WK Audio closed?

As I pointed out, and as Brian pointed out; these things are not serviced anymore, and spare parts are no longer available.

How many/much software dependent hardware (or hardware dependent software) audio gear have been abandoned, discontinued or otherwise left behind throughout the history?
Plenty (Steinberg among the worst hardware wise).

You are correct up to a certain point only.
Software evolves. And needs to evolve in pace with the OS’s and the hardware. So you know that after a matter of time you will need to upgrade, or that the application will simply stop working. Granted, there are examples, like the DTS encoder, which were abondoned, for reasons which make perfect sense to the company that developped them (the fee asked by DTS was so enormous that it simply couldn’t be kept alive) but makes no sense to the user.
The point that while the user expects software to become outdated, he/she has the idea that the hardware will be around forever, it simply isn’t.

I own a bunch of great vintage gear, like an 8-rack of Neve 1772’s, a tube U47 and much more.
The matter of fact is that it costs me handsfull of money to keep them working, and I know fore sure that at some point, no spare parts will be available anymore, and my equipment will simply drop from a value of $5000 to a couple of nickles and dimes for spare parts.

It’s all a matter of perspective …

Fredo

Yes it is. How easy or hard you wanna make it :wink:

I have to disagree, SONY is the worst at developing a great hardware product, flooding the market with these items and then abandoning the products and their customers.
PCM-800s, Dash recorders, Digital consoles, Video machines and editors…

by the way, I am forever looking for a studer A-810 to cannibalize for spare parts to keep my 3 other machines running. I had a guy call me every name in the book for wanting to dismantle a perfectly good machine in order to keep other machines happy, but when the OEM wants to charge $2000 for a regulator board because there are almost none left, and the whole machine originally cost $2500, buying a used machine for $2000 that can be used to keep 3 going for the next 20 years !!!

This is what owning vintage gear means.

While I seem to be defending software over hardware, that is not the case.

My stance is… you are going to get screwed EITHER way. You are going to PAY either way.
With software you are always updating, fixing, waiting for bug fixes, watching the bug fixes break something else, watching your original $5000 investment in software become obsolete overnight.

and as for dedicated hardware for software, by the time you have upgraded your software to the point the hardware can no longer work, the unit will most likely need service with parts you can no longer get.

Both sides hurt.
It is up to each of us to decide which path to PAIN we wish to endure.

Later,
Brain