Some of my favorite audio interfaces are now available for Windows Vista. The INSPIRE 1394, FireBox, FP10 and FirePod are now all available for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista. A bit late? Yes, but at this point, I care more about quality than punctuality. Anybody with the PreSonus boxes and Vista, we’d love to know how they’re working.

PreSonus Vista Downloads

Note that when you’re talking about FireWire, you’re talking ASIO and the new driver model under Vista. “WaveRT”, technology that allows greater audio performance of some hardware under Vista, is a feature that’s not supported by any FireWire or USB devices. (GearWire posted a splashy headline saying Native Instruments wasn’t supporting WaveRT, when really that just translated to “NI Only Makes USB Interfaces.” I can forgive the confusion, given the various Vista driver complexities, but let’s just say — look for Vista-compatible and leave it at that.)

I still can’t see running 64-bit Vista, even for a marginal performance gain, as it knocks out some significant hardware and software compatibility. But, as Craig Anderton just observed in his preview of Cakewalk SONAR 7 for EQ, one advantage of the new SONAR is that it’s basically a complete 64-bit music toolkit, with some decent bundled instruments and the awesome Z3ta+ synth.

As Apple revealed in a description for a session at WWDC, OS X 10.5 includes enhanced USB and FireWire audio support. Some of that functionality is already arriving in the 10.4.10 update, which incorporates the FireWire SDK 24 and FireWire 2.1. (The SDK also includes “most” of the source for Leopard’s upcoming FireWire stack.)

You probably don’t care about that unless you’re a developer.

You probably do care that the 10.4.10 update can cause some FireWire audio devices to cease normal function, including the Behringer FCA-202 and Mackie Onyx Satellite. MacFixIt has the full details, and a workaround from Mackie:

Mac OS X 10.4.10 Special Report: FireWire audio interface issues — fixes

Basically, you can roll back the FireWire driver itself while leaving 10.4.10 in place. Of course, if you haven’t yet installed 10.4.10 and you own an affected interface, you might just leave well enough alone for now.

The “glass half full” way of looking at this would be to presume the full 10.5 update may not cause any earth-shaking driver issues, beyond a few fixes here and there. And we may have jumped over some of those issues before the full 10.5 issue hits. My Focusrite Saffire, for instance, is performing just fine under 10.4.10 on two machines. For anyone complaining about Vista, this is further proof that OS updates will generally cause issues with audio hardware, simply because, aside from class-compliant devices, most pro audio gear interacts with the operating system at a pretty low level. Low-level functionality just tends to break first. The question is, can you fix it, and how fast? (In this case, “pretty durn” fast seems to apply.)

Apple still releases more incremental updates compared to Microsoft’s fewer, larger updates, and Microsoft’s changes in Vista were more sweeping changes to the underlying driver model, compared to Apple’s incremental improvements to audio-specific features. The jury is still out on which is better; it’s still unclear to me, for instance, how much benefit the Vista driver model switch will have in the longer haul.

In a little while, Steve Jobs will be keynoting Apple’s developer conference. I doubt that anyone will be thinking about audio drivers. So in the remaining moments to do that, let’s go — because 10.5 looks like it’s yet another release from Apple that takes music production seriously.

Most of us didn’t expect any major improvements in Apple’s Core Audio in 10.5 — nor need them, as Core Audio is rock-solid for most of what we need to do, in terms of performance and reliability. That’s not to give Apple a free pass; there have been some compatibility issues with point releases (10.4.9 comes to mind), bumps in the AU plug-in format’s evolution, and so on. But at the end of the day, the Mac is an OS that works for music production, more seamlessly and easily than anything else out there. Yet Apple is in fact making some improvements to its audio driver system even in 10.5:

164 Professional Audio Input and Output with Leopard Mac OS X Essentials Presentation
Discover Leopard’s support for the recently-approved USB Audio Device 2.0 class specification and how to write spec-compliant descriptors for your high-speed USB audio device. Find out how to unleash the power of FireWire peer-to-peer networking using Leopard’s all-new FireWire audio drivers and enhanced Audio/Video Control (AV/C) media services. Learn how to implement user interfaces and vendor-specific AV/C commands to control your audio device.

So, wow, in other words … in a release that’s largely focused on Core Animation and the visual side of the operating system, Apple has added new FireWire support, networking over FireWire, and driver-free USB 2.0 support. (Right now, you can plug-and-play class-compliant USB 1.1 audio devices, but not USB 2.0. Erm … or whatever those two USB specs are really supposed to be called; that’s another discussion.)

Music hardware giant M-Audio has been one of the big obstacles to Vista compatibility for many users. (We certainly heard from many of you that you didn’t want to upgrade until M-Audio support was ready.) They’re announcing driver support today. Note that “announcing” doesn’t necessarily mean they’re available right this instant, but it does sound like most hardware should be available soon. Here’s how they put it:

M-Audio currently expects to release 32-bit Vista drivers for all of the following models during the second quarter of 2007: all FireWire products; all currently selling USB MIDI keyboards; Fast Track USB, Fast Track Pro, JamLab, MobilePre USB, Black Box and Transit USB interfaces; Conectiv and Xponent DJ interfaces; and the Revolution 5.1 PCI card.

So what’s available right now? So far, Session 1.5 software, the Fast Track USB, and the Micro are “fully qualified.” That sounds like other drivers may be upcoming but waiting on qualification. Your best bet is to keep checking the drivers page. Note that some of M-Audio’s USB devices are class-compliant and therefore don’t need drivers.

When you hear the repeated stories about how traditional recording studios are dead, I suspect your first thought is not, “Finally! The dream of in-flight recording has its day!” or “Ah-hah! Now all the bands will move into inflatable plastic bubbles as a marketing stunt!” Yet, such things have come to pass. One involves a band you may care about and actually yields some practical tips. The other involves a band I’m almost sure you don’t care about and is a silly stunt.

Respectively:

Jamiroquai played a gig at 35,000 feet on its way to Greece for a select group of fans. I know this, because Focusrite sent out a press release. We get these kind of press releases all the time: someone used something or other (usually something expensive) somewhere in a way that’s not all that interesting. This case was different. Sure, recording a live gig in flight is a gimmick. But as a recording challenge, that means they:

1. Ran entirely on battery power.
2. Set up the whole recording rig in a standard airline row. (Coach, no less!)
3. Weathered some turbulence.
4. Had to fight a sudden outbreak of poisonous snakes. (Okay, made that one up.)

It’s a 12 x 12 FireWire audio interface. It’s a customizable mixer, with curves, filter styles, and ranges editable via a color LCD screen. It’s a MIDI controller. It’s an Italian sports car, molded by design house Giugiaro Italdesign. And it has password-protected audio output limiting, so those sleazeball DJs don’t blow your club’s speakers. (No, seriously. They need a password to defeat the limiter.) Hell, like you’re going to let anyone but you get their grimy hands on this. We’ve been watching the Ecler hardware, and its needlessly-overblown pre-launch hype. Now we can enjoy the hardware itself. And it is awful purty, even if you actually don’t need / can’t afford it. -PK

Ecler has officially launched the EVO5 DJ mixer + audio interface + effects unit at Messe, though you’ll have to wait until October to get your hands on one. Its yet-to-be-determined price will be in the range of $1500-$2000. Full details on this 5-channel digital DJ mixer can be found at Ecler’s new EVO product mini-site.

Here’s the quick rundown on the specs, if you’re not still distracted by the looks:

It’s got 24/96 converters and a 2-port FireWire sound card that supports 6 stereo inputs and 6 stereo outputs. Route any of these channels to your computer and back for effects processing, mixing tracks from your DAW of choice, or recording to computer, etc.

Eight editable effects can sync to MIDI or the built-in beat counter (which can output MIDI Clock): Delay/Echo, Filter, Flanger, Phaser, Transformer, Panoramic, Pitch and Reverb. You can chain two effects together and also save presets to your computer via FireWire with the included EVO5 software. There are also two editable effects just for microphone: a Noise Gate and Compressor.

10 push switches and 4 rotary encoders can be mapped to MIDI. 64 layouts include ones for Native Insturments Traktor and Ableton Live. As expected in a digital mixer, you can customize settings for EQ and fader curves. There is also an output limiter to help save speakers from impassioned DJs.

The user interface, designed by Giugiaro, features a 320 x 240 TFT color screen with 262,144 colors. Thanks to an anodized technique, the lettering and markings on the black aluminum faceplate will not fade before Ecler delivers another revolutionary DJ mixer.

CAUTION: if you are still enjoying the EVO5 countdown, and don’t want to be tainted with any product details until the official announcement at Musikmesse in 15 days, STOP READING NOW!

Preliminary specifications for the EVO5 digital mixer obtained by Create Digital Music reveal the folowing:

1. It’s a 5-channel mixer with MIDI and effects. (Ok, you might have guessed that, but anyway…)
2. The EVO5 includes a 12-channel FireWire interface that provides 6 stereo in and 6 stereo out, so you can stream audio to and from Ableton Live, Native Instruments Traktor, and other applications.
3. 4 channels of the EVO5 can handle the FireWire audio, the 5th is for microphone input.
4. MIDI can also be transmitted over FireWire and there are both MIDI In and Out ports.
5. 4 continuous rotary knobs under the display can be used for MIDI control, as can the channel EQ knobs, which are non-continuous.
6. I/O includes 4 phono preamps, 5 line inputs, and RCA and XLR outputs.

Beyond this promising feature set, much of the EVO5’s potential success seems to be riding on its user interface. The EVO5 has apparently been in development for over a year with the revered Italian design firm, Giugiaro, best known for high-end European sports cars like Ferrari and Alfa Romeo. This is the first time Giugiaro has designed a DJ product and their involvement raises expectations for a fresh perspective on the DJ mixer UI.

One can only assume that the low-res rendering images floating around won’t do it justice!

Ed.: Hmmm, I think I’d probably take an Alfa Romeo over what looks like a fairly ordinary mixer, but we’ll see! -PK

The Digi 002, both in control surface and rack versions, has gotten its successor in the form of the Digi 003. The new release largely updates the control surface functionality Digi’s mid-range line. These units run Pro Tools LE, just like their lower-end counterparts, but with greater control and audio I/O. And, most importantly, Digidesign has gone from charcoal trim to far-groovier white.

Digidesign 003 Family

Pricing: 003 US$2,495 USD with factory bundle. 003 Rack US$1695 with factory bundle, $US1295 without. (The 003 only comes with the extra software, not without.)
Availability: “Soon” (What’s with these vague ship dates, Digi?)

Other than cosmetic, the main differences here are relatively subtle:

1. Jog/shuttle wheel
2. Dedicated automation mode buttons for per-track automation (handy as you’re writing mix automation as you work)
3. Assign plug-ins and sends directly from the control surface
4. Dedicated studio monitor output, plus alternate control room output (002 had only the studio monitor out)

Oddly, Digidesign’s product manager claims the shuttle wheel “offers session navigation functions previously only found on high-end consoles.” Maybe I’m missing something, but I’m fairly certain you can navigate sessions in lots of audio and video software with shuttle wheels without a high-end console.

That said, though, the redesign looks decent. More info and comparison shots with the 002 after the jump.