Rent My Studio – Find a studio, Rent a Studio, Music Studios, Photography Studios

*If anyone has a product they would like to review please do not hesitate to send it in to info@rentmystudio.co.uk

23rd JULY 2008 : DJ on the go.

Tonium Pacemaker Portable DJ system RRP £400

The Tonium Pacemaker (£400) squeezes the performance and functionality of a full digital DJ rig into a single pocket-size device. Fitting a DJ booth into a product the size of a Sony PSP requires some compromises in design and features, but the end result is a new breed of DJ tech that is sure to make some fans.

Design
The Pacemaker's minimal, matte black aesthetic is enough to make any red-blooded gadget hound salivate, regardless of DJ skill. In fact, those with a keen eye for tech design will appreciate that the Pacemaker is one of the first products of its kind to include features such as multigesture track pad control and an LED lit touch strip crossfader.

The suggestion that the Pacemaker's eight buttons can accomplish the same tasks as a full-fledged DJ setup would make even the most sleep-deprived club jockey raise an eyebrow. Indeed, unlike in a conventional DJ setup, accomplishing something as mundane as adjusting song volume requires some nimble two-hand dexterity on the Pacemaker. To work around the limitations of the Pacemaker's small size, every one of its controls serves multiple functions. As a result, the Pacemaker manual is a required read (we recommend creating a cheat sheet). After a few days of play, however, using the Pacemaker will become second nature to anyone who's spent their youth gripping a game controller.

Features
If you've dabbled with DJ software or touched a CDJ deck in the past five years, you should have a good idea what to expect from the Pacemaker's feature set. After loading music onto the Pacemaker's 120GB internal drive, you can select tracks through an onscreen menu and assign them to one of two virtual decks. Each virtual deck includes an adjustable three-band EQ section, an effects section (filter, echo, reverb, and roll), and controls for gain, pitch, cue point, track scan, and loop points.

Once you've assigned tracks to each of the two virtual decks, matching their tempos is a completely manual operation (sorry newbies, no auto-syncing). To make tempo matching relatively painless, however, each deck displays the BPM of the current track and offers a generous pitch adjustment range of +/-100 percent. After matching the tempos of each track, a swipe of the track pad briefly nudges the deck's tempo up or down to finely tune the sync between tracks. Finally, to complete the transition from one song to the next, a touch strip located at the very center of the Pacemaker allows you to glide into the next song.

One feature unique to the Pacemaker is its capability to record and save mixes. To accomplish this feat, Tonium could have simply resampled the Pacemaker's playback output into a new audio file and called it a day. Instead, the Pacemaker records mixes by tracking the adjustments made during your mix (track volume, crossfade amount, EQ changes, pitch adjustment, etc.) and associates that data with your song files. Later, when you connect the Pacemaker to your Mac or PC, special Pacemaker software allows you to play back these mix files, make adjustments, save the results, and legally share the mix on the Pacemaker Web site. Currently, the Pacemaker software does not let you export your mix as one long audio file, but there are creative workarounds.

Unfortunately, you can't shrink a carload of DJ gear into your pocket without losing something along the way. From the perspective of a conventional DJ setup, the biggest practical drawbacks to the Pacemaker are the inability to modify two or more controls simultaneously, lack of scratch control, pitch-only speed adjustment, and the possibility of humiliation from your vinyl-purist peers.

Performance
The Pacemaker's touch pad and button controls respond with a lightning quickness that makes even the iPhone feel slow. Handling multichannel audio along with layers of EQ and DSP effects is enough to make some laptops choke, but the Pacemaker handles the load with ease.

The inclusion of separate 3.5mm headphone and line-output jacks lets DJs hear their own personal cue mix, separate from the mix playing out to the house. Audio quality is right in line with what you'd expect from a piece of pro-audio DJ gear, helped along by the Pacemaker's support for high-resolution MP3 (up to 320Kbps), AAC (unprotected), AIFF, FLAC, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, and SND audio formats. Bass, mid, and treble EQ controls on each deck allow for +6dB boost or -26dB cut in each range without clipping the output or coloring the sound in an unflattering way.

Battery life for the Pacemaker is limited to five hours of active mixing and 18 hours of playback-only operation. Pacemaker charge time is two hours using the included AC adapter, or four hours over the mini USB connection.

CONCLUSION

This really is a great invention and the perfect tool for all budding DJ's out there. However for the price , its maybe to expensive compared with an ipod and not advanced enough for serious DJ use. However Im sure in time the price will come down and that this will spark many advancements in the world of portable DJing and is still one of the coolest gadgets of 2008.

VALUE FOR MONEY 5/10

EASE OF USE 9/10

FEATURES 10/10

SOUND QUALITY 9/10

OVERALL 8/10

13th JULY 2008: The Ultimate Digital SLR

Canon EOS 1D mark III RRP £3,999

Whats Good: Very low noise, high quality images; 21.1 megapixels; live view shooting; pro-level build-quality and performance.

Whats Bad: High price tag; heavy body; no AF in live view mode.

Conclusion: The 1Ds Mark III marks another high-end success for Canon, though you'll need a lot of spare cash if you want to own this ground-breaking camera.

Specs: Digital camera type: SLR; Resolution: 21.1 megapixels; Display type: 3 in LCD display

Canon's 1Ds series of cameras exists in a class of its own. With pixel counts well above anything else offered in a 35mm-format digital SLR, an attention to detail that addresses the needs of high-end professionals, and a price tag that's thousands of dollars more than the nearest competition, it continues to push the limits of digital photography. The 1Ds Mark III, the latest in the series, brings the megapixel count to a whopping 21.1 and is every bit a precision instrument. It offers a high level of control over all aspects of your images, a body design that gives you fast access to these controls, and can be customized to tailor certain buttons and functions to your shooting style. It's been over three years since its predecessor was announced, so there are a fair number of new features in the Mark III, which bring it up to date with the latest trends in dSLRs. With this latest model, Canon has stepped up to a pixel count that, up till now, was solely the realm of medium format digital backs, while maintaining an edge in terms of physical size and sharpness of available lenses.

Features
The feature everyone will mention first about the 1Ds Mark III is its 21.1-megapixel Canon CMOS sensor. I wouldn't be surprised if that is followed by a small discussion of the camera's 14-bit per channel analog to digital conversion, which theoretically allows for 16,384 levels of brightness compared to 4,096 levels with the 12-bit Mark II when shooting RAW. Nikon's D3 also offers 14-bit RAW output, but also gives the option to roll that back to 12-bit if you're trying to keep file sizes down. You can't dial down to 12 bit on the Canon, so if you shoot RAW, expect files in excess of 30MB each. Full-size, finest-quality JPEGs can approach 15MB.

Since the sensor's size is the same as a frame of 35mm film (often referred to as full-frame), you don't have to worry about any conversion factors to figure out the "equivalent" field of view that you'll get with any of Canon's EF lenses. However, you won't be able to use any of the company's EF-S lenses. While this bothers some folk, especially because Nikon lets you mount its digital-only DX lenses on its full-frame D3, Canon's EF-S lenses extend further into the body, so the large mirrors on its full-frame and 1.3x focal-length-multiplier 1D series cause a physical conflict. So, Canon's not likely to change this. However, it's typically understood that anyone buying a full frame Canon would know that you can't use EF-S lenses, since the company has been very upfront about this issue from the get go. Also, I should note that the ability to use DX lenses on the D3 comes at the expense of precious pixels.

Outdoor photographers will appreciate the 1Ds Mark III's dust reduction system. It shakes the sensor whenever you turn the camera on or off to shake dust from the IR-cut filter in front of the sensor. That filter is also has an antistatic coating to prevent dust from adhering in the first place. If you end up with any persistent marks on the sensor you can have the camera map the sensor and plot their locations, so you can remove them automatically with the included Digital Photo Professional software.

Following the current trend, the 1Ds Mark III includes a Live View shooting mode, which lets you frame images with the big 3-inch LCD on the back of the camera instead of the optical viewfinder, should you choose to do so. Once the Live View mode is enabled in the setup menu, all you have to do is press the Set button to enter Live View mode. When you do, the camera locks the mirror up, thereby cutting off the optical viewfinder, and you are restricted to manual focus. If you're worried about light leaking in through the viewfinder, you can block it with the built-in eyepiece shutter by flipping down the switch in the right side of the viewfinder. Conveniently, you can use the playback zoom controls to zoom in either 5x or 10x on your subject, to aid in manual focusing. Canon doesn't set any strict limits on how long you can remain in Live View mode, but it does mention that the sensor heats up in Live View mode and that you may encounter a thermometer icon on the LCD once the camera reaches a certain temperature. I never saw this icon when I used Live View mode, but if you typically shoot in very warm environments (studio hot lights, anyone?) you may run into it. As you may guess, shooting at higher ISOs should make the sensor heat up faster than at lower ISOs. Canon also warns that increased temperatures can lead to increased image noise.

Canon has increased the number of cross-type autofocus points from 7 in the Mark II to 19 in the Mark III. Cross-type AF points typically provide a higher level of sensitivity compared to standard horizontal-only points. Those 19 cross sensors are joined by 26 "assist points" for a total of 45 AF points. Careful scrutiny of Canon's manual shows that the number of active cross-type points decreases drastically if you use a lens with a maximum aperture slower than f/2.8. When you step down to a lens with a maximum aperture of f/4, only the center point functions as a cross-type; the rest function as horizontal only. With a maximum aperture of f/5.6, all AF points become horizontal only and by the time you reach a maximum aperture of f/8 you're left with only the center point active and it acts as a horizontal-only sensor. This is essentially the same system that is employed in Canon's 1D Mark III, which still has an ongoing problem with continuous AF under certain conditions, including very hot and bright shooting conditions, according to Rob Galbraith. I saw no such problems in my field tests with the 1Ds Mark III, though I did most of my testing in winter in New York City. Still, there's no real reason to think that the 1Ds Mark III has any such problem in the first place.

To determine a proper exposure, the camera uses a 63-zone TTL (through the lens) metering system. The system offers full-frame evaluative metering, center-weighted average, and partial and spot metering. According to Canon, the partial option uses the center 8.5 percent of the frame to determine exposure, while the spot setting uses 2.4 percent and can be set to the center or linked to the AF sensor in use, or you can choose up to eight spot readings and let the camera average them. Canon calls this last option "multispot metering." All you have to do is press the FEL button to add another spot reading while you're in spot AF mode to begin with. The average of the total number of spots is used, and you can even apply exposure compensation. While it worked well, it took me a little time to figure out that you have to point the active spot at each part of the scene for which you want to add a reading and then recompose before capturing your image. Sure, that makes sense, but the manual probably could've communicated that a little more clearly.

In our field tests, the 1Ds Mark III yielded remarkably accurate exposures and was rarely fooled by tricky scenes, but the 3D color Matrix Metering found in Nikon's D3--with its 1,005-pixel sensor and onboard database of comparison image data--barely edges out the 1Ds Mark III's evaluative mode when it comes to very tricky situations. Ultimately, though, this may be a matter of preference on my part, since the Nikon tends to err on the side of caution in preserving highlight detail by slightly underexposing in some situations, while the Canon will serve up what is traditionally a proper exposure. Really, you can't call either approach "wrong." If you're really worried about highlights, though, you can activate the Mark III's Highlight Tone Priority custom function, which makes use of the camera's 14-bit digital conversion to extend the upper portion of the dynamic range to help preserve highlight detail. There's an example of this in the slide show that accompanies this review.

Another feature the 1Ds Mark III shares with its 1D cousin is the Picture Style menu in which you can quickly adjust sharpness, contrast, saturation, and color tone to change the overall look of the images you capture. In addition to six presets, which can each be modified as you see fit, there are three user-defined settings so you can make up your own. Among the presets is a monochrome setting, which includes filter effects that mimic traditional (yellow, orange, red, and green) black-and-white filter sets. In addition to the filters, there are also toning effects, such as sepia, blue, purple, or green. The black-and-white filter effects are subtle, but do a decent job of approximating the effect of real filters. Best of all, you can access the Picture Style menu from a dedicated button next to the FUNC button, so if you want to create different styles for different situations, it's easy to switch between them quickly.

As has become the norm on high end dSLRs, the 1Ds Mark III includes a slew of custom functions, so you can tweak the camera to your heart's delight. That means you really should sit down and read the manual--at very least the section that details the custom functions. If you don't you'll be missing out on a lot of the things this camera can do. For example, you can extend the sensitivity range from its default of ISO 100-1,600 one stop in either direction, to cover ISO 50-3,200, though the camera displays L and H respectively for these extremes. You can also limit sensitivity to a tighter range, or do the same for shutter speeds or apertures. Some of the buttons, such as the aforementioned AF-On button, can be changed to perform slightly- or very-different functions. With the AF Microadjustment function, you can fine tune the AF so that it focuses slightly ahead or behind the point that it normally would focus to. This can be set to apply only to certain lenses, or all lenses. Nikon offers a similar adjustment in the D3. Canon also lets you save up to three sets of custom functions, so if you share the camera, or want certain settings for certain types of jobs, you can save them and switch among them quickly and easily.

As usual, the 1Ds Mark III is made to work with a very wide variety of Canon's optional accessories. This includes an array of Speedlites; one of the most comprehensive assortments of lenses available today; the WFT-E2A wireless file transmitter, which lets you send files to a computer via the 802.11g wireless standard; and the OSK-E3 Original Data Security Kit, which lets you verify that images have not been tampered with. Of course, there are many more accessories, but listing them all here would be excessive.

VALUE FOR MONEY 7/10

EASE OF USE 8/10

IMAGE QUALITY 10/10

FEATURES 10/10

OVERALL 9/10

12th July 2008: The perfect production software

Ableton Live Suite 7 RRP £399

Ableton has really shown itself to be, well, able. Those übercreative and hard-working Germans are back with the revamped and re-energized Live 7 Suite, which keeps Live on the cutting edge of technological advancement and user demand without sacrificing its intuitive nature and flexibility. As with previous versions, Ableton ran a massive beta testing campaign that enlisted enthusiasts to fine-tune what was already a major upgrade to Live's core. With Live 7, Ableton rebuts any naysayers' complaints about fidelity, accuracy or other qualitative points in previous versions. With a revamped audio engine, improved MIDI timing, jitter reduction, dithering and 64-bit summing, Live 7 is all about sound quality; every user should notice a marked increase in clarity, even with old sessions. Also on hand are some hot new instruments, updated devices, expanded sound banks and other user-requested features.

I tested Live 7 Suite — which includes Live 7; the Operator, Sampler, Analog, Electric and Tension instruments; and the Essential Instrument Collection 2 (EIC2), Session Drums and Drum Machines sound libraries — on a MacBook Pro 2.2 GHz Intel Core Duo with 2 GB of RAM running OS 10.4.10. Many users have reported speed gains of up to 10 percent using the newer OS 10.5 Leopard, and Live 7 is also compatible with Windows XP and Vista. Installation was a snap; once the installer was complete, it auto-checked Ableton's Website for updates and took me directly to the download page for version 7.0.1. Authentication is achieved through the use of a challenge/response system.

Addressing users' needs, Ableton implemented several new functions in Live 7. Powerful Dithering options in the Render menu offer three varieties of POW-r algorithms. Live now supports time-signature changes, which are automatable in the Arrangement view like Markers or in the Session view via scene trigger labeling. The excruciatingly awesome Tempo Nudge gently adjusts the session bpm up or down momentarily to help manually sync Live to an external source on the fly — priceless for DJs. The new Multi-Lane automation lets you simultaneously view several automation curves for a single track. Live 7 also supports REX files, opening it up to masses of sound banks with the ability to use REX metadata for warping. Also, Live's rendering abilities have been expanded to include video export for saving your warped or edited video clips.

Ableton Live 7 Suite admirably extends what was already one of the production world's most groundbreaking tools. By staying abreast of current trends, in cahoots with the most talented people and in constant dialog with its users, Ableton has created the best Live yet and secured a key place in the industry.

VALUE FOR MONEY 6/10

FEATURES 9/10

EASE OF USE 7/10

OVERALL 8/10

8th July 2008: Mix it up a little.

Behringer XENYX 2442FX RRP £199

Behringer XENYX 2442FX Features:

Premium ultra low-noise, high headroom analog mixer
10 state-of-the-art XENYX Mic Preamps comparable to standalone boutique preamps
Neo-classic "British" 3-band EQs with semi-parametric mid band for warm and musical sound
Studio-grade 24-bit stereo FX processor with 100 awesome presets including reverb, chorus, flanger, delay, pitch shifter and various multi-effects
USB/Audio Interface included to connect directly to your computer. Free audio recording and editing software downloadable at www.behringer.com
Channel inserts and direct outputs on each mono channel plus main mix inserts for flexible connection of outboard equipment
4 aux sends per channel: 2 pre/post fader switchable for monitoring/FX applications, 2 post fader (for internal FX or as external send)
Peak LEDs, mute, main mix and subgroup routing switches, solo and PFL functions on all channels
4 subgroups with separate outputs for added routing flexibility; 4 multi-functional stereo aux returns with flexible routing
Balanced main mix outputs with ¬" jack and gold-plated XLR connectors, separate control room, headphones and stereo tape outputs
Control room/phones outputs with multi-input source matrix; Tape inputs assignable to main mix or control room/phones outputs
Long-wearing 60 mm logarithmic-taper faders and sealed rotary controls
Internal autorange power supply for maximum flexibility (100 - 240 V~), noise-free audio, superior transient response plus low power consumption for energy saving
Rack mount brackets included for ultimate flexibility
High-quality components and exceptionally rugged construction ensure long life

VALUE FOR MONEY 9/10

FEATURES 7/10

EASE OF USE 8/10

OVERALL 8/10

7th July 2008 : Studio speakers to get you started.

M Audio AV40 RRP £99

Features
The rear of the left speaker has stereo RCA inputs. Combined with the included 3.5mm to RCA stereo cable, that means you can pretty much connect anything with a headphone or line-out jack to the speakers, be it your computer, an iPod, DVD player, and so forth. The speaker includes quarter of an inch "TRS" inputs for professional applications, as well. The left speaker also houses the power on/off and Bass Boost switches, as well as the push-clip connectors that you use to run the included hookup wire over to the right speaker. Up front there's a 3.5mm headphone jack and a 3.5mm auxiliary input to connect any sort of portable device, such as an iPod.

The AV 40 features a two-way design; each speaker has a 4-inch polypropylene-coated woofer and a 1-inch silk dome tweeter. The built-in amplifier delivers 20 watts per channel.

Performance
The Studiophile AV 40 immediately impressed us when we played some of our favorite Rolling Stones tunes. We cranked the volume up nice and loud and the sound remained clear while the bass was punchy. When we experimented with the Bass Boost control, it added a nice kick and didn't become overblown or boomy.

Conclusion

If you are looking to get into music production or just looking for a great set of desktop speakers then you will find no better value for money than the M audio AV 40 Speakers.

VALUE FOR MONEY 10/10

SOUND QUALITY 9/10

_{FEATURES 9/10}

OVERALL 9/10

6th July 2008 : Canon's New Entry Level SLR

Canon EOS 450D

RP £450

Resolution:12.2Mp
Sensor type: CMOS
Autofocus points: 9
Crop factor: 1.6x
Lens mount: EF/EF-S
Metering system: TTL 35-Zone
Frames per second: 3.5
ISO min: 100
ISO max: 1600
Screen size: 3.0
Card format: SD/SDHC
Battery model: Lithium-Ion LP-E5 Rechargeable Battery
Weight: 475g
Size: 129x98x62mm
Resolution: 4272 x 2848
Shutter speed max: 1/4000second
Shutter speed min: 30seconds

Canon have been leaders in the entry level DSLR market for years and with the EOS 450D I can't see them losing their position anytime soon. The camera is packed with features and playing with it more and more reveals extra bits to try out.

It's a fun camera and very easy to use. If you're a learner looking for a camera to develop your knowledge and skill with, you don't have a sack of cash and need an easy mode opt out for when it all gets too much, this is a great camera for consideration.

Canon EOS 450D: Plus points
Easy to use
Image stabiliser in standard lens
Nice features
Live view

Canon EOS 450D: Minus points
Change of external media for existing users
Film speed capped at ISO1600
Easily removable battery door

Conclusion

If you don't already own an EOS 350D or 400D I suggest buying this camera, however if you own 1 of the former in the series than don't upgrade right now.

VALUE FOR MONEY 8/10

FEATURES 8/10

EASE OF USE 9/10

PICTURE QUALITY 8/10

OVERALL 8/10