Iphone/Nanostudio= The Newest MPC KILLER for under $200.00

cyrus wrote:ok, so serious question.. sound quality. do you find a lack of sound quality or change of sound quality in your beats? is it transparent? thinner? compressed sounding? digital sounding? etc.....

Check out Gorrilaz album The Fall they made a while ago with the Ipad

cyrus wrote:ok, so serious question.. sound quality. do you find a lack of sound quality or change of sound quality in your beats? is it transparent? thinner? compressed sounding? digital sounding? etc.....

Through the regular headphone jacks on the iOS devices I do think the output is a "digital thin" kind of sound. The Alesis IO dock doesn't do any A/D conversion, it just passes the iPad's output through. Using the 1/4" outputs on the dock I'd say the apps sound pretty similar to my 1000/2500, kind of uncharacteristic modern digital, but a good loud, clean signal.

Metatron72 wrote:

cyrus wrote:ok, so serious question.. sound quality. do you find a lack of sound quality or change of sound quality in your beats? is it transparent? thinner? compressed sounding? digital sounding? etc.....

Through the regular headphone jacks on the iOS devices I do think the output is a "digital thin" kind of sound. The Alesis IO dock doesn't do any A/D conversion, it just passes the iPad's output through. Using the 1/4" outputs on the dock I'd say the apps sound pretty similar to my 1000/2500, kind of uncharacteristic modern digital, but a good loud, clean signal.

so is that alesis IO worth it? What other gear do you have hooked up?

I think it be cool to get the Alesis IO and some kind of pad controller like the akai mpd 18 (or whatever the smaller one is with regular midi i/o)

I'm gonna download beatmaker 2 to my itouch tonight and see whats up...if i like it, i might get an ipad and go full out.

^I guess the Alesis dock at $200 is kind of expensive for what it is, but Camera Kit and all that wasn't doing it for me. With proper MIDI I/O and decent jacks, the iPad feels more like a solid piece to my setup.

Nick at Sonic Lab has done one of his thorough reviews on the Alesis I/O - http://www.sonicstate.com/news/2011/08/ ... ck-review/

I think the MPD18 only has USB, no standard MIDI, MPD26 would be the one I think. I think the new Korg NanoPad with 16 pads at $59 is the move for what you described Cyrus. I have the old 12 pad joint, and the pad sensitivity is worlds beyond an un-modded MPD.

I think anybody on the forum with an iOS device would dig Beatmaker 2, even with it's flaws it's incredible for $20, and as far as the original topic, NanoStudio is awesome too.

I'm not gonna lie this shit is ill. Just rolling with the time haha.
Though I still find it hard to believe that any software with controller will ever beat the real hardware thing.

NightReveller wrote:I'm not gonna lie this **** is ill. Just rolling with the time haha.
Though I still find it hard to believe that any software with controller will ever beat the real hardware thing.

To a large extent I agree, but not fully. It's hated here, but whatever, Maschine is dope as hell. Plus these comparisons are often focused on the wrong angles. The Maschine hate is because it isn't a stand alone unit, but the original question is usually "can a controller/software mix replicate major parts of MPC/groovebox workflow, while taking advantage of the fact your on a computer?" So it seems ironic that Maschine is dismissed for being the closest answer.

It's like being mad at your computer monitor for not having a TV tuner. Yeah the 2 things are very similar, but there's a divergence after a point based on what each is designed for.

If we're talking modern 2500/1000 MPC's, Maschine plus good sounds, knowing when to quantize or go off grid, knowing how and where to apply swing, will sound the same as hardware. Certainly if you mean SP's, 60/3000's, or analog synths, no, software is not quite ready to fully emulate that.

I like your outlook, and am surprised more people aren't down to earth like that. They're making new crazy s*** that makes sound when you touch it, why be mad at that?

Metatron72 wrote:It's like being mad at your computer monitor for not having a TV tuner. Yeah the 2 things are very similar, but there's a divergence after a point based on what each is designed for.

Ye that's true man. Let's just say it's a personal thing whether you like 'watching tv on computer monitor'.
But don't get me wrong I'm giving this brother probs for just trying something completely different. That's hiphop.

cyrus wrote:ok, so serious question.. sound quality. do you find a lack of sound quality or change of sound quality in your beats? is it transparent? thinner? compressed sounding? digital sounding? etc.....

THE THREAD WAS MOVED

Anyhow, no sound degradation @ all. THE MPC IS ON LIFE SUPPORT... beep, beep, beep...

I messed around w/ the alesis joint and it's DOPE. I wont be getting an ipad though--I'm good on my iphone4 w a 88 midi keyboard via midi line 6 connector. I'm still tripping cuz I compared BM2 and N.S. with my boys MPC 4000 yesterday and he was blown away @ the SAME FEATURES AND SOME EVEN BETTER ONES!!!

Using BeatMaker 2, you can build your own virtual home-studio by creating multiple instruments; connecting them to a full-range of audio effects; and composing, recording, and editing your ideas into complete songs. You can import your own sounds or use the included sound library of more than 170 instruments and drum presets covering everything from synthesizers to orchestral sounds. In addition to the sound library, the iOS software includes a virtual studio, drum machine, keyboard sampler, multi-track sequencer, wave editor, and mixer console.

In the virtual studio, you can create multiple instruments with the included drum machine or keyboard interface. There are 10 effect units to choose from (Reverb, Compressor, Filter, Delay, EQ, Flanger, Chorus, AutoPan, BitCrusher, Overdrive), 3 effect slots for each instrument with unlimited global effect racks, and a customizable Cross Controller for all effects, so that you can manipulate multiple parameters at once.

The drum machine offers up to 128 trigger pads (16 pads over 8 different banks), a "Chop Lab" for slicing audio loops, sound parameter controls on individual pads, lowpass / highpass filters with cutoff and resonance control, and more. You can choose between various pad trigger modes (One-Shot, Hold, and Loop), and you can customize envelopes for each pad. The drum machine also features Live modes (trigger, mute, reverse, velocity, and tune spreading) and polyphony management.

The keyboard sampler sports a 128-note keyboard with pitch wheel with double keyboard mode, note display, and zoom controls. Using the sampler, you can create your own instruments from any sample combination with the keygroup editor. Other features include volume and filter ADSR envelopes; lowpass / highpass filter with cutoff, resonance, and key tracking; two LFOs with customizable amplitude, offset, and rate (synchronizable), controlling volume, pitch, and filter parameters; polyphony control; Legato play mode with customizable glide; and Keygroup controls.

BeatMaker 2's multi-track sequencer lets you create unlimited instrument and FX tracks; record, edit, and replay instrument and effect parameters; record, draw, arrange, and resize patterns along the timeline to build your song; and compose and modify patterns with a piano-roll interface.

The wave editor offers basic to advanced tools for manipulating audio. You'll get time-stretching and pitch-shifting algorithms, audio tools (normalize, silence, reverse, fade in and out, cross-fade), loop points and tempo / signature editor, and more.

The mixer console offers a realistic multi-track mixer with level meters and volume, pan, solo, mute, and bus routing features for individual tracks.

When you are done creating a track in BeatMaker 2, you can export your songs to audio or MIDI files, move them to your computer via FTP, upload songs directly to SoundCloud, and more.

Intua BeatMaker 2 is now available for $19.99 from the iTunes App Store. For more information, please visit intua.net.

YOOOOO oprah! just wanted to say we were watching some old 30 rock episodes on netflix and your cameo was awesome....


that is all..

^^haha

oprah,
So you do completely chop on the thing? or do you chop in an editor and drag and drop samples to iphone?

Not to answer for Oprah, but in my own experience with BM2 there is no need to go outside the app for sample editing. BM2's sample editor is more than capable of getting the job done and is the best editor I've used for the iOS. It even beats out the standalone editors like Twisted Wave and Hokusai in terms of touch response and ease of use.

Oprah's rave review of BM2 is spot on, but to sum it all up... If you make sampler based music and have an iOS device without BM2, then your iOS device is incomplete. Get it, you won't be disappointed.

Ocular wrote:Not to answer for Oprah, but in my own experience with BM2 there is no need to go outside the app for sample editing. BM2's sample editor is more than capable of getting the job done and is the best editor I've used for the iOS. It even beats out the standalone editors like Twisted Wave and Hokusai in terms of touch response and ease of use.

Oprah's rave review of BM2 is spot on, but to sum it all up... If you make sampler based music and have an iOS device without BM2, then your iOS device is incomplete. Get it, you won't be disappointed.

cool thanks for reply. I got BM2.I am really just curious to workflow. so far its been a bit of transition coming from using jjos ndc on a regular basis, BM2 chopping feels more like my old mpc2xl style where you have to duplicate the sample to get multiple chops - not a bad thing, but definately not the same as ndc (where you set markers and can have overlapping chops etc. and not have duplicate samples)...but i think the hands on interface makes up for that...

Check out chop lab, page 19 in the manual, for non destructive chop.

I do agree with you on the work flow. I haven't found any software that replicates the work flow of my 1000 w/jjos. Although I hear Geist comes pretty damn close. Haven't tried it yet though. And as far as iOS apps go, BM2 is the one.

Edit: Despite the over-the-top positive reviews on BM2, I have to throw a cautionary note out there. I wouldn't give up my solid hardware/ software setup in exchange for an iOS based setup, nor would I advise anyone to. The main reason being an issue of stability. Some apps break or become buggy whenever the iOS is updated. So far BM2 hasn't had any issue with that but there is the risk. Also, Intua (BM2 dev company) is slow to update, so if you're used to the rapid fire jjos updates then you might be disappointed. And finally, not all iOS devices are created equal. What works well for one might not work at all for the other. Just some food for thought

yo, this might be a good controller combined with the line6 midi connector. this one has regular midi plugs not just usb

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD7vz-g6aDQ

vestax pad one

Metatron72 wrote:Certainly if you mean SP's, 60/3000's, or analog synths, no, software is not quite ready to fully emulate that.

I don't know about that. Maschine's SP1200 and MPC60 vintage sampling modes actually do a very good job.