Sunday, December 12, 2010

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Review: MPD32

So my (AKAI) MPD32 arrived today, as you can see in the picture above you get the controller plus a usb cable, a installation cd and a manual,after unwrapping i decided to plug it in and try and set it up, i had done some research online just to see how it integrated with Fl Studio (didnt find anything promising)
After plugging it in the drivers automatically installed themselves, which saved me the bother of having to insert the CD and go through the installation process manually, so i fired up fl studio, hit a few pads . . . nothing. 

I then went through the presets to see if there was any for fl studio, and while there is a wide range of software supported fl studio is not, so i decided to leave it on the "Generic 18" preset. . click to set it . . .hit a pad.  .  nice finally some response , i loaded up the FPC and decided to try a pattern, and it just worked, the transport controls also work, play record stop all do exactly what there supposed to .

The main issue i have with it is that the pads on the controller and the pads on the fpc aren't assigned correctly, however after a look at a few topics on the image-line website i found this PRESET made by one of the members there (Equalibrum)
its for live use and works really well. check out his vid below its impressive
 

All in all its a solid controller , well made, nice pads, faders and knobs, i dont think it would break easy, if your looking for a solid piece of hardware to complement your software then i honestly think this is definatly a nice addition.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Review: Sounds in HD The Collection

 
Over 1000 drums samples !!
Ok, i usually dont do reviews or even buy other peoples drums for that matter but after downloading the demo sounds from the Sounds In HD collection i was pretty impressed by what i heard, just from the demo sounds alone i was creating loops and patterns that just sounded great.

So what do you get for your money?

Inside the folder are four other folders filled with drum sound goodness :
  • Keyflo's Collection
  • SHD Acoustic Blends
  • SHD Vol1
  • Sounds_In_HD_2_HDMI
Here is a quote from their website
The eq, processing, and whatever other deep dark magic they put on these drums results in the most usable collection I’ve come across to date, and the most versatile.
Honestly i couldn't agree more with the above quote, the drums knock hard, the snares are real snappy and the claps have some amazing crunchy goodness that almost made me cry for joy, these are not your standard sounds, these are of a different standard, a better standard. 

Just browsing through and quickly previewing made me want to go straight to the studio get them in my DAW and just knock out some patterns, there fun and serious at the same time, unique and inspiring, ive got thousands of drum sounds, and i do mean thousands, yet, since i purchased these samples i haven't used any others, from the perc sounds to the toms and hats i couldnt complain about a single sample in this collection. 

To sum it all up these are probably the best drum/perc sounds/samples ive come across from any company online, ive tried alot and have always been left with that disappointing feeling that the hype just isnt true, however when it comes to Sounds in HD The Collection you should believe the hype


Check out the demo here : Download Demo

Over 1000 for $79.99