Control Surfaces

Today's advanced studio software can do amazing things, and just like a musical instrument, precise control is one of the cornerstones of getting the most out of it. For the digital production tools in your home enthusiast or professional studio, control surfaces are the standard way to get that accuracy and take advantage of all the controller-specific features that the software supports. Control surfaces are effectively a way to bridge that gap between hardware and software. While you can use a mouse and keyboard to work with your applications, that's often a tedious process. The added time it takes to edit audio this way really adds up over time, and that's got a negative impact on your productivity. By using a control surface instead, you can combine the capabilities of your software suite with the natural, intuitive convenience of purpose-built faders, rotary controllers and MIDI controllers. Editing will be faster and more efficient, so you can get more work done in less time. If you use Pro Tools in your studio, there are a few items in particular that are worth your consideration. Control surfaces from Avid and Digidesign are built specifically for the Pro Tools software and hardware systems, giving you direct access to all of its essential commands and features. There's also the Magma PE6R4 PCI-X chassis, which is a rack-mounted expander case that holds up to six Pro Tools Accel HD cards and connects them back to a PCI-express slot in your editing computer—this means that you won't have to replace your valuable Pro Tools hardware to upgrade to a newer machine without PCI-X slots. Whether you're creating a complete Pro Tools workstation or looking to integrate MIDI instruments and hardware into any professional or semi-pro studio environment, one or more control surfaces are an incredible help. With these boards at your fingertips to streamline your workflow, it's pretty safe to say you'll never want to go back to a mouse.