Choosing DAW for students: Logic Pro X vs Studio One 3

There are so many DAWs in the market that each has distinguished features specialised for a specific function.
Pro Tools, for example, is well-known for its mixing capability so that many studios use Pro Tools for their mixing purposes. However, MIDI support of Pro Tools is not as good as other DAWs. Similarly, Ableton Live is specifically good for live performance. If you're planning to use your keyboard and DAW for live performance, Live might be the best option for you.

We can't say which DAW is the best in general, as it really depends on the purpose of DAW, as well as your personal preference. Here, I can't talk what is the best, but try to narrow down which DAW might be best for YOU. The suggestions are totally based on my personal view and general information gathered from Internet. Also, be aware that I'm a newbie in computer music. ;)

DAWs to be considered: Ableton Live, Cubase, Pro Tools, Digital Performer, Cakewalk SONAR, Pro Tools, FL Studio, Studio One, Traktion, Reaper.

1. Do you intend to do Live performance? Consider Live.
2. Mainly for recording and mixing? Pro Tools would be good.
3. Compact, light-weight, simple, reliable with inexpensive price? Reaper
4. Playing electronic music? FL Studio is the hot DAW these days.
5. MIDI composing and some mixing? Either Cubase, Logic Pro, or Studio One is a good start.

Here, let's dig further into Logic Pro X and Studio One 3. Full version of Logic Pro X costs only US$200 from Apple App Store, which can be purchased with around US$160 cash if you can buy 20% discounted iTunes gift card.
Presonus Studio One has a discounted student version, with further discount if you own their Artist version. Studio One Artist can be easily obtained for free as it is bundled with many audio interfaces and keyboard controllers. If you have Artist version and buy the educational upgrade license from Artist to Professional, it costs only US$150 to get the full version. In short, Logic Pro X and Studio One Professional can be purchased with similar price if you are a student.

Apple's Logic Pro is long-history DAW, one of the longest DAWs in the market while Studio One is pretty new software which has been out there for just some years. Although its young age, Studio One became so popular due to its easy-to-use intuitive workflows with decent functionality. Certainly Logic Pro got much more user population as it's been for so long time.

• UI and workflow

People say Studio One's most powerful feature is its intuitive UI, represented by the drag-and-drop function. It supports massive macros which make mixing workflow much simpler. Although Logic Pro has beautiful colors with decent icons, actual usage might be easier in Studio One.

• Bundled instruments and effects

Virtual instruments included in Logic Pro are extensive and in good quality. Logic Pro has so many effects and instruments in its bundle. People usually say Logic is just worth for its cheap price with those massive bundled contents. Although Studio One got many bundled contents as well, it's not as good in quality as Logic Pro's.

• Score notation

Logic Pro has score notation function integrated within the software, while Studio One doesn't provide any.

In conclusion, if you work more with MIDI and virtual instruments, rather than recording the real instruments and mixing down, Apple Logic Pro would be a good beginning as it provides massive bundled contents with score notation function. Especially if you do not intend to buy any 3rd party plugins (such as NI Kontakt instruments or other effect plugins), the included instruments and effects within Logic Pro will be sufficient when you just started music.

If you already collected many external plugins and do not need Logic Pro's bundled contents much, try Studio One. Also, if you do more recordings and mixing, Studio One will be suitable to work with its easy and intuitive UIs.

KORG Taktile setting for Presonus StudioOne and any other DAW

Introduction

KORG Taktile49 MIDI controller has 7 predefined DAW settings. You can change 'scene' to choose from different preconfigured settings. For example if you're using Cubase, choosing Cubase scene (Scene #2) simply makes it work perfectly in Cubase DAW.

However, if you don't use any of the 7 predefined DAW, you can only use it as standard MIDI controller, without the functionality to control the DAW software, according to KORG's manual.
In my case, I'm currently using Presonus Studio One 3, which is not in the supported DAW list. Thus, I have to figure out what settings should be done to make Taktile work with StudioOne 3.

This configuration is applicable not only for StudioOne 3, but also for any DAW not predefined in Taktile.

Three MIDI ports of Taktile

When Taktile is connected via USB cable, there are 3 ports shown up in MIDI list on your computer: taktile DAW (In/Out), taktile KEYBOARD/CTRL, taktile MIDI I/F (In/Out). It is important which port is working for which occasion.

1. DAW In/Out port

This port is used to exchange 'DAW' messages. These DAW messages are not MIDI standard CC messages. These are specifically designed to control DAW software, including mixing pan/gain/solo/mute/rec, play/stop/loop, and set markers.
In other words, this port is working as 'control surface', similar to Mackie Control Unit. The actual message is different depending on the selected DAW scene on Taktile.
DAW Out port is to send the current status of DAW software back to Taktile. For example, if DAW is in playing mode, the status message is sent to Taktile and make Play button light on. Also the status of Solo/Mute/Record for each track is sent to Taktile through this port.

2. KEYBOARD/CTRL port

This is actual MIDI port. All key notes and standard CC MIDI messages are sent through this port. For some DAW scene settings, such as Logic and Garageband, this is the only port that sends all data.
CTRL (out) port is used to send MIDI messages back to Taktile from DAW software. This is important if you need to sync MIDI clock from your DAW software. Configure to send MIDI Clock to CTRL port.

3. MIDI I/F port

This is to use the external MIDI device connected through Taktile's MIDI socket (next to USB socket). If you do not connect any device on the MIDI socket, there is nothing to do with this port.

Different messages on each scene

Depending on the selected scene, different messages are sent to different port.

• No DAW messages: Logic, Garageband, Basic MIDI scenes

In these scenes, DAW port is not used at all. All messages are sent through KEYBOARD/CTRL port. As there are no DAW messages, 'Control Mode' toggle button is disabled. All knobs/faders/Fn buttons as well as Play/Stop/etc messages are sent as MIDI CC message.

• Mackie Control type messages: Cubase, DP, Live, Sonar scenes

In these scenes, Mackie Control compatible messages are sent through DAW port to control DAW functionalities.
In detail, when 'Control Mode' is off, knobs/faders/Fn buttons are working for DAW mixing purpose through DAW port. If Control Mode is on, those buttons are working for setting parameters (e.g. change virtual instrument's parameters) with standard MIDI CC messages through KEYBOARD/CTRL port.
Play/Stop/Loop/etc messages are sent as DAW control message through DAW port, regardless of Control Mode selection.
The only difference of each scene is that there are different DAW messages for Loop and Marker buttons.

• Mackie HUI type messages: Pro Tools scene

Same as the previous case, DAW control messages are sent to 'DAW In' port. However, in Pro Tools scene, DAW messages are Mackie HUI compatible, which are totally different from Mackie Control format. Therefore, if your DAW supports Mackie HUI controller, use Mackie HUI with 'Pro Tools' scene setting on Taktile.

Conclusion

Taktile49 setup guide for Presonus StudioOne 3

1) Add Mackie > HUI as an external device in preference. Set "Receive From" to "taktile DAW In" and "Send To" to "DAW Out".

2) Add New Keyboard device. Set "Receive From" to "taktile KEYBOARD/CTRL". "Send To" would be None.

3) Add New Instrument device. Set "Send To"  to "taktile CTRL". Check "Send MIDI Clock". This device configuration is to sync BPM between StudioOne and taktile. If you don't need to sync BPM, skip this.

4) On Taktile, select "Pro Tools" scene.

5) Done. DAW functions should work fine now. Play/Stop/Loop buttons will work well. Also when Control Mode is off, all knobs, faders, solo/rec/mute selections would be working with StudioOne. When Control Mode is on, CC MIDI messages are sent to the virtual instrument in which you have to configure the behaviour of the CC.

Taktile49 setup guide for any other non-listed DAW software

1) Add Mackie Control or Mackie HUI device in your DAW software. Select 'DAW In' port for input and 'DAW Out' port for output.

2) Configure MIDI keyboard device in your DAW software. Select 'KEYBOARD/CTRL' port for input. 

3) Configure MIDI clock device in your DAW software. Select 'CTRL' port for output.

4) Select appropriate scene on Taktile.  If you added Mackie HUI device, 'Pro Tools' scene should work fine. If you added Mackie Control device, check different scenes and find out which scene works perfect with your DAW. In order to check out, test Marker, and Loop buttons.

5) Assign CC messages (with Control Mode on) to each virtual instruments.

Shop in the US? Tip for using mail forwarders, such as AusPost's ShopMate

PayPal + Debit or Prepaid card + Order now, pay later seller = Headache...

When an onlilne seller says 'order now, but we won't charge until the item is shipped', it sounds sweet to the customer. I misunderstood this sentence, where my headache started from.

I thought, they won't do anything with payment in any method, until they ship the item. However, they actually did authorization to my account. Authorization is not a real payment, but just checking my account whether I have sufficient money for the payment. It's exactly same as when you rent a car, or check in to a hotel, they authorize some deposit from your credit card. It is not a problem in credit card when you have enough credit, as the authorization itself doesn't really charge anything to myself.

However, it arises a problem if the authorization is done on a debit or prepaid card, since the bank took the money from the account even if it's just authorization, not the actual payment. Usual mechanism of the transition from the authorization to the payment is, however, firstly to cancel the authorized amount and then to charge again for the real transaction.

Imagine the rent company. What they do is to authorise the estimated cost from the credit card when you're starting the rental. After returned the car, they will calculate the actual cost in total including excessed KMs, fuels, late return, etc, then charge the final amount to the credit card again, at the same time the previous authorization is cancelled.

I haven't noticed that the online retailer would follow the exactly same process. Apparently they authorized to my debit card through paypal when I placed an order a week ago. However, it's not actually 'charged' because the item was out of stock. After a week, when they received some stock, finally they try to charge me. However, in my bank account I didn't have sufficient balance due to the 'authorized transaction'. Even if they canceled the previous authorization and tried another transaction for the real payment, it takes about a week for the the canceled balance to show up on my account.

So, the actual payment transaction was rejected by my bank and PayPal, and the online retailer cannot process the real payment.

It's actually a stupid idea to add this weird authorization stuff into the payment process from an online retailer. As the authorization is still a sort of charging process, especially when I used debit card, it's actually a double-charge. For PayPal, credit card company and the bank, I guess they can just convert the authorization transaction into the real payment transaction, not by cancelling the previous transaction and creating another transaction which is exactly same as the cancelled one.

Be aware of using debit card when you saw the statement "order now, pay when it is shipped". In such a case, put sufficient money into your account, which has to be more than twice of the price, or just use a credit card.

More detailed information about the credit card authorization and payment (which is officially called credit capture formally):
http://www.paymentsgateway.com.au/what-you-need-to-know/payments-gateway-authorization-and-capture

Added: it was particularly a problem to me since my actual payment transaction was made after a week from the original authorization. It seems there wouldn't be this kind of problem if the payment (a.k.a credit capture) is processed within 3 days from the authorization, according to PayPal. More details are:
https://developer.paypal.com/docs/classic/paypal-payments-standard/integration-guide/authcapture/

Comparison of DAW software bundled with entry-level audio interface

Audio interface is a crucial product for home recording/studio, and various vendors makes their economy models for newbies in home recording. All of those budget audio interfaces come with a DAW software which usually has limited functionality compared to the full version software.

Here I compare various bundle DAWs with their full version in terms of functionality and upgrade price. Most DAW companies allow to upgrade from the bundle to the full version with slightly less cost.



1. Protools: Avid Fast Track series, M-Audio M-Track Plus

Version Name:	First	Express	Pro Tools
Price (Regular/Edu)	Free	Bundle ($700~$200)	$900/$300
Audio Tracks# (48/96)	16/16	16/16	128/64
Recording Inst#	16	8	512
Input#	4	8	32
Input Recording#	4	4	32
Sample rate	32/96	32/96	32/192

Protools Express is bundled with Avid audio interfaces and some of M-Audio interfaces. Its functionality is similar to their free version, Protools First. However, the incredible benefit of Protools Express is at their upgrade price. If you want to upgrade to the full version ($900/$300 for edu), you need to pay only $200 to buy upgrade license.

Don't pay $900 or $300 to buy the full version Protools license. Buy any audio interface that comes with Protools Express, then buy the upgrade license. Avid fast track solo will cost around $180, so that you can get the full version Protools with the extra audio interface at only $380 in total.

In this manner, the value of Protools Express can be as high as $700 (Full version license cost $900 subtracted by the upgrade cost $200).

2. Studio One: Presonus Audiobox series

	S1 Prime	S1 Artist	S1 Professional
Price (Regular/Edu)	Free	$100/$50/Bundle	$400/$200
Virtual Inst#	1	5	5
Effects#	9	30	36
VST	No	No	Yes

Presonus audio interfaces are bundled with their own DAW, Studio One Artist. Unlike the other bundled DAWs, S1 Artist is available in market standalone to purchase at $100. They also provide upgrade option to the full version, which cost $300 exactly $100 less than the regular license.

In terms of functionality, S1 Artist provides most functions that the full version provides, but VST support. This is the main reason why people wish to upgrade to the full version with extra $300 payment.

3. Cubase: Steinberg UR series

	AI	Elements	Artist	Pro
Price (Regular/Edu)	Bundle ($100~$50)	$120/$85	$400/$230	$700/$400
Audio Tracks# (48/96)	32	48	64	Unlimited
Recording Inst#	16	24	32	Unlimited
Input#	4	24	32	256
Effects#	28	44	47	66
Virtual Inst#	1	3	8	8

Cubase AI, the bundled version, is the most restricted version among Cubase family. But they provide upgrade option from AI to Artist or Pro, which costs $350 or $600. The value of AI version in this manner can be $50 if you want to upgrade to Artist, or $100 when upgrading to Pro.

4. Ableton Live: Focusrite Scarlett series, M-Audio M-Track series

	Live Lite	Live Intro	Live Standard
Price (Regular/Edu)	Bundle (0)	$119	$529/$317
Audio Tracks# (48/96)	8	16	Unlimited
Input#	4	4	256
Virtual Inst#	3	3	4
Effects#	11	20	32

The bundled version of Ableton Live is not so interested. It's just their most limited version, and there is no upgrade plan for the bundle version.

Audio codec blind test by yourself.

http://soundexpert.org/testing-room

This interesting website provides blind test to compare between lossless wave audio with mp3 or aac encoded one. In the wave file they provide, there are two tracks of exactly same music, but with different encoding. One is the original wave track, but another one is AAC or MP3 encoded track. They won't tell you which one comes first, so that you will guess what is what.

Using the tested statistics gathered from the public including yourself, they show and compare the quality of the encoding codec.

It's fun, and even you can test your hearing and sound equipment!

Exchanging/using money while travelling overseas for Australians.

There are several ways of using Australian dollars overseas.

1. Just bring Australian dollars in cash
In most countries it's very easy to find out exchange stalls where they exchange your Australian dollar into their currency. This is good method if you're traveling developing countries and you do not intend to spend much money, as bringing a lot of cash is somewhat risky to be stolen or lost.
If you travel to economically developed country, such as USA, Europe, or Japan, you can choose either to change the currency in Australia, or to change overseas. As different country will give you a slightly different exchange rate, check which is better option. In my opinion, it doesn't really matter though, since Australian dollar has still significant fame in most countries.

2. Exchange to cash before leaving Australia
If you choose to change cash in Australia, those private stalls in CBD such as Travelx usually have better exchange rate than banks. If the amount is not a lot, and you do not have to worry much about stolen cash during your travel (e.g. using safer transportation, staying in mid-range accommodation), then carrying cash is the best option as it gives good exchange rate and you don't have to be annoyed to find out which shop accepts card or not. Just remember that if it is the currency of developing countries, they might charge much higher commission (which is already applied in the exchange rate). In that case, just bring Australian dollar and exchange overseas is better option.

3. Credit/Debit card
Australian major banks usually have 2~3% surcharge for spending overseas, plus extra $3~$5 for ATM cash withdrawal. Some smaller banks and credit card companies, such as Citibank or 28 Degrees, have free of charge credit/debit card for international transactions. Citibank has vast ATMs across the world where they don't charge any ATM fee. If you care about those small fees (which can be significant if you use more money), it's better to open a new account in those banks or credit card before you leave Australia and put all budget into the account. This is best option if you don't want to carry cash, especially if you stay overseas for long term.
Remind that all foreign currencies except for USD will be changed to USD first and then changed to AUD. It means they charge more exchange commission if the currency is not in USD. Also, do not pay in AUD even if the retailer suggested, since there will be much more exchange omission applied, e.g. AUD->local currency ->USD->AUD.

4. Travel money card
Those travel money cards including QantasCash and Mastercards' Travel Money Card are very similar to credit/debit card in terms of how to spend money overseas. You have to find shops or ATMs accepting Mastercard or Visa, although there is no international transaction fee. The only advantage or drawback of this type of card is that you have to load the money in foreign currency in advance. For example, if you plan to travel to Europe, you should preload money in Euro currency before you use the card in order to get the full benefit. Otherwise, when you didn't have enough fund in that currency, they charge 3%~4% of currency transfer fee for automatic currency change. Also, some banks have 1% re-load fee when you recharge the card. Overall, it is not as convenient as the credit/debit card, nor saving fees.
Especially when you're travelling to those countries where their local currency is not supported by the travel money card (usually developing countries), there is no way to avoid the 3~4% currency transfer fee because you cannot pre-load in the local currency. In that case, it's big loss compared to using the credit/debit card, so just use fee-free credit/debit card in those countries.

5. Exchange rate comparison
People sometimes have misconception about the exchange rate of banks that they use the same exchange rate for any transaction. Actually they apply different exchange rate for different type of transaction, such as exchange in cash, use credit card overseas, use travel money card overseas, etc, even in the same currency. Usually for the major banks, change in cash has the worst exchange rate compared to those electronic transactions. However, as I mentioned above, the small stalls in business district have much better exchange rate even in cash, which is almost same as or better than the electronic transfer rate of the major banks.
As in June 2015, exchange rates from AUD to EUR are almost same among 4 methods I mentioned above, although cash exchange in major banks has weirdly high commission rate. Therefore just choose the most convenient way for you depending on the amount of budget, the duration, and the security of the country.

Android charging using Apple charger or vice versa

Both Apple and Android chargers has standard USB 5V voltage. This 5V main current is passing through the pin no 1, named VCC, of the USB cable. USB has 4 pins, and the last pin (#4) connects to the ground.

The other two pins, pin no 2 and 3, or Data+ and Data-, are for data transfer when USB is connected between a computer and the device. However, they are used in different way for chargers, as data transfer is not necessary for charging.

For chargers, they are used to identify whether the device is connected to either a charger or a computer, as well as to identify the type of charger.

Apple charger provides 2.0~2.5V current on Data+/- lines of the cable, while Android charger in general makes shortage between Data+/-. Therefore, Apple's iPhone or iPad is not chargeable by Android chargers, as they do not provide 2.5v current on those Data lines.

On the other hand, when Android mobiles are connected to a Apple charger, they can be charged with limited current, e.g. 500mA. Because Apple charger does not have shortage between Data+/- lines, Android phones recognize the charger as a standard USB port on a computer, thus it consumes only 500mA, the standard currents.