IK Multimedia iRig Comes To Android!

I won't lie: this has been a long time coming and kudos to IK Multimedia for being the first to get their act together on the Android front.

Seriously, this is just terrific, but you'll note there's no sign of Sampletank here. Android has been notorious with developers in the past for highly problematic audio latency issues (which Android claim isn't a software issue, but more of a hardware issue, something I hope might change with the Nexus devices. Time will tell.) A good sign is that iRig Recorder, the app hub for all this hardware, seems good to go, so who knows, maybe the audio issues are being addressed. Hopefully IK's commitment to Android will help push this even further.

The hardware will include: iRig MIC (a handheld mic), iRig MIC Cast (a small podcasting mic), iRig PRE (a preamp), iRig MIX (a small DJ style mixing board) and iKlip STUDIO (a stand for you tablets, both 10" and 7" versions.) And of course the excellent and very capable iRig Recorder app.

Available at the end of January, iRig Recorder comes in Free and Paid ($4.99, with some additional FX in app purchases) versions.

More at IK Multimedia.

Jordan Rudess, Morphwiz & A Huge Lenovo Touchscreen

This is pretty cool. I'm a big fan of the iDevices for multi-touch music making, but something with this much screen real estate? Yes please.

In a more recent interview with Sonicstate, Rudess did say the Lenovo had some latency issues, but then he got to play one of the big Sony screens at a Microsoft event and the latency was as negligible on that as on the iPad. I guess all we need now is for developers to get their apps onto Windows 8 and hardware makers to deliver good gear.

Exciting times.

The Best MIDI Keyboard?

Okay, I'll admit that "the best" anything is a subjective notion at the best of times, but a lot of people have been asking this very question.

So is there an answer?

Well, for the last few years I've been happily using the M-Audio Axiom 49, both live and in the studio, and have had no issues with it whatsoever. I've found it to be a good, solid gigging keyboard, although many others prefer the Korg Kontrol 49 and more recently the Akai MPK-49.

However, recently there is one MIDI keyboard everybody seems to be agreeing on. The Novation Remote SL Series.


It really is an impressive keyboard, comes in 25, 37 and 61 keys and the action on those keys is smooth as silk. It also has trigger pads and enough knobs and sliders to keep anybody happy (or busy!) for weeks.

But two things set it apart: 1) it has two large LED screens that tell you which knob/slider is controlling which parameter in your software and 2) Novation's Automap protocol, which automatically maps all your controls to whichever software you're using - and does it well, even if you're switching between them. It's early days, but Automap really needs to become an industry standard, like ReWire - it's that good.

Is there a downside (other than the price - about double many others on the market) to this keyboard? Well, at the moment synching can occasionally be a bit erratic with Logic Studio (but works flawlessly with Propellerhead Reason, Ableton Live and others.) However, Novation are constantly updating their drivers, so I'd expect this to be a temporary concern.

If there's a better controller on the market, I'm not aware of it.

(Full specs at the Novation website.)

What do you use (and love ... or hate?)