Thursday 10 April 2014

SYNAPSE CIRCUIT MAGIX SAMPLITUDE MUSIC STUDIO 2014 REVIEW

Above: Samplitude Music Studio 2014 main interface displaying the MIDI editor and mixing desk.  
SYNAPSE CIRCUIT
MAGIX SAMPLITUDE MUSIC STUDIO 2014
£79.99

#MAGIX, #MusicStudio2014 #Samplitude

Good Hour, Synapse Circuit Readers! As always I hope that all is well in your world! Life is great and greater when we take the time to enjoy it!

One of the many, many ways in which we can enjoy life is through making music! Check out the latest Music Studio from Magix!

SONIC SUITE!
Essentially, Music Studio 2014 is a studio suite that is aimed at the musician, producer and band. It’s a different beast to the Music Maker program that is more aimed at the computer musician. Read the review here if you haven’t read it already: http://synapse-circuit.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/magix-music-maker-2014-premium-review.html
Music Studio comes from the mammoth music software, Samplitude Pro for the consummate professional music producer and from it you have the essential ingredients to produce music.

INTERFACE
The interface has 5 modes for your comfort: Professional, Easy, Standard, Recording and Export. Easy mode gives you the basics as the full blown professional interface may come across as intimidating if coming from simpler applications such as the aforementioned Music Maker.

However, Music Studio is pretty much straightforward to operate no matter what interface is selected; it’s probably easier to start in easy mode to get the composition started and switch to professional mode for more intricate details. The demos show off the interfaces admirably.

What’s more is that if you have a touch screen computer you can drag and drop sound files in tracks, etc.

WORKING
Working with Music Studio is always a pleasure as it simplifies the music production process. As a (dormant) solo artist I have to say that I have a preference for the Music Maker program but I can work in Music Studio just as easily! Where Music Studio comes into its own is with the recording facilities available such as the MR-128 that allows the quick recording of up to 6 instruments and two effects buses. But you can record up to 128 tracks simultaneously.

WHAT’S NEW FROM THE PREVIOUS VERSION?
With the 2014 version we have the DN-e1 analogue synthesizer that comes with a great array of presets for bass, drums, leads, pads and so much more! The sound quality is awesome and it is quite easy to tweak the preset sounds to create an individual sound!

There are other instruments in the form of:-

Power Guitar*
Vintage Organ
Pop Brass

Electric Piano

* You have to download Power Guitar once the program has installed!

For the vocally non pitch perfect there’s Vocal Tune that allows the manual adjustment of pitch.

And, finally, there is the Mastering Suite 4 that allows for “auto mastering”. Auto Mastering, when clicked, will optimize the overall sound of the composition; it works very, very well and, naturally, you can use other presets and / or tweak until your ear is content!


LOVE?
What’s not love about Samplitude Music Studio 2014? Take the Mastering Suite for example; it is so, so very easy to master your tracks for the purpose of burning to CD, MP3, etc. Professionals will tell you that you MUST use the arcane expertise services of a mastering studio. Uh-uh! That is a thing of the past! Still on the subject of mastering... ...there are so many awesome music software out there at various prices – even free – that have all the effects for mastering but do not make it as easy to add the polish to the finished composition. Often such software expects the user to be familiar and have some expertise with mastering a track. Both Samplitude Music Studio and Music Maker make mastering an absolute breeze! All the guess work is removed!

Of course, Samplitude Music Studio is compatible with VST instruments and effects in addition to the set of instruments and effects included by default (with exception to the Power Guitar that has to be downloaded). The default instruments and effects are outstanding in sound quality – they are certainly not toys! You can also purchase more Magix instruments from its website.

MIDI
Because Samplitude Music Studio 2104 is a derivative of the professional program, Samplitude, the MIDI facilities is solid! I actually like working with the MIDI editor. If it were up to me I would combine the Samplitude Music Studio 2014 MIDI editor to replace the one in Music Maker and will work in the same way i.e. by double clicking on the track one can start composing / editing in step-time! But that said, I could work in Samplitude Music Studio very comfortably!

CONCLUSION
Although Samplitude Music Studio (2104) is aimed at the musician, band and producer it shouldn’t be overlooked by the computer musician who prefers to edit music together as opposed to play and record it from manual dexterity. Music Studio is more than capable and represents excellent value for money!

There is a standard version that retails for £49.99 but the “Samplitude” version is the best! I’d advise anyone considering expensive DAWs to purchase Samplitude Music Studio and use the surplus cash to purchase great instruments and effects! Samplitude Music Studio 2014 has it all!



Watch out for a competition where you can win this awesome digital audio workstation!

Take good care!


Thank you for watching and reading!

Please check out the Synapse Circuit website for video, i-PDF and more! 

Synapse Circuit Dot Com

No comments:

Post a Comment