March | 2016 | Imagination Works

M-Audio M-Track 2X2M – new 192 kHz and 24 bits USB audio interface

USB audio interface M-Audio M-Track 2X2M

Among new devices of M-Audio there is a USB audio interface M-Track 2X2M with support of 192 kHz and 24 bits work mode, 2 inputs and 2 outputs. On its frontal panel there are 2 instrumental Hi-Z TRS 1/4″ jack inputs, phantom power +48 V switch button for microphone inputs and TRS 1/4″ jack output for monitor headphones. On top there are : 2 gain control knobs with levels and clip indicators; main outputs volume control; headphones volume control, their inputs selector Direct Monitor/signal from computer, switch on button and indicators of power, phantom power and MIDI input and output states. On back panel there are : Kensington Lock slot, USB for connection to computer and powering, MIDI input and output, main left and right TRS 1/4″ jack linear outputs and combined XLR/TRS 1/4″ jack balanced microphone/linear inputs.

USB audio interface M-Audio M-Track 2X2M ( back panel )

For M-Audio M-Track 2X2M drivers are released for Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 and Mac OS X 10.8 and newer with support of ASIO 2.0 and Core Audio, through which it works with modern DAWs : FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER, Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase and others. With audio interface following programs are supplied : AIR Creative FX Collection ( containing 20 AU/VST effects ), AIR Strike, AIR Xpand!2, AIR Mini Grand and DAW Steinberg Cubase LE.

Steinberg Cubase LE – is a simplified version of more professional DAW of this company, it allows to record, play, edit and mix audio and MIDI signals on 16 audio tracks, 24 MIDI tracks, 8 instruments and 8 physicsl inputs with precision up to 192 kHz and 24 bits. In it HALion Sonic SE instrument is included and set of 18 effects, among which there are modulation, delay, equalizer and others. AIR Mini Grand is a virtual piano instrument with 7 models of instrument and built in room simulation, in which it works. AIR Strike – is a drum machine with advanced sound engine, synthesizing drums sounds and rhythms from samples, recorded in WAV and AIFF formats; it allows to simulate surrounding parameters and virtual microphones, which perceive drums sounds. Also it has compressor with equalizer and 2 inserts on each channel and allows to export audio and MIDI signals. AIR Xpand!2 – is an advanced instrument with more than 25000 instruments presets, it can simulate up to 4 stereo instruments at the same time, contains 2 DSPs ( Digital Signal Processores ) and individual arpreggiator for each instrument. It supports many sound synthesis techniques : subtractive synthesis, FM synthesis, tone wheels and samples playback.

In the package with M-Audio M-Track 2X2M there are : USB cable, warranty card and user’s guide. All in all interface is good, but M-Audio can set high price on it, when it will appear in shops, due to its novelty, in this case there is ability to look on similar audio interfaces of Steinberg, Behringer, Focusrite, Roland, ESI, M-Audio itself and other manufacturers production. On the middle of Summer 2016 its price is set in the range 100 – 110 USD.

M-Audio – is a company, founded in USA in 1998 year, it produces audio interfaces, MIDI keyboards, synthesizers, loudspeakers, monitor headphones, DJs equipment, microphones and other sound devices. Company offices are also located in Canada, UK, Germany, France and Japan. Many popular artists use its products, among them there are The Crystal Method, Depeche Mode, Evanescence and others.

Pioneer SE-E711T – 10 mm in-ears headphones with microphone and 8 Hz – 22 kHz

Company Pioneer widened its devices range with in-ears headphones SE-E711T with closed acoustic architecture, microphone and 8 Hz – 22 kHz reproducible sounds frequencies range. Their sensitivity equals to 106 dB, maximal input power is 100 mW, impedance is 32 Ohms and mass is 10.5 g ( without wire accounting ). Cable with 1.2 m length is connected to both cups, in its volume control module microphone and smartphones control button are built-in, to sound source it is connected via 1/8″ mini jack gold-plated connector. Headphones are protected from sweat and moisture and are supplied in red, white and yellow color variants; package with Pioneer SE-E711T contains : 3 interchangeable ear-tips pairs ( large, medium and small ), warranty card and user’s guide. All in all headphones are good : with wide reproducible sounds frequencies range, microphone, sweat and moisture protection and small mass, their price is around 20 USD; it is adequate to their functions, but there is need to note, that for the same amount of money there is ability to buy monitor headphones, so here is the choice between device compactness and sound quality.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 – 8-cores 8″ Super AMOLED Android 5.0 tablet PC with 4G, 3 GB of RAM and 4000 mAh battery

Company Samsung presented new Android 5.0 tablet PC Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 with 8″ multitouch Super AMOLED screen with 2048 x 1536 pixels resolution, 4G, 8-cores processor Samsung Exynos 5433, working on 1.9 GHz frequency, 3 GB of RAM and 4000 mAh battery. In it following are also placed : Mali-T760 MP6 graphical chip, 32 or 64 GB of on-board memory ( depending on modification ) with ability to extend via Micro SD flash cards with 128 GB max capacity and 1 slot for Nano SIM cards. It can be used as phone with support of 2G ( GSM 850, 900, 1800 and 1900 ), 3G and 4G LTE networks; it has GLONASS and GPS satellite navigation, acceleration, proximity, Hall, geomagnetic field and RGB lighting sensors, gyroscope and fingerprints scanner.

Tablet PC Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 ( back and side view )

Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 has 2 good for tablet PCs cameras : 8 MP frontal one with autofocusing and support of 2560 x 1440 pixels 30 fps video recording and 2.1 MP frontal one, they both has CMOS sensors. Tablet supports Wi-Fi ( 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 2.4G+5GHz, VHT80 MIMO and Wi-Fi Direct ) and Bluetooth 4.1 ( A2DP, AVRCP, DI, HFP, HID, HOGP, HSP, MAP, OPP, PAN and PBAP ) wireless connections for remote communications with other devices and data transfers, without NFC support. On its outer panels following can be found : Micro USB 2.0 for external devices plugging in, connection to computer and battery charging, 1/8″ mini jack headsets and headphones connector, power and volume control buttons, as well as microphone and speaker. Battery charge is 4000 mAh – this is a good value for tablet PCs, it is enough for 9 – 14 hours of work ( depending on load ) or 27 hours of talking. Device’s body is made from plastic, its sizes are 198.6 ( width ) x 134.8 ( height ) x 5.6 ( depth ) mm and mass is 272 g.

Package contains : Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 tablet PC itself, Micro USB cable, recharger, warranty card and user’s guide. All in all tablet is very good, having large Super AMOLED screen, 4G, powerful system, good cameras, capacitive battery and good package of sensors and wireless networks support, its price is around 400 USD. It is not very high for its functions, but if there is no need in such characteristics, then there is ability to buy much cheaper other Android or Windows tablet PCs, even with good photo camera and with interchangeable lenses.

Behringer F-CONTROL AUDIO FCA202 – Firewire audio interface with 2 inputs, 2 outputs and 96 kHz and 24 bits

Firewire audio interface Behringer F-CONTROL AUDIO FCA202

Company Behringer also have Firewire audio interfaces, for example, F-CONTROL AUDIO FCA202 – device with 2 inputs, 2 outputs and support of 96 kHz and 24 bits. On its frontal panel following is installed : TRS 1/4″ jack output for monitor headphones and Firewire connection and power indicators. On back panel : power adapter input, Kensington Lock slot, 2 Firewire ports ( device can be powered from them or from adapter ), 2 TRS 1/4″ jack outputs ( left and right ), which can work in balanced and unbalanced modes, and left and right TRS 1/4″ jack analogue inputs.

Firewire audio interface Behringer F-CONTROL AUDIO FCA202 ( rear panel )

Harmonic distortions of Behringer F-CONTROL AUDIO FCA202 equal to 0.01 %, channels isolation is 100 dB, signal to noise ratio is 100 dB, device draws maximum 200 mA of current. For it drivers are released for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 with support of WDM KS, ASIO 2.0 and MME interfaces; in Mac OS X it works without additional drivers with support of Core Audio interface; through which it interacts with modern DAWs : REAPER, Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase, FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar and others. With it DAW Tracktion and other programs are supplied. Audio interface’s sizes are 155 ( width ) x 115 ( depth ) x 28 ( height ) mm and mass is 0.7 kg.

Package with audio interface Behringer F-CONTROL AUDIO FCA202 contains : 2 Firewire cables, power adapter, CD-ROM disk with drivers and software, warranty card and user’s guide. Audio interface have good characteristics and connectors amount for entry level audio interface for small studio; however, there is need to note that USB interfaces of the same level are excellently do their job and it is much easier to find computer with such ports, than with Firewire connectors.

Congratulations to all women with 8th March!

I congratulate all women with 8th March!!! Blossom and smell, but do not forget about the spikes, so that rogues will not break petals and leafs and will not break the trunk.

Philips SHK2000 – kids’ 32 mm over ears headphones with 12 Hz – 22 kHz and neodymium magnets

Among Philips headphones there is a new device : SHK2000 – kids’ 32 mm over ears headphones with 12 Hz – 22 kHz reproducible frequencies and neodymium magnets. Their sensitivity is 99 dB, impedance is 32 Ohms, maximal input power is 40 mW and mass is 100 g. Cable connects to both cups, it has 1/8″ mini jack nickel-plated plug for connection to sound source. Headphones are made in bright blue and green colors, fitting kids; their maximal volume is limited by 85 dB for safe listening; they are built without screws for safety and their headband is adjustable. Package contains : Philips SHK2000 headphones themselves, warranty card and user’s guide. Headphones are of high quality, having wide frequencies range, neodymium magnets and safe for children characteristics; there is ability to anticipate, that Philips will not overprice them at the moment of appearance in the shops, so they can be surely recommended for purchase for the youth.

Alcatel OneTouch POP 10 – 9.6″ IPS Android 5.0 tablet PC with 5 MP camera, 4G and 4600 mAh battery

Company Alcatel presented new large Android 5.0 tablet PC OneTouch POP 10 with 9.6″ multitouch IPS screen with 1280 x 800 pixels resolution, 4G, 5 MP main camera and 4600 mAh battery. In it following are built in : 4-cores processor Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8916, working on 1.2 GHz frequency, graphical chip Adreno 306, 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of on-board memory with ability to extend via Micro SDXC flash cards with size up to 32 GB ( probably, tablet PC supports larger ones ) and 1 slot for SIM cards. It can work in phone mode and supports 2G ( GSM 900, 1800 and 1900 ), 3G and 4G LTE networks; tablet has GPS+A-GPS satellite navigation and acceleration and gravitation sensor.

Tablet Alcatel OneTouch POP 10 has 2 good for tablet PCs cameras : 5 MP main one with autofocusing and Full HD 1920 x 1080 pixels video recording and 2 MP frontal one. On external panels it has : Micro USB 2.0 port for battery charging, connection to computer and external devices plugging in via OTG cable; 1/8″ mini jack connector of headsets and headphones; microphone and speaker; as well as power and volume control buttons. It supports wireless Wi-Fi ( IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n ) and Bluetooth 4.0 for remote communications with other devices and data transfers and does not support NFC connections. Battery charge equals to 4600 mAh, which is good for tablet PCs; device’s body is made from plastic, its sizes are 244 ( width ) x 146 ( height ) x 8 ( depth ) mm and mass is 406 g.

Package with Alcatel OneTouch POP 10 tablet PC contains : USB cable, recharger, keyboard, warranty card and user’s guide. Tablet PC is functional : with large IPS screen, powerful system, 4G, capacitive battery and good cameras; its price is around 130 USD and not too high for its functions; however for 2 times smaller sum there is ability to buy 7″ IPS Android tablet PCs and 8″ IPS Windows tablet PCs, which are close to this one in some respects and weaker in others. So, if there is no need in specific functions of this tablet PC, then there is ability to look on others for much smaller price.

The King of a Golden Hall ( Rohan, The Lord of the Rings ) in DAW REAPER

Music from The Lord of the Rings inspires, lets continue creation of compositions from this film with soundtrack “The King of a Golden Hall ( Rohan )” in a DAW REAPER. MIDI notes I downloaded from Internet, thank you goes to their original author, this time in tracks and notes themselves there was almost no need to change anything : everything already worked. Only for main instruments I applied band compressor ( it compresses only part of frequencies, instead of a whole range ) and applied automation to it to switch it on only in needed parts, so that it will not touch areas, which play good without it. In composition there are only 4 tracks : wind instruments ( sampled synthesizer DSK Brass with preset French Horn, low-pass filter to remove high frequency noise and ringing and reverberation ), violin ( DSK Strings with preset Violin and reverberation ), low frequency string instruments ( DSK Overture with contrabass and cello + phaser + small reverberation ) and additional string instruments, playing only in key parts of composition for its strengthening ( DSK Strings with viola and harp ). Via this link completed composition in FLAC format and archive with project file and sounds can be downloaded : The King of a Golden Hall ( Rohan, The Lord of the Rings ) in DAW REAPER.

VST instrument DSK Overture and effects ESI Phaser, Reverberation and Chorus and ReaCompressor in DAW REAPER

For reverberation and phaser I used VST plugins, coming with ESI sound card, for band compressor built-in effect of REAPER and for low-pass filter scripted effect of this DAW. All in all creation of this composition is much easier, than other ones : tracks and MIDI notes are of high quality, there is ability to attach instruments and effects, make small adjustments and strokes and composition plays. I did not added drums to it, because it plays without them and they are excessive in it.

Hybrid VST synthesizer Funxion in DAW REAPER

Then small balancing of instruments’ volumes, so that they play together in composition and do not try to silence each other; in this sound track I did not moved instruments in stereo picture, because there are not much of them and their movement would cause emptiness in other channel. Then small amount of listens, render of the project into FLAC file and composition ready. Next time I’ll continue work in this direction and will create variation of other composition, see you in the broadcast.

Liopleurodon – orca-teeth plesiosaurus of Jurassic period of Mesozoic era

In Jurassic seas of Mesozoic era different animals lived : among them there were liopleurodons – reptiles belonging to plesiosaurs, which had teeth like of modern orcas. Their scientific name is translated from Ancient Greek as “having smooth sided teeth“, they grew up to 7 m in length, had mass around 1 – 1.7 tons and were one of the largest marine predators of their times. Modern studies show, that their mouth closing strength was not so big, as modern crocodiles have or replaced then in Cretaceous period mosasaurs had, but they compensated this with gigantic size and sharp teeth; they moved in water by flapping alternately ( for maneuverability ) or together ( for acceleration ) with both pairs of their flippers-like limbs and flew, like birds, in depths of Mesozoic waters. Such kind of propulsion is not the most energy-efficient, but provides high acceleration and maneuverability, which is needed for ambush predator.

Liopleurodons lived approximately 160 – 150 millions of years ago; their skull length reached 1/5th of their overall length and was 1.2 m maximum in absolute value; they had short neck, which is characteristic for pliosaurus family ( which belongs to plesiosaurus ), this differentiated them from long-necked members of this species and allowed them to hunt on larger preys. Up to current time not much fossils of liopleurodons were found : 1 almost complete skeleton and small amount of fragments, including teeth. Mainly they were found in Europe : in England and France, there are also findings in Russia. For the first time animals of this species were studied and described in 1873 year by Henri Émile Sauvage; later this marine reptiles species was examined again by other paleontologists, performed its reclassification.

Alesis V25 – compact USB MIDI keyboard with 8 drumpads

One of the MIDI keyboards of Alesis company is a compact V25, which has 8 velocity and pressure sensitive drumpads. It has 25 full-sized velocity-sensitive keys, 4 assignable knobs and 4 assignable buttons, octaves control buttons and modulation and pitch-bend wheels; all controls, except of keys, have backlight. It is powered only from USB connection, on its rear panel there is also TRS 1/4″ jack sustain pedal input; keyboard works in Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 and Mac OS X 10.7 operating systems without additional drivers via Plug and Play technology, in which it tightly interacts with modern DAWs : Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase, FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER and others, and their VST instruments and effects.

USB MIDI keyboard Alesis V25 ( back panel )

With it following software is supplied : DAW Ableton Live Lite 9 and AIR Music Tech Xpand!2. Package with MIDI keyboard Alesis V25 contains : USB cable, warranty card and user’s guide. Keyboard is very compact and has full-sized keys, 8 drumpads, modulation control and pitch-bend wheels and other assignable controls; wherein it has one of the smallest prices among MIDI keyboards, so it can be viewed as entry-level very functional device in this direction.

Category: English