Pro Music Production - Pro Audio Hardware and Software reviews

AmpliTube iRig overview

2010-11-24T09:37:00.001-06:00

IK Multimedia has made available the iRig guitar and bass interface adapter for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. The new iRig interface allows guitar and bass players to plug their instruments directly into the headphone/microphone input jack on their mobile Apple device and access the new world of mobile guitar and bass tone — AmpliTube for iPhone.

iRig features include a 1/4-inch jack mono instruments input with Hi-Z impedance adapter (suitable for guitars, bass, synthesizers, mixing consoles); and an 1/8-inch mini-jack stereo output (can be connected to headphones, amplifiers, powered speakers). Compatible with iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4; iPod Touch 2nd and 3rd generation; and iPad, it is low latency (down to 128 samples) for real time playing with AmpliTube.

Combined with the AmpliTube for iPhone app range, the iRig interface adapter allows users to plug their instrument into their iOS mobile device and play anywhere with effects and amplifier tones.

Choices include 11 stompbox effects, five cabinets and two microphones. An additional tuner, metronome, and backing-track player with loop points allow for play and practice.

Buy IK Multimedia AmpliTube iRig on Amazon

M-Audio Fast Track 2 review

2010-11-09T22:55:00.006-06:00

Introduction
The Original M-Audio Fast Track shipped back in 2005 and has now been updated to the Fast Track 2 which has some nice improvements over the original. The two most important improvements are the addition of phantom power and input gain control over the ¼” guitar input.

Reviewed: M-Audio Fast Track 2, MSRP: $149.99 Communication: USB / (Mac and Windows).

There is one output level knob that controls both the main output level and the headphone level. However the main output levels are muted when headphones are inserted in to the headphone jack.

The input/playback knob from the original Fast Track has been replaced with a simple Direct Monitoring button. When this is pressed, a mono mix of the mic input signal and the guitar input signal is sent to the main outputs and the headphone output along with the stereo output of the DAW. When the Direct Monitoring button is used, the recording tracks should be muted so the direct signal is not combined with the recorded signal in the DAW.

Fast Track II can record at bit depths of 16 or 24 and sample rates of 44.1kHz and 48kHz. Newer converters are used on the unit which do sound much better then the original Fast Track.

Pro Tools M-Powered Essential Software
The simple additions of 48V phantom power and gain control over the instrument input make the Fast Track II much more appealing to a wider audience then the original Fast Track, but it’s the bundled software that really makes this product a home run.

Pro Tools M-Powered Essential software is an entry level version of Pro Tools 8.0 that makes it very easy to start recording and mixing songs. The software includes nearly 9GB of loops, virtual instruments and effect plug-ins. That’s plenty of horse power to get the job done!
Here’s the feature list:

award-winning Pro Tools composing, recording, editing and mixing features
streamlined interface for easy use
mix up to 16 simultaneous mono or stereo audio tracks
integrated MIDI sequencing
supports up to 8 simultaneous virtual Instrument tracks and 8 MIDI tracks
includes powerful Structure Essential virtual instrument with 60+ sounds
powerful, pro-quality effects plug-ins included
built-in SansAmp classic guitar amp modeling and distortion effects
comes with over 3GB of audio loops
get started easily with music creation templates and demos covering multiple musical styles
supports 2 simultaneous audio inputs and outputs
compatible with PC and Mac computers

Minimum System Requirements

OSX 10.5.5
1.8GHz multi-core processor
Windows XP (SP3)* *Home and Professional Edition only. Windows Media Center Edition is not supported.
Windows Vista 32/64
1.8GHz multi-core processor (Intel or AMD)

In Conclusion
With a street price of only $119, the Fast Track II is now the easiest and most affordable way to start recording with Pro Tools. Sessions recorded with the Pro Tools M-Powered Essential Software are completely compatible with Pro Tools 8.0 LE and HD systems. Which means you can start a song at home in your bedroom and take it to any Pro Tools studio to continue recording and mixing.

Buy M-Audio Fast Track 2

Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol S4 review

2010-11-06T09:26:00.012-05:00

Time to exhale; the Traktor Kontrol S4 four-deck controller for Traktor Pro is here, and we have a full review. Native Instruments’ first all-in-one, 4-channel controller/soundcard for Traktor Pro comes with the specialized Traktor Pro S4 software, as well as some lofty expectations. Let’s find out where the S4 lives up to the hype, and where it may fall a bit short.

Reviewed: Native Instruments Kontrol S4 Price: $999 (MSRP), $899 (common retail price) Communication: MIDI over USB (requires power supply) / (Mac and Windows).
Available: Now in the web Store Ships with: Traktor Pro S4, loop collection, international power adapter, USB 2.0 cable Weight: 7.5 pounds (3.4 kg) Dimensions: 19.7 x 12.7 x 2 inches (50 x 32.2 x 5.2 cm) Minimum System Specs: Windows XP (latest Service Pack, 32-bit) or Vista/7 (32-bit or 64-bit), Core2 or AMD X2, 2 GB RAM / Mac OS X 10.5 or higher, Intel Core Duo 1.66 GHz, 2 GB RAM

Recommended System Specs: Windows 7 (latest Service Pack, 32-bit or 64-bit), Core2 Duo / AMD X2 2.00 GHz or Core i5, 4 GB RAM / Mac OS X 10.6, Intel Core2 Duo 2.00 GHz or Core i5, 4 GB RAM

THE GOOD: All-in-one 4-deck software/controller/audio interface system based on tried and true Native Instruments technology. Comes with Traktor Pro S4 with new Sample Decks and Loop Recorder. MIDI compatibility for other gear and software, but much higher resolution control between the hardware and Traktor Pro S4. Two analog inputs and excellent Audio 4 DJ-like sound quality.

THE BAD: No price break yet for licensed Traktor Pro users. Operating on USB bus power alone is not recommended due to dim LEDs. Big-time cue point juggler and button mashing controllerists will probably still want a supplemental “grid” controller. No group saving of sample sets. Not compatible with DVS systems yet (NI says this is coming soon).

THE BOTTOM LINE: Native Instruments has delivered on its promise to create an all-in-one 4-deck Traktor Pro system with admirable software/hardware integration, a nod to the burgeoning controllerist community, and a soundcard that’s actually worth using. By not trying to be all things to all DJs, they’ve designed a system that may not be exactly what you want, but is closer to it than anything else this year.

HARDWARE/SOFTWARE INTEGRATION: What made the Kontrol S4 so exciting is that it’s the first 4-deck controller built by Native Instruments for its popular Traktor Pro platform. In addition, the German company designed a new program built on the Traktor Pro engine called Traktor Pro S4, which specifically integrates with the Kontrol S4 for tight, smooth operation. Pro S4’s revamped GUI includes a greyscale aesthetic for improved visibility and a simplified master clock section. But the big news for the Pro S4 software are the two sample/loop decks that can stand in for the 3rd and 4th track decks, and the loop recorder that includes layered recording for live improvisation. Both of those key additions have corresponding control sections on the Kontrol S4. Even though the Kontrol S4 can be a MIDI controller for other software, it uses NI’s NHL protocol to talk to the Pro S4 software, which allows 30 times more data transfer than MIDI. That translates to very responsive and smooth control that you’ll notice when operating faders or doing filter sweeps and effects tweaks.

THE HARDWARE STORY: Much has been made about the Kontrol S4’s size, which at almost 20 inches wide and 13 inches deep, is significantly larger than the Vestax VCI-100, and is even bigger than the bulky M-Audio Xponent. Large DJ bags we have that accommodate those two controllers couldn’t fit the Kontrol S4, but Native Instruments does have a flight case/performance stand available for $189 MSRP, and you can bet that compatible bags and cases will be popping up (one DJTT reader suggests the Camelbak Motherlode). Despite the unit’s size, it’s weight, at only 7.5 pounds, is good news for weary backs and shoulders. Hauling it around is an easy task, but that brings up questions of durability. If you’re familiar with NI’s Maschine, the Kontrol S4 brings a very similar build quality, with aluminum plating over the two decks and a plastic case. By no means does it feel flimsy, but neither is it built to absorb relentless poundings for decades on end like Technics 1200 turntables. The bottom line is that you’ll want to protect this investment well if you’re taking it to gigs. Two decks on either side of the unit showcase identical control sets. An effects section sits above the jogwheel, and a highly responsive pitch fader flanks the loop/sample/cue/transport section. The four-channel mixer section features 3-band EQ and a filter for each channel. Beautiful blue-and-orange LED meters show the pre-fader level for each channel. If you get clipping on the meter, adjust the level down using the channel’s Gain encoder, and at any time you can push the encoder to return to the original gain level. The filters and EQ sound warm and creamy, and the high-resolution action on them is great. However, I’m dismayed at the absence of EQ kill controls for each of the three bands. Kontrol S4’s rubberized knobs and push-button endless rotary encoders feel solid and sturdy with a satisfying action, as do to 60 mm pitch and channel faders. Six rubber feet on the bottom secure the unit to a tabletop.

JOG WHEELS: Many people want to know how the Kontrol S4 jog wheels are for scratching. The short answer is that they are excellent for scratching… for controller jog wheels. Their tops plates are touch-sensitive and switch-activated (like the CDJ jog wheels), so scratching with them gives you an accurate sense of timing for releasing the “record.” Also, they are high-resolution wheels, with 1,000 points per revolution, and as a result, their responsiveness is excellent. Personally, I prefer larger wheels or scratching, and even without that caveat, these aren’t going to the be the vinyl-killing jog wheels for turntablists. While on the subject of scratching, I’ll mention that the Kontrol S4’s crossfader is one of the nicest I’ve felt on any non-Vestax DJ controller. However, it does not live up to high-end crossfaders on scratch mixers, and it is not officially replaceable. The jog wheels’ rubberized, outer rims provide a nice grip for tempo bending, and their magnetic resistance aids in giving you very sensitive and precise tempo bending. You can also press Shift and use a jog wheel to quickly scroll forward and backward on a deck’s track. It’s the fastest way to skip to a certain part of a track on the S4.

BROWSING TRACKS: Searching for and loading tracks requires only the Kontrol S4 — no mouse or keyboard. Pressing the Browse button set the software to Browse mode, then use the Loop Move encoders to scroll through the folders and playlists on the left or the Loop Size encoders to scroll through the favorite playlists at the top. Push the encoders to open folders. Once in the folder you want, use the jog wheels or the Browse encoder in the middle to scroll through tracks. Then hit the Load button for the deck you want to load to. To preview a track in the headphone cue, browse to it and push the Browse encoder. That start the preview player, and you can use the Browse encoder to skip through the track as you listen. It’s also possible to copy any track, sample, or recorded loop from one deck for effect slot to another. The browsing and loading process is simple and efficient — everything a digital DJ should want out of a hardware controller. I do however wish that Shift + Loop Move would scroll through folders at a higher speed, as my iTunes library has hundreds of folders in it.

FOUR DECKS & FX: Traktor Pro S4’s decks A and B are always set as Track Decks, whereas decks C and D can be each configured as a Track Deck, Sample Deck or Live Input to play audio from the two analog inputs. You can for instance have three Track Decks and one Sample Deck, or two Track Decks and two Live Inputs, etc. Each of the four decks can be routed to FX1, FX2 or both, by activating the FX buttons under the Gain knobs on each mixer channel. The Mode button on each FX Unit toggles between Group mode (three effects at once) and Single effect mode (one effect with three editable parameters). In Single mode, Shift + FX On scrolls through the list of 28 effects to choose from, and in Group mode, Shift + FX buttons 1-3 selects from the list. Another wishlist item here: make effect selection faster by using Shift + the FX Units knobs. If you activate four FX Units in Preferences, FX Units 1-4 will be assigned to decks A-D respectively, and that cannot be changed. Other than that, using four deck can be fun, but there is seemingly a quirk in the software where a sample Deck C or D that was pulled from Deck A or B will still be assigned to the FX for Deck A and B rather than their own FX Unit. For those unfamiliar with Traktor, I’ll just say briefly that the effects on offer draw from NI’s extensive effects expertise. They all sound great and many of them are remarkably expressive, especially when you dig into them in Single mode. From basic delay and reverb to live remixing effects like Beat Slicer and Beat Masher or the beautifully mutating Flanger Pulse and Reverse Grain, there’s enough here to keep you engrossed for hours of practice. With two FX Units in Group mode, you can have up to six tempo-synced effects on a single source… if you dare.

CUE POINTS AND LOOPS: Setting cue points in Traktor Pro S4 is as easy as hitting the Kontrol S4 1-4 Hotcue buttons as a track plays. If you have the Snap button engaged on the hardware, Pro S4 will automatically set the cue point at the nearest beat marker. Shift + Hotcue buttons will delete cue points. Many of us can’t or don’t want to live with a measly four cue point triggers, so you have the option in Preferences to set the Samples buttons to be Hotcues 5-8. However, what would be even better is to be able to cycle through the function of the Samples buttons on the fly somehow, without have to open Preferences. The small display and first row of controls beneath the jog wheel control your loops. The Loop size encoder sets the length of a loop (1/32, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 or 32 beats). Pushing Loop Size then sets a loop of that length automatically. Use the encoder to lengthen or shorten the loop on the fly, and then exit the loop by pushing Loop Move. You can set loops manually with the Loop In and Out buttons and fine tune the in/out points if needed by holding down the Loop In/Out buttons and using the jog wheel. Once a loop is set, the Loop Move encoder moves it forward or backward in the track according to the displayed loop length. You can store an active loop to an empty Hotcue slot by pressing a Hotcue button. Loop Hotcue light up green, while cue point Hotcues light up blue.

SAMPLE DECKS AND LOOP RECORDER: Traktor Pro S4’s Sample Decks have four sample slots each for holding one-shots or loops of up to 32 beats long. Sample Decks C and D recording from and sync to the tempo of Track Decks A and B respectively. You can fill the sample slots by either loading them from your Track Collection, creating a loop and assigning it to a Sample button, or creating a sample based on the current loop length by hitting an empty Sample button, either while the Track Deck is playing or stopped. Once you have samples in slots, press the Sample buttons once to trigger playback and again to stop. For more control over the samples, switch to Deck C or D. Then the Hotcue buttons become re-trigger buttons for each sample, and the jog wheel applies to them for sample scratching or tempo bending. Also, the Loop Move encoder becomes a sample volume knob, while Loop Size become a sample filter. All the while, you still have full mixer channel control over the Sample Deck and FX options as well. The Loop Recorder can record from either the Main Output of Traktor Pro S4, the output of any deck with the Cue button activated, or from the Aux input, which is likely to be a microphone plugged into Channel D of the Kontrol S4. In the S4’s Loop Recorder section, press the Size button to scroll through recorded loop sizes of 4, 8, 16, or 32 beats (synced to the master tempo). Press Rec and record your loop. When finished, your recording will play back, and you can adjust the Dry/Wet knob to mix the loop with the rest of the audio. At this point, you can hit Undo to scrap the recording, record again to overdub a layer, or bounce the recording to an empty sample slot. If all the sample slots are full, you can clear them out by pressing Shift + Sample button. Don’t worry, all your samples are saved automatically to your collection in the All Samples favorite folder. One area NI could improve on in a software update is to make it possible to save and then reload groups of 2-8 samples with group names, so a DJ could really exploit the ability of the Sample Decks to be the foundation of a completely original set.

AUDIO INTERFACE: A built-in 2-in, 2-out audio interface within the Kontrol S4 makes use of the same components and technology as the well-regarded NI Audio 4 DJ interface. You get the same or at least practically identical audio quality in the S4 as in the Audio 4 DJ all the way up to 24-bit/96 kHz resolution. Connections include two main outputs: balanced 1/4-inch (that can route to XLR inputs with the right cables) and unbalanced RCA. There is no booth output with a separate volume knob, but both main outputs can be used simultaneously and routed to separate speakers. Two audio input sections on the back panel both include stereo RCA inputs with a line/phono switch and grounding. The second input, Channel D, also includes a 1/4-inch microphone input for condenser mics (no phantom power available) with a gain knob for setting mic level on the back and a Mic Vol knob on the front to set the mic level to the master output. Channel D also has a USB/Thru switch for its audio input. When set to USB, the Channel input gets routed through Pro S4’s internal mixer, but when the switch is set to Thru, the Channel D audio input goes straight to the Kontrol S4 master output. That can helpful if your software or computer crashes, and you have an analog deck, iPod or second mixer set up on the Thru channel for quick back-up. SOUND QUALITY I A/B tested the Kontrol S4 against a TC Electronic StudioKonnekt 48 FireWire interface playing the same songs out of the same speakers. Most people, including myself, would consider the StudioKonnekt to be a higher-end interface than NI’s line, but the difference in audio quality was negligible. I felt that the StudioKonnekt pumped out a slightly more defined, warm and round sound, but one could hardly tell the difference. Overall, I’m very pleased with the sound quality of the Kontrol S4. Its soundcard sends plenty of signal as well. There’s nothing to worry about as far as having a loud enough sound from the S4, either from the main outs or the headphone cue. If you’re using the S4 with only USB bus power, the headphone level dips slightly, but even then it shouldn’t be a problem.

USB BUS POWER VS. POWER ADAPTER: Kontrol S4's LEDs with power supply connected. You can run the Kontrol S4 on USB bus power (from a fully powered USB 2.0 bus) with some limitations. In addition to small dip in headphone level, the bigger problem with USB bus power is that the LEDs become extremely dim — so much so that I don’t recommend doing it in daylight or bright light. Even in near darkness the LEDs look very dim when using USB bus power. Kontrol S4's LEDs on USB bus power. The difference is even more stark in person. I prefer running the Kontrol S4 with a power adapter, but when I pulled the power adapter plug out to see what happened during a session, the audio cut out entirely for a second or two before the USB bus power kicked in and the set resumed. Hotplugging the power cord back in did nothing to disrupt the music.

SUMMARY: What I appreciate the most about the Kontrol S4 is that it may be the best example yet from a major DJ gear company of embracing what controllerism is really about: creative freedom, improvisation and using the capabilities of modern technology not just to mimic the older paradigm of DJing, but also to continue to redefine what a DJ does or can do. The quick-and-easy looping capabilities, Sample Decks, loop recorder and the interconnectedness that keeps it all in sync and flowing really open up a world of creative possibilities that many DJs still have yet to experience. It makes a lot of sense given that Ean Golden designed the hardware and several of the new software features. It isn’t perfect of course. Traktor Pro S4 is at version 1.0.1 at the time of this review. I’ve pointed out some things I’d like to see, and I’m sure every early S4 user will have his or her own wishlist as well. One other big hole is a complete solution for creating custom user mappings. Right now there is some customization available, but only on top of the default Kontrol S4 mapping. While the Kontrol S4 certainly feels more like a musical instrument than the average DJ controller, I still recommend a good supplemental controller for all the enthusiastic cue point jugglers and hardcore button mashers. The button grids at the bottom of the Kontrol S4 decks work really well for basic dj transport needs and cue point jumps but the switches are too stiff to be comfortably played in a very rigorous manner. For that style of djing your still going to want a supplemental performance controller like the midi-fighter that has direct FX presets and high performance buttons. All told, I’m very impressed with Kontrol S4 and hope NI gets going on implemented some user suggestions soon. At around $900 street price, I could see it as a value for someone who’s absolutely sure they will get their money’s worth out of it, but that also doesn’t already own Traktor Pro. Unfortunately, there’s no price break for licensed Traktor Pro users, even though a large chunk of the value of the purchase has to be the Pro S4 software. For beginners, the Kontrol S4 + a laptop might seem like a steep investment, considering the system requirements call for a recent, robust machine. Then again, many people already have nice laptops to begin with, and there’s plenty of DJ gear out there breaking the 4-digit barrier. The comprehensive manual does attempt to cater to beginners as well, trying to make Traktor Pro less intimidating to the newbies. The Kontrol S4 has something to offer digital DJs of all experience levels. The tight integration between hardware and software, super-responsive controls, excellent audio quality and innovative performance and live remixing features in a single package take some of the mystery and hassle out of setting up a DJ system and replace it with a helluva lot of fun.

Buy Traktor Kontrol S4 on Amazon

SE Electronics Reflexion Filter Ambience Control overview

2010-10-28T23:05:00.000-05:00

The Reflexion Filter is basically a portable device for recording live sound sources with reduced room ambience. It is an advanced composite wall which is positioned behind any microphone by means of a variable position stand clamp assembly which ships with the product. The main function is to help obtain a ‘dry’ vocal or instrument recording. This is especially useful in studios without proper acoustic treatment, but can also be used to help record takes in control rooms, where the performer also has to operate the recording device, or in rehearsal studios to reduce ambient noise.

Buy SE Electronics Reflexion Filter Ambience Control on Amazon

Rock House's Lead & Rhythm Techniques overview

2010-10-25T09:03:00.000-05:00

Rock House released Lead & Rhythm Techniques, a two-DVD set featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Firewind guitarist Gus G. Learn the natural minor and Phrygian major scales, patterns, scale sequences and full neck runs he uses to form leads that rip into shred masterpieces. Learn diminished sweep and chromatic arpeggios, emotional bending techniques and how to create a minor 3rd harmony lead. Gus reveals the chords, voicings, syncopated, pivoting staccato, interval and clean-picked rhythms that enable him to take control of the fret board and form his style.

Buy Lead & Rhythm Techniques on Amazon

Alfred's The Complete Idiot's Guide for Guitar overview

2010-10-25T08:55:00.000-05:00

Alfred Music Publishing introduced a way to master guitar with three new books for acoustic, classical and rock guitar inside the Complete Idiot's Guide series: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Acoustic Guitar, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Classical Guitar and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Rock Guitar. It offers a short refresher course in the basics of music theory and simple, yet authentic, arrangements of popular songs. The Complete Idiot's Guide series features hits by Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, The Eagles, Pink Floyd, Harry Chapin, Plain White Ts and more.

Buy Alfred Complete Idiots Guide For Acoustic Guitar on Amazon

Fishman Loudbox Mini Amp overview

2010-10-24T11:10:00.002-05:00

Fishman's Loudbox Mini Amp features a compact size and 60W power output. Weighing 20lb, the Mini is the company's lightest and most portable amp, delivering tonal quality. Equipped with two channels and Fishman's preamp and tone control designs, the Mini also includes 'high-quality digital reverb and chorus for the instrument channel," and reverb for the microphone channel. The Loudbox Mini also features an MP3 input and balanced XLR D.I. output. It is housed in a chocolate brown textured tolex enclosure with brown grille cloth and beige faceplate.

Buy Fishman Loudbox Mini Amplifier on Amazon

Pioneer HDJ-500 Overview

2010-10-21T23:29:00.007-05:00

Pioneer Electronics Inc.'s Professional Sound and Visual Division introduced its HDJ-500 series headphones, delivering fidelity, style and comfort. Available in red, black and white, the headphones suit any type of use, from DJing to casual listening. The HDJ-500 DJ headphones adapt the styling and performance cues of Pioneer's HDJ-2000 headphones. By combining 40mm diameter drivers, thick 19μm (micrometers) diaphragm and a copper clad aluminum wire (CCAW) voice coil, the headphones can reproduce the lower frequency audio range.

Buy Pioneer HDJ-500 Headphones - Black on Amazon

Buy Pioneer HDJ-500R Headphones - Red on Amazon

Avid Mbox, 3rd generation - Overview - (Avid, Digidesign, Pro Tools)

2010-10-07T14:19:00.006-05:00

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Avid recently released their new Pro Tools Mbox 3 Family (Mbox 3 Mini, Mbox 3, and Mbox 3 Pro). This is their first Mbox release since they changed their brand name from Digidesign to Avid.

While it is still project studio interface it has some major upgrades from the previous versions.

Click the pictures to get more information about each one of the new Avid Mbox series products.

Native-Instruments Traktor Kontrol S4

2010-10-07T10:35:00.012-05:00

We just received an e-mail that Traktor Kontrol S4 is coming out on November 1st. You can pre-order it now from Native Instruments' site!

Native Instruments has finally come up with their own DJ-style controller for their Traktor Scratch virtual DJ software. They've collaborated with Vestax to make VCI-100, a controller that came with Traktor Scratch. But when Native Instruments wasn't interested in making VCI-300, it was obvious that they are planning something else. And it's almost here, the new Traktor Kontrol S4. It comes with a lot of new features specifically prepared for use with the new controller. But for now that's enough. You'll familiarize yourself with the features once you get the controller.

Buy Traktor Kontrol S4 on Amazon

Pioneer CDJ-2000 review

2010-09-27T15:16:00.004-05:00

Overview:

Everyone who has been in or around the DJ industry for the past 10 years or so should know that ever since Pioneer produced their first CDJ players, they have been known to the world as the Industry Club Standard. Almost all other DJ equipment manufacturers have tried time and time again to come up with a product that could match the versatility, reliability, and sales numbers of the Pioneer CDJ lineup and to this day; they have been unsuccessful. I’m not saying that in that ten year time period, there weren’t some very worthy (or even better) CD based decks out there, but none have come to live up to the same expectations as the Pioneer Series. Fast forward to 2010 and Pioneer is still providing DJ’s with club standard CDJ decks that promise to put the competition to shame. The new Pioneer CDJ-2000 is one of their newest decks on the market that is advertised as their flagship deck and greatest CDJ offering to date. For review purposes, the CDJ-2000 shares many of the same attributes and functions of the CDJ-900; therefore the reviews will be almost identical with the CDJ-2000 review having a bit more information pertaining to the additional features that the CDJ-2000 possesses. The CDJ-2000 enables playback of MP3, AAC, WAV and AIFF audio files on CD, DVD-ROM, SD cards, and USB memory devices.

First Impressions:

Right out of the box, the CDJ-2000 is built with a high quality finish and strong durable casing. Just as with all the other rugged Pioneer CDJ decks, the CDJ-2000 follows suit with a hard plastic/polymer type of surrounding or encasing. The CDJ-2000 has the unique attribute of having a high-gloss black finish to the surrounding jog-wheel area. The jog wheel is made of a plastic polymer material with the outer edge being coated in a rubbery type of material, while the top is made of a harder ribbed plastic. The big display area found on the Pioneer CDJ-2000 is one huge 6.1-inch full color LCD screen which is angled towards the user and is very easy to read and work with. The size of the unit seems to be about the same as previous CDJ decks but slightly bigger than the all-new CDJ-900. There is a USB port mounted to the top of the deck for easy Flash drive/Hard drive playback and an SD card slot below that for SD music file playback. All of the main functional playback buttons are VERY solid and most of them are of metal construction, while the smaller buttons (for loops and cueing) are a hard durable plastic. The Touch Sensitive Jog Wheel is in the center for easy manipulation and the top is ribbed for easy grip and traction. The outer rim of the jog wheel illuminates while in play and also blinks when the audio track is about to finish.

Included in the box:

-CDJ-2000 Unit

-CDJ-2000 Instruction Manual

-Recordbox Software CD

-RJ45 Link Cable

-3.5mm Mini to Mini cable

-AC Power Cable

-RCA Cable

Setup:

The setup of the Pioneer CDJ-2000 was just as it is with any other tabletop CD type of deck. The only things that will change depend on the type of way you are connecting the CDJ-2000 into your setup. If you are playing regular CD’s and using the CD slot or the USB/SD slots for USB/SD device playback on the CDJ-2000, then the hookup is simply plugging the RCA cable from the deck into the assigned channel line input on the mixer. If we are using the CDJ-2000 for MIDI playback (mapping coming soon for Traktor/Serato/Etc.) then we must still use the RCA cables for mixer hookup, but the library and audio playback will come from the Computer via USB-A to USB-B cable. If we are using time-coded CD’s with an external soundcard for playback, then the CDJ-2000 is connected per the soundcard device specifications (i.e. Audio 4, or SL3) as a CD Deck. If we decide to use the USB or SD card playback option, then it is better to use the Rekordbox software that was included with the CDJ-2000 as a music file management system. This way the files load faster and they can contain tags, waveform track readout, and stored loops in each track being played. The Rekordbox software GUI looks a lot like a CDJ-2000. Within the software the user is able to create playlists, store cue points, and completely analyze tracks so that the CDJ-2000 displays the BPM, track, artist, album, track time, full-color waveform data, and more. The user then transfers the analyzed tracks, playlists, hot cue banks, and cue points all onto a USB device so they can be played on the decks. Also, if we are using USB playback and there are additional CDJ-900’s or CDJ-2000’s that we want to connect as well, then we can use the supplied RJ-45 link cable so that we can playback and browse the music located on a single USB source. When two to four CDJ-900’s or CDJ-2000’s are linked together, not only can they playback files from a single USB device, but the tracks will also begin and finish at the same place on the jog wheel play position indicator, making it very easy to juggle and scratch from one deck to the other. (We can connect up to (4) CDJ’s using a networking (RJ45) HUB that will all be able to independently access the files from one single USB or SD card device.)

Features:

Playback Options – The CDJ-2000 has quite a few playback options. They can be used for CD/DVD-ROM playback, USB Flash/Hard drive playback, SD card playback, or even Midi controllers (unconfirmed functionality coming soon to major DJ software releases). As stated previously, two to four CDJ-2000’s can be linked together to play and browse the files of a single USB input, complete with full color waveform data and other track information. The plastic LINK, USB, SD, and DISC buttons are used to select the type of playback option that the DJ is using. As far as the play buttons are concerned, there is a metal Play/Pause button and metal Cue button located in the lower left corner (as expected) along with Separate Search and Track forward and rewind metal buttons as well. The Pitch slider is made of plastic and slides smoothly from one end to the other. There is a Master tempo button which will allow the user to change the speed of the song without changing the key of the music. There is a tempo reset button right next to the pitch slider that resets the pitch back to absolute zero for perfect playback speed. The tempo slider range can be adjusted to 6%, 10%, 16%, and 100% at the push of the tempo button. The display shows the current tempo range that is selected.

Screen – The display area of the CDJ-2000 is the best screen that I have ever used on any CD turntable device. It is one huge 6.1-inch full color LCD panel capable of showing graphics and full album art photos of the track or album selected. The top portion of the screen is dedicated mostly to file navigation and file information. This is a six-line navigation panel which is very easy to see the track being selected and the next tracks within the current list. Also shown in the top panel is the selection art, artist name, album name, BPM, total track time, and many other attributes. All file navigation is done using the big plastic navigation knob which can be pressed to select the highlighted selection. There is also BROWSE, TAG LIST, INFO, and MENU buttons at the top of the screen area that can be used to assist with the navigation through the files. There is also a back button to return to the previous selection/screen. Tracks can be sorted and recalled by Album, Artist, Track number, Track name, and other attributes. The bottom portion of the LCD screen displays the current track information such as, track time (which can show total time or remaining time), BPM, track number, pitch information, and a visual track progress bar and full color waveform display that will blink when a track is coming to an end. This waveform/track progress bar also shows a visual indicator of set cue points and loop points as well. Below this Waveform display or track progress bar is a touch sensitive area called the needle search bar. The DJ can use their finger to simply search or start the track at any given point that corresponds to the track progress bar/waveform area. All the DJ has to do is touch the area on the needle search that corresponds to the waveform area that they wish the track to play at.

Touch Sensitive Jog Wheel (Vinyl Speed Adjustment/Direction/Jog Adjust)- Everyone knows that I am primarily a Hip-Hop and scratch DJ, so I will always try to use an actively spinning platter over the jog wheel type of CDJ’s or controllers. For my testing purposes, the CDJ-2000 was always kept on “vinyl” type so that the jog wheel performed as closely to vinyl as possible. With that being said; the Pioneer CDJ-2000 has the BEST jog wheel touch sensitive platter that I have ever used in my many years in the business. I could literally pull off nearly any scratch that I would be able to complete on an analog turntable or spinning platter type deck. The scratch emulation is very good and the sound remains clear throughout the back and forth action of the track. Even when playing tracks from a single USB or SD source, I was able to juggle music very easily from one CDJ to the other. The top portion of the wheel is nice and ribbed for grip and my fingers never slipped once while scratching. The sides of the jog wheel are a softer (almost rubbery) type material that the DJ can use for speeding up and slowing down the track when mixing and trying to match that perfect tempo. When vinyl mode is turned off, the wheel acts as a search or pitch bend platter making for easier track search and beat matching capabilities. The Direction toggle switch is used to play the track as normal or in reverse. The switch from forward to reverse is instantaneous and will work as fast as your fingers will allow. The CDJ-2000 has a small metal “jog adjust” knob which controls the tension of the jog wheel. When the jog adjust setting is all the way to the left, then the platter is very light/loose and responds very quickly to back and forth jog wheel manipulation (nearly no resistance at its sharpest setting). When the jog adjust setting is all the way to the right, then the platter is very heavy and tight and takes more energy to move the jog wheel back and forth. The jog adjust feature is definitely a welcomed addition to the CDJ lineup and I found that I really liked changing the settings in real time depending on whether I was scratching more or mixing more. The CDJ-2000 also includes a two separate vinyl speed adjustment knobs which control the start-up time and the brake/stop time of the track. It is great to have the flexibility of separately adjusting the start time and stop time, as the CDJ-900 has a shared knob to control both at the same time. Personally, I like to set the startup time very quickly for scratching, but I like to have the brake time set to about the half position for the cool-sounding brake transitions that I have grown accustomed to. These adjustments take their effect when the Play/Pause button is used to start or stop the playback of a track. The knobs can be rotated all the way to the left for extremely fast start and stops, while rotating the knobs to the right will make the track start up very slow or stop very slowly. As with every CDJ, the jog wheel contains an LED display in the center to show many jog/platter attributes. It will display “VINYL” if the deck is in vinyl mode; it shows the current play position; cue or loop start points; and jog touch detection which lights up if the wheel is pressed.

Loop & Hot Cue Buttons – The CDJ-2000 has a cool loop section that is easy to use and straight to the point. The loop section on the CDJ-900 seems to have more on-board options, but at the same time Pioneer thought it would be more important to include the three Hot Cue bank buttons directly on the face of the unit. I must also agree with them here, as hot cue buttons make it easy to get right to where you need to be on a track at the push of a button. The Loop section contains the traditional Loop IN and Loop OUT buttons along with a loop exit button. The In and Out buttons can be used to trim the loop as needed. There is a 4-beat Loop/Loop Cutter button that can be used to cut the loop according to the beat lengths or loop length (i.e. ½, ¼, 1/8, 1/16, etc). There are CUE/LOOP CALL left and right arrow buttons that allow users to access multiple loop points that are set per track. These set cues and loop points can be removed using the MEMORY and DELETE buttons. Another welcomed addition to the CDJ-2000 is the inclusion of three Hot Cue buttons that are made of a metal material and are labeled A, B, and C. Each hot cue can be set within the Rekordbox software to each corresponding button. That way, you can use the A, B, and C buttons to recall the stored cue/sample that was assigned within the Rekordbox software. Underneath the hot cue buttons there is a record/call button so that these hot cues can be set on the fly right on the unit as well.

Within the Rekordbox software and on the LCD CDJ-2000 screen display, there is a new Quantizing feature where cue points and loops can be set perfectly on-beat by automatically correcting and synching the beat during manual looping.

Differences between CDJ-2000 and CDJ-900:

-CDJ-2000 jog wheel is black on top; while the CDJ-900 jog wheel is dark grey

-CDJ-2000 has a glossy black finish in the jog wheel area, while the CDJ-900 has a dull black finish in the jog wheel area

-CDJ-2000 jog wheel has a lighted ring around the edge that illuminates when the jog wheel is pressed for scratching and also blinks when the track is coming to an end; CDJ-900 does not

-CDJ-2000 Play/Pause and CUE buttons illuminate around the outside of the button while the Play/Pause and CUE symbols illuminate inside the buttons of the CDJ-900

-CDJ-2000 Search and Track Search buttons illuminate and they do not on the CDJ-900

-CDJ-2000 big track navigation knob is illuminated, while on the CDJ-900 it is not

-CDJ-2000 CD slot is illuminated, while the CDJ-900 is not

-CDJ-2000 LCD Screen is the best I've ever seen on any player complete with graphics, album cover art and FULL color (real-deal) waveform display; CDJ-900 double-LED screens are still nice but more reminiscent of the CDJ-1000 series with more lines for on-screen file navigation

-CDJ-2000 has an SD Card slot; CDJ-900 does not

-CDJ-2000 has (3) Hot-Cue/Sample buttons; CDJ-900 does not

-CDJ-2000 has a play direction toggle switch; CDJ-900 has a play direction button [forward and reverse playback]

-CDJ-2000 has a Loop Cutter button while the CDJ-900 has (4) dedicated Loop "specific cut" buttons

-CDJ-2000 has a needle search (touch sensitive track search strip); CDJ-900 does not

-CDJ-2000 has a pitch tempo reset button (with no pitch slider center-click) while the CDJ-900's pitch slider has a center click for absolute zero

-CDJ-2000 has a Jog Wheel Adjust knob which changes the tension of the jog wheel from heavy to light; the CDJ-900 jog wheel tension is not adjustable

-CDJ-2000 has two separate knobs for track startup time adjustment and track brake/stop time adjustment, while the CDJ-900 has a single knob that will adjust and share both track startup and track stop times.

-CDJ-2000 supports DVD-ROM disc playback while the CDJ-900 does not

-CDJ-2000 is a bit longer, wider, heavier, and has bigger rubber feet at the bottom of the base when compared to the CDJ-900

Conclusion (Recommended For):

I was only given a short window of time to review the CDJ-900 and CDJ-2000; therefore, I know I haven’t covered everything as these decks are capable of so much more than I can write about in a few pages. Overall, I am very impressed with both decks and the more time I spend with them, the more I wish I had them for a longer period of time. In a nutshell, I would recommend the CDJ-2000 to absolutely ANY type of DJ who can afford the $1900 retail price tag PER UNIT. The CDJ-2000 is the most powerful Pioneer CD turntable to date with multiple file playback capabilities and so many extra bells and whistles that virtually accommodates any DJ style out there. The Pioneer CDJ-2000 is a very high quality deck and is definitely one of the best players on the market today and one of the best I have ever used. The CDJ-2000 does absolutely everything well. It is extremely difficult to find any faults or shortcomings with this unit.

The Pioneer CDJ-2000 would be perfectly “at-home” in the Club/Bar environment (obviously), the bedroom DJ, the beginner, the expert, and just about anyone in between. There is no moving platter here, but as crazy as it sounds, even scratch DJ’s will have a lot of fun juggling, scratching, and beat making on the 2000’s. The added versatility found with the jog adjust wheel make it easy for scratch DJ’s to set the jog wheel to the light setting for quick and non-resistant scratching capabilities. The construction is sturdy and the Pioneer CDJ track record for reliability is second to none.

Pros:

-6.1” LCD Full Color Display (Best I have ever seen on a player)

-Excellent Jog-Wheel Platter system with custom tension adjustment (By Far BEST in Class)

-Rekordbox software is very good (Interface looks like a Pioneer CDJ)

-Multiple Media Playback Options (USB, SD, CD, DVD-ROM, MIDI)

-Pioneer brand familiarity/reliability

Cons:

-Very Expensive

-Personal gripe – I still like actively spinning platters better than Jog Wheels as this is more familiar

Buy Pioneer CDJ-2000 Professional Multi Player on Amazon

Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol X1 Effects Controller review

2010-09-27T08:29:00.003-05:00

Overview:

The Traktor X1 is a device that allows DJs to control the Tracktor Software as well as other program such as Serato. Rather than use your laptop and mouse, core functions of the software are controlled via the buttons and knobs on the X1.

First Impressions:

The Traktor X1 resembles a very large TV Remote Control. It has various different buttons and knobs, each labeled with a primary and secondary function. The device is relatively light but it feels extremely sturdy. When plugged into your laptop the buttons on the device light up in different colors which makes it look like a high tech control pad. It certainly turned a few heads when I started using it. Also worth noting is that the X1 also comes with a cutout that lays over the device and re-labels the buttons to correspond with functions on Serato.

Setup:

For this review I am using the X1 along with an Acer AS1410 laptop, Traktor Pro Software, 2 Tech 1200s, and a Vestax Pro-5 mixer. The X1 can also be used with other software programs such as Serato. If you do not have your own decks, you have the option of using the X1 as a standalone with the software (using the software's internal mixer) or with any external mixer.

In my case installation was a breeze. I simply installed the drivers that came with the X1, plugged it into my laptop and it was ready to go. It took me about five minutes.

Features:

When I first heard of Native Instrument's Traktor X1 I was slightly confused as to how it would help me as a DJ. After all, I already had Traktor and it worked fine for me so why would I need an additional piece of hardware? After using it extensively I can say with confidence that it can be an extremely useful addition to any DJ setup that includes software like Traktor or Serato.

So what does it do? In short, nearly every function of the Traktor software can be controlled via the X1 In other words you no longer need to use your laptop to control Traktor. It may a little time to get used to, but the X1 gives actions like track browsing, looping, effects and cue points a much more tactical, hands-on feel in addition to making them vastly more convenient. Ill take each of these functions one by one and describe how the X1 improves them.

Track Browsing – the X1 has two knobs, one for each deck. Turning the knob allow your to browse through your track library. Push the knob and that track is now loaded on the corresponding deck. Want to expand the track library to full screen? No problem, just hold the shift button and hit the knob. It's that easy. No longer will you have to scroll through your library using a mouse. Just twist and click.

Cue Points / Track Browsing – The X1 allows you to assign up to 8 cue points per deck (16 total) to the buttons on the pad. This opens up a world of possibilities. Just check out this video of DJ Rafik to see whats possible. Basically you can use the cue points as a mini pad allowing you to jump from sample to sample with ease. Try that using the mouse on your laptop! The knobs I mentioned earlier also allow you to easily scan through tracks to find the spot you are looking for. Lastly, a beat +/- button allows you to jump back a set number of beats seamlessly! This is incredibly fun to use.

Effects: The X1 puts all of the effects within Traktor at your fingertips and gives you hands-on control of them. On the top of the unit there are 6 knobs, each of which can be assigned to a unique effect. Simply hold the corresponding button to trigger the effect and then twist the knob to tweak the effect. You can also assign a single effect to each set of three knobs, allowing you to use the knobs to control the advanced settings of the effect. This particular feature was difficult for me to figure out on my own but luckily Sonic Academy offers some helpful videos that teach you the tricks.

Looping: Another incredibly useful function, the looping knob allows you to set a loop, expand or contract it in size, and even assign the loop to a cue point for use later.

Lastly, you can also play, stop, sync, and pitch adjust tracks directly from the pad. This is great if you are using the X1 without a external controller like a turntable or CD system. In this case you can simply use the X1 to control both decks on the software.

Conclusion:

As I mentioned earlier, when I first heard of the X1 I was unsure why I needed it. Now that I have used it for the past month I can confidently say that I now cannot live without it. Whether you are a turntable + software DJ or just a software DJ, the X1 adds a level of control to your mixes that was previously impossible. Mapping functions like looping and effects to physical buttons instead clicking on the a screen opens up a new world of possibilities for your mixes in addition to making the entire experience more fun and rewarding. This unit comes highly recommended for any DJ who is using a software system.

Pros:

Easy setup

Eye-catching design

Easy to use and fun

Takes the functions of the software and puts them at your fingertips for easy use

Cons:

The included instructions could better explain how to use some of the features (i.e. advanced effects)

Buy Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol X1 DJ Controller on Amazon

Buy TRAKTOR KONTROL X1 Gig Bag on Amazon

Vestax Typhoon DJ MIDI Controller review

2010-09-26T21:16:00.006-05:00

Overview:

The Vestax Typhoon is the newest Vestax all-in-one controller which allows DJ’s to create, manipulate, and mix audio files from their computer with one simple to use machine. I personally never had the pleasure of actually using a Vestax controller (i.e. the VCI series), but after viewing the unit on youtube, I had to check it out for myself! Vestax is marketing this unit as a super-affordable controller that is perfect for beginner DJ’s and people who just want to mix and play without all the extra gadgetry and money involved. (note: The Vestax Spin seems to be an identical unit that is only compatible with MAC while the Typhoon is compatible with Windows and MAC.)

First Impressions:

Right out of the box the Vestax Typhoon looks pretty stylish. Immediately jumping out at you is the all-metal faceplates of the individual jog/platter wheels. The rest of the entire unit is made of a hard polymer/plastic which was probably done to pass the savings onto the consumer. The bottom portion of the unit has a rough black texture to it, while the top face of the unit is a smooth plastic with a carbon-fiber look to it. All of the sliders and knobs are a metallic-red plastic material and all of the buttons (also a hard plastic) are white and illuminate when depressed so the user can see what options are selected at a glance. The layout of the Vestax Typhoon is exactly what you would expect from a 2-channel mixing device, with all of the controls on the left of the unit corresponding to unit A and the controls on the right corresponding to unit B.

In the Box:

Vestax Typhoon

User’s Manual

Driver Software

Traktor LE Software

USB Cable

Setup:

The Setup of the Vestax Typhoon was EXTREMELY easy. Right out of the box, all I had to do was connect the Vestax Typhoon to my computer using the supplied USB cable and run the Driver and Traktor Software CD’s and I was ready to spin! The user interface is very simple. All a user has to do is import their audio files into the program and insert them onto the left or right deck which corresponds to the controller’s left or right deck.

Inputs: ¼” MIC (with volume control knob) and USB

Outputs: RCA and ¼” Headphone (with volume control knob)

Features:

Platters/Jog wheels: The direct user interface for audio manipulation lies with the platters. The platter sensitivity can be adjusted using the plastic knobs found on the back of the unit (Touch Sensor Level) which controls each platter individually. The sensitivity can be adjusted as far as having no touch sensitivity (meaning that nothing happens when you touch the platter), all the way up to full sensitivity (meaning a user must manually move the jog back and forth for anything to be played). For scratching and general mixing this must be set to the middle, so that when the platter is released, the audio file remains playing. The platters also illuminate red when in “play” and illuminate to blue when the platters are manipulated. The platters have a nice and steady feel to them and the metal surface is surprisingly “grippy”. With that being said, the delay in using the Traktor LE without timecoded manipulation makes the unit very hard to scratch with. Even pulling off simple scratches will take some practice if you want to be on-beat. After an hour I was able to time everything just right to pull of baby scratches. Other than that, I would say this unit is best suited for mixing. I was able to use the platter to mix and match BPM’s by riding the platter into the position I needed it to be. That worked very well for an all in one unit. The Tempo sliders (found in the upper corners of the unit) are used to speed up or slow down the audio file on the corresponding deck while the plus/minus sync buttons below allow a DJ the ability to micro-adjust the tempo for more accurate beat-matching. Below the platters are the usual Play/Cue/CUP buttons that controls the playback of the track currently assigned to the deck.

Faders: The Faders of the Vestax Typhoon are better than what I had initially anticipated. The Crossfader is a short-throw fader that doesn’t have a curve adjustment, but was set at a happy medium which allowed me to pull of some elementary scratching while also being a wide enough curve for a smooth mix. The Crossfader glides relatively smooth with very light resistance. The Line faders are longer in throw and have a bit more resistance than the Crossfader, making them ideal for those long mixes. All in all, the faders are good and never showed any signs of degradation, but they do feel inferior in quality compared to other Vestax products. If the unit was a proper turntablist machine, then these faders wouldn’t last the test of time, but since this machine isn’t made for scratching; they should hold up just fine.

EQ: Each deck/channel has its own on-board Three-Band EQ (LOW, MID, HI). The EQ’s are adjusted using the three (center-click) red-metallic plastic sliders and they provide a complete kill when adjusted to the extremes. Next to the EQ sliders is a gain slider to ensure accurate volumes of the source mixes.

Effects: The effects found on-board are Filter, Delay, and Loop. The Filter effect is done by pressing the FILTER button which then turns the platter into an X-axis/Y-axis controller for the filter/flanger type effect. The Delay function is done by pressing the FX1 or FX2 button (depending on which deck the effect will be played on) and assigning the effect in the Traktor program. I assume there are ways to assign other effects, but this is what was available by default. Each channel/deck has its own LOOP SET function which allows the DJ to set a loop point and use the plus and minus buttons below to cut or increase the loop length. These extra functions made the Vestax Typhoon a lot more enjoyable to use and they are a welcomed addition to the experience.

Other: Other buttons found on the unit allow the user to select which deck will be monitored through the headphones (one button per channel) and a one-touch SONG LIST button allows for navigating through the playlists in the Traktor program using the arrow button below.

Conclusion (Recommended For):

At the end of the day, the Vestax Typhoon is highly recommended for Beginner DJ’s and DJ’s on the go who want a compact DJ setup. It’s ideal for someone who wants to become a DJ but isn’t really sure as to the extent they would like to get involved. The setup process was extremely simple and the price is very affordable. However, due to its plastic construction the Typhoon may not be a good choice for mobile DJs who expect their equipment to take abuse while on the road. Turntablists and serious professionals may also want to look elsewhere as the device is clearly not scratch-friendly (with audio delays and less-than-stellar faders) and it’s void of some features and benefits that a full 3+ piece setup would provide. That being said, this would be a great introductory setup for beginner DJs on a budget who are more interested in mixing tracks rather than beat juggling or scratching.

Pros:

-Very Affordable – ($299 MSRP)

-All-in-One USB Controller

-Great for Mixing/Beatmatching

-Perfect for Beginners and DJ’s on the go

-Super EASY Setup

Cons:

-Construction feels cheap

-Delays make intermediate/serious scratching impossible

-No fader curve adjustments

Buy Vestax Typhoon USB DJ MIDI Controller on Amazon

Pioneer HDJ-2000 Reference Pro DJ Headphones

2010-05-08T09:35:00.004-05:00

Pioneer has a real treat for DJs in the HDJ 2000 DJ headphones

Pioneer is nothing short of a DJ brand legend, with many of their DJ dedicated line of products being revered by working DJs all over the world. The best part is that this still happens as we speak, and Pioneer constantly comes out with new and improved DJ products, after which DJ equipment reviews will follow. This is the point of this post, which is going to be about the latest DJ product to join the Pioneer DJ headphones line, the HDJ 2000. The work that’s gone into the HDJ 2000 and the quality of the whole DJ product just oozes out of any DJ product review about them, and working DJs will be happy to know that even Pioneer, who came up with some great DJ equipment over the years, refers to the HDJ 2000 as the "ultimate professional DJ headphone".

If you know your DJ brands and expect nothing but the best from your Pioneer DJ products, then the HDJ 2000 is for you. However, that also means you know there’s going to be a hefty price attached to this DJ headphone model as well, and that can go all the way to over 350$, which will definitely discourage some DJs. Those still standing strong won’t be disappointed and won’t regret paying that much for the HDJ 2000, because Pioneer made sure it’s one purchase well worth being made by any working DJ.

The first thing any DJ product review should cover is the technical capabilities of the HDJ 2000, that’s how it sounds, because after all, they are made for monitoring. Well, the HDJ 2000 will probably leave you breathless for a second, as it’s got one of those punchy clear sounds that you dream about at nights. Pioneer designed the HDJ 2000 with a very high frequency response ranging from 5 Hz all the way to 30 kHz and an impedance of just 36 ohms, which really sets industry standards for DJ headphones nowadays. The HDJ 2000 are also very tightly insulated and being fully closed back DJ headphones, they are perfect to use in noisy clubs, as they keep most of the unwanted noise out of the ear cup. Although advertised as DJ headphones, the HDJ 2000’s features and technical performance make it just as suitable to being used in a studio, for extremely precise and accurate monitoring applications, thus appropriate for sound engineers or studio DJs as well.

HDJ 2000 don’t compromise anywhere, so working DJs can expect virtually everything from this DJ product review and their headphones. The fit of the HDJ 2000 is very comfortable but still snug and safe. Made with materials like flexible protein leather, heat sensitive memory foam and magnesium alloy, the HDJ 2000 will be a godsend for DJs playing long gigs, who have to continually monitor for extended periods of time. Here are some technical specs now for the HDJ 2000:

an outstanding maximum input of 3500 mW
the output sound level is at 107 dB/mW
50 mm driver unit and high flux magnets for perfect sound resolution
stereo/mono switch for easy monitoring, allowing also for one ear monitoring
the mini XLR connector is removable, which lets DJs replace the cord at anytime
great separation and high fidelity sound
1/8" gold plated mini plug with a 1/4" gold plated adapter

And finally, mobile DJs need not shy away from the HDJ 2000, as they’re as flexible and suitable for the roads as any DJ headphones out there, except they are second to none in performance. Not only are the HDJ 2000 folding, but they come with a carry pouch, the ear cups swivel to 90 degrees allowing for all monitoring positions, and everything just clicks into place, thus making sure stays the way you want it to. Pioneer even designed a new i-type of hinge on the HDJ 2000 which feels just natural, as it fits the hand at any time and in any position of the DJ gig. In the end, although the HDJ 2000 cost quite a bit, they’re on of those DJ product that you can’t go wrong with.

Buy Pioneer HDJ-2000 Reference Professional DJ Headphones on Amazon

Archos 5 500GB Internet Tablet

2010-05-07T08:57:00.002-05:00

Overview

Media players have gotten a lot of extra functionality over the last couple of years; Bluetooth, touchscreens, better video support and even more recently apps or widgets through special SDKs or flash. Perhaps the single most advanced media player on the market today is the Archos 5 Internet Tablet which runs the Android operating system on hardware that has more specs than half a dozen other players combined and that can run thousands upon thousands of Android apps, compared to other apps capable non-iPod players that can only show for a few apps. However, a player's ability to work well can't be read from specs alone. Read on for a full, very long review of the Archos 5 IT.

In the box/accessories

The box contains the microUSB cable (not miniUSB- microUSB is to be the new standard, though still not that common), earphones, DVR station adapter and random paperwork. As for optional accessories you have a whole range of those; various docks ranging from small charging docks to battery docks and full fledged DVR capable remote controlled dock stations, GPS mount, cases etc. You can really do a lot with this thing if you get a few accessories, and the DVR capabilities are a nice touch.

Hardware and design

The Archos 5 Android tablet has some very nice specs under the hood; 4.8” resistive touch screen with a resolution of 800x480, 800mHz ARM CPU, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth and capacities ranging from 8GB flash to 500GB HDD. All of these features are of course to make use of the operating system, which is Google’s Android- making the device more of a MID (Mobile Internet Device) than a PMP. Then again, you won’t find media format support like this on most Android devices.

The front of the player is mostly covered by the screen, with the exception of a mono speaker on the left side. Frankly it looks like a cellphone as the speaker is definitely placed to be used in portrait mode more than anything else. This is weird, since the only features on the player that makes most sense to be used in landscape mode is the video playback and that is also where you would be most likely to use the speaker at all. Therefore it’s a peculiar choice to go with a single speaker on one side of the player instead of stereo speakers (one on each side). They could even make the right speaker automatically turn off using the built in accelerometer if they wanted to, so that the result would be the same as it is now when used in portrait mode.

The left side of the player has the microUSB port as well as the 3.5mm (1/8”) audio jack. MicroUSB is seen by some as proprietary even though it’s not- in fact it’s becoming the standard for cell phone chargers in the very near future. Still, this isn’t a cell phone, and miniUSB would be a bit more useful (albeit that connector is thicker). A massive down-side of the device is the extremely slow charging through USB. USB of course charges at the same rate mA/V-wise, but the battery is apparently very large in this thing as it will take 5-6 hours+ to charge the battery fully depending on how much you tinker with the device while charging and the initial charge. Lithium based batteries charge 70% of the capacity in 1/3 of the total charge time and then the remaining 30% takes 2/3 of the total charge time. That paired with a battery indicator which has a tendency to jump all over the place for a couple of minutes after disconnecting makes it hard to determine average charge time as it depends on the initial charge and how stable the battery indicator decides to be. It won’t charge without turning itself on completely (if off), so that doesn’t exactly help with quick charging either as it has to run the device off the battery while charging it. You can use a USB charging with a higher mA rating to help the charging time a bit, but the best option is to get one of the smaller docks which come with AC adapters. The mini dock I got is pretty cheap and will charge the device a lot faster.

The bottom of the device has all the connectors that are used for docking; two proprietary HDMI-looking (though not actually HDMI) connectors as well as two exposed metal plates/connectors. I only have the mini dock myself which only uses one of the docking ports and not the exposed metal connectors, but I’m guessing they’re all in use on the larger docks such as the DVR station which is a lot more complex. Both the flash and HDD devices use the same docks, but the larger docks require a dock adapter (included with the device) to fit the different sized devices. Size-wise there’s a rather noticeable difference between the HDD and flash versions as the 2.5” HDD in the HDD versions add quite a bit of thickness to the device, turning it from a slim tablet into a fat blob that looks more like a UMPC. The bottom of the flash version of the device also has a microSDHC slot for extending the capacity, which is another difference between the HDD and flash versions as the HDD version doesn’t have that slot.

The top of the device holds the on/off button as well as the volume buttons. The back side is also very minimalistic, holding only the flip-out kickstand and the reset hole. Frankly, considering how buggy this device is (more on that later), the reset hole shouldn’t be a hole as much as it should be a normal button (or a switch, to stop accidental presses) since you’re likely to use it at least as much as the volume buttons and finding something like a paperclip to press the button in the hole is often hard.

The overall design of the device is pretty similar to that of the Archos5 non-Android, with the exception of a wider frame on the left and right side of the screen. This one is also plastic for the frame and with metal on the back and around the screen. The build quality feels very nice despite the plastic parts and the flash version feels like a very solid device. The HDD version is thicker, which means that it’s a lot more of a hassle to both hold and drag around with you, adding considerable bulk to any pocket.

Screen

The screen is what really stands out on this device, as 4.8” with an 800x480 resolution is extremely nice for things like photos and video. The screen looks very nice, has a great viewing angle and great colors, and I often use the Archos to watch videos on the go even if I have my netbook with me because the screen looks so much better. Watching anything on this is simply a delight. However, there’s a downside: the touch technology used. Dear manufacturers of MP3 players: you do NOT put a resistive touch screen on ANYTHING. Not anymore. It’s simply unacceptable, and the single biggest downside of the Archos 5 IT, and the reason it’s borderline a joke to put Android on. To make it even worse, this resistive screen is one of the least responsive ones I’ve used, which says a lot when it comes to resistive touch screens. For those that don’t know, there are two main types of touch screens used: resistive and capacitive screens. Capacitive screens can be found in devices like the Cowon S9, Zune HD and iPhone/iPod touch and work by detecting the tiny electrical field your skin generates. This allows for things like multitouch (on some devices), using glass or hard plastic screens and generally way better responsiveness. Resistive screens however, aren’t really touch screens as much as they are pressure sensitive screens; they have a plastic membrane on top of the screen which reacts to physical pressure. This allows you to use styli and other objects with no electrical field to interact with the screen, but it’s also more vulnerable (due to the need for that plastic membrane and hence you can’t put a hard protective screen on top) and a lot less responsive. Part of what makes it less responsive is the fact that since you have to physically press down on the screen, you get more friction when moving your finger while pressing down, and you also risk that the touch sensitive membrane shifts and needs a recalibration or that it registers the pressure in the wrong place. I’ll touch more on why this is a very big deal on this device later in the review, but the bottom line is that Archos shouldn’t ever have used this outdated technology on a device like this. It’s like trying to sell a 2010 model car that needs to be started with a hand crank.

Firmware

At the time of this writing, the latest firmware version is 1.7.77 which is based on Android 1.6, aka “Donut”. I’ve had the device since November, and was originally planning on doing this rather extensive review during the Christmas holidays. On December 24th however, Archos released firmware 1.6.08 which was based on Android 1.6 as well, but pulled it just hours after release due to an “issue” with the browser. Archos put up a notice saying that they’d hope to have it ready for Christmas, but would instead delay it “a few days”.

Optimism got the best of me, and that wasn’t a good thing. By the time it was released the calendar showed January 20th. Hopefully this review will stay relevant for a while with this milestone out of the way, although Archos didn’t really add that much in the OS upgrade. It now supports the device’s resolution natively, which isn’t really noticeable in the base OS, but should mean that more apps will work. Archos release firmware rather frequently so bugs will get fixed and features added fairly often, but there’s no word on when the device will get Android version 2.0.

To actually upgrade the firmware, you simply use the internal function to do so over-the-air or manually download the firmware file and put it on your device. It’s recommended by Archos that you reset the device after upgrading to make it more stable, but frankly I’d personally recommend you wipe it at least 2-3 times using the restore feature every time you update the firmware. You might think I’m joking, but it actually is so bad that just reflashing the firmware doesn’t seem to actually clean the device and so you need to forcefully do so several times to make it run with less bugs and crashes. To add insult to injury, it cleans away all your apps and settings when you do so, leaving a hell of a mess to clean up and reinstall everything once the firmware is updated. That added with firmware updates as often as every week in some cases, makes the firmware aspect of the device an epic nightmare. You can say whatever you like about the proprietary nature of iTunes, but at least Apple has enough sense to include a backup-and-restore feature with the firmware update of their devices. I can’t even begin to tell how many times I’ve calibrated the touchscreen and accelerometer, told it my time zone, typed in my WiFi password and so on. I more or less gave up on having apps on the device as it would take me hours to get the device back how I liked it after each firmware update.

Interface

The Archos’ Android screen is basically divided in two main parts; a top menu that’s there at all times and a content area. On the desktop you’ll also have a tab you can pull out on the right to bring up the application list, and in most apps you have a second bar at the bottom with various controls. The top menu bar holds a permanent “back to desktop”-button, a back button, a drop down menu that varies depending on the application/menu you’re in, various indicators (WiFi, battery, clock) and a notification area. The notifications can be everything from a new unread email or Tweet to an application update, USB connection status, media library update in progress and so on. It’s more or less like the system tray on a Windows computer. The back button is probably the button you’ll use the most as it’s used for everything from skipping to the previous folder when navigating files to hiding the on-screen keyboard. The drop-down menu beside it will also change depending on the app you’re in, from bringing up a menu to accessing options and so on. To continue the Windows comparison, it’s like the “file” menu on top of every app in Windows.

It’s also possible to activate “button mode” which will move the top bar button to the side and add an on-screen d-pad to give you another navigation option. I don’t particularly like this mode myself as touchscreen navigation is both faster and more accurate, but the option is there if you want to give it a try.

Desktop

The Archos uses a landscape mode Android desktop as its main menu, which is a desktop that spreads out over three screens. This is actually somewhat of a pain to get wallpaper working on as it spreads the wallpaper over three screens (instead of repeating), and a picture optimized for that will have to be very long and it will also get messed up in those menus that display wallpaper when the device is in portrait mode as the resolution will then be 800 which will leave you with a decent amount of missing space if you have a wallpaper that is optimized for the desktop. Also unlike most apps and menus on the device, the main desktop won’t rotate to portrait mode so even if you’re in an app and have turned the device to make the accelerometer rotate the screen, exiting the app will bring you back to a landscape oriented desktop.

Apps are accessed in three different ways on the device; the application list, desktop shortcuts, and widgets. The application list is a list you can access by opening the tab on the right side of the screen and simply list every app on the device. Pressing and holding any of these apps will let you drag a shortcut to the desktop, which doesn’t have to list all the apps or even any of them. Think of it as the start menu in Windows versus the desktop, exactly the same principle. Widgets on the other hand are desktop-only and are small running apps that can do a variety of things from controlling settings (backlight, WiFi on/off etc) to displaying pictures, news feeds from the Internet, battery status and so on. Widgets aren’t new to MP3 players of course as players like the Samsung P3 use them as well, and you can also use widgets on computer desktops, so the concept will be familiar to many people. Interestingly enough, the whole Archos-provided software package is accessible from a widget and only a widget, and none of the Archos-specific features will show up as an app. This widget consists of 5 bigger icons that can only be placed as a group and that have sub-menus that pop up when you touch them. For those that have used a PSP or PS3, think of this “launcher”(as it’s actually called) as a XMB with a horizontal, parallel secondary icon axis. The fact that you can’t access any of the Archos features in any other way or individually place icons is annoying as it takes up a lot of space on your main desktop. I for one never use the Media Club or Games icons and would happily place them on the secondary desktop to make room for more applications shortcuts on the main desktop. Even more so I’d like to be able to have normal sized icons for those features as well. It’s not overcrowded there yet with only free apps to choose from, but might be once there’s direct access to paid apps.

The lack of a portrait mode desktop is also a bit of a let down at times especially because it’s the only part of the device that doesn’t support it (except video playback). Android in itself is made for cellphones first and foremost, which are usually portrait mode, though the high resolution of the Archos’ screen negates any issues that would arise with widgets designed for portrait mode. It does make it a bit clumsy to use on the go however as you don’t get a good grip on the thing with one hand if you have to hold it in landscape mode. Another small annoyance is that you can’t add shortcuts directly to Archos media center (the name of the media aspect of the device) components. For instance, I’d like a shortcut on the desktop that brings me directly to Music->Internal storage->Playlist, but that’s not possible. This isn’t really a feature I’d expect to be there, but since you have a giant desktop made for shortcuts and widgets it would have been a nice touch. Another missing “nice touch” is also a playback control widget that would let you control music playback from the desktop.

Media Center

As I mentioned above the whole Archos side of the device software is a widget on the desktop that launches an app called the Media Center. For music, videos and photos you have the ability to browse either by internal storage (or SD card) or network. These options are more or less just filtering file browsers and you can find the files just fine using the normal file browser. In fact, the Archos browser requires a library database file to find files, a feature which has proven to be quite buggy. Crashing is one thing, but more annoying is when it simply can't find any files. As I write this I have 5-10 videos on the device, and only the stock file browser can find them- the Archos browser refuses to acknowledge there are any media files on the device at all. You also don't have the ability to move files around, which you can do with the stock file browser.

Video browsing

The video browser is pretty basic, listing the files and showing a small animated thumbnail beside it. A nice touch, but it takes a few seconds to make the thumbnail appear, so it's mostly an aesthetic thing when you browse for the sake of browsing not for quickly finding a file. You can also browse in portrait mode, where the view is the same as in landscape just adjusted for the different relative resolution. The video part of the desktop widget also has options for a TV scheduler and video recorder; however these are features that require the DVR station to work at all. This is the first you'll see mentioned of something that is very typical on this device; menu items and features that look good, but that require additional plugins or accessories. You get access to some new features (web radio etc) via a free plugin when you register the device, which is just a not-so-subtle way of forcing you to register the device, but you have to pay for a LOT on this device. Video codecs, GPS software, hardware accessories, games and so on. Sometimes this device reminds me of a cheap airline flight; you have to spend extra to make use of things you thought you were getting in the original price.

Music browsing

With the music browser, you get more of a media experience when browsing compared to the stock file browser. You have the option to browse by folders, cover art, artist, album, title, genre, year and rating as well as an option to browse playlists. In landscape mode, you have a sidebar on the left of the list you browse which displays information about the selected file/folder. This range from showing how many albums there are when selecting "albums", to showing album art and track info when going deeper into the browser. You can also delete files as well as search for files and create and manage playlists from the browser. If you hold the player in portrait mode however, you just get the clean list of files and no extra info. This method is more useful for simple browsing as you see more of the music list and it’s easier to scroll fast. There’s something special about browsing you music on a 4.8” screen, a feeling you simply don’t get with anything smaller.

Unfortunately the experience is ruined by the slow and awkward list scrolling on the device- an issue that’s with every list from settings to video files but most noticeable with music since those lists tend to be the longest. The first has to do with it being a resistive touch screen as mentioned earlier. The friction caused by the fact you have to physically press down on the screen to make it react makes it feel like you have to use force to pull the lists up and down, especially if you’re used to capacitive screens. The second is a combination of slight lag when moving about the menus and the lack of a feedback mechanism for when you reach the top or bottom of a list. Other manufacturers such as Microsoft has solved this in different ways by making the lists expand or snap back into place, but on the Archos 5 IT it simply stops. Since anyone who’s had this device for more than 5 minutes have already discovered that a list that isn’t scrolling doesn’t equate a list that has nothing to scroll to (due to lag and an unresponsive screen), you’ll find yourself trying to scroll past the end of a list a lot. Again, if you’re used to interfaces that solves this in a more user friendly manner, it sort of feels like an elevator that doesn’t gradually slow down but rather goes from full speed to full stop in a millisecond. It’s another great example that Archos are great hardware designers, but really should outsource the entire software part of their devices to someone else…

One nifty feature that deserves a mention is the cover browsing mode for music. This basically lists music by album art only, where the highlighted album is slightly larger than the rest. It’s very basic and since this mode is more or less only for eye candy use it could learn a lot from other media browsers, particularly Canola comes to mind as an example of what this feature could have been like. The fact it takes forever to load the album art before it can display them properly doesn’t exactly help the usefulness of the feature, and there’s a lot that could and should have been done to make it useable.

Photo browsing

The photo browser is basically the photo version of the album art browser. It displays pictures in the same way once you navigate to a folder that contains actual pictures, and the same basic issues apply as well. I transferred about 150 photos to the device after resizing them to fit the screen perfectly, which means photos that are about 0.3-0.4 mega pixels. Even with pictures that small, it took about 1.5 seconds to cache each and every thumbnail which means that since it displays 24 photos on the screen at a time, every new screen I scrolled down meant 40 seconds of it simply loading thumbnails. When viewing the photos full screen and scrolling through them that way, you just get a very choppy animated transition that makes it look like the entire device is going to hang. I really don’t get what the 800Mhz is doing all the time but it has to be sitting in the background playing with itself or something because in every single aspect of the interface the Archos 5 is slow, sluggish and choppy and has a lot more trouble keeping up than the Nokia N800 tablet I had a few years ago had, and that thing had the same resolution and only a 400Mhz CPU. Bottom line is that with an interface this slow, you really have to want to show off pictures to use this device for it. The slideshow option in the photo browser is rather ironic as slideshow is a perfect description for the interface itself. Though if you do want to watch photos on the device, at least the big, nice looking screen will make the actual picture look great…once it loads.

Video

Codec support

Despite it running Android, having a GPS, games etc the Archos 5 Android is still really a PMP. The main reason most people would buy this device is for video, since that is what it’s designed for. A giant, gorgeous high resolution screen and all the format support you could imagine is pushed into the device, and this aspect of the player works rather well. On paper, the supported video formats are MPEG-4 up to 720p (this of course includes codecs such as Xvid), WMV up to 480p and h264 up to 720p. You can further add support for WMV HD and MPEG-2 by buying an additional plugin. MKV support is also listed in the video specs on Archos’ site, however since MKV is not a video codec but rather a video container (see this if you’re not following) it’s a peculiar thing to list one single container format among the actual video codecs supported (without listing other containers such as MP4 or AVI), but I guess they just want to get the point across. Either way, the point is that all those MKV-packaged h264 files out there will play on the Archos 5 IT as long as the resolution is 720p or lower, where 720p = 1280x720 pixels. To cut even more to the chase: this device is optimized to play 99% of all illegal video files on the Internet, so all those episodes of House that you haven’t downloaded because it’s illegal would have played if you had downloaded them. Which you haven’t, of course. The same goes for the 720p versions of such files, they will also work fine.

The Archos 5 IT also supports YouTube, although the Android YouTube app is not possible to get a hold of without going beyond the official support of the device- more on this in the app section. You can browse through the browser of course, and any video that support mobile viewing will open full screen in the video player. That also includes 720p YouTube videos, though the stability of that feature has been so-so the last couple of firmware releases. There’s also been some instability with regards to the playback of other codecs with videos that have been encoded in a specific way, such as with weighted p frames or subtitles, but a lot of these issues have been fixed. Refer to the firmware change log to see a full list of video codec fixes.

As for having to buy additional codec support on the side, that has always been a touchy subject with Archos as they’ve done it in the past too, even with things like web browsers. There is a certain logic to keeping the licensing cost of codecs at a minimum and letting customers decide for themselves what they need, but the pricing Archos has for these additional features makes it very clear that monetary gain is the real point behind it. As I’ve said before, the whole device looks ad support when you first look around the menus, and having to buy plugins to get full functionality on a device this expensive is greed and nothing more. Not that it will stop Archos from doing it in the future, I’m sure.

Video playback

All the video playback is handled in landscape mode only and full screen, be it normal video or YouTube. You have a progress bar on the bottom which can be used to scan through the videos, and I’m impressed by how fast it gets back on track after you’ve done so- no waiting/caching while it gets everything going again. You can also scan using the next/previous buttons, which is equally smooth. On the bottom left corner you have the play/pause button, and some videos also play/pause when you tap the screen to bring up the controls. I say “some”, because I haven’t been able to find a logical pattern to this as some videos don’t pause when you tap the screen, while others do. The right side of the video playback screen is the volume control, which can either be controlled on-screen or using the dedicated buttons on top. If you bring up the drop-down menu from the top right corner you get options including file info, screen format (full screen, original etc), speed, video and sound settings and options to use the current frame as wallpaper or the video file thumb. The video settings are pretty handy as they not only have options for play mode- something normally reserved for music on a lot of players- but also lets you control the screen brightness without leaving the video player to access either the desktop widget or settings menu to do so. What I do miss however is a bookmarking feature, as the auto-resume feature isn’t stable even with the internal videos and don’t work at all with network streaming. Speaking of streaming, you can stream video from UPnP servers and view them directly, as well as transferring them to the player (though the latter is slow and requires you to use the stock file browser as the Archos Media Center doesn’t support this). I have all my computers set to share media and the Archos found them all and was able to play media from them. It’s a bit slow with indexing servers, but it works just fine. All in all video playback is what this device is made for, and it accomplishes the task very well. Between support for all kinds of formats and a very nice screen to watch the videos on, it’s really a good video player despite its other massive flaws (which I’ll get to later).

Music

Codec support

As with video formats the Archos 5 IT can play just about any common music format out there; MP3, WMA, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis and AAC. If you buy the “cinema” plugin for video you also get AC3 support, which is an audio format but used for audio in videos not standalone music. The latter even supports 5.1 if you have the DVR station and can use optical out, which is a neat feature to have if you have a surround receiver. Considering the fact this device can be found with capacities up to 500GB, FLAC support might at least in theory be a nice offering to audiophiles, though the sound quality is a different matter I’ll touch on later.

Music playback

Unlike the video player, the music player can be used in both landscape and portrait. You have the same info on the playback screen of both modes, just arranged a bit differently. In landscape, you have the progress bar and fast forward/rewind buttons on the bottom with the play/pause and next/previous buttons above that. The volume bar is located on the right, and the middle of the screen is filled with album art, track info and it also shows what song is coming next, which is a neat feature. In portrait mode the setup is basically the same, but the album art is bigger and placed above the track info. The progress bar is also smaller, and the volume bar bigger to compensate from the different relative resolution. I personally prefer portrait mode as holding a music player this big in landscape makes the device feel oversized and “two handed”. 4.8” of music playback screen is also somewhat overwhelming, but still very nice to look at. I wish they’d allow for customizing the playback screen however, as I’d personally prefer to have larger album art and smaller track info font size. Nitpicking aside, the interface looks good and clean for what it does. Settings-wise, you have sound settings for speakers on/off as well as a 5 band equalizer and play modes. Nothing too fancy, but it will do the job. You can also set bookmarks and rate the songs from the playback menu, though as I said under video the bookmarking feature would have been much more useful for video, not music. Especially since this isn’t optimized for podcasts or audio books.

Applications

Being an Android device, the Archos can run a very large number of applications, making it the only media player beside the iPod touch that can do so if you ignore the half-assed attempts of players like the Cowon S9, Samsung P3, Zune HD and Creative X-fi 2 at doing so. Without the massive infrastructure of a multi-million device OS, you simply won’t get the developer support for a decent infrastructure. Luckily, Android has such an infrastructure, and the Archos 5 IT can run most of these apps- kind of. Archos is apparently doing their own “we can do it ourselves” thing with the app approach on the Archos 5 IT, and initially you only have access to a few built in apps and an app “store” called AppsLib. You can only access a few hundred free apps from the AppsLib library, if you can even get that far that is- AppsLib is the single buggiest application I have ever encountered on any platform. I have yet to be able to browse more than a few of apps before the app has committed some sort of amazingly peculiar virtual suicide and gone off to sulk in the corner until the next reboot.

Luckily there are alternatives, though not to the full capabilities of the device. You can basically install any app you want as long as you can get a hold of the .apk file (Android version of .exe). However, since these files are distributed mainly through the official device-only Android Market on other Android devices, getting these on the Archos is a pain in the rear bumper as it doesn’t have Market at all. There is a hack to get Market on the device, but only for free apps. There are also other third party app stores, but only free apps can be “bought” from those too at the moment. To get paid apps onto the device you basically have to get a hold if it via another Android device or get it from someone who sells the .apk files through a website not an app. The result of all this is two-fold; first off, you can’t get nearly as many apps as you can on an Android phone (since you can’t get paid apps), and also the ones you can get very often have ads in them- because they’re free. The upside is that several big content providers have apps that are already free (since the content is what you pay for), so at least you can get those on there without having to wade through heaps of ads first.

Included apps

There are several pre-installed apps on the device when you first get it, though these will quickly get lost once you start updating the firmware. You can get them back though, it’s just another annoyance you have to deal with. First off you have the GPS application, which is just a trial- the full version will cost you more of your hard-earned cash. The price depends on your country and map packages, but generally around 50 Euro. There’s a 5 day trial if you want to check it out first. More info on the GPS here.

Deezer is a music streamer app that only has a limited library of songs, all of them free. Then you have Craigsphone- a Craigslist app, Dailymotion (access to Dailymotion videos), DroidIn-lite (Linked-in profiles), a DVB-T app that can only be used with an unreleased DVB-T adapter. Ebuddy (instant messaging). High Paying Jobs (job finder), Moov (search utility), Quickpedia (Wikipedia), ThinkFreeMobile (document reader) and Yellowbook (yellow pages app). Most of these are just spam put there probably due to sponsorship agreements, and are rather useless. That is, some people might find them useable, but not enough people to actually warrant having them preinstalled. It’s just like bloatware on a new computer, and it continues to prove my point about this thing being a “cheap airline ticket”. ThinkFreeMobile is the exception, as it’s the only way to read documents on the device by default, and the screen is nice for reading documents; for school, work or whatever. The last built in application is called Twidroid, and is a Twitter client. This will be completely useless if you don’t use Twitter, but if you do it’s actually a rather nice piece of software...

Web browser

One built in app that should get its own section is the web browser. You can install other browsers if you like, but the built in one is fairly decent. It works in both landscape and portrait and will trigger the mobile version of sites if available. This is a nuisance at times as 800x480 is enough of a resolution to view the normal page of many sites, and not all of them are so good at putting links to the default versions easily available- others are broken easily by links and you’re back to the dumbed down mobile version. To save screen real estate they’ve also removed the address bar and put it under the menu, which also handles bookmarks and tabs. You can download files as well as search for text on the site, which are handy features for a mobile browser. The zoom settings are unfortunately very awkward, as the “auto fit” setting has a life of its own. There are manual zoom controls, but you shouldn’t have to tell it that you hate horizontal scrolling every time you load a page. As for speed, it loads pages pretty fast but suffers from being a bit choppy and sluggish when moving around content intensive pages. Put in another way; the resolution speaks for full web pages, the speed speaks for mobile versions. Going back to the N800 example, the Archos 5 IT certainly isn’t any better at handling the web, which isn’t a good thing seeing how it’s (in theory) a lot more powerful. I personally wouldn’t use this browser for any extended periods of time as it’s simply too sluggish, and the resistive screen makes it a pain in the dorsal USB port to do anything.

Keyboard

The keyboard is technically an app as it can be switched out for other (better) keyboards. The default one is available in both landscape and portrait and will pop up when you click on a text input field of some sort. It has everything you need with regards to symbols and special characters, but it also has some major flaws. One thing that particularly annoyed me was getting rid of it; there’s no “down keyboard, down” button and it doesn’t react to pressing somewhere else on the page/app to indicate “this is what I want to focus on”. In fact it took me a while to get the logic of using the “back” button to hide the keyboard, as pressing the “back” button when you’ve spent a few minutes typing in text is the last thing you’d do in a web browser. The keyboard and top menu bar combined also do a fairly good job at hiding everything else on the screen, so you often find yourself typing blindly. None of this however is as bad as the hardware aspect; oh yes, here we go again with the resistive keyboard. This is where the flaws of this outdated technology really shows, as the keyboard is extremely hard to type on without a LOT of errors. I use an iPhone daily, so I’m used to touch screen keyboards, but the difference between a capacitive and a resistive screen is so high that I have ten times more spelling errors and 1/5 the typing speed on the Archos’ 4.8” screen in landscape mode than I have on the 3.5” iPhone screen in portrait mode- which is about half the size. It has nothing to do with either device’s software, but rather the hardware. With a capacitive screen, you only have to slightly touch the screen for it to notice the input, which means less distance for your finger to travel and less distance for it to clear to avoid gracing other keys when removing the finger from the key. The very tip of your finger is rather pointy, and so it becomes fairly accurate when you get used to it. A resistive screen however, as it requires a physical pressure to react, won’t react to the pressure of just the tip of your finger because it’s not enough to “dent” the pressure sensitive membrane. You need to force the finger down harder, which flattens the tip of your finger from the pressure, making it blunter. This in turn makes it less accurate. Combine this with the weaker accuracy of the technology in itself (same reason it needs calibration; the membrane moves around slightly and isn’t as accurately aligned with what’s actually on the screen as with a capacitive touch screen). As the keyboard is designed for thumbs more than anything, and thumbs are the largest fingers with the most “padding” to make it blunt, the end result is a keyboard that is very annoying to use with your fingers. Check out the video below to see my point more clearly. Now the good news is that the Archos 5 IT supports both Bluetooth and USB keyboards (the latter requires a dock with a USB port) so it’s not all lost, in fact the Nokia N800 I’ve mentioned wasn’t any different when it came to the keyboard as it too had a resistive screen, and I used that for school by carrying a foldable Bluetooth keyboard. If you really want to be productive with this device- as an email or forum device or anything that requires a lot of typing- you can. The issue however is with daily use; typing URLs, user names etc. For such uses you probably won’t bother connecting a keyboard, and will be stuck with the on-screen one.

Google Apps

While Archos hasn’t yet gotten an agreement with Google (or whatever the problem is) to include the standard Android package with the Archos 5 IT, there are ways to get it working. With the current firmware, all you need is an .apk file and you can get all the glory of Android Market and other Google apps right there on your Archos. For information on how to do this as well as other useful links and information, check this site. When you have it installed, you’ll have a YouTube app, Gmail, Google Maps and Market on your Archos. Market will only show free apps, but you still have an enormous selection compared to the stock app store, and even though you’ll see a lot of ads due to the apps being free you can find most of what you need there. YouTube and Gmail aren’t that useful since the built in email app is decent enough and browsing YouTube videos through the browser is a better choice since they will then play in Archos Media Center instead of the YouTube app (the latter had some playback issues when I tried it), but Google Maps is very useful if you don’t want to pay for GPS software. It’s not the Google Nav version though, just normal Google Maps, so it’s more of a map book than a GPS, but it’s still useful.

eReader

There are a lot of third party apps that are useful on this device, though as a media centric device there are a few that stands out. eReader is one of those, and it’s basically a client for reader ereader.com books. These are paid books bought from ereader.com (aka fictionwise) and they have software clients for multiple platforms and a great selection. I’ve used them on other devices before and it’s a great service that takes advantage of the big Archos screen. Of course it’s an LCD not e-ink display, but if you don’t mind reading on such screens it’s perfect. Personally I actually prefer LCDs as I tend to read in the dark at night and like having the backlight there, even if it’s turned down almost all the way. The app can be downloaded for free by going to ereader.com/android on your Archos and downloading the installer. If you want to read free books, the Market and the other app stores have several eBook readers that will let you read non-DRM formats and you can also find heaps of comics; both comic readers and comic strip clients for web comics and so on. The one thing I do miss is a Zinio client, a service I myself use a lot. They sell digital editions of paper magazines and just launched a very nice iPhone client, though it took them 9-10 months so I don’t know if an Android client is realistic in the close future. 480x800 would be a lot better to read magazines on than 320x480, so if they do make a client it will add a lot of functionality to the Archos 5 IT, at least speaking for myself.

Spotify, Listen, Last.fm etc

Android may not be able to compete with the iPhone’s range of apps, but a lot of services are starting to come out on Android as well. Spotify is one example, which is a music service I’ve reviewed and showed off on the Archos 5 before http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2009/12/spotify-review.php. Google Listen is an Android-only piece of software that is basically an advanced podcast application, and should definitely be a useful tool for those who love podcasts. There are also other services such as Pandora, Last.FM and others available, though I can’t attest to any of those personally as they are US only services. The point is that as I said earlier, Android is a real OS compared to what Microsoft, Creative and the other manufacturers are calling application ready, and that also means you have access to a lot of media services through various downloadable apps. It’s a pain in the exhaust pipe to get a hold of the clients at the moment due to the app store limitations put in place by Archos, but once you actually get the installer most apps made for Android 1.6 should work just fine (obviously I haven’t tried them all, but haven’t run into any issues so far).

Social sites

I already mentioned Twidroid as one of many Twitter clients for Android, and of course Facebook has its own application as well. It’s not really designed for this large a screen and look a bit off at times, but it works great and let’s you check up on what people are doing whenever you want. As with media services you can expect to find clients for a lot of social sites out there, and if not you can always access them online. Our own forum is perfectly useable from the web browser, although the keyboard leaves you with some limitations for productivity (unless of course you add an external keyboard as I said earlier).

Other apps

Apple tends to brag about 140000 apps in their app store, but if you subtract all the fart simulators and flashlight apps you get considerably less. The same concept goes for Android, especially since you’re limited to free apps for the time being. There are however still nice apps to be found, some of them I’ve mentioned above. You can also find games, productivity apps, desktop widgets and other peculiarities that work surprisingly well for free apps, but you’re going to have to wade through a lot of crap to find those gems. Installing the “market hack” to get Android Market on the device is definitely recommended as it has the most crap but also the most useful applications, both due to being the biggest, and there’s a lot of stuff you simply can’t find in the third party app stores- especially not in AppsLib.

Buy Archos 5 500 GB Internet Tablet with Android on Amazon

Native-Instruments Maschine review

2010-05-06T20:31:00.007-05:00

Although Native Instruments has produced hybrid hardware/software products in the past (notably Kore and Guitar Rig), Maschine represents an ambitious step forward.

With every feature of the software built into the impressive MPC-like desktop controller, it's easy to forget that the real power of Maschine lies at the other end of the USB cable within your computer. So, is Maschine hardware and software in perfect harmony?

Overview

First, it's important to get your head around what exactly Maschine is. It's billed as a groove production studio for your computer and to this end, it comes with a huge library of drum kits, loops and instrument presets, plus an environment to process, sample and sequence them into patterns and songs.

The hardware element is a USB-powered controller (not an audio interface), which is used for anything tactile while all the 'sounds stuff' is done by the software. The software interface is great, but the screens and controls on the hardware make it impressively redundant.

NI provides separate DVD installer disks for Mac and PC users and you can choose to install the software, plug-in (VST, AU, RTAS) and library, which will take around 10-20 minutes depending on your drive speed.

The library is meticulously organised and tagged (as you would expect from the inventors of Kore) and you can browse for complete kits or individual sounds. These include all kinds of instruments as well as drums and sound effects, elevating the Maschine beyond a mere 'beatbox'. Everything can be saved: kits, effects, songs, the works.

The controller

The hybrid metal/plastic enclosure of the Maschine hardware is slim and light, perfect for partnering with a laptop and slotting into a backpack for gigs. The jet-black paintwork has a minimal amount of labelling and graphics, giving it an uncluttered, stealth-like appearance we love.

All the buttons are made from the same rubbery plastic and benefit from under lighting. The pads are similar to those on Korg's padKontrol, but chunkier. They are a tiny bit smaller than an MPC's and have a higher profile too, but feel similarly 'stern' and serious.

The two-level lighting is a nice touch. The faint glow means you can always aim for the pads, while the bright glow shows you which beats are being triggered by the sequencer.

The dual LCD displays, meanwhile, are flanked by a set of eight buttons and endless encoders. These feel nice and solid and are used for most of the editing jobs as well as live performance.

Round the back there's a pair of MIDI sockets for hooking up other gear. When the Maschine hardware is connected to a computer, the ports show up as a regular MIDI interface in audio applications.

However, it's important to note that, currently, the Maschine software can't send its internal sequences as MIDI messages so it can't trigger your external gear over MIDI (though we have heard a rumour that this functionality could be added in the next significant update).

It's up to you to decide how much of a problem this is. It can output MIDI clock, operating as either master or slave, and you can attach a keyboard for playing the Maschine's instruments (there's also a special keyboard mode on the controller for note-based play).

MIDI mode

All those knobs, buttons and pads can be put to good use with the rest of your studio gear by switching Maschine into MIDI control mode. Pressing the shift and control buttons will get your there, and the lights and display follow suit and disengage from their Maschine functions.

Bizarrely, the manual makes almost no mention of this, aside from pointing to the control button, so a bit of exploration was necessary.

There are 10 pre-programmed templates, which cover general MIDI control as well as a selection of NI's instruments, Traktor Pro, Ableton Live and Mackie HUI. You can make your own in the Controller Editor that installs with the main Maschine software.

The pads dish out velocity sensitive MIDI note messages, starting at C-1. The group buttons also transmit Note messages, but also act as octave buttons for transposing the pads up and down.

The knobs all transmit MIDI CC messages, as do almost all the others, save for the two arrow buttons. These swap between two control layers for doubling up the amount controls for the eight knobs and buttons around the LCD.

You don't need to have the Maschine software running to use MIDI control mode.

How does it work?

In essence, Maschine is an eight-track sequencer which can use up to eight separate kits or instruments. Users can build up a track, starting by constructing individual instrument patterns, which are the smallest building block.

You can then start layering patterns from the different kits/instruments into a scene, and then arrange up to 64 scenes into a song. Each sequencer track uses a 'group', which could be a drum kit, instrument or selection of single hits.

A drum kit consists of up to 16 individual 'sounds', which are assigned to individual pads for programming. However, you are not limited to one sample per pad, because a sound can use several samples. These can be arranged across velocity layers for expressive results.

The layering is not as sophisticated as in Battery, but we were pleasantly surprised to find that a pad could also be played chromatically by switching to keyboard mode. This means you can layer samples across a keyboard, with different samples on every key.

You can only add new layers via the software, and not the hardware controller, but given the advantages of a big display and mouse – why wouldn't you? This is where you begin to get a feel for the workflow, and what tasks are better suited to the computer and the controller. The division of labour between the two feels spot on.

Back to sequencing side, you can create up to 64 different patterns per group (16 patterns each in four banks), and patterns have a maximum length of 256 bars. All lengths can be accommodated and the time signature is set at global level.

Creating beats is nice and easy. There's a built in metronome and auto-quantising for real old-skool drum machine instant results. Notes can be hard quantised or gradually by steps of 50%, while erasing is performed by pressing record and holding down the offending pad. Just like the old days.

There's no need to ever stop while recording patterns, switching groups, or loading new sounds, either. The pads have an extra programming mode for multiple samples on pads.

If you're not up to playing your beats (despite all the auto assistance) your next option is to program in step mode, whereby each pad represents one step of the pattern (as on an old-school drum machine). The backlighting switches intelligently to show you the steps and sequence position.

Beyond basic sequencing, Maschine offers a massive amount of scope for editing and parameter automation. These can be tweaked and recorded in real-time or through the software interface.

Sampling

Got your head around it so far? Well, let's take it to the next level. Once you have a killer loop, you might want to re-sample it. Maschine can do this, rendering a pattern to a single loop for manipulation, and you can add your own sounds by sampling them through your audio interface inputs or through the plug-in's virtual input in your DAW.

Tools such as Auto Beat Length make the job faster and more streamlined and the hardware has all the controls necessary to get the job done. Just set the start and end points and you've got new sounds in no time.

For loop junkies and remixers, beat slicing is an essential tool for speeding up the process of getting individual hits from a loop and into a new groove. Maschine has a set of internal slicing tools that are accessed via the Sampling view button.

The plug-in window is the best way to use these: it shows the waveform and the slice regions. Two modes are available – transients and 16ths - and Maschine will try to calculate a BPM automatically. However, you can also set it manually.

At this point, we should say that it's essential to download Maschine's OS 1.02, or you won't have these options. Currently, a gripe that remains is that if you need to slice your loops to anything other than 16ths, you'll need to work around by doubling or halving the tempo to get the right size chunk.

It's frustrating that you can't manually move markers before slicing, but you can after using the 'Apply to' function. This puts each beat on a pad, where you can manually adjust each start and end point.

Before we move one, we have to mention one bizarre omission: REX file support. Maybe in a software update?

Swing

As the emphasis is on live beat programming, the swing and quantise functions are essential humanising tools. Swing can be applied at two different levels of hierarchy. This can be on a part-by-part basis or as a global function. This is so that individual parts can sit in their own groove, or the whole track can swing together.

To avoid confusion, the global swing has a dedicated knob located next to the volume and tempo dials, while the part swing value is edited via the LCD.

The feel of the swing is a very important part of a drum machine's personality and part of the reason why the MPC has become such a legend. Maschine doesn't try to emulate the MPC here – instead, it offers an interesting twist to explore. Swing can be applied as a percentage where 0% is straight, 50% is very funky and 100% pushes the notes all the way over.

This is where Cycle comes in. By default, this is set to the highest value of 8th notes, which gives us the typical feel we know and love, but it doesn't stop there. You can set this to any value, which will give you a whole lot of different feels and can be both an outlandish creative tool as well as humanising.

The third parameter is Invert. This changes the direction of the shuffle so that instead of making it lazier, it pushes the beats forward providing a different emphasis. Neat.

The software

By now, you're probably realising that the real power of Maschine lies in its software interface. It may seem less glamorous than the hardware, and some might wonder why it needs to be there at all, but rest assured that it's damn good.

There are three main areas to the window: The Scene area at the top; the Editing section in the middle; and the Pattern sequencer at the base.

There's also a sound Browser that can be toggled out of sight when not in use, and the whole window can be re-sized to fit your monitor. One good thing about the pattern editor is that it's zoomable so you can resize it, but we would also like to see a kind of snap-to-fit button for maximising the area match to your pattern length.

For most jobs you can choose to use either approach, but there are some functions, such as creating zone layers, that are done exclusively through software. Personally, we don't mind this, as we prefer to use the computer for 'important' jobs anyway.

Another area where the computer rules is tidying up patterns – especially parameter modulation sequences. Using the editor you can get right in and always get just the right setting locked at every step, something that's quite difficult to do live. Speaking of live, if you like to mix in some 'impossible to perform' beats, then having the editor around to spice things up is essential.

DAW integration

While we're sure that a fair percentage will use Maschine as a complete solution, there are plenty of others who are searching for the ultimate drum machine to work within their existing software. Since Maschine is being offered as a plug-in, integration in this scenario is just as important, if not more so, than the standalone functionality.

Coming from standalone mode, 'Maschine in your DAW' can open up a previously saved project and let you carry on from where you left off. All sounds, patterns, settings etc are ready for tweaking and Maschine will follow the host tempo.

It's worth noting that Maschine's transport controls can't be used to operate the DAW and there are no automation parameters available in the host sequencer aside from the basic volume, pan, send etc.

At present, Maschine uses its internal scene memory for playback along the timeline, and there's no way to record scene or pattern changes from the controller into the sequencer. This is a bit of a shame, as it would be great to see a kind of dual mode whereby users can choose whether to go that route, or use MIDI to trigger scenes/patterns via their host.

It's necessary to arrange the patterns into scenes and then to set the loop point to mark the start and end of the sequence. One problem is that Maschine can't play an empty scene and will jump to the next part, so you will need to use an empty pattern of the right length to fill up the space.

You can take advantage of multiple outs to add more effects polish to the mix and, as a bonus, use Maschine as a crazy effects unit by routing audio to its sample inputs and automate changes using its internal sequencer.

Conclusions

There's no doubt that Maschine is much more than a powerful drum machine. While it's possible to launch right in and start making basic beats, it will take a bit of time to get used to the big picture, especially when it comes to taking advantage of all the more advanced features and their creative potential.

The combination of hardware and software is best exploited by thinking about what each element does well. The hardware is there to give you the feel of rhythm programming, and all the essential stuff can be accessed within a couple of button presses.

The software supports everything by offering all the hardcore editing functions through an interface that presents a bigger picture than LCD displays will. And let's not forget the massive library of sounds that comes with Maschine, making it a worthy 'all-in-one' studio solution (albeit one that's clearly focussed on beat production).

All of which puts Maschine squarely in Akai MPC territory. That said, it can't be used as the centrepiece of a studio since there's no way to sequence external MIDI gear from its software. As for that other MPC plus, the lack of any software-induced latency, this is down to your audio interface and drivers, but we're confident that Maschine can hold its own.

And one area where Maschine definitely comes out on top is that of effects. If you want up-to-date, tempo sync'd, high-quality processing then you've come to the right place. When combined with real-time tweaking, the mangling and transformation possibilities are phenomenal.

Maschine is always loads of fun to play, too, and as a self-contained instrument is capable of producing a huge range of tracks - from big, fat, lazy hip hop jams, to intricate and futuristic techno.

As a standalone system, Maschine is tight and works very well. The software side could certainly be improved with some refinements, but the extra features already added in the OS 1.02 update show that this product can be as flexible and all-powerful as Native Instruments wants it to be.

Ultimately, Maschine blends hardware and software to great effect, and gives you an impressive new way to make music.

Verdict

More than just a drum machine, Maschine represents a whole new world for hands-on beat makers.

Buy Native Instruments Maschine Groove Production Studio Education Version on Amazon

Digidesign Eleven Rack

2010-03-01T19:05:00.002-06:00

Series of videos about Digidesign's standalone guitar effects processor Eleven Rack.

Buy Digidesign Eleven Rack Guitar Multi Effects Processor on Amazon

Digidesign Digi 003 Control Surface & Audio/MIDI Interface [Mac/PC] review

2010-02-17T12:32:00.005-06:00

Digidesign's LE range has received a comprehensive overhaul in the last year, and the new flagship 003 and 003 Rack incorporate many improvements over their predecessors.

After many rumors, Digidesign recently announced the replacements for their popular 002 and 002R interfaces. The new models are called, perhaps unsurprisingly, the 003 and 003R. As with the M Box 2, it's clear that these are not intended to provide anything radically different from their predecessors. There are some new features and many improvements, but the basic functionality or philosophy behind the products hasn't changed, and of course they still come with the highly respected Pro Tools LE DAW software. Like the 002, the 003 combines a multi-channel audio and MIDI interface with an eight-fader control surface, while its rackmount sibling includes the interface without the control surface. Most of the enhancements that have been made thus relate to the 003, as the 002 had more features than the 002R to start with! However, there are some improvements that apply to both models.

Universal Benefits

Many prospective buyers will welcome the inclusion of word clock input and output ports on both the 003 and 003R. This was a feature first offered in the LE range of interfaces with the introduction of the M Box 2 Pro. The word clock in and out ports let you connect BNC cables to synchronise your 003(R) to incoming word clock signals, and synchronise other devices to Pro Tools-generated word clock. Unlike the M Box 2 Pro, what's more, the 003 can clock to external signals at up to 96kHz. Sync indicators on the front panel show the active external clock source, from word clock, SPDIF and ADAT.

Digidesign have also introduced into the 003 family the second headphone output they added to the M Box 2 Pro. The two headphone outputs normally mirror outputs 1/2 in Pro Tools, and are independent of the monitor outputs, but the second headphone output can mirror outputs 3/4 when the '3/4-HP2' switch is selected. Both headphone outputs will be fed with the Aux In signal when Aux In (to monitor) is enabled. The headphone outputs are not affected by the Monitor Mute switch, but do follow the Mono switch.

The new arrangement is ideal for having a second headphone output for the 'talent', allowing you to create a separate monitor mix routed to outputs 3/4, leaving the main outs routed to outputs 1/2 for the engineer to monitor without disturbing the talent.

Another improvement is the addition of a second monitor output, which is great for having a second 'domestic reference' set of speakers attached to the system without needing another box to connect them.

New Mic Pre-amps

Digidesign have apparently completely redesigned the mic preamps for the 003 and 003R, and I am surprised they haven't made more of a song and dance about it. The dynamic range has been improved by nearly 6dB and the total harmonic distortion has been reduced from 0.04 percent to 0.0007 percent, which is a five-fold improvement. The first four inputs no longer have separate line sockets, but reviewing the spec, the DI inputs on the first four inputs cover this role as well.

The 003 features separate metering and LED 'ring' position indicators on each channel.

So do the technical improvements on these new preamps translate into a better sound? I used my Sennheiser MKH40 mic and compared the sound though a variety of routes, taking care to level-match each route so the comparisons would be valid:

MKH40 to 003 preamp

MKH40 to Focusrite Octopre to 003 via ADAT

MKH40 to 002R preamp

MKH40 to M Box preamp

The 002R was the poorest of the bunch — not bad, really, but the others were better. I was surprised at how good the preamps in the original M Box were, the only thing that let them down being a comparatively high noise floor. The 003 preamp compared very well with the Focusrite Octopre sound. If anything, the 003 sounded a little brighter, and it had the best low-frequency performance, with a richer and rounder sound. Consequently, popping was the most noticeable on the 003. The noise floor was every bit as good on the 003 as on the Octopre and subjectively was possibly slightly better. Having the word clock out on the 003 was great, as the 003 was the master clock on the system. With my 002R I have to clock Pro Tools with the Octopre, which always concerns me, as I don't know how stable the Octopre's clock is.

I have to say, though, that I am disappointed that Digidesign didn't take the opportunity to increase the number of mic preamps in the 003/003R up to eight. This would have made the units even less dependent on additional equipment for recording complex sessions. Having eight internal preamps, with the ability to add a further eight using something like a Focusrite Octopre, fed into the 003 via the ADAT port, would offer 16 channels of mic preamps in a very compact package.

The 003 as a controller

The 003 is designed to function as a flexible MIDI control surface for software other than Pro Tools, and its MIDI Map buttons allow you to specify what messages its various controls should send when you put the 003 into MIDI mode. The 003 supports two different banks of MIDI Map presets, corresponding to MIDI Map buttons A and B, and you can edit, name and recall custom MIDI map presets. Digidesign have produced a separate comprehensive MIDI Mode Guide to assist you to configure the 003; it didn't get installed on my system and I couldn't find it on the install CD that came with the 003, but a quick search of the Digidesign web site soon turned it up.

New Controls

The 003's control surface has undergone an overhaul with respect to its predecessor. Digidesign have added a proper dual-concentric jog/shuttle wheel in addition to the 002's 'pseudo' wheel, which was actually a set of navigation buttons. The outer ring of the wheel is a shuttle control. When you rotate the shuttle ring, it automatically puts Pro Tools into Shuttle mode, where you can play forwards or backwards at a variable rate, depending on the Shuttle position. The shuttle ring returns to the centre position (no shuttling) when you release it.

The 003 Rack inherits many of the improved features of the 003, including its high-quality preamps.

The inner part of the jog/shuttle wheel is a jog control, and when you rotate this it automatically puts Pro Tools into Jog mode. In this mode, you can move the Session transport (and cursor) forwards or backwards by small amounts, enabling you to find edit points by listening, like we used to have to do before the days of digital audio workstations like Pro Tools. The jog control also has a couple of other functions. It can be used to bank tracks to different faders: to scroll the display of tracks on the 003, you hold the Nudge switch and rotate the inner jog wheel clockwise to scroll tracks to the right or anti-clockwise to scroll tracks to the left. It can be used to continuously zoom in or out horizontally or vertically on all tracks by holding down the Zoom button whilst rotating the wheel clockwise or anti-clockwise. Alternatively, to continuously zoom in or out vertically for all tracks, you can hold Shift+Alt+Zoom and rotate the wheel clockwise or anti-clockwise.

When using the jog/shuttle wheel, keyboard and mouse commands are not supported, and most 003 controls become unavailable except for the 003 faders, which can be used at the same time as the jog/shuttle wheel. You just need to remember that the 003 transport controls will disable the jog/shuttle wheel immediately. Otherwise normal operating mode will be returned a few seconds after you last touch the jog/shuttle wheel. This caught me out for a bit, especially going from jog to shuttle and wondering why it didn't respond immediately.

The 003's arrow buttons haven't changed in function from those of the 002, but I did find a bug in Bank and Nudge modes, whereby Banking or Nudging to any group of faders other than the first eight made the cursor return to the start of the Session.

Position & Level

The 002 had a set of LEDs arranged in an arc above the rotary encoders, which could either indicate the position of the appropriate rotary control or act as a level meter for that track. On the 003 Digidesign have separated these functions; the encoder indicators now surround the encoders and the meters are vertical LED bar-graphs. What is more, they have added an option whereby the bar-graphs can display the automation status for each track. I have to say, though, that I don't particularly like the shape and feel of the 003's knobs. They are like upside-down top hats, where you get hold of the rim to adjust the control, and they don't sit well in my fingers. I prefer the knobs on the Command 8 and 002.

A major improvement on the 003 is the addition of a jog/shuttle wheel.

New controls include a Save button: pressing this switch twice is equivalent to choosing Save in the File menu of Pro Tools. I had to check the manual on this one after I pressed it once, assuming that would do it, but the button simply flashed at me and Pro Tools didn't save. I presume the double press is to stop accidental pressing of the Save button, but for my money hitting Save should be as easy as possible!

Digidesign have also added a Mem Loc (Memory Location) switch that provides access to all Memory Locations in a Pro Tools Session and can be used to recall Memory Locations. Pressing the Mem Loc button once will make it flash; the LCD display will show the first eight Memory Locations in the bottom row, and the eight channel Select buttons will flash. To select a Memory Location, press the appropriate flashing Select button and that Memory Location will be recalled. If you have more than eight Memory Locations, you can display the additional pages by pressing the Left and Right Page switches. To open and close the Memory Location window, hold down Shift and press the Mem Loc switch.

The 002 features an Input switch that toggles between Auto Input and Input Only Monitor modes for record-enabled tracks. This is the same as the toggle option in the Pro Tools Track menu, or the Alt/Option+K keyboard shortcut. However, the display presents a confusing message when you press the Input button on the 003. When you toggle it so that it is in Input Only mode, the display briefly shows 'AutoIn', and when you press the Input button again to put it into Auto Input, the display shows 'InOnly'. I interpreted this as meaning Pro Tools was in Input Only mode, but in fact it is saying that the next time I pressed this button it would go into Input Only mode. The same approach is used when you're accessing menu items from the 003: the menu item displays what the state will be when you select it, rather than its current status.

Like the same control on the 002, the Enter (OK) button is equivalent to pressing Return or Enter on the computer keyboard, and lets you OK on-screen dialogues or create new Memory Locations in Pro Tools directly from the control surface. However, on this review model, which was one of the first two 003s in the UK, I found a bug with this. The first time I hit the Enter key to create a locate point on the fly whilst in Play, it created a point as expected, but subsequent presses of the Enter button on the 003 were ignored. If I then pressed the Enter key on the computer keyboard, the first press was ignored but subsequent presses on the keyboard did create location points. Once I used the Enter key on the computer, I then got one more go on the 003; subsequent presses were then ignored I went back to the keyboard, and so on.

I took up the bugs I found with Digidesign UK, and a quick call to the States confirmed that they are known bugs which are being 'fast-tracked' for extermination. All being well, there will be an updater to cover them by the time you read this review.

The new Default button can be used in conjunction with a Channel Select switch to reset a fader (or fader-mapped plug-in parameter) to its default setting. For example, you can reset a channel volume fader to its default level of 0.0dB by holding down the Default button and pressing the Channel Select control. This is the same as Alt/Option-clicking a control. Alternatively, to set all channel faders or plug-in parameters to their default settings, hold the Default and Alt/Option buttons and press the Channel Select switch on a track.

We Have Ignition

Like most other interfaces in the LE Range, the 003 Rack is available in two packages, called the 003 and 003 Factory, the difference being that the latter includes an iLok key and a bundle of plug-ins — see Digidesign's web site for details. The 003 is only available in a Factory version.

To coincide with the launch of the 003 and 003R, Digidesign have also updated their free Ignition Pack software bundle. Pro Tools Ignition Pack 2 comes with all new M Box 2, M Box 2 Factory, M Box 2 Mini, M Box 2 Pro and 003 Rack purchases, while the larger Ignition Pack 2 Pro comes with all new M Box 2 Pro Factory, 003 Factory, 003 Rack Factory and Pro Tools HD systems. I am disappointed that the 003R isn't considered a Pro product, meaning you have to buy the Factory version to get Ignition Pack 2 Pro.

The basic Pro Tools Ignition Pack 2 includes:

Ableton Live Lite 6 Digidesign Edition.

Propellerhead Reason Adapted 3.

IK Multimedia Amplitube LE.

FXpansion BFD Lite (three kits, or six with Ignition Pack 2 Pro).

Celemony Melodyne Uno Essential.

Digidesign Xpand!

M-Audio Pro Sessions SE sound library.

Way Out Ware TimewARP 2600 Lite.

Arturia Analog Factory SE.

iZotope Ozone 3 Lite, Trash Lite and Spectron Lite

The Pro version bundled with 003 and 003 Rack Factory adds:

Digidesign Synchronic.

Sound libraries from Big Fish Audio, Cycling '74, Sonic Reality and Zero-G.

Trillium Lane Labs TL Everyphase and TL Utilities.

The packs also include the Pro Tools Method One instructional DVD, a one-year membership to Broadjam.com and a one-year subscription to Sonicbids.com, plus free Garageband.com contest entries (one free entry with Ignition Pack 2, three free entries with Ignition Pack 2 Pro) and a voucher giving you a free Digidesign plug-in when you enrol in a Pro Tools education course.

Digi have made it more difficult for people to install the Ignition Pack software more than once by requiring you to log on to their secure web site to enter an activation code. You then get emailed serial numbers for most products, and Pro users get iLok assets for Synchronic, TL Utilities and TL Everyphase.

Switching Automation Modes

Digidesign have provided Write, Touch, Latch, Read and Off switches that represent the options in the Auto pull-down menu in the Edit or Mix windows. The automation mode can be set from the 003 for a single track, all selected tracks, or all tracks in the Session, and you can also suspend automation globally. The Write, Touch, Latch and Read switch LEDs individually light when at least one channel has the corresponding automation mode. The Off switch LED flashes when no channels are set to Write, Touch or Latch, and at least one channel's automation mode is set to Off. This means that multiple LEDs light when there are channels with different automation modes. When the Meter switch is set to Auto, the Meter LEDs for each channel display their respective automation status.

Conclusion

Digidesign have taken the extra features introduced with the M Box 2 Pro and rolled them into the 003 and 003R. They have also added a number of extra controls and features to the 003: the jog/shuttle wheel is particularly welcome, but the improved mic preamps are the unsung hero in this remodel — shame there aren't another four of them. Digidesign have cleverly chosen to upgrade features that will benefit most users in both the professional and home studio arenas, such as the word clock I/O and extra monitor and headphone outputs. All of the new features make it easier to operate Pro Tools using the control surface rather than a mouse and keyboard, and will suit users who prefer a more tactile connection to their equipment.

Line input duties on channels 1-4 are handled by the DI inputs. The extra pair of monitor outputs is a nice improvement.

The 003 is therefore definitely an improvement over the 002 in all areas, but it's clearly aimed at new customers who would previously have looked at the 002, rather than being presented as an upgrade path for existing 002 users. In fact, Digidesign are offering a range of upgrade paths from all the LE hardware except the 002 and 002R, so this could be a good time for 001 users to benefit from a deal on an upgrade and get their hands on the new Ignition Pack 2 too (see the box above). It is a shame that there isn't an upgrade path for 002(R) users; I will miss the word clock output when I am doing location recording work with my Octopre and 002R, but would struggle to justify the cost of a new 003R, especially as I wouldn't get the Pro version of Ignition Pack 2. Fortunately, Digi have stated that the advent of the 003 does not mean that 002 users will be left behind, and that 002 will be supported in the forthcoming Vista upgrade.

Buy Digidesign Digi 003 Rack + Factory on Amazon

Buy Digidesign 003 Factory FireWire Audio Interface with Pro Tools LE on Amazon

Buy Digidesign Digi 003 Factory Complete on Amazon

Pro Tools videos

2009-08-14T12:44:00.004-05:00

A few days ago, I uploaded some tutorials, presentations and demonstration on Pro Tools to YouTube. Below you can watch those videos in the playlist I've created for you.

M-Audio Torq review

2009-07-11T09:33:00.007-05:00

Reviewed using Torq Version 1.0.3

TORQ's Browser

The Xponent is what you touch- it's the tactile interface. What's under the hood is the Torq software. It's a beautiful thing, how well the Xponent is configured to work with Torq- the excellent match keeps you playing, and spending less time pecking a computer. Still, one way or the other, you are going to have to get to know Torq, the software. And you are definitely going to have to deal with Torq's browser.
Bluntly stated- Torq's browser is a pain. If you have a big song library and have spent the hours required to properly tag it, you'll find that Torq's browser will not see the key information. It is also commonplace to have the browser hang for several seconds while you search it. Not a huge deal at home, but on the job it will make you extremely nervous. All I can say is don't wait until the last second to choose your next track. Also, the browser isn't able to be customized. Say you don't care what album a song comes from, and don't need to see that info- well, you can't tell that column to hide. Torq is innovative in so many ways, offering features that even the most expensive units haven't implemented yet- it's a shame to see it fall short in an area as fundamental as a browser. Even with the headaches, Torq/Xponent does so many things well that I can put up with its bad browser. If they don't make the effort to improve it with software updates I will be extremely disappointed.

iTunes is the salvation for the Torq browser. Torq easily recognizes your iTunes database. All the playlists you make in iTunes are quickly accessible in Torq, and it's a lifesaver. And no, you don't have to use iTunes songs to use iTunes software. I don't have a single iTunes song in my library and it works flawlessly. For the record, my files are mp3 from Beatport, WAV files from my record pool, and WAV files ripped from my vinyl collection. Aside from WAV and mp3, Torq will read AIFF, WMA, AAC, and Apple Lossless files. Any decent MP3 tagging program would be better for managing files than Torq's browser, and I find that since I use a Macintosh, it makes the best sense to use iTunes for tagging. My favorite approach is to make custom playlists in iTunes because they are easily and immediately recognized in the Torq browser.

Since I've bashed the Torq browser, let me go a little deeper to explain. Torq, like Live, Acid, and many other audio programs, needs to analyze every file before it can work with it. Each time Torq analyzes a file, it creates its own proprietary file to hold information such as: waveform, cue points, beatmapping information, and tag information. This is a tiny file, and it is created and saved right alongside the original audio file when Torq analyzes a song. It's where the 'magic' is stored, so Torq can work its wonders. So we love- and we hate it. Why? Because this teeny file holds the tag information: Artist, Title, BPM, Key, Comments, etc. And if you've added thousands of files to Torq, then you have thousands of these teeny Torq files. If you update a tag field in hundreds of your songs, after you've added them to Torq, using either iTunes or another MP3 tag program, then Torq will not recognize those updates. See, Torq has already written the small info file for the songs and as far as Torq is concerned, the info in those tiny Torq files are the last word for file information. Even though you just updated comments to 700 of your songs.

The only solution is to ask Torq to reanalyze the files whose tag info you changed. And before you do that, you have to throw away the original tiny Torq file (it's suffix is always .tqd) therefore losing all your cue points and beat grid info. It's one of the reasons people scream in the night. If Torq's browser was good for bulk updating tag info, then this would not be an issue. But Torq is horrible at bulk management of tags- it demands you to update one song at a time.
So, before you add songs to Torq, make sure the tag info is as complete as possible. Changing tag info after the fact is a royal pain. And, since Torq so wonderfully integrates with iTunes- use those iTunes playlists to keep yourself organized. Also of note- Torq can't play iTunes files with DRM. It can play the iTunes Plus files, because they don't have DRM. This isn't Torq's fault, it's DRM's fault: DRM limits your usage of a file. And, as of late, DRM is on the way out.

Sync and sample

Once Torq has analyzed a song, it does a pretty good job at beatmapping it. As with all beatmatching programs, Torq doesn't get it right every time. Fortunately, Torq makes it easy to adjust for any inaccuracy via manipulation of the beat grid. You have a visual waveform with a grid overlay that is supposed to line up on the waveform beats. If it doesn't, just hold down shift (there is a special shift key on the Xponent) and use the jog wheel to get the grid aligned. I really like the tap tempo feature. It's for songs that can't be beatmapped and works wonders for quick beatmapping of acapellas. Once you have the beat grid right for any given song, Torq has a button called 'Sync" that will allow songs to be mixed in time with each other, even taking into account the down beat. It's really nothing new- Acid and Ableton Live have been doing it for years. Torq, however, has made it a little easier in the DJ booth. You will still need to know how to beat match in order to correct Torq when it goes astray. And, you don't have to use it if you don't want to. There are 3 modes for Sync: Bar mode lines up the beats and the downbeats; Beat mode lines up the beats, ignoring the bars; and Tempo is a manual mode. It's comforting to go manual and keep everything tight the old fashioned way.

The nudge buttons, jog wheels, and pitch sliders work very well. At times the Sync feature is great to when you get into looping and effects. It's all good, and not as automatic as some would have you believe. Even if a track looks properly beatmapped, your ears may tell you otherwise, and you'll need to be skilled at hearing this and adjusting for it. You can hit cruise control on the highway, but that doesn't mean it's time to take a nap. Some purists seem quite upset about this so called "auto beatmatching" feature. In the same way some painters used to think photography was sacrilege, or some people were afraid of electricity when it was introduced.
Torq has a 16 cell, tempo-synched sampler. It plays loops and/or one-shots and syncs to Torq's master tempo. You can trigger the samples from the Torq software screen, or an external controller such as a MIDI keyboard. Play melodies, drums, vocal phrases... whatever you like- either by hand or triggered in sync with the mix. If you're using Torq with Connective (where you use timecoded vinyl to control your files) you can play your samples from the control vinyl. Instant party trick: record your voice and start scratching it as a sample with some timecode vinyl.

Effects, VST, and ReWire

Torq has 10 built in effects that can be manipulated via Xponent. Each channel in Torq allows you to chain up to 3 effects. The delay effect allows a user to adjust the delay time by tapping a button. Very fun. The brake effect simulates a turntable being powered off. The strobe effect is a rapid rhythmic gating effect similar to yes, a strobe light, but in sound. The reverse effect instantly reverses any section of music while still playing it in time, meaning the user can reverse sections without losing relative position in the timeline. Perfect for obscuring vocals while staying on the beat. All effects have knobs and buttons and can also be manipulated using the XY trackpad on the Xponent. This is all great implementation of effects on a DJ console at any price. In keeping with the spirit of the Xponent, everything is hands on and a tweaker's delight.

Torq hugely expands effects possibilities with VST effect compatibility. Xponent allows control of VST parameters with its effect knobs and buttons, bringing into play a battery of possibilities beyond the scope of this review. To be honest, I haven't scratched the surface of this yet. VST support is one of the features that sets Torq apart from the pack. The large selection of professional VST effects and free online VST effects means the user has hundreds of effects options. Torq has a feature called "VST crash guard" that allows Torq to keep smoothly running even if a VST crashes, so people can try out the oddest homemade VSTs they can find online without fear of a buggy VST taking out their set.
Rewire support is another open-ended feature of Torq, and allows any application supporting Rewire to run in tandem with Torq- opening up a world of MIDI programming, soft synths, and hard disk recording. I have just begun running Ableton Live 7.0 in the background just to see if it works- and yes, it works! Your imagination is the limit here- one fun thing to try is playing one of Ableton's virtual instruments along with your songs. With Ableton Live's new instruments and sounds, you have a massive sound library to play right out of the box. Use the recommended computer requirements instead of the minimum requirements if you want to run lots of VST and programs like Ableton Live in companion with Torq and Xponent. Of course, you may elect to simply play one song after the other, but you will always have a powerful and compact production studio if you want it.

Technics SL-1210 M5G

2009-06-17T00:31:00.014-05:00

Summary:

It's my opinion that 1210MV5MG and its predecessors may be favored by DJ's around the world, but this particular version is a serious piece of audiophile gear. There's plenty of information on the web and specs, so I'm not going to focus on that, but I do have quite a few impressions of this refined beast.

I dare say it appears to me to one of the most technologically advanced turntables in the world that is within the reach of the average consumer. The motor and platter assembly are absolutely incredible. I don't know if this is accurate, but it looks to me that the motor and the platter are magnetically coupled, meaning the motor has no physical connection that I could see to the platter. If that's the case, that would put this table in same league as air drive systems. Hopefully other reviewers can shed some more light on how the drive system works.

It's also a very ergonomic and user friendly machine. Now I know lots of people love to fuss with their TT's, make adjustments, make it a somewhat of a ceremony to play a record, that's cool with me. I have no issues with people deriving enjoyment from spending their money and playing with their gear. But I have to say, this turntable is blast to use.

You're up in under 1 second and the speed is dead on. I'm even having fun playing with the slider and reviewing some passages at slower speeds. Back to perfect speed at the touch of the reset button and you don't have to account for stylus drag. Hell, you can brush the record while it's playing. The rubber mat is outstanding with a slight depression for the underside of the record label. I'm using a lighter stainless steel Clear audio clamp and set-up was also achieved with a Clear audio aluminum protractor jobber thingy.

The integrated lighting is a welcome feature. A red LED hitting the strobe mirrors is neat, but the blue pop-up LED that lights up the stylus is straight out of James Bond! Impeccably cool!

There's a lot of great tables out there, but I just couldn't pass this one up given it's most critical attribute: THE SOUND! Forget about price for a moment and ponder that to these old ears, the presentation in terms of sound stage, speed, decay, ambiance, and the void of space where sounds emerge from this machine provides is anything but entry level. I hope you'll agree and get one before folks here in the USA realize what they've been missing.

Strengths:

Perfect Speed Accuracy

Super quiet black "void of space" background.

Gimbaled tonearm, and I like the retro look.

High quality tonearm cable on this model.

The slider is a cool feature if you like to change the pitch or review a passage at slower speed.

Swapping cartridges is a snap with multiple headshells and accurate markings.

Weaknesses:
Would like to see subequent versions allow for greater flexibility and ease in swapping tone arm cables, tonearms, updating power supplies, and the like. Not that you can't do it now, but it takes more effort and knowhow.

Buy Technics SL-1210M5G TurnTable on Amazon

Akai MPK49

2009-05-28T13:54:00.011-05:00

and music production keyboard, the MPK49 comes pre-stocked with Ableton Live Lite Akai Introducing the superpower music production tool from Akai, the MPK49. With all of the latest heavyweight features combined in a USB/MIDI controller keyboard for music production, the MPK49 is fired up and ready to go. Its sleek design, durable 49-key semiweighted keyboard, 12-pad control surface, wide blue screen, sliders, knobs and pitch bend/mod wheels all add to its appeal. As a combination controllerEdition software compatible with Mac or PC and is worth having in any studio environment.

HYPER CONTROL

On power up, the MPK49 displays a fluorescent blue backlit screen with a wide viewable area, which is bigger in size compared to the smaller MPC500 drum machine. The workstation is compact with the drum pads, keyboard, wheels, sliders, knobs and buttons all positioned within easy reach. The full-size keys have a semiweighted action that is smooth and easy flowing. The MPK49's 12 pads can be used to trigger as many as 48 sounds from within the assignable four banks (A-B-C-D), sustaining the same velocity and sensitivity action as the MPC500 sampler. In Full Level mode, the drum pads play back with maximum velocity (127) regardless of the amount of pressure that you apply. I have extensive experience working with MPC drum machines, so using the familiar Full Level function on the MPK49 was a nice choice, letting me use the full dynamics of my drum programming. To work with the different velocities of the pads, there is a 12-Level function that allows you to actually adjust a sound's velocity in 12 different steps. That is a handy feature when using a software program because you can embellish and build character to your sounds. One of the best parts of programming drums on the MPC is the infamous Note Repeat, which rolls a sound in repetition while the producer holds it down — a feature Akai also added to the MPK49.

The standard pitch bend and modulation wheels are on the left side of the keyboard. To the right of those, in the Performance Controls section, lies the built-in Arpeggiator, which was a real treat for giving me extra dynamic handling when I used my favorite Propellerhead Reason software patches. Things get even better with the Latch button activated. When using the Arpeggiator and Latch button in combination, the unit will sustain any keys that you strike, so you can tweak the sound while creating your music. After you play around with the Arpeggiator, you can quantize your notes and mess with your timing with the Time Division feature. The different timing options available there are ¼, ¼T (triplet), ⅛, ⅛T, 1

16, 1

16T, 1

32 and 1

32T. When I used this feature, the timing changes were accurate, and they can be applied equally well to instrument notes and drum programming.

The main control section on the right-hand side of the MPK49 consists of eight knobs, eight sliders and eight buttons, which are all assignable to four Banks (A, B, C and D) for a total of 32 assigned knob commands, 32 assigned slider commands and 32 assigned button functions. In all, that's nearly 100 assignable MIDI controls, which represents a ton of potential. When programming drums, the assignable buttons specifically set the Time Division values of the Arpeggiator and Note Repeat. Below the LCD, the five transport buttons help take control of a software sequencer's playback.

GOING DEEPER

The MPK49 comes with four main operation modes: Preset, Edit, Global and Program Change. In Preset mode, you can load, save and copy as many as 30 presets in the internal memory, as well as save all of your custom configurations, so you can quickly load the templates you need to use while producing without having to reprogram the unit each time.

In Edit mode, you can edit the configuration of the MPK49 by making functional changes to the keyboard, pads, knobs and sliders. For example, you may want to have a slider or a knob transmit only specific MIDI data, or you may want to have a pad that transmits play, record, stop or any number of other MIDI channel functions. This Edit mode has no limitations; it's a powerful tool for customizing your setup.

In Global mode, you can set parameters that will change how the entire MPK49 functions. For example, you can change how the pads respond to aftertouch or change the brightness of the LCD. Other adjustable parameters include controller resets and pad response curves.

In Program Change mode, you can transmit various Program Change messages that will tell your DAW or another external device to switch to a different program bank of sounds. By using this function, I avoided having to manually switch between different programs on my DAW and external device, such as an MPC2500. In addition to editing manually from the MPK49, the unit ships with Vyzex software, a stand-alone editing program used for editing all of the above-mentioned settings from a computer.

I use keyboard controllers for various purposes, one of which is to play instrument patches from my external sound modules, so I thought it would be really cool to control my MPC2500 solely with the MPK49. The first thing I wanted to do is have the MPK49 control all of my transport functions on the MPC. I chose a generic preset on the MPK49 to start the process, but I had to make some adjustments to the MPC in order for it to work. First, I opened up the MIDI/SYNC page on the MPC and set the Receive MMC to On. Secondly, on the MPK49, I selected Program Change, and then scrolled to the Send MIDI page. There you can play with all of your different MIDI settings, such as MIDI channel, program numbers, bank options and more.

STACKS IN THE BACK

The MPK49 can be powered up using an optional power adapter or via USB bus power. When the MPK49 is powered through the USB cable, it disconnects the communication between the independent MIDI Out port of the unit, so if you are trying to trigger sounds from another MPC drum machine or another MIDI sound module, you will have to purchase the optional AC adapter. The MIDI In and MIDI Out connections can send and receive MIDI data to and from your computer, or they can also be set up to send MIDI data from your computer to a device attached to the MPK49's MIDI Out port. There are also Sustain Pedal and Expression Pedal connectors for additional control via optional footswitches.

NO DOUBT

I always have high expectations for my gear, especially when it comes to keyboard controllers and drum machines/samplers. Anyone who has built their foundation using the Akai MPC series will appreciate the signature drum pads, keys and sliders that make this a superior controller. I am definitely sold on the Note Repeat feature, which no other keyboard controller has. Using the arpeggiator along with Reason and Apple Logic Pro 8 inspired me with the creative drive to go deeper into my ideas. One small beef I had was that although the MPK49 has a nice wide screen, it doesn't always auto detect software devices that are active. For example, as I scrolled through Reason's different devices, the controller did not display all of them on its screen.

Still, the MPK49 is a really hot piece of gear to own if you plan on doing hip-hop or another type of sample- and beat-driven music. Anyone using MIDI sound modules or samplers will get hooked on this controller as well. The learning curve is a bit difficult at first, but once you set up custom configurations, it's smooth sailing from there. As a combined keyboard controller and drum pad controller, I have to say that the MPK49 is the best feeling controller keyboard yet.

Pros: Compact workstation design. Important features brought over from Akai's MPC series, such as Note Repeat and MPC Swing. Arpeggiator and Time Division features. Aftertouch on the pads and keyboard. Bright LCD screen. Great feel and fun to use.

Cons: Automapping for older software isn't available. Single button to toggle from the different banks. Controller drum pads lack fatness of MPC drum machine pads. Power adapter sold separately. No On/Off power switch.

Contact: www.akaipro.com

Buy Akai MPK 49 Controller Keyboard on Amazon

M-Audio Session Music Producer

2009-05-13T09:34:00.007-05:00

Session Music Producer is a USB microphone, designed for home music production. The fact it works via USB makes it more attractive to more amateur musicians, because there is no need for any audio interface. But it is USB, it works like any other device, like printer, digital camera, or flash drive. Microphones are supposed to work like microphones, through XLR cable.

Overall sound quality is pretty good, with the included drivers you can set gain of the main output on your computer. Another thing that is pretty good, is that there is headphone output on the front of the mic. No need to run cable for headphones from the computer. There are however few bad thing about the microphone, included with it is pretty short USB cable which does not allow you to record vocals or guitar far enough from the computer, so we can't hear the computer fan on the record. Buying longer cable will definitely solve this problem. With the mic, there is also included small mic stand (approximately 4 inches) which is enough if you put it on some sort of desk.

Microphone works pretty good even after a couple accidental drops on the floor. I really recommend to buy it if you are just starting producing music at home.

But M-Audio Session Music Producer with USB microphone on Amazon

M-Audio Fast Track PRO audio interface review

2009-05-13T09:32:00.013-05:00

M-Audio Fast Track PRO is better version of Fast Track USB, with more capabilities, but it is still designed for home or tour recording. It has 2 mic inputs on the front, either XLR or TRS, 2 line inputs on the back one S/PDIF input, 4 RCA outputs, 2 TRS outputs and S/PDIF output. You can also find MIDI In and MIDI Out on the back. Having 7 outputs you can mix in 5.1, or 7.1, which is good for film score production. It connects to computer via USB, and you can plug in your headphones via 6.3mm Jack plug. On the back you can also find ON/OFF switch.

With the interface M-Audio included Pro Tools M-Powered DEMO, Ableton Live 6 Lite, and a CD with drivers. Included drivers do not work with Windows Vista, so I had to download new ones form M-Audio's website. After installing the device you can choose what audio goes through it with ASIO driver, which is available for free download from ASIO4ALL.com.

One of the pros for this device is its price, only $199, and compatibility with Pro Tools. However, one of the cons is, that full version of Pro Tools is not included. But if you would like to buy DigiDesign's interface (which comes with full version of Pro Tools LE) with the same capabilities, you'd have to spend around $700.

If you have a condesner microphone - no problem - Fast Track PRO has 48V phantom power, which you can swith on/off with dedicated switch on the back. Fast Track PRO works great with applications I use (Pro Tools, FL Studio, Adobe Soundbooth, Adobe Audition), but after using it for a while, the driver crashes and no sound comes out of it. Usually restarting the device helps. Also, the driver is very easy to use. I really recommend it for everyone.

Buy M-Audio Fast Track Pro 4x4 Mobile USB Audio/MIDI Interface with Preamps on Amazon

M-Audio Fast Track USB audio interface review

2009-05-13T09:11:00.008-05:00

M-Audio Fast Track USB is the cheapest audio interface to be compatible with Pro Tools M-Powered, it costs $129 on M-Audio's website. It has one mic input (XLR, but in the manual it says it is only for dynamic microphones), and one line-in input on the back of the device, which is good for guitars. Also, on the back we can find 2 RCA outputs (left and right) for studio monitors, and USB connection to a computer. On the front, there is also headphone output.

Included software (Session) is not good for anyone, who creates beats. I'm sure some people who play guitar would find it useful, but not me. With the Fast Track USB also comes a CD with drivers, which in fact worked on Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 32-bit, but didn't work with Pro Tools M-Powered 7.4. I had to look for newer drivers on M-Audio's site, and I found out that there are two identical devices from M-Audio, one of them is said to work with Pro Tools, other one - no. It was Fast Track Session USB ($129, on the website it says it should work with Pro Tools) and Fast Track USB with Session ($99, didn't say the same), which is the one I bought. I doubted that this device could work with Pro Tools, but it turned out that both devices can work Pro Tools. I guess just the more expensive one already has drivers for it.

The device is working good, however it's lack of phantom power limits me to using only dynamic microphone. Fast Track USB is quite small, but it has what is needed for small Pro Tools users (like me).

Buy M-Audio Fast Track US44010 USB Audio Interface with GT-Player Express Software on Amazon

M-Audio Axiom 49 review

2009-05-12T22:33:00.004-05:00

M-Audio Axiom is a product series of affordable MIDI keyboard controllers. It comes on three version, each number indicates the actual number of keys on the keyboard: 25, 49, and 61. The one I'm reviewing is the 49 key version. I bought it, because 25 keys is too few to play with two hands, but if I would have to buy a 61-key version, then I'd rather buy an 88-key keyboard.

The keys on it are semi-weighted, but they don't feel as good, as more expensive models. On the top right corner of the keyboard we can find 8-pads, which are thought to be used for playing drums on the device. They are almost the same as the ones on Trigger Finger. There are also 8 endless rotary knobs, 8 faders, and obviously pitch adjustment and modulation. MMC (transport controls) are obvious to be in a MIDI controller of this type, but unlike the ones on Akai MPD24, these need to be set up correctly in order to use them with software. In order to make it work with FL Studio, I downloaded a FL Studio preset for Axiom 49, which was in .xml format. Then I had to download Enigma software form M-Audio's website (like couldn't they include it with the keyboard). It was a mess...

With the device you get USB cable (kinda obvious), Ableton Live 6 Lite software, and a CD with drivers. I'd have to say that the keyboard is a little bit bulky, and it wouldn't work good on gigs. Also, they use cheap packaging. You know what they say: "a good device comes from a good company. And good company does not save on packaging. "

There is many things about this device, that are not perfect. A couple buttons accidentally pressed is all it takes to get yourself a couple hours trying to figure out how to repair it. They should put those advanced options in the Pro version (M-Audio Axiom 49 Pro). The device itself is too complicated for an average user (let's say me). I don't need to control my sound module from within the keyboard. Why? The answer is pretty simple - I don't own a sound module. Who still does these days? I'm pretty sure some people do, but it's sure they'll buy the Pro version, or completely different device.

Buy M-Audio AXIOM 49 Advanced 49-Key Semi-Weighted USB MIDI Controller on Amazon

Akai MPD24 review

2009-05-12T22:12:00.001-05:00

When I first got my Akai MPD24, I didn't really know how to set it up with FL Studio. You know, I was new to that whole "beatmaking" thing. Well, after hour, I figured out I needed to select correct MIDI In and MIDI Out ports, in Options>MIDI Settings (it was easy). There is one word that comes to my mind, when I think of MPD24 - great! 16 MPC-style velocity pads, 8 assignable knobs and 6 also assignable faders, which are easily assigned, especially in FL Studio. The device has four banks (A, B, C, D), which gives you 64 (4 banks times 16 pads) easily accessible notes. There are also trasnport controls on the device (MMC), which do not require any special set up to work with software (unlike those in M-Audio's keyboards), so if you're using FL Studio, it's almost plug-n-play.

The device itself has 30 presets, so you can set each one for each softare you use. To set them up, you can either use included software, to transfer from your computer, or if you know what you're doing, you can set them manually using buttons on the actual device.

MPD24 will either work with your computer, through USB cable, or with your sound module through MIDI cables (not included), but then it requires an external power supply, which is also not included. If you have MIDI interface, or audio interface with MIDI In and Out, you can also connect MPD24 to the computer through the interface. Remember, Akai MPD24 is a MIDI controller, it DOES NOT make any sound on its own.

Akai MPD24 is a solid controller, and I'm sure it would be great for a gig, even after it's dropped, it'll probably work.

Buy AKAI MPD24 Pad Controller on Amazon

Pro Music Profuction - Pro Audio Hardware and Software Reviews

2009-05-12T22:11:00.001-05:00

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