Source-Connect 4 has finally landed, and it is vastly simpler and easier to use with a slick new interface. Do you need to upgrade right now? Or can you wait until there is a “critical mass?”
First, let’s talk about the new application. Source-Connect in its previous iterations as a standalone program, worked extremely well. Of course, most of us have experienced the frustrations of trying to figure out how to map a port on your router, or the strange choices Source-Connect would make for inputs seemingly at random (why is it trying to record from my WebCam?) the input source randomness may have not gone away, as I have not yet been able to test it that long, but all your concerns about port mapping are literally gone. Opening up SC4 and signing in, once my license was active on the Source Elements website, was dead simple; login, select your input source, and connect. No need to search for the login for my router, no figuring out how to put in mapping rules, none of that. SC4 connected directly to their servers and was ready to go.
Once the application is open, you are presented with a new and much cleaner interface than from SC3.X.
The interface on the Mac matches with other applications, fitting in better than the prior code. The window for messages, notices, connections, logs, and other controls dominates the space. Your levels are at the top of the screen, and include both control of level send and the ability to mute your microphone with the press of a button. Your license type either Studio or Talent, appears in the top left corner.
Your settings, activated by pressing the gear icon next to your name, are again simple and clean. On the left, you have your inputs and outputs plus you can change your buffer size. On the right, you control how you are sending, including quality levels of low, medium, high, and best. The application now can automatically check for updates and automatically log you in at start. On the bottom left of the setting screen, you can see an option to force Source-Stream instead of a standard point-to-point connection. Source-Stream was the option that was built into SC 3.X in order to get around the inability to map ports on your router. Now, it is an option you can select in a “worst case scenario.”
You can reduce the window size to a minimum, which will leave you primarily with your levels showing, and options to open additional windows if necessary. The application will remind you (at least at the first opening) that this version of Source-Connect does not cross connect with SC3.X.
This reminder also answers the question “should I install this right away?” The answer is…maybe? It will entirely be up to the Studios you primarily connect to upgrade as well. However, it is unlikely that they will all do this without continued support for SC 3.X for a period of time. Source Elements does not have an official end of life date for SC 3.X, but you can be assured that they will want to move onto the new platform as soon as there is a critical mass of users and studios that have already installed the application. My assumption is that it will take at least a year before Source Elements makes that call.
Troubleshooting and diagnosing problems with SC4 should be a smidge easier with logging available right up front. You can see when a call was initiated, what port it was trying to traverse, the speed at which it was trying to traverse, and what input it was using. You won’t have to dig around to find that information. Restore and replace sessions are also easily accessed in the same window.
I tested SC4 with one of the echo clients when I was able to install it, and it was as simple as I would have hoped. Select the target, click connect, wait for it to negotiate, and off you go.
The default message that comes up when you run SC4, “Welcome to the future of remote recording,” seems to be the case. Last year, I was working with a studio in New York that was beta testing this tool, and the engineer was raving about it, saying this tool will replace literally all others. As for the Talent side, I don’t know about that. But I do know that this is dead simple to install and operate, and should be something you are looking forward to installing and using once your primary contacts upgrade as well.
Source-Connect 4 supports Windows versions from as early as 8.1 to Windows 11, and macOS version 10.14 on up. If you are running earlier versions of either operating system, you are forced to remain on your respective 3.X versions. But again, they will continue to be supported for what I assume will be at least a year.
Now, the downside. If you are all allergic to subscription plans for software, get ready to start itching and sneezing. There is no longer a standalone option for SC; you will have to subscribe at one level or another. One subscription is USD$35 a month, after an initial USD$110 fee. The other is a buying plan that starts at USD $650 initially, followed by an annual payment of USD$145. However, both subscription plans allow you access to Source Elements support, which probably will be a little bit stressed over the next month or two as people flock to the program.
Is Source-Connect 4 a game changer? Not really. At least not for those of us on the Talent side. It is very much an easier, simpler process to set up and use. But other than that, it is providing the same service you got in SC 3.X. However, this application has been rebuilt from the ground up, and should be easier to upgrade and support over time.
Bottom line: you can upgrade anytime, but don’t feel pressured to do so until your studio connections also upgrade. Even when you do, those who do not will still have access to you through SC 3.X. If for no other reason, this upgrade will be worth it for the simple configuration process and ease of use, once it becomes more widespread.
For more information about Source-Connect 4, visit the Source-Elements website.
