Re: Presonus 32.4.2Al
I do software, firmware, hardware design, and FPGA design for a living (actually I manage it now vs doing 
). The hardware portion of a project is critical with zero room for defects (since a defect here would mean a recall of the product to correct) ; however, as far as the work effort is concerned, hardware is the easy part. Architecting a good firmware and FPGA design which is flexible, easy to maintain, and easy to expand and/or add features to is where the vast majority of IP is. It is also important that the soft design is lean and requires as little resources as possible so that you can do more with less hardware.
I agree (and am also probably repeating myself). That is OK though. As I stated, pre-amps, A/D converters, D/A converters, etc is not the IP (Intellectual Property) that is a good differentiator today in digital mixers. The firmware, interface, and DSP really are.
I will grant you that the work-flow and usability of the UI is a huge product differentiator .... and one that requires a huge experience base to get correct. I would argue that most engineers make poor work-flow designers ..... unless they happen to be expert users of the devices they design.... which is quite rare.
Very true.
