27
Jul
Author: DJEquip // Category:
Yamaha Mixing Console
Worst purchase I’ve ever made. It didn’t even work. I read all the instructions exactly (and I’m pretty computer smart and thorough with instructions) and the dumb thing wouldn’t pick up a single thing I tried to record. Maybe it was just my computer or that I got a bad package. If you want cheap recording equipment use Audacity – it’s free and works better than this and is WAY less complex!
Pro Audio Equipment Reviews
Tags: Audacity, Dumb Thing, Keyword, Pro Audio Equipment, Recording Equipment, Single Thing
July 27th, 2010 at 6:20 pm
If you are on a Mac, don’t waste your time and money on a solution that is tied to hardware and doesn’t give you what you need. Logic is a much better solution!
July 28th, 2010 at 6:13 am
Everyone was always telling me…how come you don’t use Pro Tools in your studio? (I was always a Logic man…even when it wasn’t call logic). Until a project came in and i had to buy Pro tools. Never had i experienced so many issues and disappointments! It freezes with just 3 tracks running(!!), it is obsolete, it is light years behind Logic 9. Now i have the box near the mixing console and at least no one asks me if i have Pro Tools…it is as near as i will ever get to use it again!
July 28th, 2010 at 6:18 pm
I bought this to upgrade from Pro-Tools 8 Essential because the plugins on Essential are not that great and it is basic to the core. I’m doing Metal vocals and this program gives you more than enough audio tracks to work with. The plugins are satisfactory for what I need the program to do. It’s Pro-Tools, can’t go wrong with that. I’m a beginner with recording and Pro-Tools but I find the program easy to start with. I need to learn more though. I have Windows 7 64 bit and the product works just fine with it. It’s worth the buy.
July 29th, 2010 at 6:49 am
I am running Pro Tools 8 with Windows 7 64-bit and it works great. Yes, there were a few MINOR bugs with the initial release, but Pro Tools has made it very clear that Windows 7 64-bit is not yet officially supported. Their latest update however works PERFECTLY with Win 7 64-bit. In fact, the application runs very smoothly with minimal stress on CPU and memory. I typically use a lot of tracks and plug-ins. To date, this is the best application I’ve used in terms of system stress and audio quality.
These bad reviews seems to come from rookies who aren’t quite sure how to use Pro Tools. Newer audio production apps are geared toward home studio/rookie musicians. Because of this, these same rookies pick up Pro Tools because it’s the “industry standard” and immediately go back to SONAR because it’s too complex for them. Just give it some time – learn the application and you’ll love it.
July 29th, 2010 at 6:14 pm
I really wanted to like this controller. The keyboard itself is solid, well-built, nice action, etc. My big gripe is with the Hypercontrol, which is the big selling feature of the Pro series over the non-Pro Axiom 49. Hypercontrol is supposed to auto-magically map the knobs, sliders, buttons, to the DAW software for you with presets that make general sense. This saves you a lot of time trying to map these things yourself.
It kind of works, but then I upgraded to Snow Leopard on my Mac, and it stopped working with Reason 4.0.1. It seems the only way to contact tech support at M-Audio is via the public web forums. I did, and eventually was told that Snow Leopard isn’t working with Hypercontrol, and they don’t have an ETA on when it will get fixed. This is a bummer, since now this thing isn’t much more than a midi controller with just the keyboard, since none of the knobs, sliders, etc. do anything very useful.
I also have problems with Hypercontrol and Ableton Live 8. In the web forums, M-Audio claims the issue is with Ableton. Nice support.
I’m considering selling this controller and buying something that has better software integration. I’ve been happy with the Novation products and their Automap software.
July 30th, 2010 at 6:04 am
Ok guys, ill make this short and sweet.
Im a singer song writer, been using Magix Music studio 12, then decided to buy Pro Tools.
“PROS for the Fast Track USB interface”
Low latency – Clean clear voices
High build quality
Small/Compact
Portable
“CONS for the Fast Track USB interface”
Cant use condenser microphone. **I was able to set up a condenser mic to this USB fast track model. But i had to buy a phantom power supply that cost me an additional 30 BUCKS! but it works fine.**
Only records in MONO. not capable of recording in Stereo. Which is my biggest turn off. NO one uses Mono recording. Why would they even make it MONO? so dumb.
As for the actuall software Pro Tools M-Powered Essentials
Pros
Tons of loops and Samples
Vitrual instruments and
Awesome Recording Interface.
Cons
Takes alot of space on ur computer so have alot of memory.
Does NOT, I repeat DOES NOT give you access to all functions of the Pro Tools program. They kepp wanting you to upgrade to the full version.
OVERALL Tips
Good for intery level stuff.
I personally just sold this and bought the MBox 2 which is by far a way better investment but a little expensive.
Have acomputer with alot of RAM and Memory.
If you want to use a condenser mic, buy a phantom power supply for like 19 -30bucks then hook it up accordingly.
Hope this helps you guys out!
CB.
July 30th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
My Grandson said this was a fantastic piece of equipment for where he currently is in his music career.
July 31st, 2010 at 6:35 am
So admittedly I should have done more research before making this purchase. I found Windows 7 64-bit drivers on M-Audio’s website, so I assumed (and we know what that does, right?!) that they were good drivers. Wrong! Spent a couple days troubleshooting and reading forums before I just decided that the 64-bit drivers were not ready for primetime. Lots of popping, feedback, and latency, which should not have been happening on my quad core system w/4 gigs of RAM.
Fortunately I’m PC savvy and had an extra WinXP license, so I set up my system to dual-boot Win 7 64-bit and Win XP 32-bit. Installed ProTools and the interface on the XP partition, and Voila! Perfection! A little inconvenient to have to reboot when I want to record, but I don’t really multitask while recording anyway, so no big deal.
So now I’m very pleased with the product. My only “criticism”, if you can call it that, is that the software really is pro quality, so the learning curve is substantial for a recording n00b like me, but I’m figuring it out.
I almost sprung for the MK11 version with the phantom power, but for my needs I figured I could get by without any fancy condenser mics for a while, so I save some cash and got the Fast Track USB.
Hope this helps!
July 31st, 2010 at 6:09 pm
Digidesign has gotten my last dollar. I highly suggest you get another, better, product. That is, unless you enjoy reinstall, after reinstall, after support email, after support email. Forget about your musical life. The computer and Digidesign have you by the b_lls, now!
Save your sanity: Don’t buy this Digidesign product!
August 1st, 2010 at 6:39 am
I will be brief- the M-AUDIO PRO TOOLS KEYSTUDIO seems to be a fine introduction to the world of desktop composing and recording. The keyboard itself is more than acceptable with a nice feel along with entry level appearance and performance. Translation- it looks, feels and is plastic. Sound depends, of course upon the gear actually producing and recording sound. This device is nothing more than a keyboard that does what a keyboard should- enter data. It does feature the wonderful plug and play inherant to most USB devices.
The heart of this package is the M-Audio software package. This is the interface that actually turns a computer into a multi-track audio center. Unfortuanatley, I have a Macintosh that is running on the latest version of “Snow Leopard” (vs 10.6.4) M-Audio, as the nice Indian man on the other side of the world told me, is not yet compatable with this OS system. On a more optimistic note, I am told that “they are working on it”.
In the meantime, I have my old standby, Apple Garage Band. This USB device works just fine with this program and was most impressive in it’s ability to create BIG sounding instruments.
I cannot yet comment on this product in detail as it will not work on an up-to-date Mac. As such, that one fact makes it pretty much a dissapointment. But for $100, even when limited to GARAGE BAND, this product will open your mind and expand your musical horizons well past the limitations of stand alone keyboard synthesisers. After all is said and done, I decided that this was a keeper.
August 1st, 2010 at 6:14 pm
This is a great midi keyboard for anyone trying to get into digital music production, I like the sleek form factor and the keys and buttons feel great. The keyboard is plug and play, there is no need to install any additional drivers just plug it in and open Pro Tools or your Digital Audio Workstation of choice and you should be good to go. I was already using Pro Tools M-Powered Essential on a Vista 64 Bit system when I got this and it worked as advertised. Being able to play the virtual instruments included in Pro Tools with a keyboard has made the entire production process much easier and much more fun.
I like the Pro tools software and it runs smoothly on my system. I never feel like the software is holding me back, whatever I can think of, I feel I can create. With that being said, it is not the full version of pro tools. It is more like a lite version, designed to introduce you to the brand and eventually persuade you to upgrade. I would recommend this package to any aspiring digital musician, even if you decide you don’t like the software, the hardware can be used with almost any DAW and so the purchase still retains its value.
August 2nd, 2010 at 6:43 am
What you see is not what you get! The last 3 pictures under the “See larger image and other views” are not what Amazon sends. These are pictures of the KeyStudio 49i a better M-Audio KeyStudio product with far more features than what is sent. My fault is with Amazon and giving the impression of sending the 49i. So until this false advertising is corrected the product gets a low rating.
August 2nd, 2010 at 6:26 pm
i want to say that the keyboard is great,its the only thing that works with my pc ,however the dvd rom doesnt work with my pc so the midi interface wont work either. ive called m-audio(pro tool) and they said that i would have to return the product to amazon and get a refund. the only thing that i m really mad about is that the keyboard on the website is not the same one that you get. the keys on the picture is the better one . i feel that was wrong that amazon sold me a cheap model
August 3rd, 2010 at 6:00 am
We use this on the camera we record church services with.It picks up sound better than the camera mike, but I might upgrade in a year.
August 3rd, 2010 at 6:48 pm
Straight-forward, easy to use. The reproduction of recorded sounds is excellent. The stereo feature works very well with good separation of left/right placement. Very reasonably priced, a good quality microphone for the video/audiofile.
August 4th, 2010 at 6:29 am
I bought this mic to use with my Canon T2i. It does sound a little better than the built in mic but just barely!
BUT the output is about 30% lower than the built in mic and worse, there is a fairly loud background hiss all the time!
Maybe this mic will work better with another type of camera or camcorder…
August 4th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
I love the fast track its small don’t take up space and easy to use and install. I use windows 7 64 bit version and no problems.. Picks up my mic and everything i use it for really good.
August 5th, 2010 at 6:24 am
I bought this interface to use with Propellerhead’s Record software, and not having a lot of experience with recording software & hardware in general, and given m-audio’s support reputation (or lack thereof) I was a little apprehensive, but given that the next worthwhile interface is nearly three times as expensive, I gave it a shot. After having used this, I have to say I’m glad I did!
Installing this thing is a breeze – just download the latest drivers (running win7 x64 myself – m-audio supports it), plug it in and go. Record picked it right up without me having to do anything but select the M-audio ASIO interface in the audio tab. Everything after that worked as expected – create a new audio track & voila – the single input is mapped directly to the track in Record. No muss, no fuss.
A surprising bonus is the audio outputs on this device aren’t just simple pass-throughs, but in fact are hooked up to the computer’s audio, so if you’re performing with a laptop, this could be an inexpensive option to use as an interface, although the outputs are RCA, not 1/4 inch. The one thing that may be a benefit or a hassle, depending on your opinion, is that plugging into the headphone jack appears to automatically silence the audio outs on the back of the device – you can’t use both at the same time.
Sound quality seems to be good, given this thing’s price. It sounds a little cold, but for around $100, you’re not going to get awesome sound – getting a clean, noise-free tone is about as good as you can expect. This device gets the job done.
One last thing – it doesn’t appear that the fact that this thing uses USB is a detriment to the latency. I have a fairly old PC as my workstation – an athlon phenom dual core – with 4 gb of ram, and my latency was something like 5ms. If I remember correctly, I think that’s in line with a hardware synth, and anything under 10ms is acceptable to most people, so no problems there.
Best audio interface for under $150, hands down.
August 5th, 2010 at 6:19 pm
Couldn’t get the software to work, which seems to be hit or miss. For me it was a miss. I don’t know what the interface looks like, because I’ve never seen it. Seems to be an issues with AMD processors. If you search for problems with M-Audio you’ll find a lot of info on the bundled software.
It works well with my Audacity. Input levels are not a problem. One of my Mics use phantom power and there’s a switch for that. Works great. Guitar input works great and the other works as expected great. I didn’t expect much more form something priced the way this is. Haven’t had problems with clicking and noise.
If I could get the software to work I would add another star.