Powered Monitors: Many new options in a competitive market

Just as I am shopping around and doing research for monitors I would like to buy, I will extend some inportant information about the selection and use of monitors I learned as an intern at a recording studio. Obvisouly most pro studios and mixers use a combination of multiple monitors to get different sound mixes for different perspectives, yet most basic musicians will only need one pair. I would prefer powered or active monitors for several reasons, as may you:
-No amp or rack or extra wires to purchase or find a place for
-The internal amp is most likyle the best amount of power to obtain best use of the monitors
-They often have a wider variety of inputs (XLR, 1/4" balanced, RCA)
- A volume control on each monitor can calibrate the maximum sensitivity and protect the woofers better than an external amplifier


Besides, their popularity is soaring just for the reasons above. Most powered monitors are aimed at smaller studios, offering sizes from 4" to 9" woofers, and power ratings from under 100W ea. to 300W, which is an ample amount for most studios. Smaller models I recommend inlcude:


KRK's RP-5


M-Audio's DX4

Larger models:


Behringer's TRUTH 2031A


M-Audio's BX5a

New Behringer Shredder: With USB?!?!

From a company that is so European its scary (ever seen the movie Hostel you'll never want to go there), comes a revolutionary combination of axe and technology that probably won't scare anyone, but will cause a scene at every Guitar Center around the country. The new-fanmgled contraption is called the USB Guitart iAxe393 (It is white of course, as the "i" reference feeds off of Apple Inc.'s success with the iPod). Don't believe me- check out these pictures:

Imagine calling your laptop your 'new stompbox'


Not even a real 1/4" output (just for headphones)!


Pretty much most guitarists would rather play their own axe, with their pedals, effects and amp. The most feasible and likely application of this will be beginner computer musicians who want an easy way to get great guitar sounds; it comes bundled with its own virtuakl amp/fx rack. Also, for guitarists on the move- this guitar IS its own USB audio interface- nothing else required to hook up (unlike M-Audio's Jam Lab (essentailly a 1/4" guitar in to USB interface). You could whip it out on the tour bus or on the plane andshred like crazy while it records on your lap. All for only $149.99 MAP? Due to the huge expansion of the amount of USB gerar on the market and cheaply made Fender-replica guitars, Behringer has taken advantage of a wide potential customer base with a unique product.

Gorillaz Beware...

Now that YouTube is owning the personal video sites, there is no reason why anyone could not post whetever they felt was necessary for others to watch. Even nerds like this teen mocking girls who flaunt him online gets 140,000 plays. Although that was totally irrelevant, I thought it was funny.

Somehow on YouTube I found a Japanese DJ/VJ called Hifana making rediculous breakbeat, high intensity, tech-house beats on a sampler, with a puppet and crazy hallucinogenic videos including childrens shows. I can't imagine not one Japanese teen who would go crazy if they heard these electric rythmns on the radio or TV. Click the title link to see one of many videos. I do give Hifan credit for a tight website, including a flash page of an MPC layout with a beat to practice with. In the abstract music video below is a alot of shots (filmed ipod style) of their gear, some of which I have made out. Alongside the old MPC is the Korg Kaoss Pad 2, a hand percussion controller like the Roland hansonic series, various cymbals and toms, a turntable, PIoneer CDJ1000 with a mixer with built in Kaoss Pad?!?, vestax PMC mixer...wow this is serious. All for a track called Flash Push Breaking, with last but not least Texas Instruments' Speak and Spell samples. Only in Japan.

Numark: Pumpin' the video steroids.

In the past 2 years tons of new video oriented DJ and production products have hit the market. A few include the Edirol V-4 video mixer, and Pioneer's DVJ-X1, the DVD turntable based on the CDJ-1000 MKII. In a recent Remix Magazine e-newsletter, I clicked on a link for some new numark product- what I saw was this:

Presenting the NuVJ- DJ style mixing of images and video via a snazzy control surface that looks like a repainted iDJ:


Perhaps Numark was loosing some of its hold on the video market with their AVM01 a/v mixer and DVD player to products like Edirol-distributed Motion Dive .tokyo video performance package.

However, there was more than just one awesome video mixer for Numark...they have seven brand new products out now, abliet some like the Virtual Vinyl are just to compete with Rane's Serato Scratch Live and Traktor's Final Scratch. Here's the rundown:

• X2 Hybrid- a TT/CD/MP3 player with automatic Beatkeeper to hold the tempo steady. Cool looks, but a little late, as Gemini already released its' CDT-05 months ago.
  
• iCDX- A well designed mid sized table top CD/MP3 with a connected iPod dock for seamless integration of an iPod. I like this the best, as some might find an MP3 player mixer requiring 2 iPods etc, this only needs one, and CDs to complement it. Better yet- the drive reads DVD data, so you could have 4.7 Gigabytes of music on one disc.
  
• D2 Director- rack mountable hard drive MP3 player with USB connections for MP3s, keyboard for searching your songs on the large built in screen etc. Good improvement on somewhat of a flop that was the Peavey DAC-2 (c'mon, Shaq endorsed it). Recommended for mobile DJs or for clubs or bars when a DJs isin't playing, the simple user interface allows intuitive control with an easy learning curve.
  
• HDMIX- Remember the great CD-Mix line? meet its technoloigcally advanced decendant: An HD MP3 player with a huge 80GB capacity, a CD drive for ripping, a 3 channel mixer with line/phono inputs and XLR outputs all in a portable package. If Numark can produce this and sell it at a fair price, I think it will fly off the shelves. It is an entire backup system (and a good one at that); just add power speakers and a microphone. Also allows USB connectivity to transfer songs straight from your computer and includes a keyboard for searching.
  Numark's HDMIX
  
• NuVJ- This looks like a watered down version of the Motion Dive .tokyo video software, with more DJ-friendly controls. Probably a good product nonetheless
  
• Virtual Vinyl- After reading a bit more, this thing sounds slightly impressive- there is some video support on these high-tech decks. The i/o box has a video preview out for monitoring that crazy image/music video mashup dancefloor hit.
  

All said and done, Numark has a killer line for DJs, producers, clubs and ofcourse VJs. Just wanted to point out what they were up to, the market gets so many new music products everyday its hard to keep track of what's really out there.

It's All in the Name: Evolution Control Surfaces now M-Audio?

Today, I was perusing the Ableton website, as I just bought the Live 5.2 upgrade, and was looking at all the bundled packages they sell with Live. I had heard of the Evolution UC-33e, but never really gotten a good look at it. With 9 faders, 24 knobs and 10 assignable buttons, its a control freaks dream come true, especially for use with Live. Googling the Evolution was less-amazing: No Evolution website? Perhaps a mistake. Nope. Truth is M-Audio now sells all the Evolution products. Slightly confused, I entered the M-Audio website and learned all about the UC-33e. Now I want it, along with its DJ-Counterpart, the X-session.

Nothing against M-Audio, I love my Radium 49 MIDI Controller, but why couldn't Evolution continue to sell their products under their own name? Probably M-Audio bought out Evolution and now are going to stick their name on Evolution's ideas. Not like this affects me negatively in any way. Just wanted to write about my search for some sweet MIDI controllers.

Evolution UC-33e

Evolution X-Session