Gadget Reviews

These days, anyone with a PC or powerful enough notebook has the ability to become a fully-fledged music producer from the comfort of their own home: all you need to do is invest in a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). A DAW is a piece of software that, to a certain extent, takes the place of a physical studio space, substituting real instruments and synthesizers for virtual ones.

It can be very confusing to know which DAW is the right one for you and your level of experience; nobody wants to boot up their new software and realise that they have no idea what any of the myriad buttons and knobs do. The following list compiles five of the best DAWs on the market today, covering the full spectrum of complexity, from entry-level software to in-depth production environments.

5. Propellerhead Reason

Reason has a unique, user-friendly instrument setup, which is designed to look like a physical rack as opposed to the digital abstractions featured in many other DAWs. In this respect it’s ideal for beginners looking to learn production. Best of all, the user can press Tab when looking at the rack to flip it round and view the back end. This allows you to hook up almost any instrument or effect to any other, in any order. This allows for some truly weird and wonderful sounds to be created. The built-in instruments are all nice sounding and clearly laid out, and the sequencer allows you to manipulate MIDI and audio samples easily.

The only place where Reason loses points is the lack of support for VST instruments. It is possible to use VST plugins with Reason, but it usually involves hooking Reason up as a slave to a different DAW, which is not ideal. Propellerhead do have their own range of instruments which you can download from their website, though.

4. Steinberg Cubase 7.0

The latest version of Cubase is the best yet, with a sleek new look and a host of new features including a revamped mixer and channel editor. There are also new effects to use, such as compression and tape saturation, which are integrated directly into the mixer, meaning you don’t have to mess around with individual effects units.

All this means that the screen can end up becoming very busy, however, and Cubase thankfully offers quick commands for hiding and moving the various sequencers and mixers which would end up cluttering the screen otherwise.

Cubase definitely occupies the ‘professional’ end of the scale, and as such can be very CPU-intensive. If you’re looking to use Cubase, you’ll probably want to make sure you have a good notebook, one that is powerful enough to handle its hardware demands. Multiple monitor support is also offered, which is really essential for this type of software. Again, however, this is likely to increase the strain on your rig, so make sure that your hardware can handle it before investing.

3. Ableton Live 8

Live performances are where Ableton Live really shines. The addition of a Groove Engine in this version means that you can apply the same groove to your various loops while still keeping a tight feel with the rest of the track. Additional hardware can also be purchased, like the Akai APC-40, which is specifically designed to work alongside Live.

There are a good variety of instruments to choose from, and applying effects is relatively easy to do, thanks to the effects rack at the bottom of the screen. The sequencer is intuitive enough, allowing easy manipulation of both MIDI and audio, and the mixer has a fantastic Group Track feature which allows you to control the volume of multiple tracks with one fader. Aside from a few minor niggles, like the lengthy installation process and occasional audio glitches, Ableton Live 8 is great for professionals and those with less experience.

2. Avid Pro Tools

 Pro Tools has been the industry standard for a long time now, and it’s impressive that it’s largely managed to hold on to that spot in the face of such stiff competition. The full version was only recently released in commercial form, and it’s proven to be very popular with consumers, thanks to its incredible, in-depth functionality.

The straightforward interface in Pro Tools 9 isn’t going to win any awards for innovation, but it gets the job done with a minimum of fuss. The mixer is intuitive and offers easy ways to change signal routes, and once you’ve learned a few basic keyboard shortcuts, you’ll be able to manipulate plugins and effects with ease. The quality of the built-in plugins is superb, and the option of an Instrument expansion pack means that the range of sounds on offer meets any requirements you could have.

1. Image Line FL Studio 10

FL Studio has gone from being a simple groove maker to one of the most complete, user-friendly DAWs ever. With a unique pattern-based sequencer, arranging a track becomes a breeze (once you’ve become accustomed to the slightly different way of doing things). The built-in instruments all sound great, and full support for VST plugins is also here, meaning the possibilities for creating cool sounds are almost limitless.

FL Studio is great for beginners, and the inclusion of an info bar at the top – which tells you the function of whatever the mouse is hovering on – is immeasurably useful. That’s not to say it’s a beginner program – it’s used by heavyweight producers like Deadmau5 and Porter Robinson, proving that it’s just as capable as any other DAW you’d care to mention. The mixer allows you as many channels as you want, and effects are applied to mixer channels as opposed to individual instruments. All this makes using FL Studio a very pleasing, streamlined experience, and places it firmly at the top of the DAW tree.

2013 is shaping up to be a fascinating year for the launch of different gadgets. You will be delighted to find a number of coolest unique gadgets to be brought by different manufacturers before the gadget freaks. These gadgets will definitely make our lifestyle easier. Here’s our pick of the coolest gadgets that are about to unveil in 2013.

Fujitsu Lifebook 2013

We should thank Prashant Chandra for creating this puzzle-like All-in-one Super Gadget. This Lifebook will be launched by the end of January 2013. The Fujitsu Lifebook allows you to integrate your smartphone, digital camera and tablet into one convenient super package. There may be a situation where you need to carry a set of gadgets or you need to choose which one to be carried with you and which one to be left at home, you no longer need to panic on such issues as Fujitsu Lifebook is a solution for all such problems. Sliding in the digital camera would let you to download the pictures to the computer or other devices. Fitting in the smartphone would allow you to enjoy your favorite music. The tablet itself becomes the keyboard once slotted into the Lifebook. Moreover, all the devices can be synced and updated simultaneously from the same hub.

Sony Xperia Z

Sony Xperia Z is yet another awesome redesign from Sony design studios coming soon this year. This is the most attractive handset with its slim 7 mm chasis, 1080p HD quality resolution and quad core Qualcomm processor that takes care of multi tasking and makes things run smoothly. Its brilliant screen automatically optimizes the images to bright and sharp display. It has 13-megapixel camera that delivers crystal clear photos no matter where you are. Xperia Z is crafted to be water-proof, dust-proof and tough enough to handle whatever you have planned. Overall it is a perfect handset for a life full of entertainment.

Panasonic Electronic Touch Pen

Panasonic has developed a wireless Touch pen that allows you to scribble over compatible Panasonic TVs. You can simply display your smartphone screen on the big TV and then draw, annotate or do whatever takes your fancy over the display of your smartphones’s screen, before sending it back to your device as an image file. You don’t need any extra hardware for this, all you need is the TV and the device itself. Moreover, Touch pen lets you to express your creativity on the screen. You can definitely see that this will be a fun novelty for family use, of particular interest to kids. The touch pen is said to be launched sometime around summer.

EA Sports MVP Carbon by Monster gaming headphones

Monster in collaboration with EA sports is ready to unveil its first gaming headset accessory- EA Sports MVP Carbon. The EA Sports accessory is designed specifically with a new technology to deliver the most-realistic sound experience for gaming, music and movies. It comes along with an integrated microphone that can be used for chatting and is powered by standalone headphone amplifier known as Gamebox. The MVP is said to be available next month.

Nest Thermostat

The Nest Thermostat is smart, sleek, energy saving design created by Matt Rogers. The Nest mobile app helps you to control the thermostat from your smartphone. This means you can control the temperature miles from home. Nest learns the temperature adjustments every time you make and sticks to that schedule over time. This seems to be a smart product for the eco-techie looking to save on their fuel bills.

About The Author: Margaret is a writer/blogger. She loves writing, travelling and reading books. She contributes in Sean Hebdon