http://community.mi7.com/profile/33 en-us info@mi7.com MI7 http://community2.mi7.com/member/image_path/33/thumb/20070530_1618907542_62_the_cassandra_complex.jpg http://community.mi7.com/profile/33 Thu, 03 Jan 2008 08:53:39 GMT Stay up to date with rodneys mi7 gear review feed! http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 I liked this a lot first time I saw it, but this was my first time really using it. It's quite an amazing program! For songwriting, arranging, or playing live it has pretty much every feature you'd ever need, yet it's all in one window. It's such a pleasure to not have to hunt around all over the place looking for the thing you want to work with. It even has hardly any menus either - just Load and Save Project and a couple of other basic things. In a way using it is almost like playing a computer game, you get immersed in its world very quickly and it really encourages you to write songs. The new Arranger track feature (that's also now in Cubase 4.1) is something I've been screaming for since years now, and it's implemented very nicely in Sequel. Each section of your song can be assigned to a bunch of pads and letters on the computer keyboard - you just press one and the song jumps to that section. So if the into is A, verse is B, chorus is C, and middle section D, you just type ABBCBCDCC and you have your song arranged right away - and you can re-arrange it live as it plays! Finally! Unfortunately you can't control the Arranger via MIDI commands, so you can't control it live from a keyboard... doh! What an oversight! They run all the way up the pitch with the ball, shoot, and then hit the goalpost at the last minute... The lack of MIDI control really limits live use for me - I do hope they fix this in an update soon. And the content that comes with it... 6 GB of really good samples and loops - it's worth buying it just for that to be honest. And the price is... great. 100 bucks or thereabouts and you're good to go. I'm really quite stunned at the value for money of this program. I give this one 9/10 - if they just give me MIDI control of the Arranger pads in the next version it'll be 10/10 for sure. http://www.mi7.com/gfx/items/micro/502021100.jpg http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 Thu, 03 Jan 2008 08:53:39 GMT http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33?gd=93a55a3a74848b487c1d2f1426ad36a6f5b9f17c rodney http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 When I go into most small home & project studios nice times out of ten I see a nice computer, some great software, decent monitors, and maybe some expensive instruments. What I usually don't see is the most important part of it all: acoustic treatment. People are happy to spend money on other stuff, but they seem to think that acoustic treatment is an optional extra - it's NOT! It's ESSENTIAL! If you think about it, the sound of the room will totally influence the sound of everything that's *in* the room, and there's no way round that. So if you want a good sound, you need a good-sounding room. It's that simple. The most basic treatment you can do to start with is add some absorption to control the mid & high frequencies, and some bass traps to smooth out the bass response of the room. This kit does exactly those two things, and it does them very well, and at a really great price. This Vicoustic stuff is simply the best low-cost acoustic solution I've ever heard. If you have a small room, and you're not sure where to start with treatment, just get this kit, and after you've installed it you'll be very happy, I guarantee it. http://www.mi7.com/gfx/items/micro/COMB1A.jpg http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 10:27:30 GMT http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33?gd=71430e13d34a27910358ad86d2fe447eaeaae8af rodney http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 Whenever I turn up my NHT system and people hear the bass they simply can't believe it's coming out of this speaker. It's so incredibly powerful yet compact. And stays smooth and clear at any volume. Bottom line: there is no better small system than the NHT M00 monitors and this subwoofer. If you're looking for good small monitoring, this should be on your list to listen to, you'll be amazed when you hear it. http://www.mi7.com/gfx/items/micro/N-S00SUB230V.jpg http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 09:16:21 GMT http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33?gd=0a7aa93ce564b9863e8465771c8040b9603f6dec rodney http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 My 1U rackmount audio interface isn't really as portable as I need given the amount of travelling I do. I really wanted something I could pack in a bag along with my laptop and be good to go. Enter the AudioFire 4. It's certainly small. And well built - it's not much bigger than a couple of cigarette packets, but it's solid metal and feels like you could run a tour bus over it without a problem. So far, so good. The front panel is nice: two Neutrik style multi sockets that can take XLR or 1/4" jack plugs. Gain controls too. You can plug in a mic or a guitar directly. I was able to plug my guitar in and start recording using the internal guitar FX in Cubase right away. Score! There's even some front panel LEDs to help you set the right signal level, and a headphone jack so you can listen. On the back there are six jack sockets: two more analog inputs and four analog outs. Decent enough, except that because the space is so limited they are squished close together. I tried plugging in some cables in my studio that had real Neutrik plugs, and there simply wasn't enough space for them! To be fair, normal jack plugs worked fine once we had sorted out some new cables. Also on the back are MIDI In & Out (again very handy for live shows), and SPDIF I/O. I haven't used the SPDIF yet, but apparently it can we used in conjunction with the other I/O, so you can get six outs simultaneously. Nice for 5.1 mixing. Connection to the computer is via FireWire, and I had no problems at all linking it to my Windows XP Asus laptop. I did have to flash the AF4's firmware after I had installed it, but that was pretty painless and automatic. All in all, given the price, this is a great little interface, I was very pleasantly surprised. For laptop use it's perfect, and for a small bedroom studio it's as much as you'll ever need really. http://www.mi7.com/gfx/items/micro/audiofire4.jpg http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 Tue, 08 May 2007 20:17:35 GMT http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33?gd=ce2e9d13be51f3c75c2864fbdf930deda7304fc8 rodney http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 Great sounds & great performance features. I'm still getting to grips with this one, so expect a more complete review some time later... For now, let's just say it doesn't get better than this! http://www.mi7.com/gfx/items/micro/independence.jpg http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 Wed, 18 Apr 2007 05:47:45 GMT http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33?gd=ce4e3c7832c8746adb02719618a85de307156f05 rodney http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 If you want the best studio drum sounds there is, you want BFD. Nothing, but nothing, sounds anywhere near this good. Meticulously multisampled, recorded with great mics in great studios, it just sounds amazing. The best thing about it is that each kit has been recorded with several mics, and you can mix between the mic sounds - so if you want more room, turn up the ambient room mics; if you want a tighter sound, turn up the direct drum mics. It works amazingly well. It also runs great inside Cubase as a VST plugin. Totally recommended for professional use - I've used this in various CD productions myself, and it has blown people away every time. http://www.mi7.com/gfx/items/micro/BFD.jpg http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:32:28 GMT http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33?gd=4ecddafc1c795a526d593ae9f015b08fa906b7b6 rodney http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 There's no doubt that Brain can drum, but I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed by this pack. The sounds are a bit flat and old-fashioned, and his drumming is a bit too busy for my liking. If you're into 70s/80s rock however, this might be right up your street. http://www.mi7.com/gfx/items/micro/OSDDX.jpg http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 Thu, 01 Mar 2007 14:15:16 GMT http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33?gd=3103e41335b32c80d0349605fe1842dee238502e rodney http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 This is an awesome pack of great electro loops and sounds. If you're doing hip-hop, dance, or almost any kind of modern electronic sounding music, you want this. Big monster kicks, wild snares, and incredible grooves. And *loads* of them too. Totally a must-have for anyone doing modern production. Get it. http://www.mi7.com/gfx/items/micro/MPCLBDX.jpg http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 Thu, 01 Mar 2007 14:15:01 GMT http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33?gd=3f68261abd2a962287f22f43dd10d41d2735082b rodney http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 Yes, it's Alan White. From Yes. It's him drumming, and it's his kits. Inventive, progessive, classically good sounding rock loops and kits. Personally I don't need things like the 7/8 loops, but I love the kit sounds and use them all the time with my own programming. While it doesn't kick ass in the same way that the amazing Matt Sorum pack does, this is a good solid rock drummer pack that's worth getting. http://www.mi7.com/gfx/items/micro/AP1DX.jpg http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 Thu, 01 Mar 2007 13:58:09 GMT http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33?gd=b800bbb6b29273d04f22929619b4fe4937de408f rodney http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 rodney has not written a review yet. http://www.mi7.com/gfx/items/micro/124100.jpg http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 Thu, 15 Feb 2007 14:17:04 GMT http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33?gd=cd54d652e13ac99b51c8c4813a7a3083682e1c10 rodney http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 rodney has not written a review yet. http://www.mi7.com/gfx/items/micro/124100.jpg http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 Thu, 15 Feb 2007 14:15:16 GMT http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33?gd=65637d406fd38fa1d5d33a20eb9ce4371b3f4650 rodney http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 rodney has not written a review yet. http://www.mi7.com/gfx/items/micro/SP1DX.jpg http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 Tue, 13 Feb 2007 16:36:47 GMT http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33?gd=b26f6309a58b8a60658df763d7b8400c9492edf9 rodney http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 If you're into R&B and need a drummer that can lay down a tight, smooth groove you pretty much only have two choices: either call Zoro, or buy the Zoro drummerpack. He's won every award going, and yes, he literally even wrote the book on R&B drumming. R&B isn't really my thing, but if I need to produce some I know where I'll be looking first... http://www.mi7.com/gfx/items/micro/ZP1DX.jpg http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 Tue, 13 Feb 2007 16:36:34 GMT http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33?gd=95c1eb07a89771d7ee3ba8cc5d6d2955ce5e9ea5 rodney http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 rodney has not written a review yet. http://www.mi7.com/gfx/items/micro/TP1DX.jpg http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 Tue, 13 Feb 2007 16:36:29 GMT http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33?gd=553ca8b021108437d36b35e58bfeb1cab5847308 rodney http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 I used to carry boxes of CDs and records in the back of the car when I DJ'd. Now I just take the laptop. Screw putting the back seat down every Friday night and hauling cases around. I love this software :-) http://www.mi7.com/gfx/items/micro/118109.jpg http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33 Thu, 08 Feb 2007 14:06:26 GMT http://community.mi7.com/profile/all/gear/33?gd=84aa649b108dc6d5f5b7cfa62faeca4e29a32ca2 rodney