I must confess, my search to find a cheap, but capable “sound asset management” application is somewhat stalled. I thought it would be easier, but if you read my first followup on this topic, anyone can imagine that it is NOT that simple. It takes time to really test a software like this, you have to give time to yourself to become familiar with the interface, with the special “quirks” of the app. Frankly I realized that I have too many preconceptions. I know and use Soundminer at my workplace, and know and use Pro Tools’ Workspace window for a long time. I am so used to these solutions that I probably hunt for the same things in other apps, which is a mistake.
Now there are two possible routes. The first is to give up the whole search and stick with the well-known, or continue the search, but with much more patience. As I’ve mentioned before, in an ideal world we would need only one de facto standard, and developers would happily follow that. Unfortunately this isn’t the case.
Within a few weeks I’ve tried so many applications, but yet to find any which would satisfy my needs. At this point I realize I have to make compromises. For now, probably I’m going to stick with my “dual-workflow” with Soundminder and the Workspace in Pro Tools, but I don’t give up. The funny thing is I have found so many nice things during my little research. I loved one particular feature in Audiofinder, another nice addition in Netmix, etc. If I could do that, I would mold multiple applications together to get a fantastic software as a result.