Recording - April 2010 - 6

Note to faithful writers: When sending your letters by email, please remember to include your name and where you hail from. Questions on ERGOnomics Hi Paul Vnuk Jr.: I enjoyed your article on the KRK ERGO (February 2010)—the style was good and the information was helpful. Can you answer a simple question for me? I use an RME MultiFace as my A/D interface—where would the Ergo sit in my listening chain? Between the RME and the monitor amp? I appreciate any help, Shaun McArthur London, Ontario Hi, my name is Rob. I read Paul Vnuk Jr.’s ERGO review in Recording Magazine with great interest. I have a quick question about it, if you don’t mind.The article has a subhead, “ERGO the interface ,” and I was wondering, does it work well as the sole interface in a recording system? Is the sound quality, the converters, the jitter-suppression, etc. up to snuff to use it as an interface? I’m confused because it seems the article says yes, but I recently wrote to KRK Support, and they said it’s not made to be used as an interface! Would I be better off getting a dedicated interface, or do you think the ERGO is good enough? Of course, I would also use the room correction. I really appreciate the time. Thanks, Rob via email no metering, no direct outputs other than the speaker outs, no Hi-Z inputs, etc. I used ERGO for about four months as the playback device for my home edit suite. In this situation it was rock solid and I had zero issues. Now it was an older computer and I did run the latency a bit higher (512–1024 samples). I did a few captures of audio in—stereo mixes and/or single mic/podcast stuff, not an overdub situation. If you think of ERGO as a room correction device with the bonus of a stereo interface you will be OK. If you buy ERGO as your main workhorse I/O unit, then you will probably be missing many of the features found on even inexpensive competing interfaces. I hope this helps.—PV HGRM props Hi: I want to thank Fernando Curiel for his very useful articles on hybrid guitar recording (November 2009 and January 2010). Opening your mind to all possibilities is the key to creativity. In a world of presets and plug-ins, we need to be reminded once in a while that these things are tools; it is not a crime to try something a little different. I used that technique connecting the line out of my little Marshall Lead 12 (remember those?) in Propellerhead’s Record using the Line 6 amp simulator. Once that little 1 x 10" 12W amp was played through a 4 x 12" simulation— wow, it was a new amp! I can actually have controlled feedback (by placing the amp close to the guitar) at a very decent volume since the amp’s speaker still plays. Connecting a distortion pedal is also interesting. I tried an original Electro-Harmonix Big Muff in a Plexi emulation and a BOSS OD-1 overdrive in a Deluxe emulation with very good results. Even for less traditional sounds—I even tried an old Korg X-911 guitar synth’s distortion mode!—it’s very useful. Thanks a lot. Sylvain Montreal, QC, Canada Paul Vnuk Jr. replies: Shaun—Yes, you are correct. The ERGO would sit between your Multiface and your monitor amp. I am not familiar with the Multiface, but I notice that it does have a monitor output control/volume knob on it; what I would recommend is that you feed the ERGO a different set of its outputs which are not controlled or sent to the “monitor outs”. Since the ERGO also acts as a speaker controller and volume attenuator, it’s best to send it a direct audio signal and let it control the volume, vs. balancing proper signal between both. In other words, you don’t want to have two adjustable volume knobs in a row. I hope that makes sense. Rob—I am somewhat surprised that KRK would tell you that, as their ERGO Web FAQ states explicitly: “ERGO is also a full-featured 4-in/6-out audio interface. For example, you can use ERGO to record the Left/Right bus from an analog mixer, or directly record VSTs being played from a S/PDIF output on another computer. In this case, the ERGO outputs would connect directly to your monitor speakers, while the mixer or other PC connect directly to the ERGO inputs. Each input and output stream appears as an ASIO stream on a PC or Mac (4 inputs, 6 outputs).” Having read that, I am guessing that KRK probably told you that it was not designed to be used as such because its main function is as a room correction device; it is best to think of the interface as a bonus. It has no mic preamps, Fernando Curiel replies: Hi Sylvain: Thank you very much for your kind words and sharing your experience with HGRM. I’m extremely happy that it was useful for you too. The combinations are huge and the sounds can be amazing. I find them to be more realistic than keeping it in the box And you’re right, in a world of presets and plug-ins, we do need to try different things every now and then. I like your use of HGRM, you got creative with it and made it your own with the gear you own. Thanks again and please feel free to share any other experiences you have with HGRM or with your music. Oh, and keep warm up there in Montreal! I lived there for almost eight years and love it, but I remember the cold vividly! Best regards—FC Write to us at: Talkback, Recording Magazine, 5408 Idylwild Trail, Boulder, CO 80301 Or save stamps and send email to talkback@recordingmag.comRECORDING APRIL 2010

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Recording - April 2010

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