The 60GB Tonium Pacemaker effectively replaces a very large DJ rig and scales it down to fit into your palm. It contains two decks, a mixer, FX, and everything else that you need to get rolling.

Box up your CDJs and DJM and get ready to get wild with the Pacemaker.

Out of the Box

Immediately, my favorite thing about the Pacemaker is what comes with it out of the box. A lot of manufacturers will stiff you and make you buy a separate power supply or audio cable. The Pacemaker does not.

Here’s a full list of what you get:

1. Pacemaker
2. Strap
3. Quick Start Guide (a little poster explaining how to do just about everything with the Pacemaker)
4. Audio Cable (for the line-out of the Pacemaker)
5. A/C Adapter
6. Power Cord
7. USB Cable
8. Printed Manual

Tonium also distributes the Pacemaker Editor software which does a few things. Most importantly, it allows you to add and delete tracks off your Pacemaker. Secondly, it gives you the option to sequence complete DJ mixes from start to finish. You can fade in/out, add FX, and even publish your mix to Tonium’s Pacemaker online community.

You really get some bang for your buck with this thing.

Looks

The Pacemaker is, visually, a stunning device to look at. The circular touchpad and equal-sized display are very easy on the eyes. When in operation, everything is lit up and easy to see.

Even the packaging is slick.

Feel

It’s no denying that, at first attempt, the Pacemaker is a little tough to actually mix on. It fit right on the palm of my hand (for the most part) and all the buttons were nice and easy to reach. All the buttons and the side toggle slider are responsive and are exactly what they should be.

The entire device feels sturdy, too. Which, in my humble opinion, is very important for something that’s so small and handheld. It feels like you could drop it a couple of times before anything inside of it went haywire. I didn’t drop it, of course, as I can’t exactly afford to pay for one of these guys right now. Do that test at your own risk!

The touchpad, which is how you do EVERYTHING on the Pacemaker, was hard to use at first. It was finicky, and it wasn’t until I read through the manual that I really discovered how to do everything with the touchpad. That being said, after spending a couple of days with the Pacemaker, I didn’t have any problems navigating or mixing with it. It’s just one of those things that takes some time, practice, and patience.

I was expecting the crossfader (which is also touch sensitive) to be a pain in the ass, but I was wrong. It is nice and responsive and offers nothing but clear information as to where your crossfader is.

Sound

The Pacemaker sounds as good as you could ever expect it to.

My overall view on sound quality with DJ devices like this (and the previously reviewed OTUS) is that most of the time you’ll be DJing with 320kbps mp3s; not exactly the pinnacle of high fidelity. It sounds good enough and I highly doubt the crowd you’re playing for would care. The line out sounds good, the fact that the Pacemaker has a headphone jack makes it a viable device for acutally DJing, and there’s not much more you could want from the Pacemaker.

It’s also important to know that while most DJs will in fact be spinning mp3s, the Pacemaker supports just about every audio file you can throw at it: mp3, m4a, Ogg Vorbis, wav, FLAC, aiff, and snd.

Conclusion

Don’t dismiss the Pacemaker as just another “gadget.” At the same time, don’t expect this to replace 1200s, CDJs, and DJMs at your favorite nightclub. The Pacemaker is fun, easy to use (if you already know how to DJ), a great conversation piece, and a viable addition to your DJ setup. If you’re growing bored with what you’ve got already, maybe its time to check out the Pacemaker.

Pros: Handheld; plenty bright for dark clubs/bedrooms; the software is icing on the cake
Cons: Circular touchpad has a learning curve
Recommended for: Newbies looking for an in to DJing; DJs who are bored of their setup and looking for something extra to “spice it up,”; anyone looking for an awesome toy to play around with

The Tonium Pacemaker is available for $499.99 from most major retailers.

With the Eks OTUS Raw being debuted at NAMM this year, I had to finally get my hands on one of these units to see where the OTUS started.

Out of the Box

The OTUS comes with everything you’d need to make it work: the unit itself, a manual that explains all the different knobs/buttons and also gives you layouts of what a typical setup might look like, two stereo RCA cables, a USB cord (the OTUS is USB powered), and a download voucher for a free version of Image-Line’s Deckadance software which I used for this review.

Looks

Do a Google Image search of the Eks OTUS and take a look at some of the photos. There’s no denying that the design of this thing is unique and, well, a little different. There’s not much text on the OTUS. In fact, the only buttons you’ll be able to read out of the box is the “CUE” button and the “Play/Pause” button. Everything else is marked with somewhat cryptic graphics. That being said, it didn’t take me long to read the documentation and figure out what everything did.

The knobs and pots are pretty nice. I have to say that, aesthetically, my favorite part of this unit is the green and red lights that are visible depending on what deck you’re using. Everything’s nice and illuminated, so using this thing in a dark club/warehouse party setting would be easy.

The platter is 7.5,” which is nice enough for me.

Feel

The build quality of the OTUS is really solid. The platter is nice and sturdy; nothing feels cheap like on some of OTUS’ competitors. It feels really sturdy when sat on top of a typical Stanton/Technics mixer, so I wouldn’t feel weird placing it on top of someone’s turntables (or my own).

All the buttons and knobs are responsive, which is nice. The button to switch decks takes a couple of consecutive clicks in order to hop over to the unused deck which took me a second to figure out, but after five minutes of experimentation with the OTUS I was pretty comfortable.

The platter is nice and smooth. It doesn’t move at all, which isn’t a big deal for me. If it did move, it’d be much bigger, heavier, and have more buttons. Seeing as this thing is crammed with stuff as it is, it just wouldn’t be worth it to add a motor.

I have a couple of gripes with this thing in terms of feel. The first being the pitch slider. There’s no actually fader like on most other controllers or turntables, instead its touch sensitive. It looks really nice, but is a little confusing unless you’re checking up on your software to make sure the pitch is correct. Fortunately, Eks is fixing this with the upcoming OTUS Raw. Those units will have SL-1200 style pitch faders.

The only other gripe I have is with the onboard mouse. This is a great feature, but it was a little buggy on my system. That being said, I’d prefer they keep this feature in on future iterations of the OTUS as it really does help you keep your eyes and hands busy with mixing instead of tweaking stuff on your laptop.

Sound

The onboard soundcard is nice and sounds good. 44.1/16bit or 48/24bit are your options, and I had no complaints when it came to the sound. Considering I’m DJing 320kbps mp3s, there’s not a whole lot you can bitch about when it comes to sound quality.

The fact that you can pair up the OTUS with your favorite DJ/club mixer means you can have some pretty nice sounding mixes if you have some decent gear.

Conclusion

Minor gripes aside, I really had a lot of fun with this unit. It’s build quality is very nice, it was a cinch to setup, and it ran extremely well. It comes with templates for Deckadance as well as Native Instrument’s Traktor and VirtualDJ, so you should be set no matter what you’re using. The fact that the OTUS is also a MIDI controller means you can use it for more than just DJing, too.

I’m very excited to see the OTUS Raw when it comes out and I’m really sad I have to send this thing back.

Pros: Great build quality; sounds great; is an all-inclusive deal thanks to its onboard soundcard; easily fits on top of standard turntables
Cons: Pitch control is touch sensative; onboard mousepad is a little wonky; very little text on the OTUS to tell you what most of the controls do
Recommended for: Anyone who’s looking for an all-in-one DJ solution

The Eks OTUS is available now for $799 from most major retailers.

I’ve been using Live for a few years, and when performing live (pre-APC40/Launchpad), I had found it highly unenjoyable to click around on my computer to launch different clips and control volume. Granted, there’s always been workarounds: and MPD for launching clips and a Remote Zero LE for controlling all my effects, pans…you name it.

Enter controllers like the Akai APC40 and the Novation Launchpad. The APC40 has been around a bit and while it looks impressive, I still a giant Novation fanboy at heart.  Their controllers have always been easy to setup, fun to use, and right within my pricepoint.

Enough small-talk, let’s get into what’s important: the review!

Controlling Live

In the end, controlling Live is what this thing does best. One immediate advantage of the Launchpad versus the APC40 is the size of the grid: 64-buttons on the Launchpad, 46 on the APC40. That being said, 64 pads in such a small package (9.45″x0.79″x9.45″), there’s a few things that the Launchpad is missing when compared to the APC40. Mainly the encoders and short-throw faders.

Aside from missing a few things that the APC40 has, the controller is an awesome unit. The Launchpad operates via several different views, just like in Live: Session view gives you a view of your selected area inside your session and let’s you launch clips.

The volume page gives you volume control which is nice. The only downfall to this page is the fact that the volume change is in increments and no matter how small you want the steps to be, its never small enough: even turning the volume by one block is a noticeable jump, which makes things a little bit awkward for mixing.

The pan and sends page work well, too. The way the sends page works allows you to do quick bursts of effect soaked signal making for interesting drum sounds when you send your percussion tracks to one of Live’s delays.

One of the best things about the Launchpad is that, at its heart, its still a MIDI controller meaning you can map anything on the Launchpad to a parameter to one of Live’s many effects or instruments. You can use the pads themselves to program drums with Drum Rack or assign individual knobs to entire rows of pads (much like how the volume and send page work).

Because it’s a Novation product, you know it’s going to be compatible with Automap which, in my humble opinion, is a god send. I use a healthy amount of VST and AU plug-ins inside Live when I’m mixing my work, and having Automap there helped me out a lot while working with the Launchpad.

Either Live or more studio-ish work, the Launchpad performed just as well as its Akai counterpart and when it came down to it, I had a lot of fun playing with it in either circumstance. It took me a few minutes to figure out what pages were what and getting used to navigating the device took a few moments as well, but once I got used to all the page flipping, the Launchpad was a highly enjoyable experience.

Setup & Expandability

Setup was as simple as it comes. Install drivers, make sure Live is reading the controller, turn it on, and go. It wasn’t any more complex than that.

The Launchpad ships with a version of Live 8 dubbed the “Launchpad Edition.” It is by no means a full version of Live 8 but it’s also not a horribly stripped down version of 8, either. It does limit how many audio/MIDI tracks you can have per project, how many audio ins/outs you can use, number of Live instruments you can use in each project, and so forth. For a full side-by-side comparions, check out Ableton’s page: http://www.ableton.com/pages/2009/novation_launchpad_vs_live8

The simple fact about the Launchpad is that you can expand it to fit your needs. You can connect up to six Launchpads together for your live or studio setup. A nice example is provided on the website: if you have three Launchpads, two can be dedicated to launching clips while the third can be left on the mixer page to control all the other parameters you want.

You can also setup the Launchpad to work with existing Novation controllers (and even the APC40). Novation has made it so that regardless of your setup, you can add a Launchpad in it without many issues. This means there’s no reason NOT to add a Launchpad to your rig.

Conclusion

When I saw this at AES, I was stoked. While the Novation booth was swamped, I did get a little demo and it left me wanting more. After spending some extensive time with this piece for the last couple of months, I have to believe that if you’re using Live for any reason, you probably need to add this into the mix. The pricepoint is just right so that you won’t have to think too much about spending some money on this thing. It’s cheap, but nowhere near a cheap feeling piece of gear. The expandability makes it so that if you’re running large Sets, with the addition of a USB hub you can have limitless control over your Set. Also, the fact that Novation has done so well with making sure the Launchpad integrates with other controllers gives you no excuse as to why you can’t throw this in with the rest.

In all, DJ or producer, remixer or live performer, there’s no reason you shouldn’t look into getting a Launchpad.

Pros: Looks amazing when you’re using it; lot of fun to use; setup is a breeze; super small; nice build quality
Cons: Volume control is in incremental blocks; no faders or encoders
Recommend for: Everyone using Ableton Live that doesn’t need faders or encoders

The Novation Launchpad is available now from all major retailers at a price of $199.99.

Let’s face it: most of us work inside the digital realm one way or another. Some of us might be confined to using a mouse for our recording, arranging, and mixing duties while some have the privilege of using a control surface. If you’re pretty serious and running a Pro Tools HD setup, you might have C24 or maybe an ICON controller. If you’re like most of us, however, you need something a little more economical for your Pro Tools LE, Logic, Cubase, et al setup. Don’t worry though. You can have an amazing tabletop control surface for under $1,000 that rivals any other high-end surface on the market.

The Technical Stuff…

You can’t really appreciate any piece of gear without knowing what’s under the theoretical hood, right?

The MC Mix has eight touch-sensitive motorized faders. That’s right. Eight motorized faders. This may not seem like a big deal to some, but for someone like me, this is a major selling point. Since I’ve had the pleasure of working on large format recording consoles (some with VCAs, a couple with motorized faders), I long to actually touch faders, pots, and actually buttons while mixing. It feels right; it feels like I’m actually mixing. The motorized part is just amazing for automation. Write some volume automation and watch it play back before your eyes. Not essential for the mixing experience, but it certainly makes you feel like you’re actually mixing.

The encoders are also touch-sensitive and feel very nice. They’re not too big, not too small. They’re also fairly accurate, which means a lot on a control surface. The eight displays on the LCD display are clear and concise. Like most tabletop control surfaces, you’ll do a fair amount of expanding deeper into menus for plug-ins that I’m not really a fan of but seems to be unavoidable with devices like this. That being said, navigating plug-ins via the onboard screen isn’t anymore difficult than navigating plug-ins on a D-Command or D-Control in my opinion.

You can expand your traditional MC Mix setup to go from basic tabletop setup to desk sprawling all-inclusive control surface easily. Link up to four MC Mixes together (or three MC Mixes and an MC Control) to max out your MC Mix/Control setup, which would be amazing. I had the pleasure of being able to link up two at a time and had a blast with it. Mixing larger bands with two of these units was so much easier with faders and encoders. Can you imagine having 36 high quality faders at your finger tips to work inside your DAW of choice?

The Setup…

The MC Mix connects to your MAC via Ethernet which makes it plenty fast. It not only supports HUI and Mackie Control protocols so it’s usable with major DAWs like Pro Tools and Live, but also runs Euphonix’ own proprietary EuCon protocol which is supported and integrated into products by Apple (including Logic, Soundtrack Pro, Final Cut Pro), MOTU (Digital Performer), Steinberg (Cubase and Nuendo), and more. EuCon is 250x faster than MIDI and has 8x the resolution of said protocol. The marketing spin isn’t spin at all: this thing is fast. When dealing with motorized fader, having something fast and accurate is extremely important. It read very fine automation without any problems.

Like I said above, the MC Mix connects to your machine via Ethernet, and that’s no mistake. The Ethernet port on the MC Mix (and all Artist series devices) supports Gigabit Ethernet. Without the speed that Gigabit Ethernet allows you, you wouldn’t have the 12-bit fader/knob control and you wouldn’t be able to control multiple applications/workstations at the same time, which is one of the major draws to the MC Mix and similar devices in the Artist Series. The speed, resolution, and integration that the partnership between Euphonix and Apple have does nothing but help you even after setup.

The fact that Euphonix has teamed up with some of the largest DAW manufacturers to fully support the MC Mix doesn’t hurt setup, either. The protocol is supported and integrated into products by Apple (including Logic, Soundtrack Pro, Final Cut Pro), MOTU (Digital Performer), Steinberg (Nuendo), and more.

The setup in general was pretty painless. It was no more difficult than setting up your everyday USB controller. I set up the MC Mix inside Pro Tools 8 and Logic 9 easily.

The included manuals and CD give you plenty of options and make setup even easier. The CD comes with complete setup guides for popular DAWs which you should find useful.

In Action…

I had a great time with this piece of hardware. I used it to mix a variety of projects (some small, some relatively big) and it worked well regardless of the situation. The faders were responsive, the encoders useful, and the buttons (for solos and mutes) worked just as well as you’d need them to.

I tried to push this thing as hard as I could. I also tried to use it instead of my mouse as much as possible, too. I found ditching the mouse to adjust levels and write automation very easy. While I don’t mind doing menial tasks like this with my mouse, it’s so much better to have some faders to complete the tasks instead. The same goes for soloing and muting. Simple things like a mute/solo button make mixing with a control surface so much nicer.

The MC Mix also allows you to change the input, view inserts, dynamic, EQs, group options, auxes, and panning right from the surface. Despite having all these different knobs, faders, screens, and buttons, the MC Mix doesn’t feel crowded. It also doesn’t feel like its wasting valuable real estate.

Within no time I was forgetting that I even had a mouse. I was zipping around my sessions with ease for the most part and mixing much more efficiently. I was still using my mouse for editing tasks, but all other tasks were being handled by the MC Mix.

The only real issue I have with any controller like this is navigating and tweaking plug-ins. It’s just as easy on the MC Mix as it is with a much larger controller, but still kind of funky. I used a variety of plug-ins with the MC Mix: the more advanced Brainworx EQ, the Elyssia mpressor, and a lot of the stock Digidesign plug-ins for reverb, delay, and more.

Basic plug-ins like compressors and delays worked very well and I was able to leave my mouse alone for a bit. However, when venturing into more advanced EQs and reverbs, I often found myself just using my mouse. Perhaps I’m just too impatient as I know I could’ve tweaked those plug-ins with the MC Mix, as well.

Conclusion!

I really had a great time with the MC Mix. It was easy to setup, fast, responsive, and did everything I needed it to do and more. Everything worked like it was supposed to and I never encountered any funky errors with either operating system or DAWs. I would certainly buy one of these. Team an MC Mix up with an MC Control or MC Transport and you’ve got yourself a highly decent control surface combo.

My only real concern about the MC Mix is the build: it’s not cheap, by any means, but it feels rather fragile. I know that something like the MC Mix is meant to be stationary, but the site markets its lightweight/thin build as making it extremely portable. I, however,would not feel comfortable moving this beyond out of my house. I just have a feeling that if I had dropped one of the MC Mixes, it would have been done for.

Just understand that this device is not cheap. Everything on it feels nice, solid, and smooth. Just like most pro-grade studio stuff, it’s not meant to be dropped or thrown around.

Pros: Feels high-end with a mid-range price; easy to setup; works well with both major OSes and PT/Logic; essentially eliminates a mouse from the equation when dealing with mixing
Cons: While the build quality is great, the MC Mix does feel fragile
Recommended for: Any studio in need of a control surface; studios that are looking for a surface that they can expand on; people who want to stop using their mouse for mixing
Selling points: Fast; lightweight; works with a variety of configurations; expandable

The Euphonix MC Mix is available now from all major retailers for a price tag of $999.99. For a sample of what I mixed with the MC Mix, click here.

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It’s that time of the year again. It’s getting cold in Illinois (it even snowed today), and you’re more than likely thinking of gifts other people should get for you as well as what you’re going to be getting your friends and family. If you’re an otherwise audio nerd, then you’re no doubt looking for something new to add to your studio. Why not let Ask A Sound Guy help you?

The first item you should look at is the Cakewalk V-Studio 100, a portable 8-in/6-out (plus headphone) standalone SD recorder and audio interface.

At its heart, its an extremely well built 96kHz/24-bit interface. On the input side, you have two preamps (with XLR inputs) with phantom power and input sensitivity. There’s also two 1/4″ inputs and a 1/4″ Hi-Z guitar input. It’s run off USB 2.0, however it does require a separate 9v power supply. It supports  , WDM, WASAPI, and Core Audio.

I got the chance to use the V-Studio in a number of different sessions and had a good time with it.

Recording with a computer…

As stated on the V-Studio 100′s website, you can use the 100 with or without a computer. Most of my experience with the 100 was with a computer, and I had no major problems with it. I used it with Logic 9, Reaper, Ardour, and Live 7 and 8. Friends and I recorded vocals, bass guitar (both DI and thru an amp), as well as some more folky stuff which combined a DId electric guitar and some vocals. The V-Studio 100 worked flawlessly with all of the DAWs it was used on. It was simple to set up and we were able to to get up and recording in a matter of minutes making the sessions with the 100 very low stress.

The preamps were exactly what you would be looking for in an interface like this. They’re quiet, transparent, and boost the signal accordingly. The input sensitivity on the two XLR inputs are really nice for situations when you need that extra bit of gain. Having phantom power on the first two channels is nice and will obviously come in handy for when you’re recording with some condenser mics. If you need anymore than that, however, you’ll need an external phantom power supply. However, this interface is more aimed at traditional home studio projects. If you’re in need of more inputs with phantom power (or more inputs in general), perhaps you need to move up to the V-Studio 700.

As far as recording with a computer, I think my favorite feature was the onboard EQ and compression that comes on channels 1-6. I personally like tracking with a certain amount of both, usually a high-pass filter at around 60Hz and some light/heavy-ish compression depending on the source. I didn’t do any real surgical EQing on any of the recordings, and if that’s something you’d like to do, you may have to look at some more advanced software EQ. Once again, the EQ and compression was nice and clean. The EQ is a pretty basic three band parametric EQ. Both were extremely nice for tracking. For mixing, however, you may want to choose something else if you want to inject some character into your mixes.

Sadly, there’s no comp/EQ on the coaxial channels (7 and 8), but I didn’t ever find that to be a problem.

The V-Studio 100 also comes with four different types of reverb which, while perhaps not ideal for a home studio setup, would be great if you were using the 100 to mix a band live on a smaller PA. The reverbs sound pretty decent, but I think I’ll stick to my software reverbs for any serious processing.

As a control surface…

The V-Studio 100 can be set up as a full fledged control surface as well as an audio interface. Its set up via the Mackie Control protocol and can be used within any DAW. I only set it up to be used inside Logic and Live, but it worked well both times. The 100mm touch-sensitive motorized fader was a really nice feature to have. Its probably more of a personal thing, but I enjoy seeing a fader move when its reading back automation inside my DAW of choice.

Aside from the fader, there’s five encoders knobs as well as 11 buttons and full-featured transport controls. Pair all of this up with the LCD display and you have a pretty nice little studio right out of the box. The 100 also allows you to plug-in a fully programable footswitch which I didn’t do any real testing on.

I can’t stress how nice it was to have some more advanced DAW control at the tip of my fingers while recording with this V-Studio 100. While there might be other units that may do control a little bit better (and are separate all together), its hard to be down on this unit for simple shortcomings.

As a standalone recorder…

I really wish I was more involved in location or production sound because I have a feeling this thing would excel in those fields. The standalone recorder does stereo .WAV recording and playback and is supposed to transfer recorded audio easily onto any computer. There’s also a dedicated volume knob for playback from the SD card. The build quality of this thing makes me think that this unit would do really well with the everyday wear and tear that comes with location recording. Seeing as any location work I’ve ever done has been, at the most, two different channels at one time, the V-Studio 100 would work well for any location recordist on a budget.

That being said, if I was in a band that rented some rehearsal space, I’d have to have this with me for every package. The fact that you can sum all the channels onto a nice stereo .WAV and dump it onto one of your bandmates laptops before you all leave the building.

I did a bit of recording with the V-Studio 100 as a standalone recorder and it was very much the rehearsal space situation. We had a live band consisting of drums, bass, guitar, and vocals playing live. Two mics on the drums, a 57 on the guitar cab, condenser on the bass cab, and vocals directly into the V-Studio. It sounded good: it was live and sloppy rock and roll, so while not technically amazing music, the band was pretty thrilled with the recording.

Another point to consider when discussing the V-Studio comes into the crosshairs when you’re talking about it being used as a standalone recorder that musicians are going to be using and that’s ease of use. A lot of musicians don’t know a lot about recording and don’t really want to deal with it, and for them the V-Studio 100 is perfect. It takes very little recording knowledge to get up and recording onto your SD card, which is pretty crucial.

And all the rest…

The V-Studio 100 is pretty full featured, but it also comes with some pretty awesome software. The VX-64 Channel Strip, Native Instruments Guitar Rig 3 LE, Boost 11 Peak Limiter, Dimension LE, Rapture LE, and Studio Instruments Bass, Drums, Electric Piano, and Strings. While this may not be the main selling point for the V-Studio 100, its definitely worth noting and it more than sweetens the deal.

This package also comes with the SONAR VS DAW which, sadly, is Windows only. Its marketed as the perfect DAW for someone who’s just getting started. You’re able to record, mix, and master all of your tracks. You’re limited to 64 audio tracks (which is more than enough) and unlimited MIDI tracks. It includes five different instruments and 12 different effects including the staples like reverb, delay, and a lot more. It has a main and mix window (a la Pro Tools) and allows you to share your music via burning a CD or publishing to the Internet.

The Conclusion!

Sanjay and I both saw the V-Studio 100 and the 700 at AES this year and we were genuinely surprised at how nice this stuff was. I asked to review it because I thought that I might have some fun with either one of these units, and I was right. Not only was it easy to to setup and a joy to work with, but it also sounded as good as you could imagine it. If you’re in the market for a new interface and control surface, you should be considering the V-Studio 100.

Pros: The build quality really is amazing; plenty of inputs and outputs for an interface at this price range; onboard EQ, compression, and reverb; lots of extras to keep you busy
Cons: Included DAW is Windows only; would’ve preferred 1/4″ input jacks in place of the coax and RCA inputs
Recommended for: Producers/engineers looking for an interface and control surface in one, bands looking for a an all-in-one recorder, location recordists on a budget.

The Cakewalk V-Studio 100 is available now from all major retailers with a price tag of $699.99. For a sample of what I recorded with the V-Studio 100, check out this link.

LaLa.com has a Slick Interface and Cool Features.

I know LaLa.com has been around for a while, but I just came across it so it I’m posting.  When I first heard about it, I thought it was probably just another music streaming service – another contender like Rhapsody or Amazon for the iTunes throne (ironically Apple just scooped up LaLa.com).

But Lala.com is actually an awesome concept executed with awesomeness. Let me layout what it basically it is.

• Music Streaming Service (You can listen to anything free once)
• Online Music Store (10 cents for online only and 90 cents for mp3 downloads)
• Remote Music Streaming Service (more on this later)
• Social network and Music Discovery Tool

So basically it’s just a music streaming service kind of like rhapsody.  It’s all browser based but has a nice simple player interface – a lot like Itunes.  You can browse music, listen to anything once all the way through for free, and then hear 30 second previews after that.

Instead of paying for a membership or subscription, you buy songs individually like on iTunes.  However, you have two reasonable options.  10 cents will get you an online version of the song added to your library. You can listen to it while logged in to LaLa.com as much as you want and from any computer you can get internet access on. Pay another 80 cents (or 90 cents from the start) and you can download the mp3 to your harddrive.

Now comes the most awesome part of this setup – you can sync your existing music library to your LaLa.com online collection.  Meaning that music you already paid someone for, can be added to your collection on LaLa.com without paying for it again.  Just use the LaLa Music Mover application.  Point it at the folder of your library and it will read the ID3 tags, and find the same songs listed in it’s own library.  Then those songs are added to your collection as “online only” tracks – you can’t re-download them, but anywhere you get internet, you can listen to your music collection.  This is especially useful if you have far more music than hard drive space on your laptop.  You can leave your music at home on an external hard drive, but still hear all your music on the go.

Oh yeah and there’s social networking – commenting, suggesting, reviewing etc.  There’s also facebook connect and twitter stuff.  All that goodness.

Lastly, I’ve heard word of a LaLa.com iphone app in the works.  I would LOVE to see this – finally I can take my music library with me without having to overload my iPhone with music – AND I don’t have to limit my music to a few machines (while still not pirating).  It’s a pretty awesome solution to a problem that has plagued digital music delivery since it started – You bought the music… so why can’t you put it on whatever computer you want?  Why can’t you play it when and where you want?

It’s just refreshing to feel like I actually OWN this music.  LaLa.com is one step closer to having real control over your digital collection.

Automap Server

Novation’s Automap protocol has been out for a while, and as most Ableton users will tell you, its solid.  For their different Midi controllers, you can map automatically to the various plugins, mixer settings and instruments that you open in real time.

One of the seemingly more gimmick-aimed versions of their automap software resides on your iphone or ipod touch.  If you’ve got this $3 app and your device on the same wifi network as your workstation – then you’ve got DAW control on your phone.  I say it “seems” gimmicky because I had assumed any iphone app for so little money couldn’t possibly be practical and useful.  Automap on the iPhone, however, immediately became one of my new favorite tools.

Short Review:

Automap Controlling Pro Tools from an iPhone.

Automap on the iPhone/iPod Touch is cheap, easy to setup, relatively quick to learn and functional. It works great with any DAW that will accept MIDI based controls – Automap lets you use CC messages OR HUI protocol to control DAWs.  I used Logic Pro 9 and Pro Tools 8 LE with great results.

There are other apps like TrixMix or ProRemote on the iPhone that claim to have better UI/feature sets, but their also more expensive.

I had trouble getting panning control to work on my DAW Mixers, but considering what I’m using this control for (basic level setting and solo/mute/arm control when away from the computer – that’s not a big drawback.  Note: I got in touch with Novation’s customer support and they explained that DAW’s like Logic and Pro Tools require a kind of feedback for pan controls that Automap for the iPhone isn’t yet equipped to handle.  They assured me that they were aware of the issue and looking to fix it with an upcoming update.

On last quick note – all the links i followed to try to purchase automap 3.3 pro led me to a message saying I couldn’t purchase it in my country (U.S.) However the Novation Support team sent me this link to where automap pro is available for purchase. http://www.focusrite-estore.com/novation/software/automappro/

Hopefully none of you had this problem, and it’s just my own stupidity, but I figured I’d post it just in case.

More Details:

After downloading the app to my phone, I had to go to Novation’s Website to download the Automap Server Application.  It’s a relatively lightweight app that needs to be installed on any machine you wish to control with any automap controller (so if you’ve already got a Novation controller with automap features, then you probably already have this.)

Once that’s installed and running, you’ll have to do a bit of setup within your DAW to make sure everything’s communicating.  The User setup guides – available from within the Automap Server application are DAW specific and bare bones simple (in a good way).  In Pro Tools you’ll have to configure some Midi Settings by navigating to Setup>Midi>Input Devices…

Midi Input Settings for Pro Tools

Then just make sure “Automap HUI” and “Automap MIDI” are selected and “OK” it.

Then to configure the Pro Tools Mixer to accept Automap Mixer messages – navigate to Setup>Peripherals>Midi Controllers tab.

Automap Midi Controller Settings in Pro Tools

Set row #1 to read

• Type = HUI
• Receive From = Automap HUI
• Send To = Automap HUI
• #Ch’s = 8
  

Setting up Automap for Logic is quite different. First navigate in Logic to Logic pro>Preferences>Control Surfaces>Setup…

Then Select New>Install… from the menu of the window that pops up.  This will open another window with a list of potential control surfaces.  Choose the one labeled “Mackie Designs” and “HUI” and “HUI”

then click “Add”.

Then back in the Control Surfaces Window you can click on the little control surface icon that should have appeared.

Control Surface Icon

Then in the top left of that window, you can set the Output Port and Input Settings both to “Automap HUI.’

Output Port and Input Settings

Once you’ve taken care of that you can open up the Automap app on the iphone which takes you to the Server Page.

Automap Server Page

Here you should see all of the computers that have Automap Server running and are on the same wifi network as your phone.  (Oh yeah, your iPhone or iPod have to be on the same wifi network as your computer, so this won’t work with computers that are connected to a modem via ethernet cable.)

Choose which computer you want to control and the app opens the Groups View, which is where you choose which kind of mapping you want to load.  There are User Customizable, FX, Instrument, and Mixer mappings to choose from. User offers a mapping full of ready-to-assign CC controls, FX syncs to FX plugins you have open and Instrument allows you to take over instances of instrument plugins.  The Mixer mappings relate to the mixer and transport functions of your Daw.

Groups View

You might also have noticed the little “View” button. Tapping it toggles the Automap Server application running on your computer on and off.  Green means it’s visible on your computer screen and grey means it’s hidden.

Once you Select a Group, you get the “Browse View” which shows you a matrix of all the available mappings.  Depending on which group you selected and what you have running in your current session, you’ll see different things here.  For example, n one session I had 3 synths and an ultrabeat in the Instruments group.  While in another session I had 4 EXS24  sampler instruments listed.

Browser View

The Mixer Group took me to the Browser View you see above – only one option.  HUI is the protocol designed by Mackie and accepted by many DAWs for control surfaces to control mixer functions.  Well it does more than that, but that’s the short answer.  Choose this option and you’ll be shown the Control View of the DAW’s mixer.

Automap Controlling Pro Tools from an iPhone.

As you can see, in this view I have two sliders and 8 buttons.  (No matter what you’re controlling, this is the layout you’ll see.  Unfortunately, Automap on the iPhone is not customizable in this respect.) This Layout works for channel strips with volume and pan on sliders – record arm, mute and solo, on buttons.  Two other buttons are bank left and right, which allow you to move your control from faders 1-8 to 9-16 to 17-24, etc.

The two Page buttons marked “<” and “>” allow you to move from fader 1 to 2 to 3, etc. within each bank of 8.

A simple workflow where this would come in handy would be to throw up a session with enough tracks to handle all your inputs.  Then you can arm and solo tracks from your phone to hear them as you do mic placements without having to run back and forth to your computer.  That’s just one scenario,  but I’m sure I’ll come up with more.

I haven’t had a chance to try using Automap to do automation – although I’m guessing there might be some gnarly lag trying to make that work.  Stay tuned, and I’ll post and update about that.

Mackie Onyx 1640i

Mackie unveiled a new set of great-looking firewire Mixers that integrate multi-channel 96k/24 bit recording into their popular Onyx mixers. We had a bit of hands-on time at AES and we were duly impressed.

If you’re familiar with the current Mackie line, then let me just hit some of he major feature upgrades.

1) Discrete Firewire Sends on every input channel. You can also switch the send pre or post the EQ – allowing you to record your EQ or use it just on monitors or headphones.

2) The ability to send the Master Mix as a Stereo Send over Firewire.

3) Phantom Power Switches are on individual channels instead of as an all-on or off switch.

4)Aux Sends that can be routed to firewire – allowing you to add DAW FX to channels while you mix!

5) And the BIG one – Compatible with Pro Tools M-powered!!!! Actually compatible with just about any DAW!

Needless to say – these mixers will be a GREAT addition to any project or home studio that’s looking for great pres, EQ’s, and even analog summing on a tighter budget.  Plus the ability to use these interfaces with practically any DAW is a great plus.

Keep an eye on these mixers, because they’re set to take “pro-sumer” gear to a whole different level.

Check out more about the mixers here.

Avenson Audio IsoDI

A if you’re looking for small scale DI solutions then check out Avenson Audio’s line of compact DI’s. The IsoDI is the newer of the two, with it’s basical DI circuit based on the minimalist Small DI.  The difference is metal chassis, Iso/Parallel out quarter-inch jack and transformer isolated power supply which allows for a ground lift button.  I haven’t gotten a chance to hear the IsoDI, but the build quality inspires confidence, and if it maintains the clean sound of the Small DI then it’s a great DI for the size and buck.

Avenson DI Small DI

The Small DI is perfect for your gig bag or toolbox.  Just the size of a thumb, this DI can be a life saver when you’re at your show and the sound guy hasn’t got one or has you experience DI failure mid-show.  It consists of a quarter-inch input on one side, and XLR mic level output on the other, and just about nothing else.  But for a simple emergency DI, it’s perfect.  The other use that strikes me right off the bat (these DI’s sound great by the way) is using the Small DI as an affordable replacement for the cheapie DI’s built into some lower-end audio interfaces and mixers.  As and Mbox user, I’ve been consistently frustrated by the tone quality of the built-in DI’s.  They tend to add a color to bass guitars that I can only describe as “fartiness.” Basically mid-range exaggeration and even a bit of distortion.  Putting a Small DI inline with your bass and using the Mic Pre’s on my interface would offer much cleaner results.

Small DI retails for $80 and the IsoDI retails for $160.

David Frangioni, Ed Cherny, Tony Maserati, Frank Filipetti, and Noel Lee

Ben handled the setup for this article HERE. So I’m just going to add my first impression of the Turbine Pro Copper Earbuds.

As Ben mentioned, the Copper Turbine Earbuds are aimed at audio professionals while the Gold are more pro-sumer or audiophile.

Here are some first thoughts:

• No hype.  The first thing I noticed was the total lack of exaggerate Bass or Treble.  It might seem “less present” than some other earbuds or headphones, but the reality is, most consumer headphones boost the low and hi ends creating this hyped up sound. Unfortunately what usually seems to suffer for this is mid-range clarity.
• Much much lower noise floor than cheapie ear buds.  I got a chance throw in my ten dollar Skull candy ear buds and compare.  I’m tempted now to toss the Skull Candy buds and upgrade – the noise floor was at least 10dB louder.
• Last Transient and Sustain definition seemed crisp and clear.  The real caveat here is that I’m comparing that to cheap earbuds that I’ve never really listened critically too before.

Long story short, they’re really much nicer earbuds than anything I’ve used before – and I’ve used shure, sennheiser and m-audio earbuds before.  However I haven’t really gotten to compare these in depth, which is what is really required to tell if I’d use these in a reference situation.

The announcement of the Turbine Pro Earbuds was accompanied by a panel of Audio Industry movers and shakers including Tony Maserati, Frank Filipetti, Ed Cherny, and David Frangioni.  They gave their general impressions of the Turbine Earbuds – all of them impressed with the sound.  But then I also went on to discuss ways in which we music industry might be able to encourage the average consumer to listen to higher-fi audio.  I’ll spare you most of the details, but they made one REALLY great point.

So many people listen to headphones so often – it’s almost become it’s own delivery format.  So it makes sense for audio professionals to at least reference mixes and tracks on earbuds and headphones of some sort, if only to get into your audience’s head.  But in order to make real mix decisions we’ll need a better generation of earbuds and headphones.  Hopefully the Turbine Pro Earbuds are a sign of good things to come.

AES 2009: Monster Turbine Pro Impressions Part 1

Oh, and here’s a short clip of Noel Lee introducing  the Turbine Pro Earbuds to the Press.