AudioMedia - January 2009 - (Page 55)

in control > f o o t c o n t r o l l e r. The LCD display is larger than most, but isn’t necessarily as detailed or informative as it could be. Similarly a total of software presets isn’t very generous – but it’s likely that this unit will be most useful when paired with a software sampler for quick sample triggering for sound design, and not so much when attempting to be a jack of all software trades. The MPD is unlikely to be a first choice for straight DAW control, but the large pads offer convenient sample triggering which can sometimes feel more playable and responsive than a MIDI keyboard. need to assign them by hand. This can work well in some contexts, but in practice the LCDs only offer short hints about parameter names. ‘FEnvRel’ is easy to enough to decipher when programming a softsynth, but many plug-in parameters are named more cryptically. PreS onus Faderpor t Frontier Tranzpor t/Alphatrack GB /GB www.frontierdesign.com The popular Tranzport offers wireless DAW control from a solid and professionally built remote unit. The feature set isn’t necessarily packed – there’s just a single finger wheel and some buttons – but the layout and interface make track arming and level setting relatively intuitive, and the two line LCD can be configured to show settings and levels. As a remote unit you can take it with you into iso booths and main studio areas. This is more of a recording controller than a mixer or plug-in controller, so it doesn’t try to offer plug-in control features. But it does what it does very well and solves the remote control problem very neatly. For mix management, Frontier also offers the Alphatrack, which is a mm channel fader and two line LCD in a box, with transport controls, extra buttons, and state indicators for muting, soloing, punch-in and out, and other standard recording and playback control features. The Alphatrack is USB powered rather than wireless, and the design isn’t expandable, which may be a missed opportunity. But it’s small and relatively powerful, and is ideal for situations where space is too limited for a bigger fader configuration. GB www.presonus.com The slightly quirky PreSonus Faderport is a direct competitor with Frontier Alphatrack. There’s a set of transport controls, which include punching and looping control, mutes, solos, fader automation control, and channel selection. There’s also a single long-throw motorised fader and a rotary, which is pre-assigned to pan control. The strength of the Faderport is its solid build quality – it feels robust, and lacks the plastic built-toa-budget impression created by some of its competitors. The chief weakness is that it’s not expandable. It’s also not a cheap solution, considering some of the alternatives available elsewhere. The absence of an LCD is another significant omission. There’s no dynamic visual feedback of labelling or settings at all. It’s limited to fader level, mutes/solos/record, and pan control. More positively, the supplied software requires only very minimal setting up to work with most DAWs, although some of the budget cut-down DAW versions aren’t supported. NEW EXPOSÉ E8B AND VXT SERIES FROM KRK Purity. Freedom from adulteration or contamination. That’s what you need in the recording studio. Pure and simple uncoloured audio. KRK engineers understand this, and take great care to offer speakers that can be relied upon to deliver. The Exposé E8B and VXT series take studio monitoring to a whole new level. With an attention to detail and design expertise unmatched in the industry today KRK has truly raised the bar. Key design elements such as a sleek radiused edge enclosure with optimised airﬂow and minimal port turbulence, and ﬁnely tuned custom components, all ensure that the new Exposeé E8B and VXT series deliver a pure and realistic sound that is in a class of its own. SO PURE CME Bitstream 3X Novation R emote Zero SL GB www.novationmusic.com The Remote Zero SL is the keyboardless version of Novation’s Remote SL series of controllers. Even without a keyboard this unit is surprisingly large. The list of controllers is fairly comprehensive, with eight very short throw faders with two switches each, eight trigger pads, sixteen buttons, and sixteen rotaries, arranged as dual banks of eight. The faders and the other rotary/switch banks each have eight way dual-line LCDs that offer parameter names and values. In theory this is where Novation’s automap technology displays the names of plug-in, DAW, and softsynth parameters. Two up/down page scroll buttons next to each LCD move through the list of parameters, and automap loads these automatically, so you don’t GB www.cme-pro.com An unexpectedly beefy controller from CME, the Bitstream X claims to offer ‘ D mixing’ – which is nice. In practice this means there’s a joystick and a single axis touch pad, and you can waggle all three at once. Far more useful is a decent sized LCD – the biggest of any these budget controllers – and an eight fader configuration with our assignable controllers per channel, and a separate bank of push switches which default to channel mutes. There’s also a DJ style cross-fade slider and very useful transport controls. Exotic features include an LFO and MIDI arpeggiator, both of which can be routed to the automation system. According to CME, , presets are included to support all the usual music creation products, and Cubase/Nuendo. An expansion option can double up with another Bitstream to offer fader channels. While this is easily the most comprehensive of the budget boxes, and it can make mixing feel much more intuitive, it’s still a budget product. Build quality isn’t necessarily bomb proof, and professional users may want a hands-on session before investing. Even so – it’s one of the more thoughtful of the fader boxes, and wor th a serious look. Contour Design Shuttle Pro 2 GB www.contourdesign.com In a world of music-based controllers, it’s reassuring to see that AV users haven’t been forgotten. Contour Design’s Shuttle series of products offers a desk-based jog-shuttle wheel > AUDIO MEDIA JANUARY 2009 WWW.KRKSYS.COM http://WWW.KRKSYS.COM http://www.presonus.com http://www.frontierdesign.com http://www.cme-pro.com http://www.novationmusic.com http://www.contourdesign.com http://WWW.KRKSYS.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of AudioMedia - January 2009

AudioMedia - January 2009 Contents Recording News Post News Broadcast News Geo Focus: India What's Up UK? Special Report: Pimp My Ride AKG C214 Sony Acid Pro 7.0 Final Cut: Mirror's Edge Opportunities in the Reality World She's Got the Look The X-Factor Sadie LRX2 Source Elements Source-Connect 3.1 Buying a Recorder In Control Product Sampler: Trade Shows Video Guide AMSR News Digico SD8 The Last Picture Show File Server

AudioMedia - January 2009

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