As the name implies, the DrumXchanger from SPL, exchanges your drums. One of a billion dumreplacers you may think, but SPL made some things different from the others, as they say themselfs, ‘It’s not merely a sound replacer. It is, in fact, a powerful tool to optimize drum tracks’. The drumXchanger has got two Transient Designers and a unique way of drum detection.
Today is the day! The day that our ‘beloved’ UPS guy rang the doorbell and delivered my long-awaited Traktor S4 KONTROL. Yes, my own, not a review unit that has to go back to the Native Instruments HQ. After opening the box and touching it, feeling it, my initial impressions were pretty much the same after I played with it a few weeks ago at a product showing. Great design with a solid built quality. Considering the other products from Native Instruments, that’s almost obligatory. Either way, on that front NI delivers, again.
Often, these days, we are only busy making our sound as clean as possible. Looking for compression without distortion, and EQ’ing without any weird transients. But what if you are loking for that rough, bulky, heavy sound? Well, this is where, in my view, the Big Blue Limiter comes into the picture. As this limiter loves to create distortion.
With part two of our iPad series we’ll continue were we ended with part one, the instrument apps. But this time not your regular drum, synth and piano apps. No. This time it’s ‘the peculiar and the strange‘ music apps. And I mean this in a good way! Because some of these apps are meant for the real freaks and sound designers among us. Experimental music apps with great sound and design!
![Cakewalk Sonar 8.5. – Gearjunkies Review [Update]](https://i0.wp.com/www.gearjunkies.com/wp-content/uploads/gj2/inximg/12959_sonar_8.5_3.PNG?resize=436%2C291&ssl=1 "Cakewalk Sonar 8.5. – Gearjunkies Review [Update]")
Cakewalk have a long history producing DAW software. So with this Sonar 8.5 version you’ll know for sure that you’ll get a well thought quality product that proved itself in the past. Myself I have used Cakewalk in the past several times and I have to admit it worked well for me. In Europe their market share is limited but in the US it’s quite larger mainly due to the fact that guitarists seem to have a sweet spot for Cakewalk for ages. Competition is rather extensive so I’ll be very blunt at times.
Recently we had the pleasure to do a review on the FabFilter Pro-C compressor plugin. This time it’s the FabFilter Pro-Q. This is an allround EQ plug-in for mixing and mastering, with up to 24 bands and a nice and helpful interface for easy and precise editing.
Native Instruments has started to tour the new S4 KONTROL, Native’s own DJ controller for their Traktor DJ software. Yesterday the dutch importer Amptec gave an exhibition of this much anticipated controller at Bax-Shop in the Netherlands. Gearjunkies was invited to get a first ‘hands-on’ look at this new DJ controller from Native Instruments.
Now and the coming months several big electronics manufacturers are releasing their own touch tablets, all trying to get a piece of the Apple cake. Over the past two, three years the role of the iPhone and, recently, the iPad has matured from gadget to serious tool in a studio or live performance environment. Looking at the first music apps for the iPhone, I personally have to admit, I thought this was just a temporary fad, craze. But with the iPad, and because of its larger format, the HD apps are maturing fast and deserve to be taken seriously.
Fabfilter PRO-C is a compressor/limiter plugin. But what does a compressor really do? To understand this we have to go back in time when professional studio’s didn’t use any compressors. The recording engineers had to manually control the faders in order to compensate for any changes in level. This was even before mix automation. John B. Howell was the first one to come up with the idea to develop a device which could control the level of audio signals. The first (experimental) version didn’t have any variable settings and acted more like a limiter. Still recording engineers wanted it because saved them a lot of effort. Since then the compressor has been evolving till current day even in the digital realm.
In part one of our Pioneer DJM-2000 review we told you how much we loved this machine. For us it is the ‘missing link’ to the CDJ-2000. When you connect the DJM-2000 with the CDJ’s through the PRODJ protocol, these devices will function as one. The DJM is packed with so many features that anyone can use/create their own style on it. Our team member Wytse Gerichhausen, who wrote the review, took the DJM by the hand and made this cool video. He made this video as a visual overview of what this ‘baby’ can do. Particularly the effects and the use of the touchscreen of this mixer. …. It was a sad day at the office when we had to return this review unit!
From mixer to instrument – At first look, the DJM-2000 looks like a small SVM-1000, (also equipped with a touchscreen), but it really isn’t a small SVM. The DJM-2000 is the missing link in a booth with CDJ-2000’s. Because you can connect the DJM-2000 with the CDJ’s through the PRODJ protocol, these devices will function as one. Almost anything becomes possible.
Before I tell you what I think of the Steinberg CI2+, let me explain how this post came about. Untill a few months ago I had my modest home studio set up with lots of software and audio through a Echo Mia pci soundcard. Lovely, never had any problems with it and the sound quality was great. But my old pc was running old and became… outdated, plus a month ago it even completely crashed. Plans for the purchase of a new system existed but now I was forced to act upon those plans!
Finally it arrived! The first official Traktor controller from Native Instruments themselves. This thing is a monster in a tight little box! Never have I used a midi/DJ controller that was so easy and quick to figure out.
A professional DJ controller with integrated, high quality soundcard. That’s a way to describe the new Allen&Heath Xone:DX. But that would be missing a whole lot of points of the digital DJ system that Allen&Heath and Serato co-developed. The Xone:DX controller in combination with Serato Itch software is a professional and robust system for the Digital DJ. As a vinyl-DJ with relative extreme little Digital DJ experience, I’ve got the opportunity to check out the Xone:DX and write up my first impressions!
The German Elysia company is known for their high-end compressors which they have been building for several years now. They have teamed up with the designers of Brainworx and used their vast knowledge of discrete components and translate them to the digital path. The result Mpressor plugin is available as VST, RTAS, TDM and AU. I’ve tested the VST version in Cubase 5.1.1. To get it right I’ve taken longer than the standard 14 day trial period you can get provided that you have an iLok dongle.