Recording Studio Equipment

I use this mixing board every week for practice. I can record to my computer while simultaneously recording to an ipod.
I have never had an issue with this alesis, Highly recommended for home digital recording. The built in effects processor is ideal for live recording as well. Definitely a great product!

Soft and flexible, it not only fits perfectly and feels good in the hand, it has fine details molded into it so that it’s not only functional but handsome. I suspect that it may also help cut down on the noise one usually gets when recording while holding the H2 by hand.

This jacket covers the control buttons and makes it very difficult to operate the H2. I emailed the seller for a return autherization saying that I didn’t have the box or receipt. I haven’t heard back & that was many weeks ago. I guess they know that their jacket really sucks!!!

Tunestudio works great, but realize it’s limitations. The recordings are made with the voice note app in the ipod and are mixed down to stereo. Additionally the usb interface mixes all inputs to stereo. For recording jam sessions or live performance ( for very long periods ) it is terrific. It’s easy to use, simple to set up and the mixer provides the functions you would expect from a device in this price range. Good product.

I’ve been recording four-instrument live performances with my MacBook Pro and Logic Express for a couple of years, using an M-audio FastTrack Pro 4 and a Behringer 802 mixer. Great control, but it was a lot of stuff to set up and get cabled, and goofing with the trackpad and on-screen controls was always a little tedious. And then exporting tracks to get iPod or CD rips was an extra post-production task.

The Belkin TuneStudio changes all that. A single box I can take to the gig, patch into the house audio or our own mics, and record everything without messing with a Powerbook perched precariously on a music stand putting out a ton of ghostly screen backlight. The TuneStudio is way more convenient, and although the recording quality drops from 24-bit 96 KHz to 16-bit 48 KHz, that’s plenty good enough for cutting CDs or iPod listening. (In fact, I can’t tell the difference, which makes me wonder if the M-Audio was really giving me 24-bit).

The build-quality is pretty nice for a box this cheap — a step up from the fit and finish of the Behringer and way cleaner audio than I was getting from the Behringer/M-audio combo. Pots are smooth but with minor fuzzing during motion — common in low-end mixers. The compressor is just plain wonderful — it’s great at preventing distortion yet affects overall ambience very little. Separate headphone and monitor volumes are super convenient too for live work.

I haven’t tried this hooked to a Mac yet, but I don’t intend to use it that way normally. It’s just refreshing to pull this one box out of a gig bag, plug in the inputs, and hit Record at the start of each set. Capacity will never be an issue — the 30GB 5G iPod I’m using holds 400 hours. Post gig I sync the thing with my Mac and it slurps the tracks into iTunes, where I can easily slice, dice, and burn to disk — or push to a web site or whatever. Way more convenient than Logic.

A few minor glitches: the “standby/recording” lights are three glaring white LEDs that I had to cover with black electrical tape (through which they shine with no problem but at least they’re not so overpowering in subdued stage lighting). A couple of the knobs’ center detents are off a notch. And as others have reported, the TuneStudio records only two tracks, despite having four inputs — even when connecting to a Mac via USB.

For studio work I’ll still use Logic, but my Macbook and its cable snarling interface entourage stays home from now on!

This thing has done everything as advertised. Which is better than I can say for some of the more expensive items out there. It picks up sound very well but be careful for background noise as the mics are very sensative. If your on a budget and just want raw sound without editing this tool is great or for maybe a live show for a small crowd this thing would be great. For those of you that have the iphone and the iTouch be mindful as there is no plastice sleeve for them to sit in so the jack will get a little warped after a while. Either way I am very happy with my purchase. But know that this is not used for recording for editing…just raw sound.

Sorry Librado, I couldn’t wait for your follow-up…

I bought the ProTrack for use exclusively with my 3G iPhone, and it works like a charm! As the previous reviewer indicated, yes, you will need to buy a recorder app, since the iPod application that comes with iPhone OS does not have the automatic voice memo feature that previous click-wheel iPods do. I’m using AudioFile Engineering’s FiRe app (short for “Field Recorder”, I guess), and it works with none of the hassles that the previous reviewer identified in the BIAS app. In addition to two more graphical sound level meters (which are better than the LED’s on the actual unit, IMO), FiRe also gives you a real time waveform display, three sample rates, and the ability to reposition the playhead. In fact, I actually learned about the Alesis ProTrack from AudioFile Engineering’s recommendation.

***THERE IS A CATCH, HOWEVER*** if you’re going to use this device with an iPhone: Alesis did not include a cover that will fit the iPhone. Besides protecting it from scratches, the cover serves to secure the iPod in the sled, and locks in place. Without the cover, your iPhone is held in place only by the strength of the dock connector. It may not be everyone’s aesthetic cup of tea, but a rubber band wrapped around the top of the phone and the ProTrack solves this perfectly. Just be aware of that before you buy.

As for build quality, the chassis is all plastic, and mostly hollow, transmitting a fair amount of handling noise while recording at higher gain settings. Otherwise, I have no complaints about the placement of switches.

Next, I’m going to score some XLR shotgun mics and see how well it does with phantom power.

I’ve been looking for a way to manage my 3 inputs (2 computers, 1 stereo) to go to one set of speakers and one set of headphones. Previously, I had to use 2 sets of headphones for the computers and required a amp/speaker set with 2 inputs. Switching between headset and speakers was awkward.

I wanted a small unit that could accept at least 3 stereo inputs and had at least 2 stereo outputs, one for the speakers and one for headphones.

Just got this pMix 100 today and have been listening to it this afternoon. There are a few issues, but overall I think I’m going to keep it as it seems to address my need.

PROS:
+ it accepts three 3.5mm (1/8in) headphone jack-style stereo inputs that can be mixed together if you want.

+ jacks are nice and tight so unlikely that the plugs will fall out.

+ sound seems good; I’m only using it for casual listening

+ size is pretty compact, can be easily tucked away on a desk

+ comes with a couple of male-male 3.5mm connector cables and an RCA-3.5mm male cable

+ knobs are damped and knobs seemed to fit tightly on my unit

CONS:
- Most noticeable drawback is the loss of volume. I measured the sound of a source (i) run directly to the speakers and (ii) run through the unit. For a song that peaked at 93dB a few feet away in the direct source set up (i), the measurement when run through the unit (ii) was 83dB. This is a significant loss of 10dB attributable to the unit. I made sure that the knobs weren’t moved between the comparisons. Despite this, I could still get plenty of volume out, so I came to terms with this.

- Occasional quite noticeable hum which I discovered was positional – that is, I got rid of it almost completely by moving the unit slightly or putting my hand over it. This indicates that it’s lacking some shielding somewhere. Perhaps wrapping it in tinfoil would help? Some kind of makeshift Faraday cage? Anyway I just moved it 3 inches and it’s fine for now.

- Blue lights are ridiculous (too bright and distracting!) and I will eliminate or cover them asap

- headphones do cut off speaker output so if you need 2 simultaneous outputs, this is probably not for you. It’s fine for me.

In summary, it works OK and in the absence of another inexpensive unit that manages my sound output this is fine. I don’t think I would run any quality-critical mixing through it but for a compact listening solution it’s fine.

The only other option I could find were the 8-10 input mixers; however they are really designed for predominantly mono inputs (though they have a couple of stereo inputs) and would have required too many adapters for the multiple mini-plug inputs I have.

I’m pretty harsh with ratings so 3 stars is probably what other people might call 4 stars.

UPDATE 02 Nov 2009
The buzzing (RF interference of some sort) was particularly noticeable with my wireless Sennheiser headphones and I got annoyed moving this thing around. It seems that the solution is to wrap it in tin foil – stops the buzzing (by protecting unshielded components).

So if you can live with it wrapped in tin foil, there is virtually no line noise. The stupid blue lights and transparent case seem to have been more important than properly shielding the case or wiring.

I have wanted to combine multiple inputs; computer, satellite radio, and radio for some time. This product works perfectly for that. Easy to setup and operate.