Pagina 1 MOTU Digital Performer 7 02.10.2010 02:51:41 http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar10/articles/dp7.htm Sound On Sound quick search In thi s ar tic le: MOTU Digital Performer 7 £449 pros Some great new features go hand in hand with further improved stability and polish. DP’s core strengths remain unchanged: a highly adaptable interface, multiple workflow opti ons, and deep audio and MIDI editing potential. Useful, fine-sounding guitar- oriented plug-ins. Enhanced mixing features, including channel strips, Insert Settings plug-in recall, in-line EQ and dynamics. cons Still no bundled sampler or sample player. No straightforward equivalent to Logic’s Flex Tool or Pro Tools’ Elastic Time. Audio CD burning remains a little buggy and not Red Book-compatible. Some aspects of the user interface are somewhat cryptic. summary It’s an incremental update rather than a revolution, but even if you’re not a guitarist, Digital Performer 7 is still a very worthwhile upgrade. information £449; upgrade from DP6, £139.83. Prices include VAT. Musictrack +44 (0)1767 313447. Click here to email www.musictrack.co.uk www.motu.com Test Spec Digital Performer v7.02 and 7.1. Apple MacBook with 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4GB RAM, running Mac OS 10.5.8. Buy PDF Published in SOS March 2010 Printer-friendly version The headline feature in DP7 is a suite of new guitar-processing plug-ins that includes various modelled ‘stomp box’ effects, plus amp (below) and cabinet simulators. D Saturday 2nd October 2010 My Account Logged in as: Ital Rolando My Account My Contact details My Readers Ads details My Forum details My Downloads My Subscription My Email My Password Logout View cookies SOS FREE SERVICE — MUSICIA NS: BUY & SELL YOUR USED GEAR 1000s of gear bargains for sale TODAY in SOS Reader Ads — Keyboards, Synth Modules, Samplers, Software, Mics, Monitors, PA, Computers, Guitars, Amps and more... CLICK FOR INFO (FREE listing). October 201 0 On sale now at main newsagents and bookstores (or buy direct from the SOS Web Shop) MOTU Digital Performer 7 : March 2010 MOTU Digit al Per former 7 Digital Audio Workstation Software For Mac OS Reviews : Software: Sequencers+DAWs The latest version of MOTU’s Mac sequencer has guit arists fi rml y in its si ghts, but there are pl ent y of general improvements too. Robi n Bigwoodigital Performer has long occupied a niche in the world of mus ic- for-picture an d film scoring , especially in the US. But it’s also got a reputation as an all-rounder, offering sophistica ted audio editing and dee p MIDI pro grammin g features , making it a serious alternative to the othe r giants of the Mac DAW world. It’s customary at this point to refer the reader back to so me previous reviews, and who am I to buck tradition? My review o f DP6 was published in the November 2008 edition of SOS, available on the web at www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov08/articles/dp6.htm. And tho ugh very outdate d in ma ny way s now, there’s additional coverag e of the guts of the editing environme nt in September 200 6’s DP5 review, at www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep06/articles/performer5.htm. Both should give you a taster of what’s general ly on offer if DP is otherwise new to you. Secret Seven DP7 looks and feels remarka bly simila r to DP6, and there are othe r similarities too. It installs from a single CD, and still has light-touch co py protection that just requires the installe r disc to be in the drive, and a key code en tered, the very first time you ru n the ap plication. There’s a p rinted manual — a 1090 -page whoppe r — and a smalle r Getting Started guid e, but no PDF or browser-b ased equivalen ts for when you’re on the roa d. There’s also an Extras DVD with some giveaway samp le and loop content. These things are hard to quantify, but I fancy DP7 runs more sweetly a nd efficien tly than DP6 ever did. I notice fewer interruptions to a udio wh en plug-in s are in stantiated, opened or clo sed, or when making edits on audio tracks durin g playbac k, and the user interface is nicely responsive at all times . CPU efficiency see ms better than be fore, too. MOTU never give much awa y about DP deve lopmen t stuff like this, but you ha ve to assume these things must be re lated to ongoing , fundame ntal revision of ap plication code, perhaps in readines s for OS X’s 64-bit future. Worthy as they are, though , efficiency improveme nts to an a pplication don’t set us ers’ hea rts aflame. So let’s boo the support band off stage an d get straight on to DP7’s headlin e acts. Axe Attack Without doubt DP7’s sexiest and most colourful new addition s are those aimed at guitarists. Some would argue that theyhave been a long time coming : previous DP version s offered only the less-than -impressive PreAmp-1 plug -in for distortion and overdrive treatments . Now there are no fewer than 12 new plug-in s aimed at guitarists an d bassists , which could conceiva bly be pressed into service for general trackin g and mix ing tasks too. Of these ne w plug-in s, six are software models of well-kn own fuzz, distortion and overdrive pedals. D Plus is based on the MXR Distortion+,Delta Fuzz mimics the Electro-Harmonix Big Mu ff, Diamon d Drive is MOTU’s take on the Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive , RXT is their Pro Co Rat, and Tube Wailer and Uber Tube model the Ibanez Tube Screamer and Super Tube respectively . Then there’s Analo g Chorus, based on a Boss CE-series pedal, a Wah Pedal plug-in that emula tes both a ’70s Vox 846 a nd a mode rn-day D unlop Cry Baby, and an Intelligent No ise Gate, which can be used to treat DC-related electrical noise, as well as AC hum at various freq uencies. MOTU have thro wn in a decent Tuner for good measure too. The remaining two plug -ins are a little more comple x. Live Room G is a virtual ‘amp miking’ tool, recreating the sound of one of five different spea ker cabinets placed in a typ ical live-room aco ustic. Its closest rival that I can thin k of is Audio ease’s Cab inet, but it goes further than that. Virtual miking duties are undertaken by two mono spots and one stereo array , and each of the channels they feed has con figurable option s such as mic type and placeme nt (on or off-ax is, front or rear, near o r far). MOTU limits you to use ful com binations, so, for example, the stereo mic arrays can only be use d at a distance, and on the front side of the cabi net. There’s still plenty to work w ith, though , especia lly as each mic channel has its own EQ,level and pan. Finally , there’s Custom ’59, an amp mod eller designe d to be paired with Live Ro om G. The preamp circui t, tone controls and pow er amp stage ca n be selecte d separately from mo dels of a Fender Bassman, Marshall JTM45 and JCM800. You also ge t to choose the type of valve used in the preamp, and there are virtual low- impedance and high-impedance inputs on two separate channels. Secret Seven Axe Attack Hired Hands Get In Line Channel Strip s Enough Already ? Plug-in Chaining And There’s More... 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Some great new features gohand in hand with furtherimproved stability and polish.DP’s core strengths remainunchanged: a highlyadaptable interface, multipleworkflow options, and deepaudio and MIDI editingpotential.Useful, fine-sounding guitar-oriented plug-ins.Enhanced mixing features,including channel strips,Insert Settings plug-in recall,in-line EQ and dynamics.
cons
Still no bundled sampler orsample player.No straightforward equivalentto Logic’s Flex Tool or ProTools’ Elastic Time.Audio CD burning remains alittle buggy and not Red
Book-compatible.Some aspects of the userinterface are somewhatcryptic.
summary
It’s an incremental updaterather than a revolution, buteven if you’re not a guitarist,Digital Performer 7 is still avery worthwhile upgrade.
information
£449; upgrade from DP6,£139.83. Prices include VAT.
Musictrack +44 (0)1767313447.
Click here to email
www.musictrack.co.uk
www.motu.com
Test Spec
Digital Performer v7.02 and7.1.Apple MacBook with 2.2GHzIntel Core 2 Duo processorand 4GB RAM, running MacOS 10.5.8.
Buy PDF
Published in SOS March 2010
Printer-friendly version
The headline feature in DP7 is a suite ofnew guitar-processing plug-ins thatincludes various modelled ‘stomp box’
effects, plus amp (below) and cabinetsimulators.
D
Saturday 2nd October 2010
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MOTU Digital Performer 7 : March 2010
MOTU Digital Performer 7Digital Audio Workstation Software For Mac OS
Reviews : Software: Sequencers+DAWs
The latest version of MOTU’s Mac sequencerhas guitarists firmly in its sights, but there areplenty of general improvements too.
Robin Bigwood
igital Performer has long occupied a niche in the world of music-
for-picture and film scoring, especially in the US. But it’s also got a
reputation as an all-rounder, offering sophisticated audio editing
and deep MIDI programming features, making it a serious
alternative to the other giants of the Mac DAW world.
It’s customary at this point to refer the reader back to some
previous reviews, and who am I to buck tradition? My review of
DP6 was published in the November 2008 edition of SOS,
available on the web at www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov08/ articles/dp6.htm. And though very outdated in many ways now,
there’s additional coverage of the guts of the editing
environment in September 2006’s DP5 review, at
www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep06/articles/
performer5.htm. Both should give you a taster of what’s generally
on offer if DP is otherwise new to you.
Secret Seven
DP7 looks and feels remarkably similar to DP6, and there are other similarities too. It installs from a single
CD, and still has light-touch copy protection that just requires the installer disc to be in the drive, and a key
code entered, the very first time you run the application. There’s a printed manual — a 1090-page whopper —
and a smaller Getting Started guide, but no PDF or browser-based equivalents for whenyou’re on the road.
There’s also an Extras DVD with some giveaway sample and loop content.
These things are hard to quantify, but I fancy DP7 runs more sweetly and efficiently than DP6 ever did. I
notice fewer interruptions to audio when plug-ins are instantiated, opened or closed, or when makingedits on
audio tracks during playback, and the user interface is nicely responsive at all times. CPU efficiency seems
better than before, too. MOTU never give much away about DP development stuff like this, but you have to
assume these things must be related to ongoing, fundamental revision of application code,perhaps in
readiness for OS X’s 64-bit future.
Worthy as theyare, though, efficiency improvements to an application don’t set users’ hearts aflame. So
let’s boo the support band off stage and get straight on to DP7’s headline acts.
Axe Attack
Without doubt DP7’s sexiest and most colourful new additions are those aimed at guitarists. Some would
argue that theyhave been a long time coming: previous DP versions offered only the less-than-impressive
PreAmp-1 plug-in for distortion and overdrive treatments. Now there are no fewer than 12 new plug-ins aimed
at guitarists and bassists, which could conceivably be pressed into service for general tracking and mixing
tasks too.
Of these new plug-ins, six are software models of well-known fuzz, distortion and overdrivepedals. D Plus
is based on the MXR Distortion+,Delta Fuzz mimics the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, Diamond Drive is
MOTU’s take on the Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, RXT is their Pro Co Rat, and TubeWailer and Uber Tube
model the IbanezTube Screamer and Super Tube respectively.
Then there’s Analog Chorus, basedon a Boss CE-series pedal,a Wah Pedal plug-in that emulates both a
’70s Vox 846 and a modern-day Dunlop CryBaby, and an Intelligent Noise Gate, which can be used to treat
DC-relatedelectrical noise,as well as AC hum at various frequencies. MOTU have thrown in a decent Tuner
for goodmeasure too.
The remaining two plug-ins are a little more complex. Live Room G is a virtual ‘amp miking’ tool, recreating
the sound of one of five different speaker cabinets placed in a typical live-room acoustic. Its closest rival that I
can think of is Audioease’s Cabinet, but it goes further than that. Virtual mikingduties are undertaken by two
mono spots and one stereo array, and each of the channels they feed has configurable options such as mic
type and placement (on or off-axis, front or rear, near or far). MOTU limits you to useful combinations,so, for
example, the stereo micarrays can only be used at a distance,and on the front side of the cabinet. There’sstill plenty to work with, though, especially as each micchannel has its own EQ, level and pan.
Finally, there’s Custom ’59,an amp modeller designed to be paired with Live Room G. The preamp circuit,
tone controls and power amp stage can be selected separately from models of a Fender Bassman, Marshall
JTM45 and JCM800. You also get to choose the type of valve used in the preamp,and there are virtual low-
impedance and high-impedance inputs on two separate channels.
Secret Seven
Axe Attack
Hired HandsGet In Line
Channel Strips
Enough Already?
Plug-in Chaining
And There’sMore...
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Digital Performer 7’s channel stripfeature, shown here in a ConsolidatedWindow sidebar with the ‘3 column’
setting.
DP’s editing window Info Bars now
include a horizontal-format channel strip,
but this doesn’t make them any easier to
comprehend
837185
Insert Settings provide a way of storingpreset ‘chains’ of plug-ins and theirsettings.
elsewhere, perhaps using (gasp!) whole words, would go a long,
long way towards making the editing environment more friendly.
Enough Already?
The initial release of DP 7.0 prompted some users to wonder if it
shouldn’t more appropriately have been called version 6.5, and
hencebeen offered as a free update. However, further incremental
releases,and especially version 7.1, have ensured that it’s
another significant step forward in the application’s development.
There are still a few things that some users willwish had been
included. The ongoing lack of a bundled workhorse sampler
instrument is unfortunate, although it only reallyaffects those whodon’t already have access to a third-partyalternative. There’s
room for improvement with the integrated CD burning, which
produces too many coasters for comfort, and even successful
burns are not Red Book-compatible. I dream of MOTU fixing that,
and supplementing it with an option to generate a DDP file set.
This would really make the most of DP’s great potential as a
mastering platform.
Maybethe most seriousomission is the lack of any sort of
‘elastic audio’ feature. It’s partially made up for by a bunchof pre-
existing features that can detect beats in audio, and quantise it to
sequence tempo, but they’re fundamentally different to the
intuitive, mouse-driven, Melodyne-inspired tools increasingly being
introduced in rival DAWs. DP’s integrated monophonic pitch
correctionhas always been excellent, so supplementing this withtime-based manipulation of audio would make a killer problem-
solving and creative feature.
I don’t want to sound too down on DP7, though: it’s a super-
capable application, and there are so many things to enjoy. DP
has always been an notably flexible DAW, and version 7 builds on
that. It feels remarkably well-rounded, more powerful than ever,
and appears to have gained an enviabledegree of stability.
Internet user forums are surprisingly united in praiseof DP7’s reliability and responsiveness, and that’s been
my impression too, during testing. It’s reassuring to see that MOTU have continued to develop major new
features alongside the thousand-and-one unsexy little things that make such a difference to using a DAW
day-in,day-out, especially when doing so pays the rent.
The bottom line is that DP7 remains a heavyweight studio and location tool that can turn its handto almost
any kind of music- or audio-related production, and it does so with more assurance and ease of use than ever
before. I’m curious to see if MOTU can do anything to broaden its appeal still further, perhaps by bundling aworkstation instrument, or byimplementing a flexible audio scheme. Even without them, though, DP7 is an
application you feel you can really rely on, and it deserves to be taken as seriously as any other DAW on the
market.
Plug-in Chaining
MOTU’s approach to guitar plug-ins — offering themasindependent, individual plug-ins rather than within some sort ofvirtual pedalboard — would have the potential to make recall offrequently used setups rather tricky, were it not for anotherimportant new feature called Insert Settings. Released with theDP 7.1 update, this is, at heart, a ‘preset’ system for groups ofplug-ins and their settings,and of course isn’t restricted to use byguitarists. Plug-ins and virtual instruments in any supportedformat can be included in a Setting, so you can use them to saveand recall favourite combos for processing vocals or drums, for
mastering, or anything else you like. The facility, which is actuallyan alternative manifestation of Clippings — a long-standingfeature that seasoned DP users will know about already — iselegantlyand very naturally incorporated into the Mixing Board,as an additional pop-up menu just above the plug-in insert slots.
While we’re on the subject of inserts, DP 7.1 takes a cue fromLogic in automatically increasing the number of available slotswhen you fill up the bottom-most slot. Also, plug-in windows’menus now provide much more information: the Inserts menushows whichplug-ins are loaded in each slot, and the Trackmenu shows track types next to track names. Many individualplug-ins have beenprovided with more presets, too.
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There are a whole host of new and improved features in DP7 that there’s just not space to go into fully inthis review.These include:
An extended role for the Trim tool: now it can do fantastically useful scaling of automation and MIDIcontinuous data.
New ‘Range’ automation modes that restrict automation writingand modification to a specific time-range — which is great for working precisely on small sections.
Better integration of V-Racks, DP’s dedicated (though optional) VI and audio processing channels, in theMixing Board.
Audio fades that are now calculated in real time.
Support for the Wave64 extension to the BWF file format, allowing for very large audio file handling.
Improved sample-rate conversion algorithms.
Dedicated Lyrics and Chord Symbols facilities provided in the Quickscribe notation window.
‘Overview’ displays of data in track folders in the Tracks Overview, which take the guesswork out oflarge-scale sequence editing when there are closed folders around.
An auto-save feature, and automatic checking for application updates.
Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of smaller user-interface improvements.
Published in SOS March 2010
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