Review of ShuttlePro V2 Control Device

For users who do a lot of video or audio editing, especially with programs that take advantage of "scrubbing" within their editing capabilities, the ShuttlePro V2 can be a nice complement to your existing way of controlling your workflow.  It has a jog wheel, a shuttle control, and fifteen separate user-controllable buttons.  Designed to be used in conjunction with a mouse or similar device, this device will reduce your reliance on the keyboard and keyboard shortcuts.

  

Here's a review video about this device:

A couple of the key points that I love about this Control Device are:
- Appears to be built solidly.
- Doesn't slide around on desk.

One thing I didn't like about the ShuttlePro V2 was:
- I'm just not accustomed to working with a device like this!  But that's a personal shortcoming, not a problem with the control device itself.

ShuttlePro has presets in the control panel for the following long list of programs in a variety of styles:

Adobe Flash
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Audition
Adobe Encore
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Lightroom
Adobe PhotoShop
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Soundbooth
Avid Liquid
Avid MC Adrenaline
Avid Media Composer
Avid Pro Tools
Avid Xpress
Boris Keyframer
Boris Red
Cakewalk Guitar Tracks
Cakewalk Home Studio
Cakewalk Music Creator
Cakewalk Plasma
Cakewalk Projects
Cakewalk Sonar
Canopus DV Rex
Canopus Sonar
Canopus Edius
Discrete 3DS Max
Discrete Combustion
DPS Velocity
Easy Prompt
Finale
In-Sync Speed Razor
Magix Samplitude
Magix Sequoia
Media 100 iFinish
Media Studio Pro
MicroSoft Access
MicroSoft Excel
MicroSoft Outlook
MicroSoft PowerPoint
MicroSoft Word
Pinnacle Commotion
Pinnacle Edition
Pinnacle Studio
Sony Acid
Sony Cinescore
Sony Screen Blast
Sony Sound Forge
Sony Vegas
Steinberg Cubase
Steinberg Nuendo
Steinberg WaveLab
ULead Video Studio
and many others

And of course, the presets are just there for convenience.  You can program your own for any software package that you own.

I'm Jonathan Clark, known online as DJ Bolivia.  Do you want to learn more about DJ'ing and music production?  If so, visit:

djbolivia.ca/training

If you happen to enjoy techno tracks, most of my tracks are available as free downloads from this link:

djbolivia.ca/tracks

Thanks so much for visit, and for your support!  I really appreciate the fan base that I've been able to build up over the years.

Also, if you want to visit any of my other sites, here are a few links:

    YouTube:  youtube.com/djbolivia

    SoundCloud:  soundcloud.com/djbolivia

    Blogger:  djbolivia.blogspot.com

    Main Site:  www.djbolivia.ca

Review of M-Audio's Oxygen 25 MIDI Keyboard Controller

I'm about to hit the road for another eight or nine months, away from my home and studio, so I just picked up a small portable MIDI controller to use when I'm doing production work on the road. I bought the Oxygen 25 controller that is produced by M-Audio. It's very similar to the Oxygen 49 and Oxygen 61 controllers, but more portable.

 

M-Audio Oxygen 25 MIDI Keyboard Controller Review

In this video, I talked a bit about the controller specs that I researched online before I bought it, then I opened up the package to see what the Oxygen 25 looks and feels like. I played with it for a bit and gave a final opinion, which was positive.





Learning the Basics about MIDI Controllers

If you aren't already aware of what a MIDI controller is, or what it is used for, this basic video will give you the background that you need. For instance, you need to know that a keyboard controller does NOT produce sounds! A synth produces sounds. A MIDI controller can produce sounds if you route its MIDI output through some sort of module (or a computer program) that produces sounds (ie. through a hardware synth module or through a virtual instrument).





Some of the key points that I noted in the Oxygen 25 review video were:

- This unit is "class compliant," which means that you can use it directly on your Mac or Windows computer without having to install drivers.
- Having said that, there are more advanced windows drivers available on the M-Audio website that are necessary if you want to use this device simultaneously on multiple DAW's or apps, or if you want to hook up more than one class-compliant device to your computer simultaneously.
- This has non-volatile memory, which means that it saves presets and controller/channel assignments when powering down. To reset to the factory defaults, hold the "-" and the "+" keys simultaneously.
- M-Audio has software patches that you can download for free which let you use the Oxygen controllers with pre-determined patches that interface well with certain DAW's, specifically with versions available for Cubase, Pro Tools, Reason, Record, Ableton, Garageband, and Logic.
- You can use a standard sustain pedal with this. I tried using my Roland pedal with it, and it worked well.
- There's a spot for a Kensington security cable, if you're worried about using one of those.
- You can set your own velocity curves for key responsiveness. There are four curves available in the menu for touch-responsiveness, and three curves which actually output fixed velocities of 64, 100, or 127.
- If you have a good understanding of MIDI and want to dig further, you should check out the manual (which you can find online pretty easily). There are about twenty pages of very useful and detailed MIDI information in the manual.
- The 25 and 49 and 61 are all quite similar, although the 25 has a couple minor deficiencies compared to the two longer controllers. For instance, the 25 only has one control fader, whereas the other two models have nine each.
- The 25 is currently priced at $99 in Canada from Amazon, while the 49 is $149 and the 61 is $199. Those are probably the same approximate prices that you'd find in the US, since our dollar is pretty close to parity.
- You can use a Device ID function on the 49 and 61 only. So for example, if you want to own three of these keyboards and use them simultaneously in a live performance, that's possible with the 49 and 61, but the 25 cannot have a unique identified in the MIDI system.
- This unit is USB 2.0 compatible, and backwards compatible to 1.1. I presume it works on USB 3.0 ports, but you won't see any performance improvements by using a 3.0 port. However, none are needed.


Here are the basic specs on the Oxygen 25:

- MIDI data from variable controllers
- MIDI control number
- RPN/NRPN
- Program, bank LSB, bank MSB
- Pitch bend
- GM/GM2/XG SysEx messages
- MIDI Data from buttons/switches
- Note on
- Note on/off toggle
- MIDI CC on/Off toggle
- Program, Bank LSB, Bank MSB presets
- MIDI Machine Control functions
- GM/GM2/XG SysEx messages
- 3.7" H x 9.4" W x 16.2" D
- Weight: 3.8 lb.

I'm Jonathan Clark, known online as DJ Bolivia.  Do you want to learn more about DJ'ing and music production?  If so, visit:

djbolivia.ca/training

If you happen to enjoy techno tracks, most of my tracks are available as free downloads from this link:

djbolivia.ca/tracks

Thanks so much for visit, and for your support!  I really appreciate the fan base that I've been able to build up over the years.

Also, if you want to visit any of my other sites, here are a few links:

    YouTube:  youtube.com/djbolivia

    SoundCloud:  soundcloud.com/djbolivia

    Blogger:  djbolivia.blogspot.com

    Main Site:  www.djbolivia.ca