-Edit level interface right into the unit, and you could set it up and play anywhere, at home, in a hotel, at a gig, bring it into the studio etc
In the electronic music realm the laptop has effectively become the instrument. Guys don’t haul around tons of synths and samplers, they show up at a studio with a laptop. Makes travel worlds easier at the very least.
I don’t mind my rack sitting in my den/music room but my wife does lol. If my studio was condensed into just a sleek desktop box she’d love it! I’d have the same tonal ability but certainly would look less cluttered.
I think this is what the future products will evolve into, with the likes of HeadRush, Helix etc already kind of adopting that type of interface, though in a floor format.
As I said initially, it might seem as odd waking into a friends home “studio” and seeing a wall of 19” rack gear, amps stacked high, huge mixing desk etc, as it would to see a bunch of CRT monitors and dial up modems
Again, not knocking racks, outboard gear etc, but I think it’s going to become more and more integrated and in the box for a majority of users
Just like we don’t carry a calculator, a music player, a gps unit, a pocket camera, a phone etc. we carry one smartphone that does all that in a slick package.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a future FAS unit that has a host of i/o, models of lots of outboard gear, vast routing, etc. basically an entire recording studio in a magic little box.
Then again, maybe they will still be doing 19” rack units in the year 2030.....
