Recording - December 2014 - 20

for me to try out the Tempo SSD card from Sonnet. This is a 6Gb/s SATA PCIe
2.0 card that holds a Solid State Drive or SSD (sold separately). I tried the Tempo
with a 500GB OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G SSD. Installation into the SE II
was simple, and the drive was recognized just like any other external drive.
I used this drive setup as my audio tracking drive. While the speed boost
is not all that noticeable during audio editing and recording, when transferring large 50 GB song sessions from this drive over to a client's external
LaCie SSD, the transfer took mere minutes rather than an hour plus as it
had done weeks earlier using platter-based USB 2 drives.
There's not much to say about the Tempo other than that it worked! Once
installed, it was forgotten as it just got on with its job. The Tempo is not just for
use in Sonnet enclosures either; it will work in any spare PCIe slot on any computer, offering you internal SSD options if you so choose, and it is now bootable
in Mac OS. An SSD-based OS drive is a revelation in terms of speed!
The Echo Express SE II is one of the best options for continued use of your
favorite PCIe cards in the new Mac landscape, and an easy way to keep
your studio up to date without breaking the bank. And if you're looking for
a way to supercharge the speed of your DAW, the Tempo SSD lets you do
it with the drive of your choice.-PV

Akai Professional APC40 MkII,
APC mini, and APC Key 25
$399.99, $99.99, and $129.99; www.akaipro.com

it is just about double the size of your average high
capacity hard drive enclosure and weighs 3.7 lbs.
Inside it has one x16 PCIe 2.0 slot and one x8 slot. It
accepts a a pair of "half-length+" (up to 7.75" long),
single-width, full-height PCIe 2.0 cards, and is designed
to accept a daughter card on one as well (for example,
the LS-ADAT I/O add-on card for the Lynx AES16e interface). It features a large internal cooling fan and an
external power supply. Sonnet reports that a one-slotplus-daughter-card version, the Echo Express SE I, is
expected to be available early in 2015.
Before purchase I recommend a quick glance on
Sonnet's web page to double check PCIe card compatibility, but most of the popular cards from Apogee, Lynx,
RME, and Universal Audio should be fine, and drivers
are in process for SSL's MadiXtreme. The SE II does
work with PCs that implement Thunderbolt, but lacking
Windows drivers, none of the abovementioned cards
are supported as of press time.
In use it was 100% plug and play and I had zero hiccups with hardware or software installation. The only
thing to note is that the fan is fairly audible. For editing
sessions it is fine, but it is too loud for tracking in the
same room. Run a long Thunderbolt cable and isolate it
if that's a problem; considering that unlike many other
firms, Sonnet actually includes a Thunderbolt cable with
the chassis, this is a bearable investment.
Soon after completing my tests with the Lynx card, I
changed my converter/interface to a Thunderbolt-based
solution. That opened up a slot in the Echo Express SE II
20

RECORDING December 2014

Anyone who's used Ableton Live knows that this DAW, which was intended from the get-go for live performance as well as composition and studio
work, allows for a lot of flexibility with computer keyboard and MIDI control. However, Live really thrives on a well-made dedicated controller that
allows access to frequently used functions. The question is, which ones?
Every user wants something different. Some folks really want the ability to
launch clips easily. Others want mix and transport control. Others want to be able
to play virtual instruments and mess with their parameters in real time. As a result,
a fair number of Ableton controllers have come to the market, each offering a
slightly different take on "we're giving you what you really need." Akai Pro-makers of the original APC40, the first-ever desktop Ableton Live controller-has
released three unique Ableton controllers, each offering strengths of its own.
The APC40 MkII blows its predecessor out of the water in almost every way;
as a comprehensive controller for Live, it truly shines. Users get to control Live's

http://www.akaipro.com

Recording - December 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - December 2014