Recording - March 2010 - 19

On the output side, six channels of audio can be returned from a computer. The first two go to the Main Outputs, which feed a pair of 1/4" TS unbalanced line-level outs and a 1/4" TRS headphone jack with its own level pot. The other four go to the rear-panel output pairs, one 1/4" TS and one RCA. The interface can operate at 16 or 24 bits of audio resolution and at 44.1, 48, and 96 kHz sample rate. This rate is set globally in hardware as a system setting; you might have to manually make sure it’s set to the resolution and sample rate your computer software is working with, depending on the software. In practice, I found the quality of the converters to be excellent, if not on the level of an Apogee or Benchmark box costing many times more. Effects processing and audio recording The effects processors—a compressor with threshold, ratio, gain, attack, and release settings, and a 3-band eq with shelving high and low bands and a sweepable fully parametric mid—can be turned on and off for each analog input with a front-panel switch. They’re controlled from the four knobs on the VS-100, three dedicated to most-used parameters (eq band gains, compressor threshold/ratio/gain) and the fourth a turn/pushclick encoder that accesses other parameters like attack and release or mid Q. I found the eq quite musical and useful, particularly the parametric mid, which is great for removing bad honks, hums, and buzzes on problematic signals—I wished there were two such bands on each channel. The compressor is very basic but works as advertised; you can get it to pump at the wrong settings, but that’s true of almost every compressor, and it worked very well at taming an overly jumpy bass performance before sending the signal to the DAW. The reverb is a send/return design, with only four algorithms and no adjustable parameters. You set it up using the four knobs and the LCD screen, and it’s not easy to tweak in mid-performance, having no dedicated controls. It’s mainly handy for confidence reverb on a singer or other player who likes to hear himself wetter or as a touch of ambience when using the VS-100’s last little trick, its built-in WAV recorder. At first, I questioned the usefulness of this little feature, which simply nabs the signal from Inputs 1, 1+2, or the Main Mix, and records it to an SD card, with a few basic features like A–B looping, marker setting, and the ability to play back a file in the background while playing along and recording the results to a new file. But in practice it was terribly handy! I used it to quickly and reliably capture stereo mixes of live performances I was streaming to the Internet—said streaming being done with a second interface, since the WAV recorder only works when the VS-100 isn’t connected to a computer. Control surface functions The control surface section of the VS-100 can be set to work with SONAR and its ACT (Active Controller Technology) system, or in generic Mackie Control mode for nonSONAR DAWs. In both modes, there are controls for track select, mute/solo/arm, seven transport buttons, Loop, View, and Marker, plus the four encoders under/ beside the LCD and an extra encoder knob next to the reasonably smooth touch-sensitive 100 mm motorized fader. The fader is truly touch-sensitive rather than “grab and grind” and responded swiftly and accurately in my tests—again, not a fader you’d find on a quarter-million-dollar desk, but one that works well for track automation work one channel at a time. Most of these controls work automatically out of the starting gate once your DAW knows that it has to look for a Mackie Control, but you’ll have to take a moment to read the manual and/or experiment a little to determine what they control, and if you’re not using SONAR you’ll have to assign a few of them by hand to do what you want in your DAW. In practice this gives you much of the functionality of a portable control surface like the Frontier Design AlphaTrack or the PreSonus FaderPort, close at hand. If you forgo the ability to use the frontpanel knobs and buttons in the digital mixer section, those eight knobs and four buttons can be used as DAW controls too—a few are already mapped to Mackie Control functions, most are assignable. If you’re using SONAR, pressing the ACT button gives you additional visual feedback on what you’re controlling and where via the LCD. There’s also a VS-100 page in SONAR that lets you graphically assign control parameters and offers online help—a nice plus. All in all I can see the V-Studio 100 being handy in a wide variety of installations. It’s ideal for the solo recordist who might want to sing and play guitar while having a keyboard or drum machine handy (remembering too that many modern guitar effects processors can make use of the VS-100’s S/PDIF input), or for a small group that doesn’t have to mike a drum kit. Because it quickly repurposes from digital mixer to control surface to standalone recorder, it becomes a sort of box-of-all-work that you can throw at a variety of problems, always with solid results. There are a few added perks for SONAR users, but even if you’re working with another DAW—yes, even on a Mac—this interface won’t fail to please you with everything it can do. Check it out. Price: $599 More from: Cakewalk by Roland, www.v-studio.info. RECORDING MARCH 2010

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Recording - March 2010

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