MATT NEWPORT: Certain things that we look for in terms of the products that we modify, because we're working with digital audio interface primarily, we want to make sure that the device has stable software drivers. The last thing that we want as a company is to inherit another company's problems, which happens a lot actually, and we've become quite skilled at figuring out, "Okay. What problems are associated with this unit? What things typically tend to happen?" and we found that when we insert controls in place to kind of safeguard against those problems that our failure rate goes way, way, way down.

Another thing that we look for is sound quality improvement. In other words, we want to make sure that the end result is worth the cost involved. We want people to say, "Wow, this is an incredible deal for the price." And if it doesn't meet that standard, we're not interested in it.

And probably the last thing we look for is repeatability and demand from customers. Of course, we're in business and we want to make money. We have expenses to pay so we want to know that the stuff that we're modifying is popular among consumers. I mean a lot of people utilize the equipment.

Every single unit has it's own unique problems, and I don't want to make it sound like I'm trying to criticize these companies because when you're dealing with manufacturing products on that large of the scale, it's not if. It's when [CHUCKLES], so, you know, those companies, of course, they do their best to keep their ducks in a row. So, you know, maybe for the Digidesign stuff, for example the power harnesses, we found that probably 95% of the stuff that we modify that failed in the field was because of the power harness, and Digi acknowledges the problem; they go to great lengths to correct. They're actually awesome about it I think. So, it's I don't want to sound like I'm knocking them because I don't think that that's fair to them. Mark of the Unicorn's got their weird issues. They've got strange -- I don't know if strange is the right word, but they have certain revisions from unit to unit that there really is no way for us to tell what's what, and for their part they have an incredible product replacement plan, and their drivers are awesome, especially for Macintosh; I think that everybody would recognize that. Their Digital Performer software is among my personal favorites and so that's why we chose to work with them because we felt like even though there are problems, we know how to circumvent them, keep them from coming back on us, and we know that the product is going to sound good and be reliable in the field.

What we've found in terms of using multiple pieces of gear in a system, ir arises from the fact that the consumer feels like the host unit, the host FireWire unit doesn't have the sound quality that he or she wants. That's the big thing for us. So, for like with the 002, a lot of people don't really care for the way that it sounds. I don't know how else to put it. I mean that's one of the biggest reasons that we're in business, and typically the way that they have circumvented that is that they use the expansion ports, "Oh, I'm gonna pipe eight channels in by ADAT," and there's a number of expansion pieces out there, and we kind of feel like a majority of the work that we do sort of circumvents the need for that, at least in terms of like improving the sound quality. Now, if you need channel expansion, absolutely.

It depends on the position. Typically, we hire from an intern position, and we do that for a couple of reasons. One is that we give you a chance to come in and work with us and see what we're all about. You get to know us and we get to know you, and I think that's really important. We strive to have a good, a positive work environment here. It's important to me to make sure that my employees are well compensated. Everybody here works really hard, and I think that that is something that everybody expects out of everyone else. There's a real strong work ethic, and everybody that works here is very happy to work here.

Sometimes we look for someone who's got training in audio engineering. There's a couple of guys that work me. One went to Berklee; the other one went to Musician's Institute I think in L.A. and another guy, actually the guy that sits here at this desk, went to a school in Ohio, and they're trained engineers. Sometimes I look for just a certain aptitude. It's funny that when I started this company, one of the first few people I hired was a technician that used to work for me years ago and an older guy, and he just didn't get what we were trying to do. He just did not get it, and it didn't really work out, and I found that sometimes it's better to bring someone in and train them from the ground up in that they tend to do a better job. So, it's just is probably all about being the right person and showing that you've got some initiative and a good sense of work ethic.