Sonar (sub of Cakewalk, which is a sub of Roland) has introduced, and shipped the Sonar V-Studio 100, a control surface, portable recorder, AND audio interface, all in one.
One of the best parts is it’s not designed to work only with Sonar, but as an audio interface with any ASIO, WDM, WASAPI or Core Audio compatible DAW on a MAC or PC.
Lets take a look and see what the Sonar V-Studio 100 offers…
The Control Surface
The V-Studio 100′s control surface consists of 1 100mm fader, 5 rotary encoders, 11 buttons, and transport controls…
With the control surface on the V-Studio 100 you can toggle between tracks, solo, nute, arm tracks, set loop points, create markers, and much more. Each key has a secondary function as well! (shift)
Your basic transport controls are present, play, pause, skip forward, start over, record, ect… As well as a nice 100mm motorized fader to control whatever channel you have selected.
The Audio Interface
As an audio interface, the V-Studio 100 has quite a bit to offer. 24 bit 96 kHz recordings, 8 ins and 6 outs, on USB 2.0? Whats not to like.
Now as we all know, companies like to embellish their Ins and Outs, so lets take a closer look…
8 Inputs, Including Two front inputs, XLR or 1/4 unbalanced, two TRS inputs via the rear panel, as well as two RCA and one (2 channel) Coaxial Input.
As far as outputs is concerned, the first four are TRS (1-2 Mains), and stereo RCA output as well.
Digital Mixer and Stand Alone Recorder
The V-Studio 100 can also be used away from the computer, using SD cards as it’s recording media and can do up to 2 ins and 2 outs, layering up to 8 tracks.
There are 4 different Reverbs that can be used in the V-Studio, as well as EQs (with Plot on the LCD Screen) and fixed compressor (threshold being your only option)…
Any of these files can be dumped from the SD card to your computer/DAW to take mobile recording back home onto your computer.
Final Thoughts
This is a great tool for any band wanting to do rehearsal or show recordings with the V-Studio 100 as a standalone unit, and then take it back to their computer and do some mixing/mastering on what they recorded.
As an audio interface and controller, it’s great for it’s price range. What other unit can you get 6 in/Out and a controller w/ fader for under $1000?
What’s the price point? $699.
Sonar V-Studio 100 on Amazon.com
Sonar V-Studio 100 on SamAsh.com
