Company Audio-Technica released new 53 mm professional monitor headphonesATH-PRO700MK2 with 5 Hz – 35 kHz reproducible sounds frequencies range and closed architecture. Their sensitivity is 106 dB, impedance is 38 Ohms, maximal input power is 3500 mW and mass is 305 g. Removable cable is connected to one of the cups ( there are 2 of them in the package : coiled one and straight one, both have 1.2 m length ), to sound source they are connected via 1/8″ mini jack connector with gold-plated contacts; device can be folded for compactness. Package with Audio-Technica ATH-PRO700MK2 headphones contains : adapter to 1/4″ jack connector, 2 cables, carrying and storage pouch, warranty card and user’s guide. Headphones are great : with very wide reproducible sounds frequencies range, large diaphragms for high-quality basses reproduction and high sensitivity; they are designed for professional studio use and have according price 100 – 130 USD, this acceptable price for professional headphones; but for simply high-quality music listening, consumer level monitor headphones can be used, for example, 50 or 40 mm ones for much smaller price.
Far Away from Misty Mountains Cold … ( Hobbit ) in DAW REAPER
Far over the misty mountains cold To dungeons deep and caverns old We must away ere break of day To seek the pale enchanted gold. … The pines were roaring on the height, The winds were moaning in the night. The fire was red, it flaming spread; The trees like torches blazed with light. …
Lets create today variation of composition “Far Away from Misty Mountains Cold …” from film Hobbit in DAWREAPER. MIDI notes I took from Internet, thank you goes to their original author; there was almost no need to change anything in them, I only made pauses in the beginning and at the end of composition. There were only 2 instruments : playing main melody and basses, I added 1 track with additional basses to enhance composition. Melody is played by instrument DSK Overture with french horm ( to this instrument I added band compressor ) and ESI Piano, their united sound is processed by reverberation. First basses party is played by instrument DSK Strings with violas section and cello and effects phaser and small reverberation; second basses part is played by DSK Brass with french horn and tuba instrument, the same way processed by phaser and small reverberation. Via this link completed composition in FLAC format and archive with project file and sounds can be downloaded : Far Away from Misty Mountains Cold … ( Hobbit ) in DAW REAPER.
MIDI keyboard emulator FreePiano 2
To mixed sound I applied compressor, which does not give to spikes to overflow dynamic range, and at the same time did not overcompressed it too much to leave a freedom for the movement; this way compressor touches only singular spikes areas and lets other parts to play freely. Also I increased its Release parameter, so that on the spikes following each other closely volume movement is not noticeable. Main melody instrument has one area, on which sounds with 1 – 1.5 kHz frequency are very loud; I applied band compressor to it, to reduce its volume, so that it does not cut the hearing. And made smooth automation of its Threshold parameter, so that it will not touch other areas of composition and descended to needed volume only on this part. Then, to make compositions parts more highlighted and differentiating from each other, without loose of interest and intensity, I smoothly switched off second basses track in the beginning of composition and enabled it only on the first and second strong parts, disabling it at the conclusion as well. Second part is stronger, than the first one, due to high intensity of composition, and is a culmination of the whole soundtrack, so I did not changed anything in them to increase their differentiation.
VST processor ReaXcomp and instrument DSK Brass in DAW REAPER
Also in the Internet I found MIDI keyboards emulator FreePiano 2, which allows to play music on usual computer keyboard and record MIDI notes; there is also ability to plug in to it different VST instruments, to hear sound close to the result, and there is ability to set layout in a convenient way. It allows to control different MIDI parameters of the track, such as sustain pedal signal, notes velocity, octaves shifting and others; after notes recording, there is ability to import them into DAW and perform more fragile notes tweaking in editor, for example, correct their timings or presses velocities. With it I made small addition in the composition conclusion, repeating basses notes, for more melodic epilogue.
VST instrument DSK Overture and effects ESI Phaser, Reverberation and Chorus and ReaCompressor in DAW REAPER
Before compressors application I also balanced volumes of instruments, so that they play in accordance with each other and do not silence each other; with compressors I only withheld volume’s peaks, leading to overflows, when all other parts play in composition. I also have MIDI notes of Song of the Lonely Mountain, it is very much like this one, but longer and more complex and melodic, I’ll make its variation next time, shaping it to my taste. This is all for today, look in the REAPER project for details and write your questions in the comments, see you next time.
One of the USBMIDI keyboards of Alesis company is a device VI25 with 25 velocity-sensitive keys and 16 velocity-sensitive drumpads with back light. It has : 24 assignable buttons and 8 assignable knobs, small screen, transport control buttons and pitch bend and modulation control wheels. As well as : 1/4″ jack input for sustain pedal, MIDI output, USB port for connection to computer and powering, switch on button and power adapter input ( keyboard can be powered from it or from USB port ). Device works in Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 and Mac OS X 10.7 and newer without additional drivers via Plug and Play technology, in which it interacts with modern DAWs : Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase, FL Studio, Cackewalk Sonar, REAPER and others, as well as their VST/AU instruments and effects.
USB MIDI keyboard Alesis VI25 ( back panel )
After purchase of Alesis VI25 there is ability to download from manufacturer’s site program AIR Music Tech Xpand!2 and DAWAbleton Live Lite. Package with MIDI keyboard Alesis VI25 includes : USB cable, warranty card and user’s guide. Keyboard is interesting with its functionality and compact sizes, also it has power adapter input, which allows to use it with tablet PCs without load on their batteries. Wherein price of Alesis VI25 is on one of the lowest levels among compact functional MIDI keyboards.
One of the devices of Superlux company is a 40 mm closed dynamic monitor headphonesHD-440 with 20 Hz – 20 kHz reproducible sounds frequencies range and 150 Ohms impedance. Their sensitivity is 96 dB, mass is 300 g ( with wire accounting, without accounting of it – 251 g ), to one of the cups not detachable cable with 2.5 m length is mounted with 1/8″ mini jack gold-plated plug for connection to sound source. Device’s headband adjusts automatically to head size, it has interesting design, enhanced basses reproduction characteristics and good outer sounds silencing. Package contains : Superlux HD-440 headphones themselves, adapter to 1/4″ jack plug, warranty card and user’s guide.
Superlux HD-440 are not foldable, each their cup has only 1 sound emitter; in place of connection to speaker cable is additionally reinforced with resin tube for increased durability and wear resistance during bending and tear-off forces application. Headphones has no active noise-cancellation function, as some other monitor headphones have, but they have good isolation from surrounding sounds; they are supplied only in black color variant. Their cable has no slider and clip for tangling and clinging to clothes and surrounding objects prevention; also it has no built in microphone and smartphones and volume control buttons. Cushions and headband of Superlux HD-440 are covered with soft material for comfortable wearing during long time listening of audio.
All in all headphones are good, with wide frequencies range and large membranes, their price is around 30 USD, it is not too high for them, but there is need to note, that for such money 50 mm monitor headphones or for smaller money 40 mm ones can be bought. Also, these headphones have high impedance and to power them there is need in good sound source : players, smartphones and tablet PCs are not enough for this, there is need in receiver or good audio interface. If from device compactness and small mass are needed, then there is ability to look on in-ears headphones, which are oriented on use during sportive exercises and trainings, as well as everyday compact use. Besides this their cable often has slider and clip.
Superlux – is a company, which main office is located in Taiwan development and testing laboratories and facilities in Hong Kong and other China cities. This name is a brand of company Goang-Fann Co. Ltd., which in 1997 year acquired Tenlux – company-producer of microphones and started to release headphones, microphones and other audio equipment under this name. Company is known for production of very functional devices with very attractive prices; so, when according sound devices are being choosen, it is useful to look on products of Superlux.
Chinese electronics manufacturer comany Xiaomi presented new Android 6.0 smartphoneMi5 with 5.15″ multitouch IPS screen with Full HD 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution, 4G, 4-cores processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, working on 2.15 GHz frequency, 3 GB of RAM and GLONASS, GPS+A-GPS and BeiDou satellite navigation systems. It also has : graphical chip Adreno 530, 32 – 64 GB of on-board memory ( depending on modification ) and 2 slots for Nano SIM cards. It supports 2G ( GSM 900, 1800 and 1900 ), 3G and 4G LTE networks; and has lighting, proximity, acceleration, Hall and infrared sensors, as well as gyroscope, barometer, electronic compass and fingerprints scanner.
Smartphone Xiaomi Mi5
Xiaomi Mi5 has 2 very good for smartphones cameras : 16 MP main one with LED flash and 4 MP frontal one. On its external panels following modules are placed : Micro USB port for connection to computer and battery charging, microphone and speaker, 1/8″ mini jack headsets and headphones connector. It supports wireless Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi ( IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, +Direct, +Display ) and NFC connections for remote communications with other devices and data transfers. Device’s sizes are 69.2 ( width ) x 144.6 ( height ) x 7.3 ( depth ) mm and mass is 129 g. Battery charge is 3000 mAh – this is a good value for smartphones.
Package with Xiaomi Mi5 contains : USB cable, recharger, headset, warranty card and user’s guide. Smartphone has very high characteristics : powerful system, IPS screen, good cameras, 4G, wide wireless networks range and satellite navigation. Its price is 500 USD, for its functions it is not too high, but if there is no need in them, then there is ability to buy much cheaper optimal Windows or Android smartphones + good tablet PC + good photo camera with interchangeable lenses.
Among new devices of M-Audio there is a USB audio interfaceM-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-ZTRS 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 DAWSteinberg 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.
Company Pioneer widened its devices range with in-ears headphonesSE-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.
Company Samsung presented new Android 5.0 tablet PCGalaxy 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.
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.
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 DAWTracktion 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.
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.
