2007 EDITORS' CHOICE AWARDS

Jan 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By the EM Staff

Music-Production Workstation

Roland
SP-404 ($449)
Most music-production workstations have been geared toward power users, so it's worth noting when a company makes a model for the technologically inexperienced musician, yet experienced users find its portability and feature set attractive.

The SP-404 combines a stereo sampler, a pattern sequencer, digital effects, and a drum-machine-style interface in a lightweight but sturdy package. It offers a built-in mic for quick and easy sampling, as well as a pair of RCA line inputs and a ¼-inch microphone jack. The RCA inputs can also be used to process external signals using the SP-404's nearly 30 onboard effects. The effects include delay, filter, pitch-shifting, and processing geared toward DJs, such as a stutterer, record scratching, and a low-frequency sine wave.

Other features include a MIDI In port, support for a 1 GB CompactFlash card, 12 pads for triggering samples and patterns, and dedicated buttons for Gate, Loop, Reverse, and Hold. The SP-404 will run on AA batteries if you can't find a place to plug in the wall wart. Although it doesn't have the bells and whistles of the more expensive products in the SP line, the SP-404 has endeared itself to beginners as well as advanced users who want to take a rugged, portable groove workstation everywhere they go.

Portable Digital Studio

Korg
D3200 ($1,799)
From the early days of cassette-based 4-tracks to today's hard-disk multitrackers, the studio-in-a-box concept has attracted lots of loyal users. Now many portable digital studios are truly self-contained, giving users the facilities to complete virtually every stage of the recording process, including tracking, mixing, and disc burning.

Korg has a history of making portable recorders, so it's no surprise that the D3200 is a well-designed unit. At its 24-bit setting, it offers 12 tracks of simultaneous recording and 16 tracks of simultaneous playback (at either 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz). By lowering the resolution to 16-bit, you can increase the count to 16 recording and 32 playback tracks.

Features include a 40 GB hard drive; a 4 × 4 Knob Matrix, which changes control assignments to correspond with whatever edit screen is active in the LCD; a mixer with 44 channels and 12 buses; and 12 input channels, 8 of which have XLR mic inputs.

The Session Drums feature gives you access to a wide selection of drum patterns, with individual level controls and humanization options. You can put together drum sequences that play along with your song but don't use up any of the audio tracks.

Up to 11 of the D3200's built-in effects can be used at once. Not only do you get staples like reverb, delay, and modulation, but you also get a selection of Korg's modeling effects. A USB port facilitates the transfer of files to and from a computer, and you can import audio from CDs and burn CDs of your final mixes.

We were also impressed with the D3200's ease of use and reasonable price. This is what a portable digital studio should be.

Preamp
(mic/instrument)

Chameleon Labs
7602 ($799)
Modeling classic studio gear is a difficult task, especially if you are trying to hit a price point low enough to fit a personal-studio budget, and the original parts are no longer available. But Chameleon Labs is on target with the 7602, which was designed to re-create the sound of the venerable Neve 1073 preamp for under $1,000.

The 7602 offers 3-band EQ, four highpass-filter settings, a front-panel DI input, phantom power, a polarity switch, and an EQ bypass switch. As a 1U device, it doesn't physically resemble a 1073, but it does offer features that allow you to easily set up a 1073-like sound — or go in other directions.

The preamp provides the versatility required in a personal studio, rendering a full-bodied, natural sound on vocals, electric guitar, and acoustic instruments. In addition, the DI delivers plenty of gain, low end, and presence. The 7602 can also get nasty, and the EQ section can be used to shape the distortion.

When going toe-to-toe against a 1073, the 7602 can get surprisingly close in sound. However, a preamp should be judged on its own merits, and this is where the 7602's value is evident. With a quality sound and boutique design (including discrete Class A power with hand-wound transformers and point-to-point wiring), the 7602 is a knockout.

Sample Player
(software, ensemble)

Garritan
Jazz and Big Band (Mac/Win, $259)
Composing and arranging for jazz band just got a whole lot easier with the release of Garritan's Jazz and Big Band sample library and player. This “band” has groove power that will lift you out of your seat, with wailing saxes, screeching trumpets, and howling trombones, as well as a full rhythm section that never drops a beat. Rounding out the ensemble is a vast assortment of Latin and other percussion. Like previous Garritan releases, Jazz and Big Band uses Native Instruments Kontakt Player, which loads into your favorite sequencer or notation software.

You'll find much more than just stock horns in this collection. Standard doublings, such as flute and clarinet for the sax players and flügelhorn for the trumpets, will add color and variety to your charts. And if you're looking for something completely different, sopranino (sounding a fourth above a soprano) and subcontrabass (sounding two octaves below a tenor) saxes have you covered on the high and low ends.

Don't expect to install the software and simply dial up the hottest licks around. As with any instrument, you'll need to spend some time shedding to get the most out of this collection. That's because Jazz and Big Band uses a “performance-driven” approach to articulation that requires that you shape and sculpt the performances. A healthy dose of MIDI controller data is often needed to create convincing musical passages. But whether you're composing a smokin' swing or bop chart or arranging an ultrasmooth fusion or cool score, Jazz and Big Band will be the only sample library you'll need. Here's a tap on the stand to the Garritan crew!

Sample Player
(software, solo instrument)

Native Instruments
Akoustik Piano (Mac/Win, $339)
The solo-instrument side of the Sample Player category had a number of viable contenders, but we all agreed that Akoustik Piano represented a stellar achievement in piano-sampling technology that had to be acknowledged. It is simply the best sampled piano we've come across.

In the October 2006 cover story, “Software Eighty-Eights,” we reviewed several of the best software sampled pianos. Although all of the programs we examined had something to offer, Akoustik Piano stood out from the pack in terms of sound, playability, and ease of use. In particular, its 9-foot Steinway Concert D knocked our socks off.

We consider ease of use very important, and Akoustik Piano's simple, single-panel interface manages to put all controls under your fingertips without creating mass confusion. You just pick a piano, choose a room ambience, and start playing. If you're not entirely happy, you can add a little EQ, lower the “lid,” change the dynamics a bit, or adjust the room size and mic placement. It doesn't get much simpler or better-sounding than this.

Signal-Processing Software
(bundle)

McDSP
Project Studio (Mac/Win, $495)

SoundToys
Native Effects (Mac, $495)
In the past, many of the best third-party plug-ins for the Digidesign Pro Tools platform have been available only for TDM systems. Pro Tools LE and M-Powered users have been excluded from a number of the coolest effects. That changed this year with the release of two excellent and versatile RTAS/AudioSuite plug-in bundles: McDSP Project Studio and SoundToys Native Effects. So good were both of these identically priced collections that we decided to anoint them as cowinners.

McDSP plug-ins have long been a favorite of top-of-the-line producers and engineers. The Project Studio bundle comprises “LE” (light) versions of seven of the company's classic plug-ins, but don't let that fool you. Although the LE versions offer fewer configurations, they use the same algorithms as the flagship versions, so the effects that you do get are identical.

All seven plug-ins are excellent. CompressorBank LE offers a wide range of classic compressors, while FilterBank LE gives you several flexible EQ configurations. Analog Channel LE features emulations of analog tape machines, Revolver LE is a convolution reverb, and Chrome Tone LE offers guitar-amp simulations. Finally, Synthesizer One LE is a virtual instrument, and ML4000 LE is a mastering limiter.

The Native Effects bundle provides full versions of six of SoundToys' best plug-ins. You get FilterFreak, which gives you numerous cool filter effects; EchoBoy, a classic Pro Tools plug-in that models analog delays and more; PhaseMistress, which emulates a range of classic phase shifters; Tremolator, a versatile tremolo and autogating plug-in with MIDI sync; Crystallizer, for reverse echo effects; and Speed, a pitch- and tempo-shifting processor.

Both Project Studio and Native Effects are awesome and aggressively priced bundles, and they're both deserving Editors' Choice Award winners.