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REVIEW: Music Computing StudioBLADE Keyboard Production Station

REVIEW: While the concept of a music keyboard with a computer inside isn’t entirely new, the folks at Austin, Texas start-up Music Computing think they might have invented the new sweet spot in bridging the gap between the notebook and controller crowd and the people who won’t use anything other than a Yamaha Motif or Roland Fantom-style workstation keyboard.

Company founder and CEO Victor Wong is no stranger to computers and music having been the former CEO of Open Labs, as well as having had numerous stints at tech companies including an authorized Macintosh clone company, and value added resellers (VARs). For the new company, his team has addressed a number of shortcomings with other PC-based music products out there, a couple of which include price and portability.

Having owned quite a few PC powered systems myself, including a Muse Receptor, two Open Labs NeKo models (TSE and XXL), a Korg Oasys, and even a Hartman Neuron, I seem to fit into the target audience for this kind of thing, and sure enough, I was one of the first folks to order one of Music Computing’s new keyboards (customer #8).

So what is it?
The new StudioBLADE line of “keyboard production stations” follows somewhat in the footsteps of what competitor Open Labs has been doing for a while now with their NeKo and MiKo systems, but ironically tries to be more “open” in their approach to design and physical construction. They are smaller, more compact, and weigh less than either a NeKo, or even a Yamaha Motif XF6, thanks to lightweight aluminum, and not over-complicating the internals.

Powered by Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit, the StudioBLADE comes pre-installed with the Presonus Studio One DAW application (full version, with mastering support), as well as a couple of proprietary VST instruments. First, SonicSource emulates the sound library you might find in a modern ROMpler, but with 8GB of sounds (more than 8x the sample data what comes with a Motif, by the way) as well as TriggerGrid, which is a drag-and-drop drum and sampler sound environment that works with the built-in grid control surface.

Out of the box, the StudioBLADE 61 is a shiny and surprisingly compact keyboard roughly 36-inches long, 18-inches deep and about 4-inches thick when the 10-inch USB-powered touch panel is not deployed. The unit is compact enough to fit on a classic Ultimate Support Apex stand (using the longer support bars for depth).

In addition to the 61-key synth action keyboard (made by M-Audio), the top area contains one of the most diverse control surface set-ups this side of a couple of Novation controllers having intimate relations. Specifically, there are nine vertical rows, each with a long-throw fader, two light-up push buttons, and four rotary knobs (see photos). An 88-key version is also available with the same action (not a graded, hammer-action full piano keybed).

The rotary knobs light up as you turn them, and work almost identically to the Livid Instruments OHM and CODE controllers. I would go so far as to speculate (due to the shared locale of Austin, and identical feel) that Livid might be providing parts to Music Computing for their controllers, but the company would not confirm this. In any case the controllers all feel solid and well built, and feel the same as my buddy’s OHM64, which is to say they feel really good.

To the right of this is an 8×8 grid of lighted pads, which can either be used for triggering samples like an MPC or loops in Ableton Live fashion. There is also a set of bank buttons (more on that in a minute), transport buttons, and a rotary push selector knob. All this is well organized to be easily at hand for live control, and breaks with the “screen in middle” ergonomics of most other workstations. Having the control sections side by side, versus on either end, does seem to make sense when you actually use them.

I particularly like the bank buttons, which will be familiar with anyone who ever used an Akai MPC with banks for sounds (A, B, C, D). Same idea. Except what’s wicked cool here is that you could have bank A be your DAW control to setup a mix in a live setup, such as levels for mics or a guitar direct input, then while performing jump between bank B for your Ableton control, while perhaps jump to Bank C where the faders become drawbars for your virtual Hammond B3, and maybe jump to bank D for controlling external lighting. Lots of possibilities there and first time I’ve seen that on any controller keyboard.

In my case I put a 23-inch Acer touch panel display behind the StudioBLADE and this proves an ideal setup with Windows 7 where I don’t need to use the mouse for many things. The built-in touch panel setup in Windows 7 took literally one minute and didn’t interfere with the 10-inch display (see photos).

In Studio One, the on-screen faders snap to the location of the non-motorized faders on the control surface, and while motorized faders might be nice, keep in mind the Euphonix control surface I have for my Mac cost $2500, or about the same price as the base model StudioBLADE.

Additionally there is a quite snazzy machined aluminum master volume control knob along with keyboard octave up/down buttons and the typical pitch bend and modulation wheels. These wheels snap back a little slower than the Fatar-type wheels, but still work well. A wireless RF keyboard and mouse is also included.

Pricing starts at $2599 “well equipped” for a Core2 Duo base configuration and $2799 for a Core i5 base configuration with 4GB of RAM and one hard drive. Upgrades include more audio ins/outs (not needed for many folks working inside the box only), and a larger or second hard drive. You can upgrade the HD yourself later if you wish by simply unscrewing some machine screws for an access panel on the bottom which is a mounting plate for up to two hard drives.

Sound sculpting with the ‘blade
One mis-informed forum troll posted something the other day about how the Music Computing units only had open source sound tools and you’d need to buy stuff to actually use it. Well, I’m here to say that is nonsense from somebody who cannot read or research what he was talking about before opening his big yap. In fact, the version of the Presonus Studio One which is pre-installed and configured is not a cheap open source or “bundled” app found everywhere, but a $400 commercial “pro” level application. It even supports the latest VST 3.1 format, can take ReWire connections, and comes with a host of proprietary virtual instruments, FX plug-ins, and pro level mastering tools. It supports delay compensation, time stretching, and all the things that the “big boys” promote as must-have features.

Studio One includes: Impact, a sample trigger/drum instrument; Mojito, an analog-modeling subtractive synth; Presence, a sample player; and SampleOne, a full-featured sampler to create your own instruments with. A really gigantic overview of Studio One can be found on the Presonus website, here: http://www.presonus.com/products/SoftwareDetail.aspx?SoftwareId=11 .

Worth noting is the fact that you can launch the DAW as either a 32-bit or 64-bit host, for compatibility with older plug-ins that won’t load in a fully 64-bit DAW host. One touch buttons on the touch screen lead to either version, depending on your needs.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that Music Computing’s in-house sound instrument, SonicSource, is apparently based on the mature and highly regarded Wusik platform, and specifically the EVE variant. The EVE (ne SonicSource) plug-in is a true VST so will work with any DAW or plug-in host you choose to use on the StudioBLADE. Wusikstation and its engine is a great choice as it is well supported, and many sound companies use the platform to develop their own commercial instruments by custom “skinning” the core product, and adding their own sample libraries. Basically, this means you’re not getting a “beta” product from Music Computing, cooked up in a month or two, but something which has many years of popular support and proven usability.

SonicSource is nice because it immediately through the GUI supports layering up to three sounds from the fairly large initial library (8GB), and according to the company, they also include the raw samples (sample waveforms) to create your own patches. This is not very common, with the possible exception of my Korg Triton Extreme, which also offers this capability. Most instrument makers create patches from the raw sounds, which you can manipulate using the sculpting tools (ADSR, filter cutoff, etc.), and then you can create layers/splits as multis or combis. Few give you access to the raw samples to go back and create your own base “patches” from (this may be an inherent capability of all Wusik based instruments that don’t copy-protect the waves, but I didn’t look into that for this review). Put another way, this means you could create a much larger personal sound library if you wanted to spend the time to build the patches from scratch yourself, resulting in an almost unlimited number of sound variations.

Bundled apps with my unit include NI Guitar Rig LE, and Toontrack EZDrummer Lite, for some additional noise making capabilities. As always, check the Music Computing site prior to purchase for what is included with the system today.

In the box
I was quite happy to see a full printed manual in the box which has setup information, the full manual for the Presonus hardware and Studio One software, as well as the first how-to guides for the Music Computing applications like TriggerGrid, SonicSource and GeoMIDI.

A restore DVD is provided and the Windows license sticker is on the bottom of the case. Also in the shipping box are the external power supply, order receipt, a quick start sheet, license and serial number info for the installed software, box with wireless keyboard and mouse, and mine had a QC checklist for the system assembly.

Under the Hood
As far as audio I/O and CPU power, I opted for the Intel Core i5 650 processor with 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and two 1TB Western Digital hard drives, plus the Presonus Firestudio Mobile interface with 24/96 support. This provides 2 XLR (or 1/4-inch) TRS combo inputs with switchable phantom power and gain control, plus 6 balanced 1/4-inch outputs, S/PDIF I/O, MIDI I/O, plus one direct keyboard MIDI out. On the right side is an internal DVD/CD burner.

Inside the case, the layout of the CPU module, audio modules, I/O, hard drives and cabling is very clean and neat, and the efficient design shows clever use of the off the shelf hardware with some custom I/O. Contrast this with the inside of a NeKo or MiKo which have numerous proprietary circuit boards which would become problematic if Open Labs disappeared one day. The nice thing about looking at the inside of the StudioBLADE is that it’s much like an older car, you can actually figure out what’s going on, and if for some reason Music Computing went into the great long night, it’s actually plausible this gear would live on including replacing the entire CPU module with later and greater computer power. That’s all aces in my book.


I’ve been using Windows 7 64-bit for a while now for my personal workstation in my office, and can honestly say it’s the best operating system Microsoft has ever made. If you ever lamented why your PC couldn’t work as well as your Mac, Windows 7 really is that good. With a modern multi-core processor, and the fast operating system and modern RAM, these things really scream.

I haven’t used the DAW software (Studio One) included with the StudioBLADE much, but so far it seems robust and I quite like the selection of plug-ins. It’s really a surprising system, and feels very much like a good alternative to Logic or Pro Tools, and there are some quite good tutorial and demo videos on YouTube to show off what it can do. This is a pro application, which becomes apparent when you see all it can do. The Music Computing site doesn’t really do Studio One justice in showcasing the software beyond the bullet points, but the Presonus website has more in-depth feature information to review in advance of making a purchase.

The control surfaces are already pre-set to work with Studio One, but the built-in GeoMIDI controller mapping software would allow you to fairly easily map faders and controllers to any other DAW.

I loaded Cakewalk Sonar on the StudioBLADE, and it worked very well which would be expected since Sonar Producer Edition has been 64-bit capable for quite some time. Presumably the new version of Pro Tools 9 should work just as well, since Avid branded hardware is no longer a requirement (an iLok dongle still is, however).

I tested a few of my favorite Windows apps including Brainspawn Forte, EMU’s Emulator X3, and Sonic Projects’ superb Oberheim virtual instrument clone, OP-X. A couple of hiccups with Forte wanting to run as administrator, and X3 trying to find its own sample library, but these are typical of any virtual instrument. In fact, you will always have a few things in Windows 7 to address with some apps that may require changing the way they launch, or how they write to hard drives other than the boot drive, but it’s a do it once, never again type of thing.

Music Computing’s SonicSource VST loaded right into Forte and once I selected the correct audio routing (outs 3 and 4 go to headphones, and 1 and 2 to the speakers), was playing in moments with no hiccups. SonicSource has a fairly respectable selection of bass, keyboard, and real instruments (horns, etc.), and does provide a great starting point to make music without buying anything else.

If you have a lot of older Windows XP era 32-bit VSTs you want to keep using, you should look into possibly using Cakewalk Sonar, as they have one of the most robust “bit bridge” systems to run 32-bit plug-ins inside a 64-bit DAW.

I had no trouble running a number of Windows 7 updates, although it did choke on a .NET update, which I had the same issue with on another machine (it won’t update the NET 3.5 framework, and actually it’s up to version 4 now). Check with support, but often one needs to fully uninstall the NET elements, then simply install version 4. And then let Windows install any of the older versions if actually needed. (Again: check with MC tech support if this happens to you for proper fix.)

There will always be those who say it’s cheaper to buy a MIDI controller keyboard, and a notebook, and hook those together, but that has a lot of trade-offs in data storage, video connectivity, and audio quality. The StudioBLADE is a compelling argument for having it all in one box that you can actually pick up and carry (less than 25 lbs.). Even with a good Gator ATA case, you’d still be under 30 lbs.

This can also become a dream system for somebody who has in the back of their mind “I wish I had a keyboard to control just Omnisphere.”

Around the back
I’ve always liked the Presonus FireWire modules, and they have the best headphone monitoring I’ve ever had on an audio interface. The only downside here is that the headphone volume control is on the back panel, and the top master volume doesn’t manage that, only the speaker outs; but this can be good in situations where you want or need different control of those elements. You can get the full specs on the Presonus site, and naturally this works very well with the Studio One DAW software.

I like the one master MIDI out which is useful if you need to control something like a Dave Smith Tetra or send data to a MPC without attaching the little I/O dongle for the additional MIDI I/O.

There are plenty of USB ports (7 USB 2.0), and my unit adds the two FireWire ports. Both a DVI and HDMI output provide a lot of flexibility for connecting up to two additional displays. One network Ethernet connection is included. I was very happy to see that an eSATA port is included as this is the simple way to connect a mirrored RAID array, or even a removable drive system for saving projects on external drives versus the internal disks. eSATA lets you use external drives which are just as fast as if they were internal units, since it’s the same connection speed (much faster than USB or FireWire).

As noted previously, an access panel on bottom allows you to update your hard drive, pull for back-up, etc. New units now shipping also include a second access panel to swap out the entire CPU “module” if needed.

Also worth noting is the stylish back-lit Music Computing cut-out logo that glows with the same bluish light as the control surface.

Impressions and use
After playing with the StudioBLADE a couple of weeks, I have to say I’m fairly impressed. It’s quiet when running aside from occasional hard drive clicks/clacks (normal). The touch panel seemed too small when I got it, but found that it’s the right size to get started, and with the larger 23-inch touch panel (see photos) in use at same time, the small display is ideal for a virtual instrument, or even quick launch buttons for your most used apps.

It looks very much at home next to my aluminum Macs in the studio, and somehow seems “right sized” for what it is designed to do. Initially I wasn’t sure of the keyboard action, as the majority of my keyboards have a Fatar action and this uses the latest semi-weighted synth-action waterfall keys from M-Audio. It gives the unit a more premium look with the full-front keys and it’s very playable.

I think this type of keyboard “production station” is clearly the wave of the future, as it no longer makes sense to have fixed-in-place ROM based systems that can’t grow as you do. The ability to use the DAW that fits your needs, and not a limited built-in sequencer/recorder, not being limited by storage or memory, or the sounds that fit in the user patch space, is transformational.

With some virtual analogs, using SHARC processors, and software like Access Music does with the Virus Ti, allows the product to evolve and add features, but that is a more focused product. With a workstation, you need to be able to make it work with your, well, work. If you’re doing scoring for film or games, you might need to use Adobe Premiere or Sony Vegas, and try loading those into your Roland Fantom (hint: you can’t!).

I’ve had a few minor quibbles like the external power supply brick “hanging” in space when plugged into the keyboard on a stand, and my personal sense that the power jack could too easily be knocked out which could be bad during a Windows update. I added a little self-adhesive hook to help hold one end of the cable before it gets to the power input jack, that way if tripped over that hook would catch the stress, and then added a shelf below the keyboard on the Apex stand to put both the power brick and QWERTY keyboard on. I’d also likely consider spraying the anodized aluminum back with a clear coat if I were touring, otherwise scratches will likely ensue.

The keyboard action is a matter of taste, as with all keyboards, but I did find the keys on the StudioBLADE (apparently from the M-Audio Keystation “es” series) not as well “sculpted” as those on some of my other synths. Particularly the edges of the key-ends are not as well “rounded” as on, oh, say my Kurzweil, or my Waldorf Q. I “pinched” myself a couple of times playing chords, and while it’s something I could get used to, I prefer the Fatar keybed used on many of the top synth brands and also Novation controllers to the M-Audio “es” series. If you tend to be more of a “poker” than a “player” you will not notice this. It’s a very minor and perceptual thing, so you likely won’t notice it. On the other hand, the benefit of using this key setup is that OS drivers are maintained by Avid and are not dependent on custom code or a circuit board, and easy to fix/replace.

On my Apex stand, the audio out jacks are right in the middle where the stand is, so I had to get two “L” adapters for balanced cables to route the cables sideways ($10 total cost). I’m also using an Azio USB Wi-Fi adapter to access my secure wireless network ($15). The only glitch of any kind I had with an interface was the USB port connected to the flip-up touch panel. I have a super high speed OCZ 16GB USB media key, and that caused a power error when I left it attached for an hour. Plugging into any of the back panel ports had no such issue. This is actually a common issue (I have same issue with my Mac wired keyboard I use with my Windows workstation … the hub on the keyboard doesn’t provide enough power). Upshot is that a small 1GB USB memory stick shouldn’t be an issue, the big ones with built-in LEDs and super high speed like my OCZ Rally unit should plug into the back.

Being in the first group of customers there were some minor production issues like a screw too long, or the FireWire cable rubbing against back of pitch wheel (easily fixed), and my unit doesn’t have the snazzy second access port on the bottom panel to easily swap memory or replace the entire CPU “module” on the road, but these are works in progress and all the units shipping today incorporate a number of production and finishing touches that the first dozen didn’t have. There was a driver issue with the pitch wheel sometimes sending a CC volume value, and the day after I reported it as a “possible” issue, they sent me a new driver file to install and that fixed it.

Tech support has been great in very fast follow up. I’ve gotten follow up phone calls, and e-mails to ensure everything was working well, and the issue was resolved. This is phenomenal support, and bodes well for the company’s rapport with future customers. I’ve also been given the option to send the unit back if I want to get the back panel retrofitted, and they provided some bonus stuff for me due to the initial glitches that more than made up for any headaches.

And finally
So far, I’m really happy with the StudioBLADE, as it provides me with an easy to use, yet powerful solution for keeping my Windows-based instruments (OP-X doesn’t run on Mac, so can’t use it in Logic Pro, for example, nor does Emulator X3), and is something I would feel comfortable taking to a friend’s house to jam, without having to deal with tangle of wires, interfaces, notebook, and the like (which I also have, and did that once, then never again!). I’ve barely scratched the surface (no pun intended) of what I can do with this, but I look forward to making my ultimate Omnisphere workstation, among other things.

To learn more about the Music Computing StudioBLADE and related products, visit: http://www.musiccomputing.com/ .

Article is Copr. © 2011 by Christopher Laird Simmons – all rights reserved. Article originally appeared on MusicIndustryNewswire.com.

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Music and Recording Reviews

Review: Open Labs NeKo XXL Gen5 DAW Keyboard Workstation

REVIEW: I’m a big fan of Open Labs’ music workstation instruments, so I was pretty excited when they announced the rebirth of their XXL model this spring, which was not available last October 2008 when I bought the NeKo TSE (previously reviewed for Music Industry Newswire). The XXL is not technically their flagship, if you ask anybody at Open Labs (OL) about that; it’s a special-purpose version of their NeKo designed for those with more professional needs. This means, specifically, it has all their control surface options (except the DJ panel), and most importantly it has faster multi-core Intel processors, more audio I/O, and hardware word clock I/O. Since the audio hardware is based on the M-Audio Delta 1010 series, it is “ready to rock” with Pro Tools 8 MA Edition, out of the box. It also comes outfitted with four 1TB hard drives (think system drive, audio drive, sample drive, back-up drive), and all the rest of their fifth generation software package.

Open Labs XXLThe first thing I found when taking it out of the box is that they still pack the unit very well with the spongy type of foam, not the brittle stuff that breaks into dust when you try to take the item out of the box; this means it absorbs shock better, and can be re-used in the future. So, it’s very well packed to arrive safe and sound, and to protect the LCD touch panel.

OL is still a bit stingy on the documentation, but I will address that in my minor quibbles a bit later on.

Ins and Outs
The short run-down of the hardware specs of the XXL are:

AUDIO: (1) High performance audio I/O card with low latency including 24-bit/96kHz professional 10-in/10-out: (2) mic/instrument preamp inputs (with phantom power 48V), (8) analog line inputs, (10) analog line outputs, S/PDIF digital I/O (coaxial), (1) Word Clock I/O, (1) headphone jack with volume control. MIDI in and out. Sustain and expression pedal inputs.

SYSTEM: Windows XP SP3. 2.8 GHz Core2 Quad Intel processor. 4GB RAM. One dual-layer DVD-RW (SATA) drive. Four 1TB Western Digital SE16 SATA (3GB/sec) drives. DVI video port. 15-inch touch screen. Four USB 2.0 ports (2 internal, 2 external). One FireWire 400 port. One Gigabit Ethernet port.

NeKo XXL Back Panel

Control This
What sets the XXL apart from the other Gen5 (fifth generation) OL keyboards, is the extra panels, which means it has the new Bump MP drum panel, the mixer panel with display, a QWERTY keyboard (useful for shortcuts in most recording applications), and the new Alpha II Panel which has a wide LCD display (scribble strip, if you prefer) with assignable buttons and encoders. Missing from the XXL, but found on other Gen5 models is the DJ panel, which appears to be missing here due to lack of internal space because of extra cards and cooling.

(Note: on their Web site, they refer to the Bump MP as “Bump MP,” then “BumpMP,” then “Bump-MP,” so I’m not entirely sure which is definitive.)

It’s all a bit to take in and get a grasp on (pun intended). The one thing which threw me at first, is that the dedicated keyboard transpose buttons found on the Gen4 NeKo instruments is no longer found on the XXL (thanks to different, better panels). On the non-XXL models, the DJ panel (fader, knobs, and buttons, below the touch panel) can take over this chore. With the XXL I discovered the only way to do this is to use the Alpha II Panel (top-right panel), and use the menu key to switch to the Reaper DAW preset, and then the up/down and reset transpose buttons work from that pre-set.

Apha II Panel and Bump-MPHowever, there is no standard pre-set on the Alpha II Panel for virtual instruments, which there should be. Of course, there are presets for bundled Reaper DAW, the bundled Ableton Live 7 DAW, and Riff. (To clarify: the default transpose buttons on the Alpha II Panel work while in Riff, which is the default environment for the XXL. It’s only when you leave the Riff environment, go to Windows, and launch a stand-alone application outside of Riff, where they do not.)

Since Ableton Live is a whole subject in itself, I’m not going to cover that product at all here, but suffice it to say that the XXL’s many controls are very well mapped to the Live environment so you can do some pretty amazing things with it.

Similarly Reaper is a wonderful DAW, which has some notable features for working with everything from one screen. It’s got a little bit of a different mindset than Cakewalk or Pro Tools, but if you want to do a lot of audio recording, it’s dead easy to learn, and OL have many great tutorials and – again – all of the Gen4 and Gen5 keyboards are pre-set to control Reaper elements.

The mixer panel (top-left of XXL), has 9 faders, with four banks; and 16 knobs, as well as an LCD display where 8 of the knobs have scribble strips that change based on the presets (meaning, you can create a pre-set for Sonar, or Pro Tools, if you wish). The system is pre-set to work with both Live and Repear, and Riff. The sliders have LEDs at top and bottom which get brighter depending on the position of the fader. The faders were designed to work with the MiKo layout, apparently, as the blue LEDs are to the left of the faders, so while seated at the XXL, they are not clearly visible when the faders are either close to bottom or top.

The Big Wow
Probably the most exciting thing to me about the XXL, personally, is that it is the first true (no B.S.) “all in one” recording product ever built, by anybody, period. Full stop. Right now, I can boot up the unit in under 100 seconds, and be running either Pro Tools LE (M-Audio edition), Cakewalk Sonar Producer Edition, any virtual instrument in stand-alone mode and – finally – Gigastudio. One of my (perhaps silly) dreams for many years was “Oh, I wish Tascam would build a keyboard instrument to run Gigastudio in standalone mode… just like my Triton Pro Extreme or Kurzweil. Sigh.” Well, folks, now I can. And, may I say, big freakin’ wow, baby. The OL XXL has GSIF2 drivers, so I can load up a whole passel of Giga sounds, and the updated GS4 interface actually works on the 15-inch touch panel.

(Ahem: of course, Gigastudio is now a defunct product, but those of us long-time users still like it. And, although I have also become a convert to Native Instruments’ Kontakt 3.5, it would take a year or more of my little free time to convert my vast legal sound libraries, and I’d lose many of my key-switching capabilities.)

With the touch panel, I really love virtual instruments with stand-alone modes, like the Arturia CS-80, where the on-screen ribbon controller responds to the touch panel! Some virtual keyboards, like Native Instruments’ Akoustic Piano, is made for a touch panel, since you can just tap the piano you want to load, and then the environment to play in. Very cool. Manipulating samples and elements in NI’s KORE 2 system is equally elegant by touch.

Rock and Riff
When launched, the XXL opens into the Riff environment, which is OL’s own custom live workspace environment. This is very cool, and shows that OL has really matured from repurposing other folks’ applications (like Karsyn, based on Forte) to building their own solutions. At first glance, it seems to be a fairly simple grid setup to create custom song-sets, each of which can contain instruments, FX, and routings. At second glance, it’s clear a lot of thought has gone into Riff in making it a very deep system for playing live, and for creating your own custom “instrument” for when you boot up the XXL.

For example, you can create custom buttons, dials, sliders and other controls to manage individual instruments, or groups, which can vary per song. Riff is perhaps the most powerful thing about all of the fifth generation OL instruments (Gen4 gear can be upgraded to the Gen5 software), and might be easily dismissed when jumping right to an installed DAW. It’s a little confusing in some ways relative to the prior starting point of Karsyn, as found on Gen4 OL products, but once you play with it a bit (or use the live training support option included), it really starts to get under your skin of how cool it really is.

Open Labs Riff 1.2

As one example, you could create a song grid, with all your songs by name and color code on the touch panel, and you could group different buttons around a core song. So, in the context of a single performance you could easily jump between groups of instruments, splits, effects chains, patches, mixes and so forth with one button. Further, you can create custom controls for each set-up, like on screen toggles, sliders, dials and whatnot, so if you want to just control the filter on your bass line, you can do it by adding just the single element you want to see/control on your screen. I didn’t see a couple of things on first or second glance, but I’m hoping they add a joystick type x-y controller and side-to-side virtual ribbon controller type element, as these are superb control surface options for virtual instruments.

Initially I found the default set-ups a little disappointing relative to Karsyn on the TSE, because very few of the bundled instruments showed up in the drop-down menus for Riff; for example, Truepianos is included, but didn’t show up in the menu for “keyboards.” So, there are no default Riff set-ups with Truepianos. After I had installed Native Instruments Komplete 5, I went into the “add” menu, and found I could drag any of the installed instruments into the categories, or make new categories. Now my “keyboards” drop-down menu has Truepianos, and the Native Instrument keyboards and B4. Now if I want to make a new song setup, they are right there.

Because this is still fairly new (version 1.2 of Riff literally came out days before my unit shipped, and the tutorial videos on YouTube still show the earlier version), OL hasn’t yet had time to build out the amazing instrument set-ups that came with the TSE workstations. So, most of the set-ups are built around just a very few of the bundled on-board instruments and sounds, and you can no longer launch them from the OL GUI, where previously the GUI would launch special set-ups of Karsyn and E-MU’s Proteus X2.

Luckily Karsyn is still included (for now), which is still kind of easier to use for just launching a newly installed VST, since it has a nice menu of “newly installed instruments.” So, you don’t need to make a song, or edit one, you just click load, and it’s playable. OL will be discontinuing Karsyn at some point in favor of Riff, but for the transition, it’s nice to have. In speaking to one of the OL support folk, it sounds like there are some really wicked things planned for Riff, and for a nascent application it has some truly inventive ideas.

Open Labs NeKo Front

Sounds on Board
On the subject of sounds on board, I was more than a little surprised to no longer find any version of E-MU Proteus X2, even the free Proteus VX. I’m not sure if OL had a falling out with E-MU, or perhaps E-MU chose to discontinue licensing the X2 software now that X3 has come out. Luckily, I already owned a legal copy of Emulator X2, and upgraded to X3 which doesn’t require a dongle anymore, so with X3 loaded and all the libraries I had purchased for X2 (classic keyboards), I now have the same sound sets from the TSE, minus the Ensoniq ASR-10 sets. For anybody migrating as I am from the TSE to the XXL, you will want to go buy the Proteus or Emulator X3 from EMU, or at least download the free Proteus VX, so you won’t be going “hey, what happened to….”

OL does include several E-MU sound sets from Digital Sound Factory that work with the included Cakewalk Dimension LE, which are sounds from the venerable E-MU Proteus 2000, MoPhat and Virtuoso modules. However, these are fairly old school in quality (small number of samples per patch) versus today’s modern ROMplers or the some of E-MU’s extensively sampled vintage keyboard libraries.

Basically, Cakewalk’s Dimension LE is the new “standard” library playback engine on the OL Gen5 instruments, replacing E-MU’s Proteus X2. This, actually, is not a bad choice, since Dimension uses the same sfz format as Wusikstation (also included with OL products, as before), and the OL MimiK key cloning application. However, you will want to upgrade to the “Pro” version ($99-$149, depending on Cakewalk’s variable pricing on their instruments) for any key cloning efforts (cloning hardware or virtual synths), since Dimension LE doesn’t have all of the ADSR and editing tools needed to properly replicate many of the instruments you may wish to clone. Of course, if you are using Cakewalk Sonar, you may already have the Pro version.

Other bundled sounds/instruments include Lennar Digital Sylenth, which is one of the better analog sounding virtual instruments, and is ideal for those who want a wide range of arpeggiated patches (hint: try stopping the arpeggiator on the more interesting patches to just play them normally). Purity and Autogun are included along with the aforementioned 4Front Truepianos.

Boom Shaka Boom Boom
One of the very cool things in the sound department is the custom collaboration between OL and FXpansion, for a customized version of Guru, the drum machine slash drum sequencer. With the combination of the new OL “Bump MP” control surface and Guru, you have a very usable setup for those who may have grown up with a venerable Akai MPC. But, wait, there’s more!

One of the truly cool things about the Bump MP set-up, is that OL have added one unique thing to the otherwise standard 4×4 (16) drum pad layout, which is a “last played” button (a 17th pad). This lets you instantly play something like a hi-hat using two buttons, as the extra pad does whatever your last pad did. As someone who was first on the block with a Linn9000 back in the day (my band-mate at the time, wrote the manual for the Linn9000), and have owned several MPCs (I have a MPC3000 and MPC4000 now), this is really useful and works.

Guru is a great choice as it works either in a MPC style of recording, or closer to an Ableton Live (more about that in a minute) mode. If you haven’t used Guru before, it’s a bit like how you have multiple pad banks on the MPC, but think multiple virtual MPCs which in turn have their own multiple banks. It’s a little confusing at first, but like most things, once you get it, you go “ooooh!”

To quote OL’s promotional materials: key features of the Bump MP include: (16 plus 1) fully assignable pads, note repeat, fixed level fader, transport controls, chromatic mode, hold, pad tune, multiple groove preset and eight engines with 24 patterns per engine. This also allows up to 512 step sequences per pattern.

Minor Quibbles
Open Labs are still a little stingy on printed documentation supplied with their products, which amounts to an 11×17 getting started color sheet, a support sheet, a contact sheet, and an upgrade card for the bundled Live software. A couple of the numbers and arrows for the back panel are wrong on the getting started sheet, for the MIDI jacks and the expression pedal, but those are self evident when looking at the back of the unit. If we’re going to be forced to print out our own manual, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to perhaps include a 3-ring binder with the Open Labs logo printed on it, and then put the videos onto a proper DVD disc, and quick start sheets for ALL the bundled Open Labs applications like Riff and MimiK. I’m sure I’m not the only one that thinks it’s ridiculous to assume we’re going to keep flipping between a PDF and the Riff environment on a 15-inch LCD to learn to use the thing.

Of course, to mitigate this (in my opinion) lacking, the NeKo XXL comes with Open Labs’ “Platinum” support, which includes hands-on training of Riff and MimiK, in lieu of the documentation, so this really can be considered a premium replacement for old-fashioned how-to printed materials. I do like to point out that even Roland has returned to providing printed docs, which they tried to get away from, as with the launch of the V-Synth GT, which had limited printed docs, and a getting started sheet that looked like something from a 1980s VCR set-up guide. With the Fantom G series they brought back a proper manual, quick start guide, and jump start sheet, to which I said hip-hip hooray when I took the Fantom G6 out of its box. I’ll keep mentioning this in every review I do for products with no manuals, as it doesn’t save trees for me to have to print out the sheets from the manual, when they should come with any music gear that costs over $2,000.

But again, OL do provide arguably the best live support option in the industry where they will schedule a time to walk you through the set-up, customization, and use of the apps that come on the XXL; for their core customer base, this is a better option than printed materials, except for us dinosaur music types who still like to read docs for stuff while watching TV to separate the brain activities. But I digress. The live support is exceptional, and is worth about $600 if taken alone. And in the first couple of months, you can upgrade to extend that support.

I found once I put the XXL on the Standastic stand, where my NeKo TSE had been (see photos), was that the piano black finish actually works pretty well with the black rubber surrounds with the different panels, making them look more integrated than the white finish of the TSE models. On the other hand, I was a bit surprised to see what looked like minor resin snail trails below the clear coat finish, in the area right below the pitch/mod wheels. You can’t see this unless it’s hit with a ray of sunlight, or with a flashlight, but it does, unfortunately, still reveal the fact this is a bespoke product and not a mass produced workstation from the “big boys” in Japan or Europe. So, a little surprised that a $6,800 instrument has a paint finish a little closer to Earl Scheib than Chip Foose; but only a detail nut like me will likely even notice it. Not a deal breaker, and the free 28-inch LCD display they included as part of their summer promotion, sure didn’t hurt.

While OL does not provide install disks or recovery disks for any of the bundled system OS or applications, a very usable copy of Acronis OEM edition is included, which lets you create full working back-ups of your set-up, and put those back-ups on your hard drive (or external media). It’s a good idea to do this before you start to install anything. Then when you have the first batch of things installed do separate back-up of that. And then, when you have everything installed, do a separate back-up there. Do, a second back-up of everything, and then you can do “incremental” back-ups to that “working” back up image. Thankfully, that fourth 1TB drive is ideal for this practice.

Finally, the smallest of quibbles: I’ve noticed a bit of lack of attention to detail in various Open Labs materials this year, which was not the case last year, such as the mis-labeled items on the welcome sheet with the XXL. Throughout the OL Web site, they refer to the Acronis back-up software as Acronus, sequencer is mis-spelled often, the Bump MP panel can be called Bump MP, Bump-MP, and BumpMP (um, which is it?); MIDI is often called Midi, etc. When I went to register the DBeat hardware product, there was no option for that product on their registration page. Finally, when I got the XXL, the included upgrade postcard had a link to the Ableton site which did not exist; I had to point this out to support, and then the Ableton site was updated a couple of days later (didn’t anybody check that – the card had to be printed before being sent to customers?).

So, somebody in marketing or management hasn’t been keeping track of the team as best they could, which has not (thankfully) affected the products, but it does show some cracks in the plaster from their growing pains, which I hope will be better addressed moving forward.

Real People Real Support
One of the best aspects of any OL instrument purchase, perhaps, is the support. You can actually work with a live person to show you what to do, explain how to solve a problem specific to your work-flow, and train you on the features built-in to the OL products. Saturday appointments are available, too. In some parts of the country, you can even have a guru come to you on-site. This is rare in the music industry outside of the professional studio services trade (e.g., the folks who install your $100,000 mixing console).

All OL products are pre-set with optional dial-in support, meaning if you have an Internet connection, you can have a tech access your machine remotely to tweak something.

Wrap Up
Overall, this is one of the coolest pieces of electronic music gear I have purchased brand new since that day I walked out of Guitar Center with my Sequential Circuits Pro One oh so many years ago. The more I use it, the more I discover I can do, and beyond the geek-factor, I do find myself being inspired again to actually make music rather than admire the technical facility or possibilities of “what it’s possible to do,” which is the bane of many virtual instrument collectors.

With the mix panel, you can tab between banks of faders, with the Bump MP panel you can play drums more elegantly than keyboard, and I don’t have to stand-up to wham on my MPC. The built-in DAWs give you choices “out of the box” as to how to record music, and since it’s a Windows XP computer under the hood, you can literally run any application that runs on a standard PC.

FIVE STARSCertainly, it’s not inexpensive, but it’s far more than a keyboard, a PC, some drivers, and a touch panel bolted into a custom case, which is the mis-conception of the “laptops or die” crowd. If you look inside there are numerous custom circuit boards, intelligent engineering in the layout for cooling, it’s quieter than you expect, even with the fans at full speed (I chose to use the NeKo on a 100-degree day in mid August, with 70 percent humidity, and only one fan on in the corner in my home studio, and the XXL got warm, but I was fading from the heat before it was).

If you want to replace a wall of hardware with something more elegant, and if you want to retire all the wires between your notebook, audio interface, keyboard controller, etc. with one “all in one box,” look no further than an Open Labs MiKo or NeKo. With the XXL, you have one system that can run all the best Windows-based DAWS with no additional hardware, and the Riff and Bump MP solutions are true value-adds that are remarkable on their own.

To loosely quote Ferris Bueller, “If you have the means, I highly recommend it.”

Summary:
Music Industry Newswire rating: FIVE STARS.

Open Labs NeKo XXL: SRP(US) $6,899. Dimensions: 46″ (W) X 20″ (D) X 7″ (H), Weight (base configuration) 46 lbs.

More information: http://openlabs.com/nekoxxl-overview.html

Download manual: http://openlabs.com/downloads.html

PROS: Exceptional do-it-all platform with flexible audio I/O based on mature M-Audio Delta hardware. Compatible with all Windows-based applications, including Pro Tools LE (M-Audio Edition) without any other hardware. Great bundle of applications and sound tools to get started. Superb tech support (Platinum level) included which comprises training on the hardware and software. Forever upgradeable as new hardware and software is released (as long as company is in business, of course). Many Gen3 product owners upgraded to Gen4 software. Even my Gen4 TSE can be upgraded to add the Bump MP module for about $700, with all the software (check the sales dept. for “today’s price”).

CONS: Missing some of the wonderful sound sets of prior editions, including the extra Wusikstation expansion packs and E-MU premium sample libraries of the TSE series. No printed manual or user guide other than quick start sheet. (PDF manuals and tutorials are on hard drive, Web site, YouTube, etc.)

Article and images Copr. © 2009 by Christopher Simmons, all rights reserved. Article originally appeared on MusicIndustryNewswire.com.

Categories
Music and Recording Reviews

Review: Open Labs NeKo TSE Keyboard Workstation

REVIEW: The concept of the so-called workstation keyboard is certainly not new; with a wide range of current such products on the market from big guns like Korg, Roland and Yamaha, stretching back in time to the Korg M-1. These products seek to fill the needs of the “one keyboard does all” set-up, for composing, comping, or touring, and may include ROMpler sound sets, virtual analog, drum sounds, on board sampling, multi-track MIDI sequencing, built-in FX; and more often these days, some level of audio recording capability.

The Timbaland Special Edition NeKo from Open Labs is a truly unique instrument, part keyboard, part PC DAW, part virtual instrument player, part DJ performance control station. It is perhaps, the ultimate expression of the workstation concept, because it finally brings together all the elements needed to play, compose, record and produce modern music; and with the advent of more affordable and more powerful computer parts, the NeKo TSE is one of the most powerful keyboards of any kind ever built.

Open Labs NeKo TSEI’ve been using MIDI gear since it was invented, and this is perhaps the coolest thing since sliced bread, or perhaps since electronic music instruments began talking to each other and learning to do more than make noises all alone. But is it right for you? What other options are out there? Does it work as advertised? Well, as a recent new owner of one of these bad boys, let me tell you the tale of a fateful trip into the land of buying and using such beasts as these.

The Back Story
Into this arena of “workstation” products, a few years back, came a bunch of folks out of Austin Texas who had the idea to take this multi-purpose keyboard idea a step further, or perhaps reinvent the category, and combine the idea of a workstation keyboard with a PC; then put it all together as a value-add product. These folks, headed by founder Victor Wong, called themselves Open Labs, and their initial products were pricey and yet innovative. Some “got it” right away, and Open Labs has developed a core following over the past few years, in much the same way products like the Muse Receptor have their adherents and detractors.

The initial products included the Open Labs MiKo and NeKo; with the MiKo being a 37-key iteration, and the NeKo being a 61-key (or larger) iteration. These workstations included a quality key action (from Fatar, using the same wonderfully playable actions found in the Kurzweil line), control surface for mixing or controlling ADSR in plug-ins, PC keyboard for data entry, a touch-sensitive 15-inch LCD screen (touch panel), and custom plug-in navigation controls. The “open” part of the equation came in when they chose to use open source and “affordable” applications that run under Windows XP, for sequencing, recording, and virtual instruments.

They cleverly took Windows, put a custom “shell” GUI (graphical user interface) on top of that, and made easy to use “kiosk style” on-screen buttons to get to the most used functions a finger touch away. So, inside the “keyboard” was not the typical circuit board with custom chips and I/O from a music instrument manufacturer, but your everyday hand built AMD or Intel PC motherboard, memory, hard drive, video, and a high quality off-the-shelf audio and MIDI interface with multiple I/O and headphone support.

The whole really was much more than the sum of its parts. Arguably the one downside was the high cost of computer parts at the time. Today, 4GB of high quality RAM is the same cost as 1GB of second-tier memory three years ago, and a multi-core Intel CPU is the same price as what a single core processor once cost; more CPU power means you can run that big reverb along side your dozen virtual instruments all while recording live vocals, and not having it crash. This also includes cost of motherboard, hard drive storage, and the rest. Because of the cost of using high quality parts, and building everything by hand, an Open Labs product could easily run in the $8K range, which put it up there with products like Korg’s OASYS workstation and, well, there really wasn’t anything else like the NeKo or MiKo.

Thanks to the fact they were on to something, a lot of musicians doing good (read: successful) could afford to buy something like this; because they saw the value in the final product and that it did, indeed, fit a need that many recording artists, particularly keyboard players, could “grok.” Artists like Keith Emerson, Sheila E, Dave Cohen, Lil Jon, Jesse Carmichael (of Maroon 5), Karl “Charlie” Steinberg (father of Cubase software), and producer Timbaland (among many others, see: http://openlabs.com/artists.html) all use Open Labs products.

I always thought the product was a good idea, but had been turned off by the high price and the hands-on understanding of the downside to having an overheating Pentium or AMD PC inside a keyboard; I don’t have air conditioning and actually melted a DAW workstation due to the “run hot” properties of the then state of the art Intel Pentium IV. Ironically, I ended up buying a Korg OASYS 88, which I actually hated and sold less than 6 months later.

Enter the NeKo Timbaland Edition
When Open Labs announced the new version of their product, developed with producer Timbaland, I had just kicked the OASYS out of my studio (I was so disappointed with the OASYS, I could write a treatise on it, but will spare you), and so was sensitized to this new version. I put in an order for the 61-key NeKo after sending off some techie questions to Open Labs (who responded quickly and coherently), and had to wait about 10 days as there was already a waiting list.

Christopher Simmons NEOTROPE Records Studio Fall 2008Whether you know who Timbaland (timbalandmusic.com) is or not, it’s useful to know that what he brought to the table in working with Open Labs was the desire for a more streamlined keyboard case decked out in shiny all-white livery, a DJ fader and quick access knobs below the screen, and a special software package that includes the full complement of sounds from the popular Ensoniq (E-MU) ASR-10 keyboard and ASRx beat box/sampler, the EPS (son of the Mirage) and ZR/MR keyboards. Any fan of the defunct Ensoniq products will really enjoy this sound library (more on software, below). This new design makes it more attractive on-stage, but also a little less cluttered from the perspective of a keyboard player. You do lose some of the knobs and sliders, which might not suit a recording studio set-up as well, but considering it’s now about $3,000 less and about twice as powerful, I think it’s a very smart trade-off for most people.

The specs on the new workstation, often called the “TSE” edition, include 2.4GHz Intel Core2Quad (runs cooler than prior generation Core2 or Pentium processors), 4GB RAM, Dual Layer DVD burner, 15-inch touch panel, second video out, 1TB of storage (500MB system, 500MB audio SATA II drives), audio and MIDI I/O via PreSonus FireBox with front and back panel I/O and 24/96 support, sustain and expression pedal inputs, 2 USB ports, 1 FireWire 400 port, and a Gigabit Ethernet port. The whole shebang comes in at about 46 lbs.

Custom Workstation Software
Much like the Muse Receptor, the NeKo TSE has a lot of open-source (or “free”) software on board, but more importantly it has a lot of licensed and rebranded/tweaked software brought together for a seamless “sit down and play” experience. You really could live with nothing more than this one system and the vast bundle of usable sounds and virtual instruments for the majority of gigging, song writing, and recording tasks. Really.

Perhaps most notable is a rebranded version of Brainspawn’s Forte VST synth rack ($129 from publisher), called Open Labs Karsyn in this implementation. Not just a product with a new logo and skin, this version has a wealth of pre-sets based on the shipped software bundle to let you quickly jump to a category from the touch panel, like “acoustic piano” or “horns.” A lot of work has gone into these set-ups, and it really makes this a keyboard you can sit down and play as easily as a Korg Triton. Turn it on, press a button, make music.

For sequencing and recording, Open Labs has similarly outfitted the TSE with a customized version of the popular Cockos Reaper ($225 from publisher) multitrack audio and MIDI recording application. This suite has a 64-bit audio engine, built-in effects, no track limit, support for both VST and DX plug-ins, and can even support network FX processing to use unused processor cycles on a spare PC you may have on your network. This is no cut-rate freebie recording system, and puts anything found on normal keyboard workstations to shame; and gives more expensive DAW software a run for their money. Of course, you can run any Windows application on the NeKo, whether you prefer Pro Tools, Cubase, Sonar, or whatever. Again, Open Labs didn’t stop at just putting the application in the menu, they went in and set-up some really useful templates, including a quick-start template for hook-up to an Akai MPC.

For those who need to capture their vintage gear and bring that one sound from their Prophet 5, or Matrix 12 on tour, the Open Labs Mimik application provides an easy to use sample and go option. While they don’t say so, it looks to be the same application included with the E-MU EmulatorX2 software sampler, where it’s called SynthSwipe EX2 Automated Sampling. Since the TSE includes the E-MU Proteus X2 instrument, this would make sense. I’ve not used Mimik yet, but have used the E-MU version previously, and it really is easy to use and does work as advertised.

Additionally, the TSE has an application called Open Labs mFusion which is a master controller set-up and management control panel. This is where you can change the DJ slider to send breath controller MIDI data, or assign the faders and buttons as needed.

Sounds and More Sounds
While you may think that Open Labs has simply taken a bunch of free VST instruments off the web, dumped them into a synth rack application, and then called it a day, you would be so far wrong I would need to scold you for your misassumptions.

In addition to the fairly large library of classic Ensoniq sounds, which you can’t get anywhere else on a new keyboard instrument, the TSE includes E-MU’s Proteus X2 instrument, which is basically the Emulator X2 without the sampling capability. However, with Mimik, you can auto-sample hardware and virtual instruments, and this is what the majority of folks actually use sampling for these days outside of professional sound design. Good choices on both counts. Not content with the bundled sounds of the stock Proteus X2 instrument, Open Labs has licensed the majority of the huge archival E-MU library, which alone is worth hundreds of dollars (ahem, I know: I bought them previously to use with Emulator X2).

So, this means you’re getting the E-MU Vintage X bundle of classic synths and keyboards: samples of vintage gear like ARP, Moog, Roland Jupiter 8 and JX8P, Sequential Circuit Prophet 10 and 600, Mellotron, Oberheim OB, B-3 organ, Rhodes and Clavinet, and way more than I plan to list here. And they all sound really good. But, wait, there’s more! For fans of the classic ROMpler rack mount boxes, the TSE comes with the Proteus 2000 (all 1,024 presets of the rack mount box) and Mo Phatt module sounds.

Bundled virtual instruments include 4Front Truepianos (Diamond and Emerald), WusikStation V4 with added libraries (hybrid vector and wavesequencer, sampler instrument), Lennar Digital Sylenth (quite nice virtual analog synth), and Luxonix Purity (I’d likely call this akin to a Korg Triton in software).

Other useful things include Disco DSP Discovery OL edition, Vertigo, Crystal, UltraSonique, Cubix; and more than 40 other goodies to go sonic exploring with. It’s really easy to stack some of the one trick ponies in Karsyn to make entirely new instruments, too.

So, all told it really would cost you a bundle (at least $1,000) to go out and buy all the bundled software included in the box.

Out of Box Experience
I had a little bit of hesitation in choosing to buy the NeKo TSE, since on paper it looked really really good, but dropping nearly $5K on anything these days can be a real deal breaker when there are so many options for music making gear. Luckily my business has been doing really well this year, despite the economy, and I had recently sold my Korg OASYS 88 on eBay, so I started the research phase. This included a bunch of emails off to the Open Labs support team regarding various things, and they had good answers to my questions. Prompt and coherent, as I like to say.

NeKo TSE packingAfter watching the videos on their website (www.openlabs.com) and on YouTube, reading forum questions and answers, older reviews in the major magazines, etc., I ended up ordering one from the AudioMidi.com folks here in California (also always nice to work with). I do buy a lot from the folks at Sweetwater (shout out to Delvin Wolf), but they didn’t carry the NeKo. Apparently others made the jump on this new model the same time I did, so there was a waiting list (the 37-key version shipped first, which is perhaps more popular with the hip-hop/DJ crowd thanks to smaller size).

Getting the box from UPS after about 10 days was a delight as the box was professionally silk screened with Open Labs logos (unexpected quality there), and the packing was very competent for a product of this kind (see photo). Had very much a Christmas morning feel, which is always a good sign. It was not quite as obsessive as some of the Yamaha gear I’ve bought where they must have a custom cardboard factory someplace for all the engineering they put into packing, but far better than a Roland V-Synth keyboard I got where the packing practically had to be broken to get the gear out.

I was a little surprised there were no CD/DVDs, a printed manual, or anything inside the accessory box aside from a hex wrench, a getting started sheet (11×17, color), and power cable. Of course, I then realized that with two 500GB hard drives, the help files, video tutorials and whatnot would be on the TSE, which they were. I still would have liked a small printed manual, but perhaps my dinosaur bones are starting to show on that – in this era of reducing paper waste, and the fact that just about any tech manual is obsolete months after it’s been printed, it’s a good environmental and cost-saving choice.

Once out of the box and on a stand (I’m using the Standtastic 103KSB, seen in the photo) it was a quick shot to plug-in speakers, a second monitor, and start making noise. Thanks to its use of Windows versus a custom version of Linux (ala Muse Receptor), installing virtual synths like IK’s SampleMoog (see photo) or Arturia’s CS80 emulation was as simple as putting the disc in, exiting the GUI, installing the applications under Windows, connected to net for authorization, and done. It took the better part of a day to install various things I wanted to play with like the Korg Legacy collection, some East West instruments, and the now defunct Gigastudio VST instrument.

I really like the front panel (below the pitch/mod wheels) audio controls on the FireBox, for setting headphone and monitor out levels. Having two mic or instrument inputs “right there” at hand is nice, too, without having to remember which input is which on the back or pulling it off the rack to plug something in. The snazzy metal audio knobs have detents so you can actually set a headphone level “just right” and go back to it later. I have been a long time fan of Echo Audio products, and was new to the PreSonus line, but am really liking what they do. Aside from ergonomics, it appears this was a very good choice for “quality” and not just size. Open Labs has pre-set everything installed to run with the drivers (via ASIO), so you don’t have to worry about manually setting anything; and switching from 44 to 48Khz was simple using the ASIO panel.

The Player in the House
One of the things which make this product really fun as a keyboard player is finally being able to treat a virtual instrument as a keyboard. Sure, you may think using a notebook and a MIDI keyboard controller is just as nice, but not as far as I’m concerned. Being able to load up the Korg Legacy Collection Wavestation instrument on the NeKo TSE, and play it “right there” as if the keyboard had morphed into a real Wavestation (I’ve missed mine for years). You can even use your fingertip to move the virtual joystick on screen. Not as fluid as a real joystick, but much better than using the mouse in my opinion. Basically, any virtual instrument which has a standalone mode seems entirely new again when played on the TSE. I had a blast playing IK Multimedia’s SampleMoog on the TSE while writing a review of the software (see photo).

Playing IK SampleMoog on the NeKo TSEAnd, for others without a standalone mode, you’re a few taps away from loading something into Karsyn. I was impressed that Karsyn even has a drop-down menu of “recently added” instruments and “recently used” plug-ins, so when you first install something like Spectrasonics Omnisphere, you don’t have to go hunting through dozens of instrument menus to load it up.

There were some minor problems which came up, which was the pitch bend didn’t “center” properly every time, which I hadn’t run into as a problem since the days of my Oberheim XK keyboard controller with levers in lieu of wheels. Also, I found the final D# and F# keys made a “clacking” sound on release. I determined that the metal case top was a hair lower than it could be, and simply taking off the right end panel and holding the case top and re-tightening the right hand side screws solved that. For the pitch bend problem, tech support confirmed this was an issue that they could reproduce, and a week later they had a firmware update which they installed remotely for me over the Internet. No trouble since.

I requested they consider adding an option in mFusion to route the aftertouch to the mod wheel for those applications which don’t support MIDI aftertouch (many don’t), as it can be strange in this day and age to apply pressure and nothing happen. This is not a problem with the NeKo, as some non-owner forum trolls will assert, but lack of aftertouch support in the virtual instrument being played.

The fit and finish of the case is very nice with the exception of a little area under the left side of the keyboard which looked like it should have been sanded prior to painting, as it has a bit of a coin edge versus being smooth which seems out of place with all the rest of the edges on the case.

The controllers work well, although the notebook PC style touch pad for mousing takes a bit getting used to, and is a bit twitchy on some screens, just like a real notebook. I sometimes felt the touch pad was too sensitive and the select buttons required too much pressure. Generally, I found myself using the LCD panel whenever I could. I may end up adding a Logitech cordless USB trackball, maybe not.

The overall presentation feels good; not quite the industrial grade manufacture of some big name workstations, but way way beyond the built-in-garage hot rod approach. This is a mature, commercial product line and it shows.

Inside the NeKo TSE

Inside the Box
When looking inside the case to add some options (see photo), I was really impressed by the Zalman case fan, high quality power supply, high quality memory, very efficient wire routing and tie down, as well as epoxy glue on some of the connectors to keep them from coming loose in transport (essential for gigging). The glue was a nice touch, as I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to open my DSI Poly Evolver rack mount synth to push the little connector for the front screen that hair’s width needed to make it work again.

For the trolls in some of the forums who complain that the NeKo is nothing more than a PC and a keyboard controller bolted together, it’s worth mentioning the plethora of custom circuit boards inside the case (not shown) which handily disproves that assertion. There is way more engineering in place for this than even I (being a techie guy from way back) was expecting. That’s why it works so well: it’s engineered, not cobbled together.

NeKo TSE upgradesI’ve also customized my NeKo TSE by adding an internal FireWire card (mandatory if you want to use another audio I/O box while the FireBox is installed on the main FireWire bus), adding a mini USB hub inside to mount my iLok and Syncrosoft keys, and I’ve added another 500GB hard drive to use for sample libraries. This was done under the auspices of normal upgrades which won’t void my warranty, but you must be careful here if you don’t know what you’re doing (see added note regarding warranty, below -editor).

My only complaint was the cost of the brackets to mount the third hard drive, which was about $100 for two brackets and some screws from Open Labs. Sure, it’s custom cut premium aluminum, with grommets for vibration, but considering you can buy an entire Antec PC case for that, it was tempting to simply use the leftover parts I had laying about and tape down an Antec bracket I had (actually I did just that while waiting for the parts to arrive in the mail). Still, the OEM part is nice, but it cost as much as the 500GB hard drive, which seemed wrong somehow. Not evil mind you, just pricey.

Editorial note: after this story had been published, Open Labs requested I add the following note regarding the warranty: “This warranty does not apply: … b) to damage caused by service (including upgrades and expansions) performed by anyone who is not an Open Labs Authorized Service Provider; c) to a product or a part that has been modified without the written permission of Open Labs.” — which basically means if you don’t know how to install a hard drive into a PC already, don’t mess with your NeKo! As I’ve mentioned in my postings to the Open Labs tech support forum, you should always consult the tech gurus at OL prior to doing anything inside your keyboard, unless you truly know what you’re doing. More info: http://openlabs.com/warranty.html .

Other Choices
There isn’t a lot of competition for this product on the market. The Korg OASYS is a closed system, and suffers from a “let’s make everything new” mentality, which walks away from the huge library of sounds of the Triton era, and while it can sort of morph into a few vintage instruments like the MS-20, it can’t become a Wavestation, or stack instruments in place within “combis” to make hybrids of the various technologies included, and the OASYS recording environment is inferior to most software tools, such as Reaper included with the TSE.

The Muse Receptor (www.museresearch.com) is a versatile instrument for touring and studio use, and works very well, but it’s not a keyboard instrument in the same way a workstation like the TSE is. You “hook up” to the Receptor, you don’t “play it.” The Receptor is also currently hampered by the fact it’s running a version of Linux and can’t easily load many Windows plug-ins without special installers. If you need a dedicated box to run Native Instruments or IK Multimedia’s libraries, it’s a good choice for that, but it still requires a DAW and MIDI controller. I found the built-in synth rack to be versatile, but cumbersome, and it is really setup for those who want to program live sets versus just loading something and playing it.

Similarly, the SM Pro Audio V-Machine (www.smproaudio.com) is a standalone VST player in a box, but adds support for Magix Samplitude 9 SE, as well as a nice selection of virtual instruments. The initial product is more geared for musicians using a notebook, and the box has only a 1GHz CPU, so you won’t likely be recording full on game soundtracks with it, but it’s insanely affordable for what it is.

And, yes, you can simply go out and buy a keyboard controller, a notebook, and a USB sound box for portable composing. In fact, I considered buying a top of the line CME or Novation controller with all the knobs and sliders, along with a PreSonus FireStudio, and a new HP TouchSmart 20″ LCD PC and “rolling my own” type of product along these lines. What I found, however, is that the “value add” provided by Open Labs with the NeKo TSE made it exactly what I wanted. The integration of the pieces (the control surface is pre-set to work with the E-MU sound library for instance), and the huge amount of work which has gone in to the pre-sets and a “clean” install of everything on board. It works for me, and I have no regrets about “should have done blah instead.”

Bottom Line
In practice I’ve had zero crashes, downtime, glitches or problems beyond a personal adventure in replacing the FireBox with a couple of PreSonus FireStudio models as the main audio I/O (another story). I now have both working and can choose which to use, depending on what I’m doing. I’ve also added the PreSonus FaderPort and the monitor controller for the FireStudio, which sit perfectly above the PC keyboard on the top left side of the TSE. For those who need additional controllers like drum pads, the new Korg Nano line is perfect as an add-on to the NeKo.

FIVE STARSAs far as running other DAW applications, Cakewalk Sonar 8 works great, and the only glitch of any kind I’ve had has been the streaming option turned on within Omnisphere, and the screen redraw in most recent update of East West Play engine. However, I don’t consider these to be issues related to the NeKo TSE.

For any keyboard player who wants a real workstation, complete with a vast sound palette, truly usable recording system, and those who also want a great live performance instrument, the NeKo is an excellent and unique choice. Some may find it pricey, but in my opinion it is well worth every penny once you discover everything you’re actually getting.

Summary:
Music Industry Newswire rating: FIVE STARS.

Open Labs NeKo Timbaland Special Edition (TSE)
www.openlabs.com

61-key workstation based on Intel Core2Quad processor, 4GB RAM, two 500GB Hard Drives, dual-layer DVD burner, PreSonus FireBox audio and MIDI I/O. Exclusive sound libraries with 35GB of premium sounds; custom licensed versions of instruments and DAW recording applications. List price: $4999.

PROS:
Good value when all the pieces are priced alone; great integration between instruments and bundled software. Good ergonomics. Great technical support; including remote fixes/updates, prompt email and phone call-back support. They even monitor the tech support forum on their site daily. Extremely playable. It is compatible with all Windows XP applications. PreSonus audio hardware an excellent choice; ASIO drivers seem to work with everything. Upgradeable as technology changes (new motherboard/processors) via upgrade path policy.

CONS:
No printed documentation beyond hook-up sheet; lacking documentation of any kind for certain things like video card settings to enable second display. Bracket for third HD is a bit pricey. A PC build sheet outlining motherboard model, video card capability (resolutions and timings supported), CD/DVD burner specs (in case of firmware update needed); used/open SATA, USB and FireWire ports, and similar data would have been nice to have in the unlikely event the company disappeared.

More information and tech specs on the NeKo TSE:
http://openlabs.com/ .

Article is Copr. © 2008 by Christopher Simmons. All photographs are the exclusive property of, and are Copr. © 2008 by Christopher Simmons, all rights reserved. Article originally appeared on MusicIndustryNewswire.com.