Q. Thank you for lending us your time Diana, can you tell us a little bit of yourself and work history? How did you end up co-finding McDSP?
Diana: I am a mathematician with a background in machine learning (AI.) I have worked in the space industry at IBM (on a satellite program for launch and early orbit) and NASA (for the Mars rover and Neural Network AI Lab.) I have also taught mathematics as an adjunct faculty member at Santa Clara University.
Colin and I met at IBM where we both worked on the Air Force’s satellite program. We were acquaintances and friends for a few years before we dated and then married.
When Colin started McDSP, he had worked for Digidesign and Dolby. Audio engineering has always been a passion for Colin so when he started McDSP, he had so many innovative ideas. Those ideas really could not be contained; McDSP was a logical step.
I helped him incorporate, find investors (McDSP is a private company,) set up accounting, set up a website; I mostly do non-audio-engineering stuff, but Colin and I do talk about mathematics, programming, and machine learning.
At McDSP, Colin and I maintain the computer systems used to build release versions of all our software products, and we both work on integrating the PACE copy protection software into all our products. I manage and develop our software subscription system, oversee the current web site, and also manage our APB hardware dealer network. I also help at trade-shows, notably the first AES show McDSP did where Colin told Jerry Harison, “If I met you, I forgot” and the Digiworld in New York that happened the same week as fashion week.
Q. What are some of the highlights and your accomplishments working at McDSP for over two decades?
Diana: With a very few exceptions, the vision and innovation at McDSP is Colin. And while I have done engineering tasks, I haven’t done much plug-in work. I did port the FutzBox to the Reason platform. I really enjoyed it because while I had taken a audio-engineering workshop at CCRMA, I had never worked on an audio plugin before. The FutzBox was nominated for a TEC award so that was exciting. The Reason community and my beta-test team was awesome; they taught me a lot.
The other highlight is attending NAMM shows, CAS and MPSE events, and of course, the Emmy Awards show when Colin won the Technical Emmy for the SA-2. I love the opportunity to meet the McDSP clients and others in the industry -like the XCHANGE team. There are so many people that have been really supportive over the years that have become great friends. I won’t list them because I wouldn’t want to leave anyone out, and if I listed them all, this interview would get really long. But I will say, McDSP clients are amazing, and it is a privilege to get to know them and to be part of their work. They really keep us motivated and going.
Q. I’ve actually found your youtube channel awhile ago, could you tell us a little about EarlyOrbitMath?
Diana: Wow! I am really impressed that you found it! And even more impressed if you watched any of the videos because they are all college-level math.
Before the pandemic, I had started making videos for my math classes. I found many students liked the videos because it allowed them to review things, pause the video to think or take notes, and it was also great if someone couldn’t make class.
When I stopped teaching, I moved them off the university servers to youtube. I don’t expect a big following given the subject matter, but I wanted to keep them around.
Q. Unfortunately, I went into the arts to avoid math so your videos were out of my league. Ray Williams has described that you’re like a rocket scientist doing music plugins, how has your extensive math education helped with creating audio hardware/software?
Diana: As I had mentioned before, Colin is the one who does the DSP and audio engineering. Sometimes we talk about math and coding, but McDSP is really Colin.
What I do work on (more than I care to admit !) is primarily the systems we have built to compile and produce release versions of our software products. The system uses a variety of scripts to generate the software builds, and we frequently update them to support new products, make adjustments for new platforms (Apple silicon), and are always updating them with the latest PACE copy protection software releases. We have two systems - one for mac OS, and one for Windows.
My background in mathematics has been useful as we develop and evaluate different copy protection mechanisms offered by PACE (or created internally).
With the help of some other McDSP staff, I developed the current system we use for subscriptions. I continue to be the primary developer for this system, and manage day to day activities to make sure it runs smoothly. Although this programming is not exactly mathematical, it is mission critical software program, and my experience at IBM and NASA has been useful in making sure the code is straight forward and maintainable.
Q. How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect McDSP? What did McDSP adjust?
Diana: Initially, McDSP prepared for the worst; it really felt like the apocalypse at the time. McDSP took steps to make sure that our employees were taken care of and then we took steps to take care of our clients. For our Education Program partners, we had special programs to help schools transition to online classes- including super-discounted 1-year licenses for students working from home. For our clients, McDSP put everything on sale at some of the lowest prices we had ever offered… and as the pandemic dragged on, our sale continued for over a year.
Q. What brought you to XCHANGE? How has XCHANGE impacted your business?
Diana: The other day I was training someone, and they asked about accepting dealers who were not on XCHANGE. And I answered them by describing how much more work it is without XCHANGE, and I concluded by saying McDSP really needs our dealers to be on XCHANGE. We just can’t do it any other way.
XCHANGE has been a great partner who not only has tools to help us manage our business, but they take an active interest in growing our business. Peter from XCHANGE regularly checks in on us… usually with some really helpful tips. And Peter listens; he has made change requests on our behalf. One of the changes he made for us was to add a website address for reseller request. I also appreciate Ray’s insights. They are thought-provoking, and often take a big-picture, global view with ideas on how they impact our industry and our company. You can tell that he stays up at night thinking about the industry… or he is just really bright… or both.
Q. It's probably both haha. What is your most used feature on XCHANGE?
Diana: It is not so much a feature, but I personally like the presentations given by XCHANGE that identify the trends in the industry.
Q. Well we're having our annual peak season next week so we'll probably see you there then. How could we improve your experience with XCHANGE?
Diana: I talk to Peter whenever I have questions, and they always get answered so I don’t have anything now.
Q. Do you have any words of wisdom for people in our industry?
Diana: I have a joke: There is a genie who appears before a math professor and offers to grant them 1 or 3 wishes: infinite wisdom, infinite beauty, or infinite wealth. Being a college professor who has pursued knowledge all of their life, the professor chooses infinite wisdom, and poof, they are instantly infinitely wise. Word spreads across campus, and finally some graduate students approach the professor, “Professor, share some of your wisdom with us.” And the professor looks at them … pauses… and says, “I should have taken the money.”
