Ask A Sound Guy

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Music devices just keep getting smaller and smaller. We saw music listening devices go from CD players to iPods (which keep getting smaller themselves). Even recording technology has gotten considerably smaller (2″ tape machines down to a digital Tascam recorder). So why can’t DJ tech get a little smaller?

The 60GB Tonium Pacemaker effectively replaces a very large DJ rig and scales it down to fit into your palm. It contains two decks, a mixer, FX, and everything else that you need to get rolling.

Box up your CDJs and DJM and get ready to get wild with the Pacemaker.

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It’s no secret that there’s a lot of DJs in the world that prefer to work in the digital realm. There’s a lot of reasons for it and one of them has to be all the cool stuff you can use in conjunction with your laptop. The Eks OTUS is the perfect case for this argument.

With the Eks OTUS Raw being debuted at NAMM this year, I had to finally get my hands on one of these units to see where the OTUS started.

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I’m a fan of controllers. I have a few of them, and when the opportunity to review the Launchpad came along, I had to take it.

I’ve been using Live for a few years, and when performing live (pre-APC40/Launchpad), I had found it highly unenjoyable to click around on my computer to launch different clips and control volume. Granted, there’s always been workarounds: and MPD for launching clips and a Remote Zero LE for controlling all my effects, pans…you name it.

Enter controllers like the Akai APC40 and the Novation Launchpad. The APC40 has been around a bit and while it looks impressive, I still a giant Novation fanboy at heart.  Their controllers have always been easy to setup, fun to use, and right within my pricepoint.

Enough small-talk, let’s get into what’s important: the review!

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Let’s face it: most of us work inside the digital realm one way or another. Some of us might be confined to using a mouse for our recording, arranging, and mixing duties while some have the privilege of using a control surface. If you’re pretty serious and running a Pro Tools HD setup, you might have C24 or maybe an ICON controller. If you’re like most of us, however, you need something a little more economical for your Pro Tools LE, Logic, Cubase, et al setup. Don’t worry though. You can have an amazing tabletop control surface for under $1,000 that rivals any other high-end surface on the market.

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It’s that time of the year again. It’s getting cold in Illinois (it even snowed today), and you’re more than likely thinking of gifts other people should get for you as well as what you’re going to be getting your friends and family. If you’re an otherwise audio nerd, then you’re no doubt looking for something new to add to your studio. Why not let Ask A Sound Guy help you?

The first item you should look at is the Cakewalk V-Studio 100, a portable 8-in/6-out (plus headphone) standalone SD recorder and audio interface.

At its heart, its an extremely well built 96kHz/24-bit interface. On the input side, you have two preamps (with XLR inputs) with phantom power and input sensitivity. There’s also two 1/4″ inputs and a 1/4″ Hi-Z guitar input. It’s run off USB 2.0, however it does require a separate 9v power supply. It supports  , WDM, WASAPI, and Core Audio.

I got the chance to use the V-Studio in a number of different sessions and had a good time with it.

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