What do most musicians really need out of an audio interface? The answer to that question can vary wildly, but for a whole lot of people, it’s as simple as wanting to get an instrument and/or vocals in, and a basic, high-quality stereo mix out. That’s it.

That’s part of why Apogee’s new compact ONE audio interface could be a huge hit on the Mac. Let’s reduce its specs to the basics:

• It lets you plug in a mic, with a preamp and phantom power
• It lets you plug in an instrument (high impedance — so think your guitar or bass)
• It has an internal condenser mic, so you can record on the go even if you don’t have a mic handy
• It has a stereo output for headphones or powered monitors
• It has a nice big, shiny knob and lights for levels.
• It’s really small.

Apogee’s converters are some of the most respected in the business. If this is up to their usual quality, that could make this a really special box – as a basic audio interface or an addition to your gig bag. This interface does 44.1/48kHz, 24-bit.

And it plugs in via USB with USB power support, so if you got one of Apple’s FireWire-less MacBooks — before the recent refresh returned FireWire — you can actually use this.

There is some bad news. This is really a single-input box; you can’t even use the instrument in and the mic in (even the internal mic) at the same time. That seems an odd choice, as it wipes out a whole bunch of singer-songwriters. The output, likewise, is unbalanced and out of a single 1/8″ jack, which isn’t always what you want out gigging. And the ONE, pretty as it looks, has some stiff competition in the affordable USB market. On the other hand, if these specs do fit what you need, the ONE’s stablemate Duet had fantastic quality and uncommonly plug-and-play operation and Mac OS integration, making this really appealing for the Mac crowd.

And you’ve got to love that optional mic stand mount and design. It’s also really, really small – 4″ W x 6.3″ L x 1.5″. Apogee says “pocket-sized” which is a stretch unless they mean overalls or someone’s metric conversion is off, but it is nonetheless very portable.

Now, Apogee, if we could just get a ONE AND A HALF for people who like this but want balanced 1/4″ outs and two simultaneous ins instead of one… (Yeah, I know, you can’t please everyone.)

The ONE ships in late July.

http://www.apogeedigital.com/one

Thanks to Kevin Vanwulpen for the tip!

As you no doubt heard, Apple today refreshed their MacBook lineup with across-the-board adjustments to pricing. I’ll let other sites comment on the news more generally, as this is a music site, not a notebook site. But the big news for audio in terms of I/O, just so you don’t miss that:

• FireWire on more models: Finally, you can again get a 13” MacBook (now called MacBook Pro) with onboard FireWire – a FW800 connector. That’ll restore the use of audio interfaces and certain high-speed storage, and means the MacBook is again a good choice as an audio machine at the US$1199 base price point.
• ExpressCard on fewer models: Oddly, the addition of a lowly SD card slot (nice for photography and mobile recorders) has supplanted the ExpressCard slot on the 15” MacBook Pro. If you want ExpressCard, you have to buy the 17” – which, in turn, loses the SD card slot.

Now, generally the news here is pretty good. For music, you probably aren’t too concerned about the GPU, so the 15” MacBook Pro at US$1699 is looking like a nice deal. But PC users are no doubt puzzled, given that all of these connections are standard equipment on the vast majority of PC notebooks, including ones that cost less than a grand. And there still aren’t as many USB ports as you’d like – you get two ports on all but the 17” model, which has three, and very often only one of those may actually be usable because of power issues.

MacBook Pro [Apple]

The battery life is also greatly improved, but unfortunately is no longer user-upgradeable. See further comments on CDMotion.

Is your MacBook Pro a rightie?

Something’s going on with the one or two left-hand USB ports on all MacBook Pros. I’ve heard some issues with hard disks, and now some problems with audio. (Controllers are evidently just fine.) The solution: use the right-hand USB port for audio instead.

Updated: Reader Adam suggests that this is probably due to a difference in power delivered to the respective ports. USB audio requires more power, and so odds are you’re under-delivering on the left-hand ports. I’m inclined to think that this is exactly what’s going on – unless someone knows something else. (Easy way to test: try plugging in the power adapter. Note that this can be an issue with FireWire, too.)

In fact, even if for some reason M-Audio has found another reason behind this, Andy Ihnatko noted the issue with different USB ports and power variation way back in 2008. It affects non-Pro MacBooks, and I expect likely many PCs, too.

The MacBook. All USB Ports Are Not Equal [Wired Gadget Lab]

M-Audio (now Avid) has gone as far as to tell its customers officially to avoid the use of that port for audio entirely. Native Instruments forum users have evidently had similar discussions. Via matt_bot on Twitter:

The use of USB Audio Devices on the Left-Hand USB Port Is Not Recommended.  This applies to ALL MacBook Pro Models (Core Duo and Core 2 Duo).

•    The 15" MacBook Pro models have 1 USB port on the left side, and one USB port on the right side.
•    The 17" MacBook Pro models have 2 USB ports on the left side, and one USB port on the right side.

Due to the current USB configuration of the 15" MacBook Pro under OS X, use of USB audio devices is supported on the right-hand USB port only.  Use of such devices on the left-hand USB port(s) is not advised because it may cause audio interrupts and/or dropped samples.  However, the use of an iLok on the left-hand port has been qualified and is fully supported.

Due to the current USB configuration of the 17" MacBook Pro under OS X, use of USB audio devices is only supported on the right-hand USB port, and the left-hand USB port farthest from the screen.  Use of such devices on the left-hand USB port closest to the screen is not advised because it may cause audio interrupts and/or dropped samples.  However, the use of an iLok on the left-hand port has been qualified and is fully supported.

These USB port recommendations are specific to USB Audio devices only (such as the FastTrack USB or Audiophile USB).  USB Keyboard and Control Surface products do not have a recommended USB port at this time.

MacBook Pro recommended USB port(s)

That’s got to be a tough technical advisory to issue, like having to tell your users they should turn around in their chair three times counter-clockwise and shout “Mimmymabby” before recording. But I’ve heard indications that devices other than M-Audio’s are seeing symptoms, so I’m inclined to believe there may be something to this.

Now, before you use this to assume this means FireWire is better than USB or PCs are better than Macs or veganism is better for your love life or the end times are upon us, the whole point is what’s causing the issue and why. (Correction: I’m satisfied enough with Adam – and Andy Ihnatko’s – explanation above that I think there’s not much mystery here! So quit with conspiracy folks and trashing vendors you don’t like, folks. Technology doesn’t need superstition; it needs users hungry to know what’s actually going on.)

Of course, that raises a question: why are some USB ports not entirely up to spec on power? My hope would be that USB is USB and you don’t have power variations between ports, but then, I live in a fantasy world of naive hope. (Can anyone comment on PC laptops and power on different ports? I imagine some would have exactly the same issue.)

One theory for the power discrepancy: John von Seggern claims via Twitter that the issue could be the iSight video camera, which does indeed use the USB video bus. (I would think it shouldn’t draw power when switched off, but perhaps that has caused some other change in the configuration.)

Further, we have reports that not only the iSight, but also Bluetooth and other power-consuming peripherals are on the same bus, as well. (That means turning off Bluetooth might be a good idea if you don’t already.) And we have at least one PC with the same issue. This will definitely be something to research with computers, as it’d be pretty desirable to get machines that, erm, don’t do this to their USB ports.

And someone’s having the opposite port work or not work? Now I’m really confused. (I guess we could simplify all of this to say if you’re having problems with USB audio, try either connecting your AC adapter or switching USB ports.)

Amidst all of the USB audio hating, I have to say, it is possible to get good performance out of USB audio interfaces. On the other hand, removing FireWire from MacBooks seems again like a poor choice.

One of the things that attracts me to computers: choice. So it’s worth noting that you do have choices when looking to laptops, PCs included. (This sounds like those lame “We know you have a choice in your travel plans” announcements you get on airplanes. Unlike those choices, though, these are genuinely different – thankfully.)

So let’s cut straight to the chase: there is a choice between Mac and PC, and there are choices on PC that keep it competitive (to say nothing of Linux). If you’re looking for a rig that runs PC-only tools like FL Studio, and you want more hardware choice to get there without being locked into a Mac, Boot Camp, and an extra Windows license, you have options.

Rain Recording has just introduced a revised pro laptop offering. You may have seen the announcement around, but I did get to talk to them while they were developing this, so I want to offer my own, semi-biased reflections. Rain is a custom system builder focused on music and audio applications. They and a handful of vendors like them do test their configurations with actual audio software, which isn’t generally the case with bigger PC laptop makers. And they offer music and audio-specific support, beyond even what Apple can offer.

Now, that said, I have to say I haven’t actually been that blown away by what custom builders have been able to do in the laptop space. The problem is, builders don’t have the kinds of options with laptops that they do with desktops; traditionally, you’ve needed huge manufacturing scale to get many choices. Even a lot of big brands get someone else to make their machines, so custom builders really face an uphill battle with limited barebones systems. Rain and others have put together some interesting systems, but at a price premium and generally lagging some of the hardware options on the mainstream laptops. For that reason, many PC users have chosen to stick it out with “commodity” machines and try to navigate to the ones that do music well.

The current LiveBook, though, is the first that I think really makes a custom builder competitive – and it’s the first I’ve started to covet for my own desk. It’s pricier than some mass-market machines out there, but it is competitive, and with far more of a guarantee for audio performance and reliability.

• Processors are now available up to 3.06GHz on the Centrino 2 “Montevina” – so it’s about as current as you can get architecturally
• Prices start at US$1999 – and that’s already a pretty fully-loaded machine
• The body is all-aluminum and offers a laser-etched case
• The GPU is no slouch: NVIDIA 9600M GT 512M standard, with a healthy 1680×1050 resolution on the 15.4” monitor (which I think is about perfect – any higher is hard to see, any lower cuts down on real estate)
• Lots of ports: three FireWire 400 ports (with the standard ExpressCard plugged in), one eSATA, a card reader, HDMI and VGA out, and two USB 2.0 ports
• Fast, audio-ready drives: up to 320GB 7200RPM (there’s also now a solid-state option, but I prefer conventional hard drives for their price/performance/capacity ratio)

This issue of specs has already started a debate, even among Mac users. And that’s the world we live in: PC buyers are considering Macs, and at least a handful of Mac users are seriously considering PCs. (At the very least, it’s not uncommon to find people with both.)

From the angry thread about FireWire missing in the (non-Pro) MacBooks, one MacRumors reader points to this very Rain LiveBook. Here’s what I’d put in the pros column:

• eSATA is very useful for high-speed storage (you could add it to the MacBook Pro, admittedly)
• The Rain has a TI chipset for its ExpressCard-provided FireWire, which has been more stable for audio performance – even on Mac OS
• Rain has up to 8 GB RAM, and with 64-bit Windows you can use it
• Blu-ray is an option
• You get a dedicated numeric keypad, which is a big boon for shortcuts – think Sibelius on the road, for instance (the notation editor relies on the numeric keypad for quick input)
• For some, Mac OS is the big draw – but for others, Windows is, depending I think largely on the apps you want to run if not everything you use is cross-platform

Don’t get me wrong: I think the Apple machines stay really competitive. The I/O gripes aside, the new machines are pretty remarkable. And you lose a lot going to Windows from Mac OS – Core Audio and built-in inter-app and over-network MIDI, for instance. On the other hand, I’m perfectly happy running FL Studio, SynthMaker, SONAR, Vegas, and Sound Forge on my Windows laptop and not having to use Boot Camp on a Mac to get there, and with solid ASIO drivers, I can get terrific performance from Windows. I don’t personally agree with the conventional wisdom that makes people just “default” to either choice – I think the choices are interesting.

Specs aside, Rain really does test every configuration with audio software, and they think about the impact of specific drivers and components. That’s not so much of an issue on the Mac, but part of the variability of quality on the PC has absolutely been about certain configurations and driver issues causing problems. You can get audio software pre-installed from Rain, you can call Rain about audio questions, and they’ll even install Windows XP for you, if you like. (I’ve been to New Jersey and seen Rain’s facility and talked to their testers. Another vendor offering similar services is California-based PCAudioLabs – they’re also worth checking out; I’ve heard nothing but good things from people using machines from both makers, which says something, too.)

This comes back to the question of what your ideal configuration would be. If I had my dream machine on this LiveBook, I’d have a couple more USB2 ports on the LiveBook, and DVI or mini-DisplayPort plus TV out for video. But it is a nice-looking system. Rain will certainly be hearing my feedback, and they do offer a fair number of custom options.

Interestingly, ASUS and Intel have teamed up to do a site where they get communities voting on what they want from a laptop, called WePC.com. It’s the opposite of Apple’s design process – though I suppose, arguably, it could result in The Homer Effect. (Episode of the Simpsons in which Homer designs a car and gets something … well, overdesigned. But Homer didn’t know anything about cars. Odds are, as a computer musician, you actually do know what you want and need.) Anyway, just so we’re heard, do go vote for audio stuff.

The bottom line for me: I don’t think we always benefit from someone else choosing what we need.

It’s really not worth debating which laptop choice is better, because there’s not an answer to that question. Laptops – even Macs – are bundles of literally thousands of detailed hardware decisions, and I’ve never seen two users doing exactly the same thing with their machines. That means it’s almost impossible to get a machine that’s absolutely perfect, anyway; it’s more about finding the right compromise. And OS arguments tend to devolve into meaningless debates. The actual internals of what makes operating systems work is so technical and involved, it would take a lot more than a few lines to talk about with any accuracy.

But it’s not about which is better; it’s which is better for you. So, instead, I’ll ask: got a laptop you love, Mac or PC? In the market for a new machine, economic downturn be damned? Which one are you thinking? And what would your perfect machine look like – within the realm of possibility?

Disclosure: I recently bought a cheap ASUS (pronounced ah-SOOS) laptop to replace a sudden failure of a machine. (I got an M51Sn-C1; more on that later.) I own a MacBook which I use pretty heavily, too. I’m writing stories for Rain. Heck, I just generally like computers – and I’ve got some gripes for every OS and hardware maker out there. So, like you, I’m biased about everything because I live and create on these machines – more hours than I sleep, I think.

As I’ve noted, unlike the new MacBook, the MacBook Pro revision retains FireWire, in the form of a FireWire 800 port. This does represent a switch to an NVIDIA chipset, so there may be new performance wrinkles with some interfaces. But it’s not the FW800 port per se you have to worry about. It gives you one less physical connector (previous MBPs had both a FW800 and FW400 port), but even the earlier models had just one bus for FireWire, shared between those two ports. There is a little bit of inconvenience there in that you need an adapter cable and have one less port free, but it’s much less of the deal-breaker the MacBook’s lack of FireWire or expansion is.

MOTU had already published a support note out about supporting FW800 ports — executive summary: don’t worry about it. Now Apogee, makers of the Mac-only Duet, weigh in:

Connection between a “late-2008″ MacBook Pro and Ensemble or Duet is made with a commonly available FW800 to FW400 adaptor or cable. The connection of Ensemble or Duet to a FW800 port is fully supported and in no way alters the performance of the interface.

Ensemble and Duet Compatible with New MacBook Pro [Apogee Digital]

Via MacMusic; thanks to USO Project

It should have been another home run for Apple today. The new MacBooks and MacBook Pros look like absolutely gorgeous, brilliantly-engineered, environmentally-friendly machines. And for many, the fact they run Mac OS is all you need to know. I really do look forward to seeing one of these machines in person. But in case you haven’t caught on, a lot of people aren’t exactly overjoyed. The loudest complaints: creating digital music and creating digital motion (ahem) are crippled by the lack of FireWire on the MacBook, a format Apple once championed.

Generally, Apple remade their entire line in the image of the MacBook Air: form over function, with design, beauty, and manufacturing excellence, even multi-touch gestures, but without a clear story on value and features. They removed key connectivity (FireWire, particularly on the MacBook) with nothing new to replace it. Talk about putting aesthetics first: some have speculated the FireWire port was removed on the MacBook because it would have necessitated making the case slightly thicker. They added a new connector for video without supporting some standards ordinary people want for video output. Instead of price breaks, they protected their price points, even edging up the mid-range MacBook by $100, which upset some folks – especially since there wasn’t as strong a left-brain rationale for the new models. Perhaps it’s partly the fault of how beautiful the machines are: they shine so brightly, it’s hard for the spec sheet — even the strongest parts of it — to hold up in the glare. (Or maybe that’s the non-optional gloss screen.)

Now, under the right conditions, that could have been a huge hit, except the people who care most about aesthetics already own the MacBook Air — and we’re currently in a global economic slump that’s arguably worse, statistically speaking, than anything that’s happened since Apple was founded. Apple’s case was to get people to make a sacrifice for luxury, right when they want to do just the opposite.

Where were these sentiments at their worst? As it happens, among the creative pros who are Apple’s most cherished users, and some of the press specialists who had been their strongest cheerleaders. That one little matter of the FireWire port turns out to be at the heart of the matter. Read through users’ complaints, and you hear some specifics about why FireWire isn’t ready to go the way of the floppy just yet:

• Eugenia’s Rants and Thoughts links various complaints, and points out you can “just buy a DELL Vostro 1310 with Sony Vegas Platinum 9, which is more feature-complete than the older Macbook (more RAM, hard drive, ports) at the same price” as the newly-crippled MacBook.
• Even though he likes the new features, Adam Tow notes that on the MacBook, “I wouldn’t be able to import footage from my video camera nor can I get super-fast downloads from my Compact Flash cards using my SanDisk Extreme IV card reader.” And he points out you can only get a glossy screen.
• IMJEFFP calls it the “$700 FireWire port” and notes the new model wouldn’t allow him to use a camera he uses for planetary photography.

Some in the press are turning on Apple entirely – and it could be the sign of more dissent to come:

• The Guardian says the new models “fail to excite” in the headline, and goes on to blame missteps in the announcement for poor stock performance. (A stretch, I think given the volatility of the market, but it shows how bad the spin is today for Apple.)
• Newsweek’s Daniel Lyons “sours” on Apple entirely and explains “Why the company’s laptops aren’t worth the hype.” His main complaint: Apple keeps dragging journos to these live events only to deliver incremental changes.

… just to cite two examples. Whether that’s fair or not, Apple obviously didn’t get the press they wanted. I think at some point, you have to let the press get excited on their own. Push too hard, and they get cranky.

So Are the Skeptics Right?

A lot of PC partisans I know claim Apple gets a free pass. I think they’re unaware just how high the expectations of Apple’s most passionate enthusiasts can be. And I think, frankly, the press can set the bar absurdly high, like wanting major laptop innovation every eight months. Apple made that worse by over-hyping this event at the worst possible time.

There’s plenty to like about Apple’s new machines. There are significant architectural improvements, so it will be interesting to see benchmarks. And they look beautiful. The trackpad gestures sound interesting.

But here are the problems:

Removing FireWire ports is a downgrade, no matter how you look at it. Removing the floppy disk on the iMac turned out to be an upgrade. But remember, the iMac added fast Ethernet and USB ports at a time when those features were often optional. The new MacBooks don’t give you anything, connectivity-wise, in exchange for the FireWire you lose. On the non-Pro, that impact is the worst. HDV prosumer cameras still hold up to AVCHD options, and lots of devices only capture footage, play and record back tapes, and capture live video via FireWire. Musicians rely heavily on FireWire drives and (most importantly) FireWire audio interfaces. On the Pro, they now need FW800 adapters and lose a port. On the non-Pro, they’re completely out of luck.

Imagine how audio maker Apogee may feel. They made their Duet audio interface Mac-only and co-promoted it with Apple, touting exclusive integration with Logic Studio. Now it doesn’t even work with half of Apple’s new laptops, because it’s FireWire only. (No word yet on whether they’re ready with USB, but my guess it they may be hearing about this at the same time the rest of us are.

FireWire isn’t perfect; don’t get me wrong. FW400 offers limited advantages over USB2, and it’s possible to damage some components by hot-swapping a live capble. But then, why not put the FW800 port on Apple’s entry level MacBook, especially since there are still reasons (bigger screen, better GPU, faster specs) to upgrade to Pro? Or why not replace FW400 with eSATA? Or use a 4-pin FireWire port if the case has to be slimmer? Or wait until USB3 is available? Or even give us another USB port? Or at least not constantly keep telling us how you’re always right? Anything would ease the pain.

The integrated video doesn’t sound fully-baked yet. The NVIDIA 9400m will be a big upgrade from the MacBook’s previous integrated graphics. But you can find PCs with beefier graphics cards in them at the MacBook’s price point (especially at US$1600). Worse, if you want to take advantage of its battery-saving feature, you have to stop your work, log out, log in, and reload everything you were doing to switch modes. Windows Vista supports seamless switching on at least some models of the 9400m. Apple may soon, but that’s another demerit at launch.

We’re also still waiting to hear about whether we’ll be able to add connectors for HDMI, S-Video, and Composite TV out. All can theoretically be supported on Apple’s DisplayPort, but only if drivers cooperate. The fact Apple isn’t offering accessories for these formats? Very bad sign. (Updated: Note that that’s not even a standard DisplayPort. Apple is piping standard signal through a proprietary connection that’s not part of the spec. Uh… thanks?)

Apple has to stop acting like no one else exists. Here’s my other beef: aside from the superior aesthetics, Apple overstates what is uniquely theirs. For instance, the whole laptop industry is moving from underpowered integrated graphics on laptops to new, hybrid integrated/discrete graphics chips from ATI and NVIDIA; that’s not just Apple. Now that so many Mac users are dual-platform or switchers, press included, Apple may have to more clearly differentiate what makes them special, and what is PC-wide. There’s really no sin in being clear on that; I think people will respond more positively. And quit with the Vista swipes; that ship has sailed.

Waiting could be a good option. Bottom line? I think what happened is Apple did innovate on form, and function wasn’t quite ready. More video cameras may indeed go the USB route — but it hasn’t happened yet. Intel has some big performance improvements in store — but they’re not here yet. NVIDIA’s hybrid platform looks promising — but the payoff isn’t there just yet, and it sounds like Apple may not even be done with the drivers yet.

And most of all, I think the mood of the world right now is that we’ll buy new tech when it’s ready for us, when we don’t have to throw out gear we care about just to make the case a little thinner, and when we can pay in cash. Not too many people are excited about credit card debt in the moment. If this industry is in it for the long haul, maybe that’s a good thing.

We now return to our regularly scheduled, Theremin-filled music tech news.

By now, you likely already know that Apple came out with new laptops today. I could talk about the new features at the existing price points or about how the new machines are very pretty, but you can easily find that elsewhere. Instead, I want to address some unfortunate details on the new laptops in terms of ports. After all, small details can make a big difference for audio users.

For connecting drives, audio interfaces, MIDI devices, and the like, you get:

• MacBook Pro: Two USB 2.0 port, one FireWire800 port, one ExpressCard/34 slot
• MacBook: Two USB 2.0 ports
• MacBook Air: One USB 2.0 port

Those are Pro specs for laptop ports, really?

So FireWire is gone from non-Pro models. FW400 is gone from the Pros, though that turns out not to be entirely a deal-breaker (you can use FW800). And eSATA is still missing, which I personally think is too bad given the increasing availability of great external drives. (eSATA is an external SATA connector. In the real world, it blows away USB2. In theory, it also blows away FW800, but in practice, they’re typically neck and neck and both pretty great. Problem is, having just one FW800 limits flexibility.)

Note: A holdout from the previous generation, the white polycarbonate MacBook and 17″ MacBook Pro live on — at least for now. The US$999 white MacBook is a good buy if you don’t need the NVIDIA 3D graphics, with a FireWire 400 port and (now) a SuperDrive. The US$2799, 17″ MacBook Pro has a third USB port and a FireWire 400 port the “improved” models lack. I would guess both models will be phased out soon, however.

With Apple leaving their price points more or less in place, that means now could be a great time to snap up some deals on used or refurb models if you’re thinking of upgrading and want to save some cash versus a new model. And it means the MacBook, for at least some users, just got less appealing, not more.

FireWire 800 vs. 400

First off, FireWire 400 is gone entirely. On the MacBook Pro, this doesn’t wind up being as bad as it sounds. The FireWire800 jack is still available, and using an adapter, that means fairly easy backwards-compatibility with FireWire 400 audio devices. Here’s what MOTU has said in the past about using their popular FireWire-400 audio interface with FW800:

Also, you can use a FireWire 800-to-400 adapter to plug a MOTU FireWire interface into a computer with a FireWire 800 port. As our FireWire interfaces are FW 400 devices, there will be no performance increase by connecting them to a FW 800 bus, but there will also be no detriment to MOTU FW performance either. Using a FW 800-to-400 adapter simply provides you with more connectivity options.

In fact, I believe you will still get the benefit of bus power via the FireWire 800 jack. That actually makes this less annoying than using FireWire on PC laptops, as most (though not all) PC laptops use a 4-pin jack that doesn’t use power. (The upside of the 4-pin jack is, because it doesn’t carry power, it’s also not likely to fry gear when hot-plugged. I have heard isolated incidents of that happening, at least with video cameras.)

I’m also really disappointed that Apple hasn’t added eSATA. This is widely available on PC laptops, and allows superb drive performance – ideal for recording – and doesn’t involve squeezing anything else on our overburdened USB ports. Sure, you could use FW800, but many drives include eSATA in place of FW800, and you’ve just taken up your FW800 port with your audio interface. See the problem?

The break for the MacBook Pro is that you can make use of the ExpressCard slot and add functionality you don’t get, though that is an extra investment and you only get one slot.

MacBook Deal Breaker?

But let me be clear: there’s really, really bad news for the MacBook. FireWire 400 is gone. There’s no way to add it back, because the non-Pro models lack ExpressCard. You can’t edit video from a DV camera, you can’t plug in audio interfaces from the likes of MOTU and RME, and you’ll have to do all audio, MIDI, and external storage through two USB 2.0 jacks.

In fact, given this, I think I have to revoke my recommendation of the MacBooks. I’d suggest getting a US$999 plastic MacBook, which is still available, if you’re on a budget. It’ll run software like Ableton Live and Logic Studio quite well, and it offers better connectivity than the new MacBook. Otherwise, if you want a Mac, you should opt for the US$1999 Pro – or, if you want something in between, look for a used or refurbished previous-generation MacBook Pro, which has none of these compromises.

Apple: Stop Killing Our Ports!

I think Apple deserves a lot of the great press they’ve gotten lately. I think there are real reasons people switch to the Mac that aren’t related to marketing or image, which is something Microsoft often fails to recognize. But this does reveal a weakness of the Mac platform, which is that you are constrained to what Apple gives you in hardware choice. It’s worth noting that this is a definite mark in the plus column for standard PCs running Windows and Linux. That might not change your mind on OS choice, but there is still a choice, and each platform choice involves tradeoffs.

And OS choice aside, I hope Apple reconsiders and finds a way to occasionally add a port and not just take them away.

Yes, there is a lot of other news on these models, and I’m sure for some, on balance, this will be great. Go have a look at the specs and decide for yourself. I’m going to pass on this one, though – just my personal call.
MacBook Pro Specs
MacBook Specs

Updated: It’s time to talk to Apple, say fellow Mac users. Eugenia of Eugenia’s Rants and Thoughts is encouraging unhappy Mac users to tell Apple they want FireWire back on the MacBook:

No firewire on new Macbooks
Apple – MacBook – Feedback

1. Cosmetic changes, under-the-hood tweaks, don’t care that much. Hey, a pretty, new Apple laptop is all fine and good, don’t get me wrong. But PC notebook makers have in recent months rolled out new hardware improvements a lot faster than Apple, and often at a much lower price. That’s not to say the Apple don’t make a very good or even better deal … just that what generally happens is, looking at Apple’s lineup, improvements tend to get bundled together. Maybe I just hate the MacBook Air because it’s beautiful, I don’t know. So, I think this could be big news in the sense that people waiting to upgrade could be very happy, just not earthshaking news. Then again, what we could see is…

2. Multi-touch screens on the whole line. Now that could be interesting. Commodity touchscreens on laptops already appear imminent on PCs in general, so it’s not hard to see Apple getting into the game. And while many people rightfully point out that touch in a laptop form factor isn’t all that practical, for musical applications and live onstage use, it’s a dream.

All bets are off Tuesday.

Updated: Okay, so what we got was basically (1) — except that I missed the “and critical FireWire ports get Steved” part:

… on Create Digital Motion: New GPUs, Connectors; Non-Pro Changes and Did Apple Just Eliminate All S-Video, Composite Video Output?

… on Create Digital Music: Whither, FireWire? What the New Apple Laptop Port Changes Mean for Audio

For anyone who thinks Mac users are superficial and care only about form factor, ahem, we’re going to be talking about jacks. Got it?

Photos/screens: Bryant Place. Used by permission. (Click for larger versions.)

Side note: for a look at live touch interfaces with Native Instruments’ Reaktor, see our story for our NI minisite. To really understand how touch is impacting live playing, I think it’s helpful to see what’s going on with different software platforms.

Multi-touch, Lemur, and Going Live

Part of the appeal of Ableton Live is that it behaves as a hybrid between arrangement software and musical instrument. Early versions even carried the tagline “Sequencing Instrument,” but that sums up the problem: instruments generally aren’t sequencers, and visa versa. To “play” your sequencer live is challenging enough, but added to that is the fundamental mouse-pointer interface that’s been in the marketplace for over twenty years. To really control live, you need more direct access.

The Lemur multi-touch hardware promised just such control when unveiled. In an early review, I saw this as promising but cautioned that the custom software the Lemur runs was overly rigid. Since then, firmware updates have gradually added more custom features.

On a recent trip to Los Angeles, I got to watch as Bryant showed off a set of templates he’s been developing that exploit these features for deeper, more interactive control of Ableton Live. Bryant’s session was brief enough that you could blink and miss it, but an awed crowd of assembled Live gurus revealed that he’d showed something really special. It’s a dream multi-touch setup. He’s using the new v2 firmware for Lemur, which we see in a screenshot from Jazz Mutant has also been used in their own template for Live. Not all the features come from v2 firmware, but those tabs make a big difference, and I can imagine continuing to go hog-wild with envelopes and such.

The basic idea: set up effects for live performance and make them readily accessible from the futuristic-looking, multi-touch, colored Lemur control surface. With a few compact screens, and interface elements that respond dynamically to what’s happening in software, it’s possible to use touch gestures to control elaborate effects arrangements in ways that would be very different than the results you could get from conventional knobs and faders.

Have a look at the pictures to really get a feel for what this means. I asked Bryant to describe to us a little more about how it all works. He cautions he’s “more of an engineer than a writer.” (Add “Damnit, Jim” to the beginning of that line, Star Trek fans.) But he actually has quite a lot to say, and you can feel free to ask some follow-up questions in comments.

Behind the Scenes with Bryant

My Live set is designed to take complete songs (preferably electronic dance music), and remix and affect the sound in such a way what I can take an original mix and completely transform its sound and rhythm.

I’m using only Live’s [internal] effects for the following reasons: stability, [efficient use of] CPU resources, tempo changes. I am thinking of adding some Sugar Bytes and possibly Audio Damage – we’ll see. [Ed.: Yes, I have to at least observe that third-party plug-ins are often as stable and sometimes more CPU-efficient – depending on the specific application.]

Some notes and tips, as I have learned building this project:

• Using the Lemur to control Live, which I can then do very quickly and naturally, has allowed me to discover the nature and quirks behind some of Live’s effects.
• Live and is amazing at changing tempo – especially evident when there are quantized auto-filters.
• Changing tempo while holding [instances of] Beat Repeat can cause some problems with the groove as Beat Repeat uses a good amount of audio buffer.
• Playing fast songs (for example, 135 bpm) at a slow tempo (e.g., 75 bpm) usually sounds weird. This can be somewhat enhanced by the following procedure: use two of the exact same audio clip, one using the "beats" algorithm and one using "complex." Together, they have a much better texture than you’d get using just one.

The signal flow and layout:

• Four Audio Tracks: I have four audio tracks for clips. Two A and Two B – I use the crossfader to fade between set A and B.  A1,A2,   B1,B2: These four tracks are "sends only"
• Seven Sends, with Pre-Configured Routing: I have seven sends.  A1,A2, are sent to sends: A Hi, B Mid, C, Low (the seventh send is simply a DRY track "G"). B1, B2, are sent to the hi mid lo sends D E F
• Effects Inserts: Sends Set A (ABC) and Sends Set B (DEF) contain independent auto-filters, multi-band compression tuned to their specific frequencies and auto pan.
• Effects in performance: The effects are controlled by the Lemur in a very magical way. :) (I spent a lot of time tuning the MIDI mapping)  This allows me to create a separate groove from the original song [using the resulting effects] – AND one that is frequency-independent.  (I had to compensate some things due to buffer limitations and CPU [utilization] for my MacBook Pro.)
• Returns, and More Effects: Next I take the sends and route them back to specific audio tracks.  I route A Hi to X Hi also D Hi to X Hi, and so on. This is where I add band-independent instances of [Ableton’s] Beat Repeat and Simple Delay. (By the way, these delays are far deeper than they seem on the surface.) I have full control of them using the Lemur – you can see the delay units in the images.  Lastly, I use a multi-ball object to control Hi, Mid, Lo. Chorusing tuned to their respective frequencies.  (When used correctly and with taste – the effect is mind-blowing)
• Recording: Lastly, I have my FIRE track which I use as a pre-Master (Xhi Xmid Xlow are sent to FIRE) – so I can record my performances.  I also use some mastering plug-ins to finalize the sound. [Ed.: Interesting, though I’d be inclined to do that after recording!]

The result is called LiveFIRE. I am using v2 Lemur Firmware but I haven’t used many new features — only the tabbed container object, color options, and other little tidbits. [Ed. That may be, but having worked in the Lemur editor, sometimes having just that one object you need can make a huge difference. If you saw an early revision, like the one I first tested, many of these objects are also the result of a series of new features.]

Technical notes: I can’t use my Live set to its fullest capacity due to my MacBook Pro’s limitations with audio buffer.  I have already scrapped my audio interface in turn for my integrated sound card – as it allows a larger audio buffer size. (This problem occurs only when I have audio on all four tracks playing at the same time.)  [Ed.: I’m actually not sure about this detail; we’ll have to discuss it more. Switching to internal audio is usually the opposite of what’s necessary, so we’ll have to have a separate conversation about exactly what’s going on, what the symptoms are, and what the cause may be. An inability to get a sufficient audio buffer, or problems running out of CPU horsepower to complete the tasks, would be symptomatic of either trying to push the envelope a bit too far with the set or encountering some driver-OS-software issue. Then again, it sounds as though Bryant is intentionally modifying the buffer to get certain results – an interesting and unorthodox technique. We’ve kicked off the discussion, so we can look at this some more.]

My future plans are to naturally incorporate the LiveAPI, which will take some time and a lot of remapping. [Ed.: The Live API is a user-supported way of customizing functionality in Ableton Live – it’s a hack, and requires a bit of Python coding knowledge in order to make it your own, but it’s a very powerful outlet and well worth revisiting here later.]

I really look forward to continuing this discussion. What would your ultimate touch controller look like for Ableton Live or other software? Or would you rather dump the touch and stick with tangible hardware control?

Here’s a unique chance to step onstage with electronic duo Justice – well, through photos, at least – on tour in Brazil. Behind a stack of Marshall Amps and other gear that looks ready to push back an invading horde of Barbarians with a battering ram, these two have some very lovely goodies for live laptop performance. No plain-vanilla DJ sets here.

Our friend Fabio “FZero” writes:

I came across some pictures of the gear Justice used to play in Rio. They were taken by a guy which works on Circo Voador (the place were they played) and uploaded to orkut. I’ve downloaded and zipped them to make things easier.

The name of the photographer is Henrique Kurtz and his orkut profile is at http://www.orkut.com.br/Main#Profile.aspx?uid=3218703684024828269

3 x Jazzmutant Lemur (THREE LEMURS. It’s good to be rich, I guess.)
2 x MacBook Pro (one is probably backup)
1 x Korg MicroKorg
1 x Korg ZERO8 Live Control
1 x Pioneer DJM800
Software: Ableton Live

Get up close and personal with the laptop rig itself. Okay, you may not be able to afford three Lemurs, but this wouldn’t be hard to scale to other setups. And there’s plenty here to make a “live PA” performance really a performance.

All photos © Copyright Henrique Kurtz. Used for createdigitalmusic.com by permission of the photographer. (Thanks, Henrique – beautiful shots!)