EQ Magazine - November 2008 - (Page 66)

GEAR HEAD attention, and all the controls worked in a fluid, obvious manner. I had less luck with Mackie emulation and Digital Performer, but Euphonix’s support (which is excellent, as is the documentation) recommended repairing the Mac OS X permissions . . . problem solved. And when I ran into a problem getting the EuCon Workstation software to work, they again provided a solution (that again involved something I had to do on the Mac). The knobs and faders are touchsensitive, so the display jumps to what’s appropriate for what you’re touching—for example, touch the level fader, and a numeric value representing the slider setting replaces the track name. You can’t “fine-tune” the fader setting (e.g., by holding Shift while moving the fader), but the resolution is very fine anyway—for example, the fader value passes through eight discrete values while going from 0 to 1dB. The only questionable aspect was moving ganged faders, as the ganged fader you’re not moving lags slightly. Also, a quick flick of one ganged fader will often cause the other to appear to “overshoot” before settling back to the correct position. However, any discrepancies don’t show up in the data stream they generate, so just consider the fader you’re moving of a ganged group as “the real thing.” The MC Mix knobs have two main modes: Normal mode, where a knob affects the same parameter across multiple tracks, and Channel mode, where a knob affects multiple parameters within the same track. For example, when you punch the EQ button in channel mode, the leftmost channel in the display is the channel you’re affecting. But the knobs are a different matter: With Logic Pro, from left to right the eight knobs control Frequency and Gain for the four EQ stages. However, if you hit the Select button, the knob controlling Frequency now controls Q . . . and the On button underneath the stage control turns the stage on and off. Because we’re in Channel mode, all the knobs affect one channel. But remember that Logic Pro has eight stages of EQ: Just hit the Page button, and now the eight knobs control the high cut/low cut/high shelf/low shelf parameters. So which is easier, using the screen, or using the knobs? For making a single, quick tweak, I’d go for the screen. But where the knobs come in very handy is if you’re working on a track and want to make a series of adjustments. In that case, you can keep your hands on the controller and move effortlessly among midrange, high end, low end, etc. What’s more, you can edit two parameters at once because you have two hands— twice as good as a mouse! There are also some cool little touches; as one example, with parametric stages, the Freq knob does double-duty as the Q control (you alternate between the two by hitting the SEL button). The gain remains as a separate parameter on a separate knob. It makes sense that you’d choose the frequency, and then, decide on the amount of gain/Q at that frequency. Regarding the MC Control control surface, while it has four motorized faders along with eight programmable knobs and 12 assignable buttons à la MC Mix, it also has transport controls, monitor/control room level controls, and a customizable 800 x 480 pixel touchscreen (very groovy). The MC Control is intended to serve as a control center for your DAW, as the touchscreen can access EQ and plug-in parameters, show metering, display track names, and the like; it’s also possible to set up macro commands to initiate command strings. Furthermore, the data entry wheel can provide zoom, jog, and shuttle, as well as edit parameters like trim, crossfade, and gain. The expandable aspect of the Artist Series is noteworthy, as is the form factor: This is one controller that slides conveniently in between your QWERTY keyboard and monitors (or goes in front of the QWERTY keyboard). Overall, the Artist Series is a class act—as one would expect from Euphonix. 66 EQ NOVEMBER 2008 www.eqmag.com http://www.sonicus.net http://www.sonicus.net http://www.eqmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EQ Magazine - November 2008

EQ Magazine - November 2008 Contents Talk Box Sounding Board Punch In Brian Wilson Guitar Trax Bass Management Key Issues Drum Heads Vocal Cords Mix Bus Cheat Sheet Sony Acid 6 Abelton Live 7 Controller World New Controllers Analysis Room with a Vu

EQ Magazine - November 2008

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