VO Weekly Workflow – The Dreaded “Update” Notification

We get hassled by updates all the time. “Nag” screens appear when we start our computers or open key apps. Little text bubbles get in our face claiming there’s a new version of our software or operating system. It can make us feel like we’re exposing ourselves to grave danger if we don’t act swiftly and click the “Yes! Update!” button.

What to do about “System Updates”

If you are running a MacOS computer, then you may even see system update messages more frequently. That’s actually a good thing for those of us running a studio we can carefully close those windows and tell our system “No!” The Mac may hector us, but we have the final say about system-level updates. Over on Windows, those little system updates cannot actually be turned off unless you pay for Windows Pro (as opposed to Windows “Home”).

Not a week goes by when I don’t have to talk down a voice actor who is worried they need to update their computer operating system. My simple test: If the computer is working, then your OS is fine. You can confidently close that window and move on. For my studio computer, I generally run an OS that is a year out of date. That way, it’s locked down and has received all of the updates to make it work more solidly. A “current” OS version continues getting updates to fix issues caused by new functionalities. It’s those unexpected updates that can break the things we need to be working every day.

What is the difference between App Upgrades and Updates

At the app level, changes can appear with little warning. There are major version upgrades of course, as when Izotope jumped from RX10 to RX11. Those are usually accompanied by an additional cost to have the latest version. It helps to know exactly what the new one has added. Unless there’s a compelling feature or function that is a must-have for your workflow, it may not be essential. It’s rare that the previous version will stop working for quite some time. Using RX as an example, I’ve found that paying the upgrade price only every other version or so often works fine.

App updates tend to be ongoing – for example when Twisted Wave brought out version 31.4, it had both some bug fixes and a few refinements to core functionality. In most instances updates are fairly innocuous, but my long standing rule is to not change anything if I have projects in the pipeline. That way I’m not surprised by a sudden change which might delay a project’s delivery.

An update should be easily recognized by the version numbers. When the number changes after the decimal point – say 3.4.3 goes to 3.4.4 – it’s typically an update. Should there be a change to a more significant digit – version 4.0, for example, it would suggest a more major change.

And for our purposes in the home studio, major changes can cause much bigger issues that may potentially impact our workflow. That’s a place to be careful and let others try it first.

How far behind is prudent?

The other consideration is how far behind the curve you might want to remain. Delaying too long can make the eventual shift quite painful. I still occasionally encounter voice actors still running Adobe Audition 3.0 – which is now completely unsupported and often requires some esoteric tinkering to keep running on new systems. There are also those who are hanging out back on version 2.x of Audacity, putting up with its arcane file organization which often leads to missing audio.

There’s no magic number. My only encouragement is that the pain of bringing things more current and learning new techniques will typically be offset by a gain in efficiency. In every case, after I’ve floundered through the agonizing “catch up” period, the benefit has been better results and more efficiency.

Have you tested your studio’s audio quality to make sure it meets professional standards? For a free review of your vocal recordings, please use the upload tool on my Audio Review page.

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