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Saturday, March 8, 2014
2012 For PC Users
Technique : PC Notes
Are you lost without VU meters? Klanghelm's VUMT is a versatile bargain with plenty of different applications.
In the current economic climate, punters are, perhaps understandably, more cautious about splashing out on a new PC so, in the UK at least, some distributors have ended up with high inventory levels (although perhaps not quite the 'PC mountain' that some industry pundits have suggested). Sadly, some of these distributors are probably now relieved that they do still have plenty of stock, since the dreadful flooding in Thailand has caused hard-drive prices to skyrocket (Western Digital and Toshiba have been hit particularly hard by the floods). There are warnings of possible PC and associated component shortages at Christmas, as well as going into 2012.
For those that do take the plunge with a new computer this Christmas, notebooks are now by far the most popular choice, accounting for over three times as many sales as desktop PCs. However, in an effort to boost Christmas computer sales, as I write this in mid-November some of the largest retailers are already offering sizeable discounts on notebooks. Unfortunately, as I've said many times in this column, buying a notebook PC for low-latency audio use is nowadays a real gamble unless you go to one of the specialist retailers, so tread very carefully if you find yourself tempted by an apparent bargain.
What features a jaw-dropping 2011 protruding pins and supports Intel's new Sandy Bridge-E processors? Yes, it's the new LGA 2011 socket.
Closely monitoring peak audio levels is critical to avoid nasty digital clipping, which is why most DAWs offer peak-reading meters. However, when setting up mix balances or using the latest 'console colour' and 'analogue warmth' plug-in simulations, you should ideally be watching a VU meter that displays more average levels instead. This will both help your mix balance and achieve suitable gain staging for your 'analogue' plug-ins, so they better emulate the hardware that inspired them.
VUMT has four switchable skins, is supplied in 32-bit and 64-bit stand-alone and plug-in versions, in both single- and double-meter formats (the latter offering stereo linking and M/S metering options) and, best of all, costs just €6.28, making it an impulse purchase. Highly recommended!
With expected component shortages and the consequent rise in hard‑drive prices, what can the PC musician expect from 2012?
Are you lost without VU meters? Klanghelm's VUMT is a versatile bargain with plenty of different applications.
In the current economic climate, punters are, perhaps understandably, more cautious about splashing out on a new PC so, in the UK at least, some distributors have ended up with high inventory levels (although perhaps not quite the 'PC mountain' that some industry pundits have suggested). Sadly, some of these distributors are probably now relieved that they do still have plenty of stock, since the dreadful flooding in Thailand has caused hard-drive prices to skyrocket (Western Digital and Toshiba have been hit particularly hard by the floods). There are warnings of possible PC and associated component shortages at Christmas, as well as going into 2012.
Bargain Beware
For those that do take the plunge with a new computer this Christmas, notebooks are now by far the most popular choice, accounting for over three times as many sales as desktop PCs. However, in an effort to boost Christmas computer sales, as I write this in mid-November some of the largest retailers are already offering sizeable discounts on notebooks. Unfortunately, as I've said many times in this column, buying a notebook PC for low-latency audio use is nowadays a real gamble unless you go to one of the specialist retailers, so tread very carefully if you find yourself tempted by an apparent bargain.
The third most popular computer format choice at the
moment is the touchscreen tablet. Apple's iPad range is still the leader
in the popularity stakes, although the release of Windows 8 in 2012 is
expected to result in a shift in emphasis in the tablet market. We'll
just have to wait and see whether it heralds a new era for the PC
platform.
Meanwhile, one casualty of the shortages and notebook
discounts is the new slimline 'ultrabook' laptop format that I first
discussed in PC Notes October 2011, which is currently deemed desirable,
but too expensive. Some expect these new contenders to steal a sizeable
chunk of the tablet market, but only if they drop significantly in
price. Along with the recent 20 percent increase in the Chinese minimum
wage (which, while laudable in itself, will undoubtedly mean further
computer price increases across the world), it looks as if 2012 is going
to be an interesting year for the PC platform, in more ways than one!
A Room With A VU
What features a jaw-dropping 2011 protruding pins and supports Intel's new Sandy Bridge-E processors? Yes, it's the new LGA 2011 socket.
Closely monitoring peak audio levels is critical to avoid nasty digital clipping, which is why most DAWs offer peak-reading meters. However, when setting up mix balances or using the latest 'console colour' and 'analogue warmth' plug-in simulations, you should ideally be watching a VU meter that displays more average levels instead. This will both help your mix balance and achieve suitable gain staging for your 'analogue' plug-ins, so they better emulate the hardware that inspired them.
Most such plug-ins include some sort of metering, but
they rarely offer ballistics (the rise and fall times of the level
pointer) that match real-world VU meters. Enter the first pocket-money
product from newcomers Klanghelm (www.klanghelm.com): the VUMT (VU Meter and Trim) plug-in.
There are alternatives available with similar
switchable VU/PPM meter ballistics, such as PSP's freeware VintageMeter,
but what I love about VUMT is its smooth and accurate needle animation,
its additional 'hold needle' displaying the current maximum VU reading,
and its amber/red clip LED that illuminates at a definable user level
and clip point, so you can simultaneously keep an eye on peak levels.
The extremely handy +/-20dB gain trim is also perfect for your
gain-staging experiments: just insert one instance of VUMT before and
after your plug-in, with complementary trim settings (such as -10dB and
+10dB, respectively) and you can quickly alter its 'drive' level for
more or less warmth.
VUMT has four switchable skins, is supplied in 32-bit and 64-bit stand-alone and plug-in versions, in both single- and double-meter formats (the latter offering stereo linking and M/S metering options) and, best of all, costs just €6.28, making it an impulse purchase. Highly recommended!
Friday, March 7, 2014
Virtual MIDI cables
Virtual MIDI cables still have a place in the PC musician's studio, so what should you be using in this 64-bit world?
Virtual MIDI cables have been around a long time now on the PC (I first discussed them way back in SOS November 1999: /sos/nov99/articles/pcmusician.htm), but many musicians still seem hazy about their applications, so here's a recap and update for this 64-bit age. Basically, they are software utilities with a MIDI In and Out port that are permanently connected together, which is a perfect way to channel the MIDI output from one open application to a MIDI input of another running on the same computer. The data is sent from one application to the other in real time, and when I investigated MIDI timing issues back in SOS December 2007 (/sos/dec07/articles/cubasetech_1207.htm), virtual MIDI cables provided much tighter timing than any hardware MIDI port.
Most virtual MIDI cables also have multi-client
capability that can be added to hardware MIDI ports which will otherwise
only allow connection to a single application at a time. This is ideal,
for instance, if you want to simultaneously route the MIDI output from
two software applications, such as a sequencer and stand-alone MIDI
synth editor, to the same hardware MIDI synth, or send one sequencer
MIDI track to several hardware synths to create more complex layers.
They also solve various other routing problems when you want to modify
MIDI data and send it elsewhere. For instance, many Vienna Symphonic
Library users rely on virtual MIDI ports in conjunction with the
library's Performance Tool, to give legato phrases extra realism.
Cable Candidates
Hubi's MIDI Cable performed these tasks admirably in the early days of Windows 3.x and 9x, while Jamie O' Connell's MIDI Yoke (www.midiox.com/myoke.htm) worked for many on Windows NT and, subsequently, Windows 2000 and XP, but ran into big problems with Gigastudio, at the time much in favour by composers mocking up orchestral works in their sequencers.
Until recently, the holder of the 'best patch-cable alternative' title was Maple Virtual MIDI Cable (www.maplemidi.com/Maple_driver.html),
which is freeware and runs on Windows 95, 98/ME, 2000, XP, Vista, 7,
and no doubt 8 as well), and is still incredibly popular. However, it
can only be installed on 32-bit versions, so all those musicians who
have now moved to 64-bit versions of Windows Vista, 7, and 8, with
accompanying 64-bit sequencer software, need a replacement.
In The Loop
LoopBe30:
it may look simple, but that's just what you want from a virtual MIDI
cable utility, along with, nowadays, both 32-bit and 64-bit
compatibility.Enter Daniel Schmitt (www.nerds.de) who has developed two very easy-to-use virtual MIDI drivers that work well across Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7 and 8 with both 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems and applications. LoopBe1 offers a single In and Out port, while, as its name suggests, LoopBe30 offers up to a massive 30 In and Out ports in Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8 (or a maximum of nine under Windows 2000). Few musicians will ever need this many, so I was pleased to find how easy it was to reduce port numbers to a more typical total by opening the LoopBe Taskbar icon, amending the number and rebooting my computer (no-one wants to wade through a couple of dozen unused MIDI Ins and Outs in their software).
Each of the LoopBe In and Out ports can be connected to
up to eight applications simultaneously, for really complex routing,
and because they are written as WDM kernel mode drivers you won't notice
any latency at all; I could certainly detect none in practice. Anyone
who has ever reduced their PC to a crawl after accidentally looping
a Maple MIDI port back to itself and causing the virtual equivalent of
howl-round will also be pleased that the LoopBe ports incorporate MIDI
feedback protection that automatically mutes the port in question and
flags up an error. This can save a lot of frustration, although this
protection can be disabled if you want to go mad with enough polyphonic
aftertouch data to cripple a hardware MIDI port. LoopBe Ports can also
be muted to prevent data emerging from their outputs, which is very
handy if you're splitting drum tracks across a handful of drum machines
and want to hear what each is contributing to the mix!
Overall, I was very impressed by how easy both LoopBe utilities were to install and how rock-solid they were to use under Windows XP 32-bit, and under Windows 7 64-bit across a variety of 32-bit and 64-bit MIDI-aware applications — even being quite happy to send data between 32-bit and 64-bit in either direction. LoopBe1 is free for personal use and just $13.90 for commercial users, while LoopBe30 is a modest $19.90. Good value for money and highly recommended!
Thursday, March 6, 2014
PC Notes (Intell CPUs)
Technique : PC Notes
Leaks from Intel indicate that an eight-core processor for the Haswell range is on the way, although, sadly, not until the second half of 2014. While Haswell has, thus far, offered modest performance improvements over Ivy Bridge, along with significantly lower power drain, this new Haswell-E (Enthusiast) device should take us into a new era of computing power for those musicians who simply demand to run more of everything with ever lower latency. With two more cores and, therefore, four more threads than previous hexacore CPUs, along with up to 20MB of Smart Cache and support for four-channel DDR4 2133 RAM, this octocore monster should perform somewhere between 33 and 50 percent better. Once again, we seem to be moving forwards by expanding sideways.
As I write this, there's good news and bad news from Microsoft. Although they've reported a net income of $4.7 billion during their fourth quarter, sales of their Surface tablet seem to be disappointingly low. There have been large discounts on Surface RT pricing, with the 32GB version dropping by 30 percent and the 64GB model by 25 percent. In fact, Microsoft believe that their current inventory may never get sold in its entirety. Although official sales figures haven't been revealed, industry estimates are that Microsoft have so far sold around 260,000 Surface RT tablets, but a rather more impressive 750,000 Surface Pro models that can run standard Windows software.
Microsoft's
Surface tablet sales have been disappointingly low, although it's
telling that the company have sold vastly more of the version capable of
running standard Windows software.
In other Microsoft news, it was confirmed at the Microsoft Build developer conference in San Francisco in the final days of July that the Windows 8.1 update will be released to manufacturers in August, and available to Windows 8 owners as a free downloadable upgrade in September or October. There will also be a Windows 8.1 RT version. Microsoft's Steve Ballmer is quoted as saying that with Windows 8.1 they were "refining the blend” between the desktop and Modern UI interfaces, and that a lot of its enhancements have been designed to make the change between the two interfaces far less jarring. However, he also admitted that "the interface changes won't please everyone ... if you were hoping for the Windows 7 Start menu back.” Nevertheless, massive applause greeted his announcement that a boot-to-desktop feature will be in the final build.
Forthcoming Intel CPUs offer a quieter life and more power to PC musicians.
Leaks from Intel indicate that an eight-core processor for the Haswell range is on the way, although, sadly, not until the second half of 2014. While Haswell has, thus far, offered modest performance improvements over Ivy Bridge, along with significantly lower power drain, this new Haswell-E (Enthusiast) device should take us into a new era of computing power for those musicians who simply demand to run more of everything with ever lower latency. With two more cores and, therefore, four more threads than previous hexacore CPUs, along with up to 20MB of Smart Cache and support for four-channel DDR4 2133 RAM, this octocore monster should perform somewhere between 33 and 50 percent better. Once again, we seem to be moving forwards by expanding sideways.
The
fourth-generation Haswell CPUs and chip sets have been condensed into
a single BGA (Ball Grid Array) package, and power requirements are now
plummeting as well, with a 4.5-Watt device expected in late 2013 to use
with fanless tablets.Meanwhile, those who demand
incredibly long battery life from their laptops, along with blissful
silence, should watch out for Intel's 4.5W Haswell CPU in forthcoming
fanless tablet PCs later in 2013. Yes, you read that correctly; no
cooling fans required at all!
Beneath The Surface
As I write this, there's good news and bad news from Microsoft. Although they've reported a net income of $4.7 billion during their fourth quarter, sales of their Surface tablet seem to be disappointingly low. There have been large discounts on Surface RT pricing, with the 32GB version dropping by 30 percent and the 64GB model by 25 percent. In fact, Microsoft believe that their current inventory may never get sold in its entirety. Although official sales figures haven't been revealed, industry estimates are that Microsoft have so far sold around 260,000 Surface RT tablets, but a rather more impressive 750,000 Surface Pro models that can run standard Windows software.
Microsoft's
Surface tablet sales have been disappointingly low, although it's
telling that the company have sold vastly more of the version capable of
running standard Windows software.
Microsoft's profits from their Windows division have
also dropped to half what they were a year ago, from $2.4 billion down
to $1.1 billion, with the business side apparently showing a slight
improvement, while the consumer side "remains challenged”. With Windows 8
still mired in controversy, newly promoted Chief Financial Officer Amy
Hood has gone on record as saying, "We know we have to do better. We are
confident we are moving in the right direction”. However, with the PC
market currently shrinking, I don't envy them their journey. Mind you,
this PC slump isn't confined to Microsoft: AMD, Intel and many other
companies are also suffering as the tablet and smartphone oust the
desktop, and portability and price become more important than computing
power.
Windows 8.1
In other Microsoft news, it was confirmed at the Microsoft Build developer conference in San Francisco in the final days of July that the Windows 8.1 update will be released to manufacturers in August, and available to Windows 8 owners as a free downloadable upgrade in September or October. There will also be a Windows 8.1 RT version. Microsoft's Steve Ballmer is quoted as saying that with Windows 8.1 they were "refining the blend” between the desktop and Modern UI interfaces, and that a lot of its enhancements have been designed to make the change between the two interfaces far less jarring. However, he also admitted that "the interface changes won't please everyone ... if you were hoping for the Windows 7 Start menu back.” Nevertheless, massive applause greeted his announcement that a boot-to-desktop feature will be in the final build.
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