MIXMAN
September 10, 2006
by: jovial_cynic
by: jovial_cynic
I'm a big fan of dance music, particularly techno of the house and trance variety. Half of my mp3 collection on my iRiver is video game music that's been remixed into dance music, and I just can't get enough of it.
I went hunting around at garage sales and happened to stumble upon this:
It's a Mixman DM2, which allows me to actually mix music on my computer using this handy USB device. And... I picked it up for $2.50, which (after doing a little research online) turns out to be a fantastic deal. When these things came out brand new, they were over $100, and were bundled with some amazing software.
The DM2 that I picked up unfortunately didn't come with any software, so after hunting around online for a while, it turns out that you can buy either the basic package for $20, the medium packge for $50, or you can fork out $110 and get the "StudioXPro" package, which is supposed to be pretty amazing.
Mixman StudioXPro enables you to create professional quality music on your PC. Take your musical ideas from concept to completion with this integrated suite of remixing tools. The patented Mixman remix engine allows you to combine individual sound elements and perform them in real-time. Audio experimentation is fast and fun regardless of musical style. Includes 5 powerful "Studios" that give you control over every aspect of your music: Remixing Studio, Recording Studio, FX Studio, Editing Studio, and the new Track Maker that lets you build your own tracks. It's time to take your music to the next level.
"... to the next level."
haha... that's quite a sales pitch. In the meanwhile, the Mixman folks have a 60-day demo of the basic package that I'm going to test out for a while and see what I think. I probably don't need all the features that come with the StudioXPro, and I think that $20 is probably reasonable to pay for what the demo can do.
Fun fun fun...
Here's some screenshots of the basic and the pro versions:
Basic:
Pro:
You can't tell much of a difference just by looking at those screen shots. The StudioXPro seems to have a few more buttons, and the graphics are sharpened a bit around some of the buttons... and man, are there a lot of buttons on this thing. Fun.
I went hunting around at garage sales and happened to stumble upon this:
It's a Mixman DM2, which allows me to actually mix music on my computer using this handy USB device. And... I picked it up for $2.50, which (after doing a little research online) turns out to be a fantastic deal. When these things came out brand new, they were over $100, and were bundled with some amazing software.
The DM2 that I picked up unfortunately didn't come with any software, so after hunting around online for a while, it turns out that you can buy either the basic package for $20, the medium packge for $50, or you can fork out $110 and get the "StudioXPro" package, which is supposed to be pretty amazing.
Mixman StudioXPro enables you to create professional quality music on your PC. Take your musical ideas from concept to completion with this integrated suite of remixing tools. The patented Mixman remix engine allows you to combine individual sound elements and perform them in real-time. Audio experimentation is fast and fun regardless of musical style. Includes 5 powerful "Studios" that give you control over every aspect of your music: Remixing Studio, Recording Studio, FX Studio, Editing Studio, and the new Track Maker that lets you build your own tracks. It's time to take your music to the next level.
"... to the next level."
haha... that's quite a sales pitch. In the meanwhile, the Mixman folks have a 60-day demo of the basic package that I'm going to test out for a while and see what I think. I probably don't need all the features that come with the StudioXPro, and I think that $20 is probably reasonable to pay for what the demo can do.
Fun fun fun...
Here's some screenshots of the basic and the pro versions:
Basic:
Pro:
You can't tell much of a difference just by looking at those screen shots. The StudioXPro seems to have a few more buttons, and the graphics are sharpened a bit around some of the buttons... and man, are there a lot of buttons on this thing. Fun.
