The EM Poll

This is not a scientific poll but a tabulation of readers responses and is purely just for fun!

See Past Poll Results

WHAT'S NEW

Feb 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Geary Yelton

Griffin Technology iTalk Pro

As long as the Apple iPod has been available, iPod owners have wished for an affordable device that could convert their favorite MP3 player into a portable audio recorder with CD-quality specifications. By shipping the iTalk Pro ($49.99), Griffin Technology (www.griffintechnology.com) has realized that wish. When you plug the iTalk Pro into a compatible iPod's dock connector, a pair of onboard electret microphones can record 16-bit stereo WAV files at 44.1 or 22.05 kHz, without cables.

In addition to internal mics, the thumb-size device has a stereo minijack to connect external audio sources. A multifunctional button serves as a record off/on switch and takes advantage of the iPod's software to toggle the automatic gain control between two levels. The iTalk Pro works with all iPods that support video, as well as with second-generation iPod Nanos.

IK Multimedia StealthPlug

For the mobile-computer-based guitarist, the StealthPlug (Mac/Win, $129) is a guitar-to-USB audio interface from IK Multimedia (www.ikmultimedia.com) that comes with a generous software bundle. The StealthPlug contains a high-impedance instrument preamp and an A/D converter that handles 16-bit audio at 44.1 or 48 kHz. Its 9-foot cable has a ¼-inch plug at one end and a USB plug at the other for connecting any electric guitar or bass directly to your computer. The bus-powered device has volume up and down buttons, an activity LED, and a stereo headphone minijack that doubles as an output for your guitar amp or powered speaker.

AmpliTube 2 Live, which is available only with the StealthPlug, is a standalone application and AU, RTAS, and VST plug-in. It emulates 3 guitar and bass amps, 5 speaker cabinets, 2 microphones, and 9 stompbox effects. The standalone version features SpeedTrainer, an audio player with variable pitch and playback rate that makes it easier to learn songs. The bundle includes Mackie's multitrack digital audio sequencer Tracktion 2.1 and the 16-channel sample player SampleTank 2 SE. You also get the 5-band mastering EQ from IK Multimedia's T-RackS and 500 MB of sampled guitar, bass, and drum loops from Sonic Reality.

PreSonus FireStudio

One of the most exciting of several new products from PreSonus (www.presonus.com) is the FireStudio ($899.95), a FireWire audio interface with 26 inputs and 26 outputs that are all available simultaneously. The FireStudio gives you 8 Class A microphone preamps, as many as 16 channels of ADAT Lightpipe I/O, and support for 24-bit audio at rates as high as 96 kHz. It incorporates JetPLL jitter-reduction technology for fast, stable synchronization over a wide range of clock frequencies. And according to PreSonus, frequency response is virtually flat from 20 Hz to 50 kHz.

The single-rackspace unit has 8 combo XLR and TRS inputs on the front panel, 2 of which accommodate high-impedance instrument signals. On the rear panel are 4 Toslink ports, coaxial S/PDIF I/O, 16-channel MIDI I/O, word-clock I/O on BNC jacks, stereo RCA inputs, 2 send inserts, 2 return inserts, and 10 TRS outputs. A zero-latency, 36 × 36 × 18 software mixer affords real-time control of all signal routing.

The FireStudio ships with PreSonus ProPak Complete (Mac/Win), a comprehensive software suite that furnishes applications such as Steinberg Cubase LE and Sonoma WireWorks Riffworks Jr. and plug-ins such as Wave Machine Labs Drumagog LE and Wave Arts MasterVerb LE. A selection of virtual instruments includes FXpansion BFD Lite and Applied Acoustics Systems Lounge Lizard Session; you also get drum loops from Keyfax TwiddlyBits and Discrete Drums. In addition, the optional Monitor Station Remote ($229.95) is available, It operates as an outboard speaker manager, input switcher, dual headphone amp, and talkback system.

Celemony Melodyne Plugin

Celemony (www.celemony.com), maker of Melodyne Studio, Cre8, Uno, and Essential, has introduced Melodyne Plugin (Mac/Win, $299), an AU-, RTAS-, and VST-compatible edition. Like previous versions, Melodyne Plugin lets you intuitively correct and modify the pitch and timing of monophonic audio tracks. Although each instance handles a single audio track, you can assign plug-ins to as many tracks as necessary for shifting the pitch of individual notes or phrases and squeezing or stretching their durations as desired.

Using flexible context-sensitive tools, Melodyne Plugin allows you to manually edit vibrato, change formant structure, and modify other parameters in real time. You can use macros to correct intonation and timing automatically and apply host automation to control pitch, formants, and volume. A multilevel undo function encourages experimentation, and selectable scale grids ensure harmonically correct transposition.

Melodyne Plugin is available for free to owners of Melodyne Studio. It will cost owners of all other versions $149 until the end of February 2007, and $199 after that. Also until the end of February, an upgrade will be available for $199 to owners of Antares Auto-Tune, Serato Pitch ‘n Time, and SoundToys PitchDoctor.

Steinberg WaveLab Studio 6

For PC users who want sophisticated audio-editing tools but don't need surround or DVD-authoring capabilities, Steinberg Media Technologies (www.steinberg.net) is now shipping WaveLab Studio 6 (Win, $399.99). Like WaveLab 6, WaveLab Studio 6 is a multichannel editing, mastering, and CD-burning application that supports VST and DirectX plug-ins, video clips, unlimited undo, and files of unlimited size. It offers most of the same capabilities, including audio looping and disc labeling. It comes with top-notch plug-ins for EQ, resampling, and removing noise and gives you a sonogram-like Spectrum view aligned with the Wave view. WaveLab Studio 6 provides sample-accurate editing and processing at rates as high as 192 kHz with 32-bit floating-point resolution.

So what can WaveLab 6 do that WaveLab Studio 6 can't? The full version supports QuickTime, spectrum editing, and sampling rates as high as 384 kHz. Audio Montage gives you as many as eight independent outputs (as opposed to two in WaveLab Studio 6), with an unlimited number of tracks and more effects per track. You can run multiple instances of WaveLab 6 and render multiple regions. Its CD and DVD support is more extensive, allowing you to import and compare audio CD images and create DVD-Audio discs. Check out Steinberg's Web site for a complete comparison of features.

Get Smart

In Using Reason's Virtual Instruments: Skill Pack ($29.99), published by Thomson Course Technology PTR (www.courseptr.com), author Matt Piper guides you on a journey that explores the synthesis and sampling capabilities of Propellerhead's flagship software, Reason 3. Five comprehensive chapters explain the inner workings of Subtractor, Malström, NN-XT, Redrum, and Combinator. You'll learn how to navigate their control panels, import and edit sounds, program your own timbres, create original patterns, and master their expressive capabilities. The 189-page book continues on the included CD-ROM, which contains PDF files with 72 additional pages investigating NN-19, Dr:rex, and making your own ReFills. The disc also gives you patches, samples, loops, and other materials for use with the book, and a handful of demo files from M-Audio's ProSessions series.

Remote recording presents lots of unique challenges that are best conquered through experience. Audio engineer, microphone designer, and studio owner Bruce Bartlett, along with technical writer Jenny Bartlett, share a wealth of experience and advice in Recording Music on Location ($39.95), from Focal Press (www.focalpress.com). Subtitled Capturing the Live Performance, the 296-page book tells you how to make superior recordings outside of the studio environment, whether you're recording rock or jazz in a nightclub or a symphony in a concert hall. The book is divided into two halves: one about recording popular music, and the other about classical. The first chapter describes the equipment you'll need, including portable recorders, microphones, and mixers. Subsequent chapters discuss session planning, setup and recording techniques, mixing, and editing. You'll learn about mic specifications, stereo and surround miking techniques, and troubleshooting. A 25-page glossary follows extensive appendices detailing stereo imaging and binaural techniques. The book comes with an audio CD that demonstrates various techniques discussed by the authors.

Sound Advice

Samplemeister Eitan Teomi's long-awaited sample library for Kontakt 2, FlyingHand Percussion ($259), is now available from SoniVox (www.sonivoxmi.com). The 13 GB, 24-bit collection supplies samples of hand drums and handheld percussion instruments that have been skillfully organized and layered to enhance their playability. Packaged on four DVDs, FlyingHand Percussion gives you a selection of articulations, dynamic levels, and microphone positions that will impart nuance and realism to your sampled percussion tracks. Using a proprietary technique called legato drumming, the Kontakt 2 Instruments respond to how you play by introducing variations in technique and tone. The huge array of sounds range from frame drums and congas to anklungs and BoomWhackers. If you'd like a taste of FlyingHand Percussion, go to SoniVox's Web site and download 600 MB for free.

If you're a fan of '70s-style analog synthesis and a software sampler is your weapon of choice, a downloadable collection from Soniccouture (www.soniccouture.com) has your name written all over it. Synthi AKS for Kontakt 2 ($85.10) furnishes 1 GB of 24-bit samples in Kontakt 2 and EXS24 formats. All sounds are played on an EMS Synthi AKS, a British monosynth made famous by the likes of Pink Floyd and Brian Eno. The collection contains 25 multisampled instrument sounds ranging from lead solos to filter sweeps, 27 hits and effects kits from insects to dentist drills, and 94 beat machines from caustic loops to Floydish ostinatos produced using a CV-to-MIDI converter. All instruments give you front-panel control of synthesis parameters and a convolution spring reverb.

With the release of BFD Percussion ($249), FXpansion (www.fxpansion.com) continues to enlarge its line of expansion packs for virtual drummer BFD 1.5. BFD Percussion supplies an impressive variety of expressive instruments and ready-made grooves from around the world. The 26 GB collection of stereo 24-bit samples features maracas and timbales from Latin America, djembe and ashiko from Africa, darbuka and doumbek from Arabia, gongs and udu from Asia, bodhran from Ireland, and much more. Each is recorded with a choice of articulations and mic positions and up to 46 Velocity layers. A hodgepodge of found sounds include buckets, a cardboard box, saucepans, trash cans, and even the proverbial kitchen sink. A new feature in the Groove Librarian affords access to nested trees of groove bundles with matching kits.

In 2005 soundware developer Chris Hein proved his sampling prowess with the release of Chris Hein Horns. Now he's done it again with Chris Hein Guitars (Mac/Win, $449.95), a Kontakt Player 2-based instrument published by Best Service and distributed by EastWest (www.soundsonline.com). The standalone version and AU, RTAS, and VST plug-ins are paired with 18 GB of 16- and 24-bit content. The collection features nine sampled instruments ranging from electric, jazz, steel-string, and nylon-string guitars to mandolin and banjo, each recorded with different playing positions and up to 13 Velocity layers. Chris Hein Guitars takes full advantage of Kontakt Player 2's scripting and programming functionality and provides real-time access to dozens of articulations and variations by means of keyswitching and MIDI Control Changes. Effects include reverb, delay, chorus, phaser, flanger, and compression.

Download of the Month

ANDY WARE ANALOG BOX 2 (WIN)
Analog Box 2 (ABox2) is a free and very powerful modular software synthesizer designed and implemented by Andy Turner. You can download it from his Web site at www.andyware.com. Calling ABox2 a modular synth doesn't do justice to all its capabilities. A quick tour of the many jambots (jamming robots) in the AndyWare online gallery reveals an endlessly fascinating sound-design and algorithmic-composition tool (see Web Clip 1).

Building devices with ABox2 is not for the faint of heart, often requiring you to do the math from the ground up. Fortunately, it supplies a substantial library of prebuilt modules — sound generators, complex filters, sequencers, and so on — and with a little practice, you can combine them in your own creations. Downloading and tweaking jambots and other user circuits is much easier, less time-consuming, and lots of fun. ABox2 hosts VST instrument and effects plug-ins, so you can build interesting jambots without having to create your own ABox2 synths to play them.

Although you can build virtual instruments in ABox2, it's better suited to building jambots. ABox2 has no provisions for routing audio or MIDI output to other software running on the same PC, although you can use third-party utilities to do so. There is a way to capture audio generated by ABox2 in a WAV file, but it's very utilitarian. Recording is probably best accomplished by networking your PC to another computer.

Regardless of whether you're interested in building your own ABox2 circuits, downloading ABox2 and some of its jambots is well worth your time. The files are compact, and the “How did they do that?” factor is high.