Music with Computers User-reviews
- Short-cuts : Music with Computers
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Overall Opinion 
I've had my Tascam VL-S21 for about 6 months now and I really like the sound of these. Let me say first that I have a pair pf Yamaha NS-10Ms for mixing and primarily use my Tascams to listen to mixes on a separate pair of speakers and for just general computer and music speakers. It has a real full sound and I love the sleak design it has. Although I would prefer to have another set of studio monitors to listen to mixes on, this does the trick at a price that is unbeatable. I do notice that because of the sub woofer it does have a heavy low end to it that doesn't always show up on other sets of speakers, for this reason I never mix with these. All in all I'm very happy with these speakers for what I use them for, but if you are looking for some studio monitors to do mixing on, I would suggest that you spend a few more dollars and get a set of true studio monitors so you can get a fuller and more realistic response from your monitors as these do color the sound a bit.
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Characteristics The Mbox 2 Micro is great for anyone who has a laptop and likes to do work on the go. It allows you to run Pro Tools without having the burden of carrying around a big interface. I use it all the time to do edits and mixing on the go with my Macbook Pro (2.2 Ghz, 2 GB Ram).
Getting Started I have had no problems at all with installing or setting up my Mbox 2 micro, although I do sometimes have some issues with the Pro Tools software. It was really easy to set up and get going so I didn't need to use the manual at all. All I really had to do was plug it in and run Pro Tools because I already had Pro Tools installed. However, just running the Pro Tools installation disc will run you through the easy steps of installing Pro Tools.
Utilisation I've had no latency with the Mbox 2 Micro, but it really depends on what machine you are running it with. There are no inputs, so you must have some sort of other interface, like an Mbox or a Digi 002 or 003 if you wish to track with Pro Tools.
Overall Opinion My only problem with this is that there is no way to use my laptop speakers with it, you must use the mini-plug jack built into it. This is the first unit that Digidesign has introduced that can run Pro Tools without a full interface. I would recommend this to anyone who has a laptop and would like the convenience of editing and mixing on the go.
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Getting Started 
Everything was pretty easy to get going for Antares Auto-Tune 5 on my system (Macbook Pro, 2.2 Ghz, 2 GB Ram). Of course you need an iLok to authorize the plug-in, but since I had previous experience with setting that up it was pretty easy. I really had no need to look at the manual.
Suitability/Performance I run my Macbook Pro with Pro Tools LE 7.4 and a Digidesign 002 rack and Auto Tune works great with it. I haven't had any problems with running it except sometimes it slows down a bit when too much information is going on, but I guess that is to be expected.
Overall Opinion I've owned Auto Tune 5 for about 10 months now but I had been using an earlier version for about a year and half before that. I love the interface of the software, both in graphical mode and in automatic it is easy to configure and to tune things up with. The sound is pretty smooth, along it really depends on the singer. If a vocal is relatively close this thing works great for just making it that much better. However, it can definitely sound computerish if you try to stretch its limitations on a poor singer. Although I have yet to use Melodyne, it seems some of their new products (Direct Note Access) may have Auto Tune beat at this point and when Melodyne releases their new software I may have to switch over to that simply because it has more features, although I'm sure Antares will have a response to it. Auto Tune is a bit pricey, but for me it is essential to have when working with clients. I will probably stick with this unless I try out Melodyne and decide to start using that.
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Getting Started 
IZotope Ozone 3 couldn't have been easier to install, I had no issues setting it up and have continued to have no problems with it. I didn't look at the manual at all because it was easy enough for me to set up.
Suitability/Performance I am running it with Pro Tools LE 7.4 and a Macbook Pro (2.2 Ghz, 2 GB Ram) along with a Digidesign 002R and iZotope Ozone works great with it. It runs so smooth and I feel I can use it on multiple tracks with no issues.
Overall Opinion I've only had iZotope Ozone 3 for about 2 months now but in that time I feel I have been able to make my recordings sound significantly better using this plug-in. No longer do I worry that my mixes won't be loud enough as I just throw this on my master fader and I can use it's compression, EQ, and reverb along with its other features. I haven't used any other mastering programs, I was referred to this by someone and I haven't looked back. The best part about this plug-in is the price. Its really amazing that such a great sounding plug-in can be so cheap these days.
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Characteristics 
Basically, I bought the 002 rack so that I could run Pro Tools. I use it with Pro Tools 7.4 with a Macbook Pro (2.2 Ghz Processor, 2 Ghz Ram) and use the ADAT feature to send it to a Behringer ADA8000 for more inputs. I used to have a MOTU 896HD and while I liked that more as an interface, I needed to start using Pro Tools.
Getting Started It's pretty easy to set up depending on what other things you are using it with. I haven't had any compatibility issues with the interface, although I do have occasional issues with the Pro Tools software. The interface layout really couldn't be easier, plenty of monitoring options. I haven't had a need to ever look at the manual as it was easy enough to figure out.
Utilisation Using the 002, I've had no issues with latency, but it depends what kind of machine you are running it with. I have heard it doesn't work as well with a PC, but I have no experience with that. As the 002 only runs with Pro Tools, I have had no option of trying it with another type of software. I can run 16 tracks at once, using the 4 built in preamps, the 4 1/4'' inserts and my ADAT external 8 channel preamp.
Overall Opinion I've had this for about a year and a half and there is no going back from it. Although I wish it had more built in pre-amps, it does everything I really need it to do (most of which is to run Pro Tools with). The 002 is a bit pricey but since Pro Tools is the industry standard theres nothing that can really be done to control the price of it. All in all, I'm very happy with my 002 and I would recommend it to anyone looking to do multi-track recording with Pro Tools.
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Characteristics The TASCAM brand US-122 interface quite simply allows you to use two line level inputs and two line level outputs to record professional sounding audio into your personal computer be it a PC or MAC brand. It's simple to use, easy to install (literally about 20-30 minutes) and it is really affordable. We purchased it on sale for about $185.00 at a local music shop shortly after it was released on the market.
Getting Started Here are the facts: Most any computer has a crappy sound card. I don't care if you bought yours for 200.00 or more dollars. It is still crappy and produces good audio for your playback on the computer but not professional for professional audio recording. Now, I know, I know...you don't want to buy anything else. I get that. You've already spent too much money now to create you home studio. I did too. But, imagine a professional CD you produce that sounds great the first time, no pops, no clicks, no hisses and is CLEAN sound.
Utilisation Note: This also instantly accepts non-powered microphones and it powers them with built in trinkle power (phantom power) and it also accepts guitar levels instantly. It features headphone and separate volume control and also full MIDI for your audio recording/keyboard and sequencing. It's not cheap plastic but steel. Buy you. You'll be glad you did.
Overall Opinion Buy it! You'll be glad you did.
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Getting Started Yes,there are no problem with the installation
Suitability/Performance Asus pv5vdcx,intel dual core,vgen,seagate,soundmax
Overall Opinion As long i can
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Getting Started No problem whatsoever, the instructions are clear enough.
Suitability/Performance Whatever your setup, if you don't have a good, ASIO-compatible soundcard with stable drivers you will NEED this if you want to work properly on anything computer-music related. No stability problem , the result is really satisfying provided you take the time to set the ASIO buffer & latency compensation values correctly.
Overall Opinion I've never yet owned a good sound card but thanks to ASIO4ALL I've always managed to work properly on computer music programs (over the years: Magix Music Studio, Tracktion, Kristal, Audacity, Cubase Studio 4) with basic, AC97 sound cards. I don't use the inputs though, so in this kind of use there may be a little more lag problems, but for arranging/mixing VST instruments and audio tracks recorded externally this proves very efficient.
