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THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING STUDIO

Jul 1, 2001 12:00 PM, Marty Cutler

Not too long ago, I declared a moratorium on the seemingly never-ending upgrades required with computer-based digital-audio workstations (DAWs). I freely admit to being intimidated by the expense of a more powerful computer, switching to USB, replacing my serial MIDI interfaces accordingly, abandoning or adapting my SCSI drives, and the trial-and-error nature of upgrades in general. I decided instead to simplify my life and look for a digital recording system that I could easily tote from my studio to a gig or a friend's living room. Because I have a fairly extensive MIDI system, I needed a recorder that could communicate with my computer in multiple ways, including synchronization and automated mixing. In short, I wanted it all: digital recording with mixing, effects processing, and mastering in a small portable package.

The recording studio was once the domain of the seasoned professional engineer. Anyone seriously considering recording a project for posterity would rent time (and presumably, the engineer's expertise) at a fully equipped recording studio armed with a good multitrack recorder, a capable mixer, racks of dynamics and effects processors, and (of course) a separate recorder for mixdown. Naturally, engaging the services of a full-blown studio cost a pretty penny, even without the cost of mastering.

A little more than a decade ago, the advent of digital multitrack recording allowed budget-conscious musicians to control their own destinies. At the time, digital recording gear was limited to computer-based systems and modular digital multitrack (MDM) recorders. Those recording systems were either tied to the recording studio or required you to transport a boatload of ancillary gear such as mixers and effects processors. Computer systems were prone to crashes and data loss, and MDMs were bulky rack-mount units with uninformative displays and limited mixdown capabilities. Even though some modular systems had expansion options for effects and dynamics processing, recording and mixdown were mostly abstract processes.

More recently, portable digital studios offer us some of the best of both worlds: recording, effects processing, sophisticated mixing options with waveform and track displays, cut-and-paste editing, direct mastering to CD, and even a degree of expandability in a few cases. What's more, the best of these systems offer the ability to interact extensively with your computer, allowing you to control your recording and synchronization, automate your effects processors and mixdown with your computer, and even offload your project to the computer for additional processing. Today's portable digital studios promise practically all of the features of a full recording studio (less the soda machine and bad coffee) in a single unit.

I CONTAIN WORLDS

When EM surveyed portable digital studios in May 1999, author Bob O'Donnell suggested that the devices had their roots in but extended far beyond the archetype of cassette-based multitrack units. Three years later, the resemblance is mostly in size and outward appearance. Today's portable digital studios pack an amazing amount of power into a very small space.

The recorders I looked at have underlying common threads: all record digital audio to disk; provide virtual tracks; and offer typical random access editing operations such as copy, cut, and paste. In addition, all of the studios offer scene-based automation, a mixing surface, and informative displays. However, the units vary widely in complexity; from inputs, outputs, and routing options to sampling rates, bit depth, storage, and display information, every device is different. Perhaps the best way to decide which portable digital studio is right for you is to consider the ways in which the units differ. To that end, I stocked my home with seven top-of-the-line units — Akai DPS16, Boss BR-8, Fostex VF-16, Korg D1600, Roland VS-1880, Tascam 788, and Yamaha AW4416 — and enough documentation for an army of Talmudic scholars, and I got to work. They all yield vivid, professional-sounding results, yet all have different ways of getting there.

Download comprehensive charts comparing features and specifications for all models mentioned in this article. You must have Adobe Acrobat to view these charts.

NOW YOU SEE IT

The most obvious ways in which the units differ from their cassette-studio ancestry are the displays and navigation capabilities. Alongside familiar tape-transport controls and faders are LCDs and navigation and function buttons. Because most of the signal flow is in the digital domain, it can be difficult for those accustomed to a hardware modular system to comprehend. In general, the more information your portable digital recorder provides, the easier your task will be. But the way the information is presented can be just as important. For example, the Boss BR-8 lets you scrub with a Jog/Shuttle wheel and offers regional editing of tracks but has no waveform display; ultimately, you'll need to confirm your edit regions by ear.

The Fostex VF-16 displays the waveform only in Scrub mode; once you find a region, you must exit Scrub mode, hit the Store button, and select a memory location with yet another button. The Roland VS-1880, Akai DPS16, Yamaha AW4416, Tascam 788, and Korg D1600 display the waveform of a selected track and let you zoom in and out of the time and amplitude axis. The D1600 and the VS-1880 are the only units that can scroll through and update the waveform view during playback, making it easy for you to play back (or scrub) while punching markers and to locate points on the fly. The Akai DPS16 offers a waveform view with a context-sensitive legend displaying the number of samples per dot; zoom in or out on the time axis, and the legend changes sample resolution accordingly. You can define an edit point to the single sample level. The Korg D1600, Roland VS-1880, Tascam 788, and Yamaha AW4416 allow you to zoom in to pinpoint edit regions with the scrub wheel and location markers.

Because portable digital studios can circumvent the need for patch bays, the display is critical; routing of channel inputs, effects sends and returns, and the like is handled by function buttons paired with onscreen menus and displays. The DPS16 and the VS-1880 win top honors for informational friendliness when making track-to-channel input assignments: when you input tracks to mixer channels, an onscreen patch cord extends from track to channel. The Roland VS-1880 even offers EZ Routing, an online wizard to walk you through everything from arming tracks and assigning inputs to applying effects.

I GET AROUND

As helpful as the displays may be, you still need to familiarize yourself with the topology of buttons, menus, and functions for your recorder. In that respect, the Boss BR-8 is the simplest to learn. I was able to start recording and mixing with hardly a peek at the manual, but that was in part because of the BR-8's limited recording options. Just the same, the unit is logically and ergonomically designed.

The Fostex VF-16 relegates many seemingly unrelated functions to a single Setup menu button. There, you'll find settings for file-management tasks, including disk formatting and saving and loading of songs; time signature settings and MIDI sync and MIDI Time Code (MTC) frame rates; digital I/O settings; soft switches for fader recall (which disables or enables scene-related fader levels); and phantom power. The menu also gives you access to information such as the type of hard disk installed, its total capacity, remaining capacity, and the number of events per song. The logic of that type of user interface may not appeal to those who prefer separate buttons for related parameters. I found it extremely easy to scroll down the list, select the function I wanted to change, set it up with a twist of the rotary dial, and get back to the main screen.

The Tascam 788 has a menu arrangement similar to the VF-16's; however, its menu nests related setup parameters in submenus. For example, the song menu groups all song-related functions, including creating a new song, reverting to a previously saved version, and copying and deleting entire songs. Similarly, MIDI and sync, disk management, and CD-RW options have separate submenus. For some users, that arrangement may require one push of the Enter button too many; others may appreciate the focus on related settings without peripheral information in the display. Nonetheless, the Tascam unit provides a Home/Escape button, which takes you to the topmost screen, even if you are burrowed down a menu or two.

The Korg D1600 is unique in that it uses a touch screen in conjunction with buttons. The screen is a huge help; for example, pushing the Utilities button takes you to nested submenus that you can open by touching their onscreen tabs. Glide your finger across the screen, select and adjust your parameter, and you're done. If you wish to do things the old-fashioned way, the unit provides Mode buttons, a four-axis cursor, and an Enter key. The other units need to be set up with combinations of buttons and a rotary encoder.

Assigning inputs to tracks is a relatively simple task with all of the devices. Again, the BR-8 is the easiest to set up. Press a button to arm a track, and you're ready to hit the Record button and play. There are no bus assignments. The Tascam 788 and the Fostex VF-16 offer a grid of rectangles. Inputs are at the left of the screen, and channels appear across the top. Both units shine in combining the virtual with the physical. Select an input button, press a track button, and you're ready. The LCD immediately mirrors your assignments.

The DPS16's Q-Link Mixer Control (QLMC) feature helps bring the virtual and physical worlds a little closer together. The upper-right corner of the control surface sports six knobs to which you can assign real-time control of send level, EQ, or effects parameters. Yamaha's AW4416 has similar dedicated knobs for pan and EQ that immediately call up an informative parameter display on the screen for any selected channel. You can defeat the automatic display if you would rather tweak by ear and view the track screen in progress.

The Yamaha AW4416 is the most complex unit I reviewed and the most difficult to navigate. It took me about ten minutes to figure out how to open the CD drive. Like most of the recorders I tested, the AW4416 has a dedicated area for CD functions, but the Eject and Load buttons are not visible until you press the Shift key. Clearly, the AW4416 is a very different machine from the rest; it is not a device to approach with a cassette mini-studio metaphor in mind. If you have experience with Yamaha's 02R mixer, you should have little difficulty getting comfortable with the AW4416's terrain, but it is hardly an entry-level machine. The AW4416 ships with a video that orients you to its user interface and gives you a deeper appreciation of what the unit can do. At the back of the AW4416 is a port for a serial mouse, which will also help you get around more quickly.

SIX OF ONE

The number of tracks available for recording or playback is something of a moving target. The Roland VS-1880 leads the pack with playback of as many as 18 tracks at once. However, track count depends on other variables. As always, the phrase “as many as” is a red flag. The number of tracks available on many of the units depends on the bit depth and the sampling rate you select. For example, the DPS16 can play back 16 tracks at a sampling rate of as high as 48 kHz in 16-bit mode; changing the resolution to 24-bit yields 12 tracks; and 24-bit, 96 kHz audio brings the number of playable tracks to 6. With the exception of the Tascam 788 and the BR-8, which limit your track count to 8, the remaining units provide as many as 16 tracks for playback. The Fostex VF-16 records only at 16-bit, 44.1 kHz, so its track count is always 16.

The Roland VS-1880 offers six recording modes. In CDR (CD mastering) and MAS (mastering mixdown) modes, the machine records uncompressed audio, giving you approximately 200 minutes of recording time at 44.1 kHz. The other four modes use various degrees of Roland's proprietary data compression. MTPro (multitrack) mode is the best of the four; in that mode, the data compression is so subtle that I was not able to perceive the difference between compressed and uncompressed recordings. MT2 (lower-quality multitrack) and LIV (live recording) modes, though still good, use noticeable data compression.

The net result of Roland's compression scheme is more recording time along with more record and playback tracks. When recording at 48 kHz in MAS mode, you get only six simultaneous recording tracks and ten playback tracks.

The number of available inputs for recording also varies. Keep in mind that although you may have the ability to record as many as 16 tracks at once, portable units may have less than the full complement of analog inputs. As with the track count, bit resolution and sampling rate determine the number of simultaneous tracks available for recording. As an example, the Korg D1600 lets you record simultaneously on 8 of 16 available tracks with 16-bit, 44.1 kHz settings; if you choose to record 24-bit, 44.1 kHz audio, you can record only 4 simultaneous tracks.

Additionally, you need to consider the types of inputs that come with the unit. The BR-8 provides only two 1/4-inch balanced inputs, two RCA inputs, and an unbalanced high-impedance input for guitar. However, you can record only two inputs at a time. The 788 has four 1/4-inch balanced analog inputs and a pair of 1/4-inch unbalanced auxiliary jacks. The Fostex VF-16 has eight, two of which offer both 1/4-inch TRS and XLR jacks. You can also use the VF-16's digital inputs for as many as eight additional tracks. For a complete listing of the I/O capabilities of each unit, see the downloadable table.

VIRTUALLY ALIKE

The current crop of portable digital studios offer virtual tracks, allowing you to record multiple takes of a performance and choose the best one or to create a composite track from multiple takes. However, implementation varies among units. Some recorders, such as the VS-1880, allocate 16 virtual tracks to each physical track. The Tascam 788 (see Fig. 4) and the Akai offer a pool of 250 virtual tracks that you can assign freely to any physical track. The Fostex VF-16, on the other hand, uses Additional Tracks, which are storage locations, essentially. The difference is not simply a matter of terminology; you cannot record to, play back, or edit an Additional Track. You must instead perform a track exchange with 1 of the 16 physical tracks to audition the results. With other units, you simply assign a virtual track for recording.

On the Korg D1600 and the Roland VS-1880, virtual tracks go significantly beyond the alternate-take functionality of the other units. You can bounce your tracks down to virtual tracks even if you have no more physical tracks left for recording.

SLICE 'N' DICE

Once you have recorded your tracks, you may need to do a bit of trimming and rearranging here and there. All of these studios are up to the task; nonetheless, some are more capable than others. Each unit lets you define regions that you can copy, cut, move, delete, insert, and so on. The Korg D1600, the Tascam 788, and the Fostex VF-16 require you to set up region markers in advance of your edit; the Yamaha AW4416, Roland VS-1880, and Akai DPS16 offer preselected regions and the ability to define edit points numerically from a window in the edit screen. The DPS16's edit windows interact nicely with the track Select and Record buttons. For instance, to copy an area of track 1 and insert it into track 3, press the track 1 Select button and the track 3 Record button to highlight the source and destination and draw a virtual patch cord between them. To perform the operation on the same track, simply press the Select and Record buttons for that track number.

One editing feature that puts a computer workstation ahead of most portable digital studios is the ability to move mass chunks of audio data, making it easy to rearrange song form should the need arise. With portable digital studios, most editing can be done only one track at a time, so moving entire verses, choruses, and bridges on a portable unit can be an abstract and mind-numbing exercise. However, the Roland VS-1880's Song Arrange feature is pointer based, letting you identify regions of your song with markers and nondestructively rearrange playback of the regions in any order, in much the same way you would compile an Edit Decision List.

The Song Arrange screen uses markers to indicate the regions you wish to rearrange. You simply assign a number to the markers, hit the Execute function button, and the VS-1880 dutifully rearranges your song. The Akai DPS16 and the Korg D1600 can perform multiple track edits to achieve the same result (albeit with destructive edits), but none of the other units can rearrange song structure except on a track-by-track basis. It's hard to beat Roland's Song Arrange display, which gives an overview of the entire song and displays marker tabs at the bottom of the screen.

The Yamaha and Korg units provide drive bays for swappable hard disks and a CD-RW drive. Installing the drives is a snap. All recorders except for the BR-8 offer ports for external SCSI devices, so if you already own a SCSI CD-RW, you can press it into service and avoid the extra expense (provided that it is a unit recommended by the manufacturer). Roland's VS-1880 requires the use of its VS-CDRII ($750). Considering the price of the average SCSI CD-RW, Roland's VS-CDRII is somewhat costly, but you can also use the drive with your computer.

INTERSPECIES

One feature I love most on the portable digital studios is the ability to integrate with a computer-based workstation. The units offer digital output and synchronization with your computer. All of the recorders support MIDI Machine Control (MMC), albeit with slightly different implementation. A case in point is the BR-8; because it has only a MIDI Out port, it must always be the master device for MMC and sync. That means you can slave your sequencer (or another recording device) to the BR-8, but you can't control the unit's recording processes from your computer. Each recorder supports MTC and MIDI Clock, and each one locked in without problems.

The Roland VS-1880, the Akai DPS16, and the Korg D1600 can slave to MTC and serve as the master source. The D1600 can even capture your sequencer's tempo map, but the Korg units support a frame rate of only 30 frames per second, nondrop. That is unfortunate because it removes an otherwise qualified unit from consideration for film and television work. Hopefully, a future software update will address that limitation. The Yamaha AW4416's connectivity is a cut above the rest with the addition of Word Clock I/O for digital-audio synchronization. In addition to MIDI In and switchable Out/Thru jacks, the AW4416 offers a dedicated MIDI output only for MTC; the unit filters extraneous MIDI messages from the synchronization pipeline.

Perhaps the next most important feature is MIDI-controlled dynamic automation. The ability to capture, tweak, and play back your fader moves, settings, and more is a tremendous asset. Typically, you synchronize your sequencing software to the recorder, and then from your recorder, you record fader and panning moves. Adjustments made from your recorder's controls send MIDI CCs. You can then fine-tune your moves in the sequencer and play the messages back to the recorder, which dutifully follows the computer's instructions. You can also store multiple mixes on your computer's hard disk. The two odd birds in the lot are the Akai DPS16 and the Korg D1600, which do not offer built-in dynamic automation but are able to send and receive CCs for automation via MIDI. The Tascam 788 responds to CCs for mixing, but it doesn't send them. So unless you want to mix with a mouse, you will need a MIDI control surface. The AW4416 does not use dynamic automation through MIDI; it relies instead on its powerful built-in automated mixing capabilities and motorized faders. Finally, the Yamaha can switch between scene settings with MIDI Program Change messages. Scenes are useful for establishing snapshot settings of different regions of the recording, but they don't provide the continuity of dynamic automation. The units that implement dynamic automation also provide scene automation using MIDI Program Change messages.

MACHINE CHOPS

Each portable digital studio I tested supports MMC to some degree. MMC lets you arm or disable tracks, locate precise regions of your song, punch in, and rehearse punches (if your recorder supports Rehearse mode), all from your computer. MMC also makes it easy to control multiple machines from a central location. It comes in handy if you are overdubbing live performances with MIDI virtual tracks, because you can perform quick edits of your MIDI parts on your sequencer to suit the performer's taste. For example, you can quickly and easily transpose a song's MIDI component if your vocalist spontaneously decides that the key is too low; meanwhile, your recorder is still locked in and ready to go. However, not all of the recorders implement MMC bidirectionally. For example, the AW4416 receives but doesn't send MMC, so you can't do remote-control recording on a second recorder without bringing a computer into the process.

All seven recorders offer at least S/PDIF output, so transferring audio to DAT or to your computer's hard disk is a breeze. After transferring audio, you can offload tracks or entire songs to your computer for editing with your choice of software tools. Of course, not all of the units offer S/PDIF input, so getting tracks back to your portable digital studio may prove to be problematic. One possible work-around is to save your edited tracks as WAV files and burn a CD. The Fostex VF-16 is the only unit that comes standard with eight channels of ADAT and two channels of S/PDIF I/O (see Fig. 6). You can change the I/O configuration in the Setup menu. Because the Fostex offers both Lightpipe and S/PDIF on the same ports, the jacks use optical connectors, so you may need to consider an optical-to-coaxial converter to share data with your coaxial-equipped gear.

Support for saving and loading WAV files is becoming more prevalent, providing yet another means of moving data back and forth between your portable studio and your computer. WAV-file support also opens up the portable digital studio to the enormous library of loop-construction-kit sample CDs. I imported WAV files from a construction-kit sample CD to the D1600 without a single hitch. The AW4416 is a bit less transparent in that regard; navigating around the Import WAV menu requires multiple cursor moves alternating with the rotary dial and the Enter button. Nevertheless, that unit offers more import options on the same page. For example, you can pinpoint your file's new track and time location on the same page that you select the file. The Akai DPS16 supports saving and loading of WAV files to either FAT 16- or FAT 32-formatted disks. The VF-16 can only load WAV files from the root directory, so loading from stock sample CDs is out of the question. The Fostex, Yamaha, and Korg units also allow you to export songs and tracks as WAV files to FAT 16-formatted hard disks. Some of the other units don't support WAV files at all.

GOODIES

I found special hardware and software highlights in each of the machines. The Yamaha AW4416 offers preset EQ libraries for different applications to get you started; a collection of settings for drums proved invaluable for shaping my drum machine sounds. You can easily adjust the settings and create your own libraries. Libraries can also be created for signal flow and effects processors. I liked the Yamaha's scene increment and decrement buttons, which were especially useful in conjunction with the dedicated Pan and EQ knobs. If I made a change to a channel's EQ setting, I merely had to hit the Scene Plus button to advance to the next scene and make a change there. The upper-right corner of the window lets you know which scene you are working on.

The AW4416 includes a limited but useful sampler. You can sample audio from the built-in CD-RW and import track data or WAV files, but you cannot sample directly from external sources. You can assign samples to any of the two banks of sampling pads and play them back. The Yamaha is also the only unit with a separate large-size level meter, which is a godsend if you need to monitor input levels and record at the same time (see Fig. 7). It's worth mentioning that the Yamaha is the only unit that provides expansion slots for additional digital or analog I/O. Together, Yamaha and Waves are developing a plug-in DSP card that includes the Waves L1 Ultramaximizer, Renaissance compressor and EQ, TrueVerb, SuperTap delay, and DeEsser.

Several units provide quick setup routing features; I particularly appreciate Tascam's take on that. Pressing the 788's Quick Setup button opens a menu of preset routing options for recording, mixdown, bouncing to tracks 7 and 8 for CD mastering, and gaining access to other libraries for scenes and signal routing. The Roland VS-1880, Tascam 788, and Fostex VF-16 permit varispeed recording or playback, which allows you to adjust tracks for variations in pitch.

The Boss BR-8 and the Korg D1600 offer an assortment of drum patterns that can serve as a metronome or as drum tracks in your song. Drum sounds seem to age quickly, so it's nice that the BR-8 can transfer MIDI note data to an external drum machine or your sequencer for a sonic face-lift. The BR-8 sounds are mapped to General MIDI (GM) note numbers, a practice fairly standard among drum machines these days. Speaking of drums, I appreciate the D1600's ability to reverse tracks — great for the “Strawberry Fields” drum effect.

The switchable ADAT/S/PDIF I/O of the VF-16 is a welcome addition for anyone wishing to bring VF-16 tracks into an ADAT system or vice versa. As mentioned earlier, you can use the ADAT inputs for eight additional track inputs when recording.

I have scads of MIDI files in my computer consisting of disembodied ideas for bridges, verses, choruses, and grooves; any of them could be useful somewhere. Every now and then, an inspiration strikes for joining a couple of them together. Doing that is not difficult with MIDI data, but it can be a frustrating task with digital audio. The Roland VS-1880, however, can take an entire song and combine it with another, making it easy to experiment with combining sections for other songs. Roland also ships the VS-1880 with a copy of Emagic's Logic VS (Mac/Win), which lets you perform graphical editing of waveform data and mixer and effects parameters, and enables MIDI sequencing.

Akai bundles Mesa II DPS16 Editor (Win) with the DPS16. The software sequences faders, EQ, effects, and more. One screen offers envelope-style editing of fader moves. You also get a screen that lets you visually fine-tune your mix down to a single event.

Finally, some features may be so obvious that I can easily overlook them here. The Tascam and the Fostex units are the smallest of the units I reviewed and can fit into a laptop computer carrying case (see the sidebar “Beyond Multitracking”).

WHAT'S UP, DOC?

With all of the features portable digital studios contain, documentation can be as important as a unit's user interface. Simple icons can read like hieroglyphics without clear explanations in print. The Roland VS-1880's documentation includes an owner's manual, a reference manual, a tutorial, and a brief but helpful handbook on recording basics. The lot is clear and well written.

The Akai manual is not nearly so helpful; for one thing, it doesn't have an index, so you must use the table of contents to find what you need. The single Korg D1600 manual is all too brief, and it could stand a more comprehensive index. Fortunately, the Korg Web site is expected to have a PDF-format tutorial manual posted by the time this article goes to print. The Tascam 788 provides a tutorial, an owner's manual, and a four-page overview of the unit; all the documentation is well written and contains clear diagrams.

ADD-ONS

As portable as the units are, you may still want to invest in ancillary devices for recording. For example, if you are not satisfied with the quality of your unit's built-in preamp, you may want to consider an external preamp with digital outputs.

You may also want to experiment with dedicated high-quality A/D converters. If your unit has digital I/O (some offer only digital outputs), you can record into the external converter and pass the audio into the unit's digital input.

You may find it necessary to digitally transfer data to or from a device with a different S/PDIF connector than the one on your machine. Quite a few inexpensive boxes that can take input from coaxial S/PDIF cables and send the data out to an optical jack and vice versa are on the market.

You'll need to monitor your recordings; check out Roland's DS-90A ($595 each) or DS-50A powered monitors ($349 each). Those speakers provide balanced analog inputs using Neutrik combo jacks and S/PDIF digital input with both coaxial and optical connectors. The monitors are especially effective when used with the VS-1880; it offers modeling algorithms for different speakers, allowing you to test your mix on a car stereo without having to get into your car, for example.

The smaller units fit nicely into wheeled, padded airline porter cases designed for laptop computers. I can carry my recorder power supply, a SCSI CD burner, a couple of small condenser mics and cables, power supplies, an optical-to-coaxial converter, a few CDs, and the manuals — with room to spare — in a padded case with an extendable handle and wheels. If your recorder is roughly the same size as the Fostex or the Tascam, it should fit comfortably.

CHEFS OF THE FUTURE

The portable digital studios discussed in this article are by no means the only units in circulation. Several companies offer products with similar user interfaces at less-expensive price points. For instance, Roland has three other portable digital studios. The VS-890 is a 24-bit studio with as many as eight simultaneous tracks of recording and eight tracks of playback (six tracks in the highest-resolution recording mode). Korg offers the D12, which has many of the D1600's features in a 12-track unit (without the touch-screen interface). Fostex offers the VF-08 for eight tracks of uncompressed 16-bit audio. Akai's DPS12-I gives you a maximum of 12 tracks for recording and mixing. I included those units in the “Portable Digital Studio Features” table for comparison.

Portable studios have certainly come a long way since the days of their cassette mini-studio ancestors. With greater processing power, where will those machines go? As this article goes to press, several new portable digital studios have appeared on the horizon. The Akai DPS24 will add motorized faders, as many as 24 tracks of recording, and stereo time-stretching capabilities. Among other features, the Roland VS-2480 will offer 24-bit, 96 kHz recording; motorized faders; and connectors for a mouse, ASCII keyboard, and a VGA monitor, enabling drag-and-drop track editing.

The trend with portable digital studios seems to point toward assimilation of computer-DAW functionality; in the future, you might see new features such as amplitude-based waveform slicing for changing tempo, pitch, or even the feel of audio tracks. Such features are already available on synthesizers and hardware remix units, so implementation on a portable digital studio is not a great stretch of the imagination.

With MIDI I/O already included on all of the units mentioned, perhaps a built-in MIDI sequencer and a virtual synthesizer or two are not out of the question. As with computer DAWs, the future of portable digital studios appears to be wide open to innovation. The recorders already offer tremendous power in the here and now. Why wait?

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EM assistant editor Marty Cutler will eventually archive his collection of vinyl LPs when he gets his turntable repaired.

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CONTACT INFORMATION

Akai Musical Instrument Corporation tel. (800) 433-5627 or (817) 831-9203; e-mail info@akaipro.com; Web www.akaipro.com

Fostex Corporation of America tel. (562) 921-1112; e-mail info@fostex.com; Web www.fostex.com

Korg USA, Inc. tel. (516) 333-9100; Web www.korg.com

Roland Corporation U.S. tel. (323) 890-3700; Web www.rolandus.com

Tascam tel. (323) 726-0303; Web www.tascam.com

Yamaha Corporation of America tel. (714) 522-9011; e-mail info@yamaha.com; Web www.yamaha.com or www.yamahasynth.com

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Sidebar: BEYOND MULTITRACKING

Apart from recording and mastering of your musical masterpieces, the sheer portability and versatility of portable digital studios make them great tools for other tasks. Here's a list of ideas for extending the usefulness of your portable digital studio.

I have a ton of LPs, tapes of live gigs, and miscellaneous audio that occupy a good deal of real estate in my studio. As much as I would like to clear out the space for other uses, those recordings are near and dear to me. If you are in the same boat, why not archive your vinyl and cassettes on audio CDs? Any recorder with CD-RW capabilities is perfect for compiling your LPs and cassettes in CD form, and you can easily doctor your cassettes with the recorder's onboard EQ.

It's easy to create your own sample CDs. Consider everything from drum loops and entire grooves to single-note instrument samples; all are fair game. You can press your portable digital studio into service by exporting WAV files to disk. First, record your samples to a track or pair of tracks. If you are recording multisamples, make sure to leave a reasonable gap of silence between notes. After you export the track or tracks as a WAV file and pull the file into a digital audio-editing program, slice the track into separate samples and save them to disk. You can then use your computer to burn a CD of WAV files — some samplers will read WAV files directly from CD. Of course, you can also burn audio sample CDs. In that case, you can record a metronome count off as a cue for triggering your sampler.

If your portable digital studio offers time compression and expansion, you can record that tricky musical passage, slow it down, and learn it. For example, the Boss BR-8 has a Phrase Trainer feature that lets you record a musical passage to the last two tracks. You can halve the playback speed without affecting pitch and even cancel sounds mixed in the center if you want to play along.