Acme Voiceworx

In the midst of recording and editing dialog for a new videogame (whose name I unfortunately cannot divulge), I caught wind of these new workstation controllers from Korg, cleverly grouped together as the nanoSERIES:

There are three of them, and each is designed specifically for laptop use. They connect to your computer via USB, and appear to be bus-powered (at least for one at a time use. Don’t know if you can connect more with a hub or not). They all speak MIDI, so it should be possible to program them to perform various functions, as most Mac and PC software editors now support MIDI controllers and Continuous Controller (CC) messages. The music keyboard and drum pad units look like fun, but the money piece is the mix controller, shown below.

The nanoKONTROL comes with nine very short throw faders, nine associated knobs, and eighteen buttons for (I presume) mute and solo. It also features a transport section that lacks only a jog/shuttle wheel, and speaks MIDI Machine Control (MMC). A software app called Korg KONTROL Editor promises to provide a friendly interface when it’s time to program this Bad Boy, and the ability to store programs and settings on computer for later recall. I’ll def have to get my mitts on one of these mix controllers for review in RAP, ASAP.

Pricing and delivery information is not yet available, of course. But you can get firsthand info at Korg’s USA website here, or if you’re fluent reading Japanese you can check it out at the source here.

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Yesterday Apple released Mac OS X 10.5.3, the latest revision of their newest “Leopard” operating system. This release contains what appears to be a boatload of security fixes, as well as a tidy list of improvements to various Apple applications.

I do have one Mac running Leopard for evaluation purposes, but the “money” machines are still on 10.4.11, at least until Digidesign qualifies Pro Tools LE and M-Powered for Leopard. Pro Tools HD is currently qualified on OS X 10.5.1, but not 10.5.2; LE and M-Powered are not yet qualified, period.

[Update 05/30/08] So-called pre-release versions of all three, ready for Leopard 10.5.3, are now available from Digidesign’s website. See this. Read the rest of this entry »

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If you’ve been following these irregular posts, then you know that I have no life until May 15, when I get to turn in final grades. Let the exams and the grading of projects begin… and I’m late again for a change.

This time there’s an added bonus — my son graduates with a BA in International Relations and walks with his classmates on May 16th.

Congrats, AJ. You done good.

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So I decided to postpone the Samplitude 10 review until the June issue of Radio & Production (with approval from Editor Jerry, of course). I wanted more time to explore the program, which is both deep and wide. But Samplitude still has a Rodney Dangerfield complex here in the US — it gets no respect. That’s too bad, because it’s a strong contender as a standalone, all-in-one PC recorder and editor. Compared to Audition, its interface looks and feels more professional to me, and it provides a significantly better mixer with more features and functions. On top of that, it sounds really good; even in-the-box bounces sound good.

Unfortunately, Samplitude 10 is still as spendy as ever. The Pro version lists at $1295, which leaves the street price under a grand. There’s a “standard” version (maximum 64 tracks and eight busses) that carries a US list of $649, which puts street price under $500. The two-track Master version is $349, which streets at something under three c-notes. For VO work, the standard version is close enough, and you won’t miss the Pro’s extras.

Check out the June issue of RAP here.

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I know it’s thrilling news, so I won’t bore you (oops, too late). But I will tell you that it was simple, quick, and totally worthwhile. It’s more than a security or bug fix… this time they re-designed the interface and now it’s much simpler and cleaner.

I’m continually impressed by WordPress’ developers. They totally rawk, and I love this blog software.

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I haven’t decided yet, actually. In fact, I just figured out that I have another couple weeks to finish writing it (joy!).

But I’ve been playing with two very kewl products… the MicPort Pro from CEntrance and Magix’s Samplitude 10. Actually I’ve been playing with both at the same time. MicPort is a USB-to-audio converter that so far sounds great, unlike some others out there. Most of the existing converters are noisy and sound like crap, but the MicPort actually sounds very good, and does 96k/24 bits to boot. I think I’m keeping this one.

Samplitude 10, like previous versions (the last one I reviewed was version 8 back in 2005), is very deep. My concern with it is finding whether it’s still a resource-hog… I’ll be checking that this week. More later.

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Apple says their MacBook Air can only be serviced by the Mothership. While that’s smart while it’s under warranty, at some point the Air will become fair game for DIY fixing. You knew someone was going to ignore Apple’s FUD regarding opening the Air, and make it public to boot.

The nice folks at ifixit.com in Atascadero, CA have documented a complete teardown of a MacBook Air, including photos. Click this thumbnail to see it all:

BTW, iFixit is my first stop when I’ve got an Apple-related hardware problem. Their how-to guides have walked me through more than one laptop teardown. Others sell hard drives and memory for less, but if you need other bits for an Apple product you need to go there. Seriously.

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This month’s review concerns one of those products that not everyone needs, but those who need it really need it.

I’ve scored a copy of iZotope’s RX noise reduction plug-in, and so far, it’s sweet. It’s a standalone program that lists for $349 USD, substantially less than the current crop of third party noise reduction plugs. What’s more, RX offers five distinct modules: a de-clipper, a de-clicker, a de-noiser, hum removal, and spectral repair, all in one interface. And quite the interface it is, with the buttons for each modules at the lower left of the interface.

Actually the nice folks at iZotope have given me a full copy of RX Advanced, which retails for about $1200. While it’s nice to have, I can already tell that I’ll do most of my work using the “simpler” controls that come with the regular edition. Here’s the main screen: Read the rest of this entry »

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Spent a day last week at Westport Shipyards in Port Washington, WA, hanging with a buddy who designs and installs marine electronics systems in luxury yachts, ranging in size from 110 to 164 feet.

Of interest to me was learning that owners spend about $10,000 a month to get Internet connectivity at sea on one of these things, and the speed tops out at about 512 kbps (it comes down from a satellite). But like the rest of us, they’re waiting for WiMax to help increase their Internet speed and lower their costs.

The rich really are different, or are they?

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This has nothing to do with audio, radio, voiceover, teaching, or topics related to the aforementioned. It does have to do with life, and with my beloved ’65 Ranchero. Forgive me this indulgence, and thanks in advance.

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