Portable Digital Multitrack Recorder
The speed in which you can lay down ideas is perfect for creative types, backed by powerful iZotope software tools to take those ideas to fruition. In future we’d like to see the hardware opened up to all platforms, with MIDI added. For now though, Spire Studio ticks lots of boxes for anyone looking to expand their iOS production setup.
Izotope Spire Studio
- Recorders >Digital Recorders
iZotope’s Spire Studio breathes new life into a format that will be familiar to many home studio owners.
Although the format has moved on from analogue four-track cassette tape to digital multitrack stored on SD card, the Portastudio paradigm originally set by the TEAC 144 in 1978 hasn’t changed all that much over the last 40 years. Even today, Tascam’s digital Portastudios (and similar products from Boss and Zoom) still utilise the fader-based, multichannel layout pioneered by the 144.
However, advancing technology takes no prisoners and, as the user interfaces that link us to physical technology continue their evolutionary pathway from direct hardware control through wireless touchscreens to whatever lies beyond, it was only a matter of time before the classic Portastudio concept was reimagined for the home-based recording musicians of today.
Enter iZotope, a US company perhaps best known for their range of audio plug-ins for music and post-production environments, and whose latest products exploit both artificial intelligence and machine learning in order to help enhance recording, mixing and mastering workflows. iZotope’s co-founder and CEO Mark Ethier’s desire to be able to record immediately led to a multi-year development program that culminated in the Spire Studio, a compact, portable eight-track digital recording system that is record-ready at power-up.
Appearances Can Be Deceptive
With a truncated, black, slightly slope-sided cylindrical form that is little larger than my favourite tea mug, the Spire Studio looks like no current or previous member of the Portastudio genus — no faders, no knobs, nothing you’d recognise from the past. Only the top surface’s segmented, touch-sensitive, multi-colour LED ring, a built-in microphone grille, the central, semi-circular Record and Play buttons and the three smaller switches sitting on its circumference with legends denoting New Song, Soundcheck and Headphone Volume, hint at what might lurk inside.
The Spire Studio’s back panel is very simple, with just a pair of combi jack/XLR connectors, a headphone socket and buttons for power and 48V phantom power.A squared-off recess at the back of the unit carries two XLR/TRS combination connectors, a 48V phantom power switch and a 3.5mm headphone jack (duplicated at the front), plus the connector for the included external 5V DC power supply that not only powers the Spire, but also recharges its internal battery to give you four hours of continuous use from a full charge.
Despite its minimalist appearance, this seemingly simple setup enables you to record, replay and monitor (but not balance) a maximum of eight individual tracks at 48kHz/24-bit resolution. You can also adjust headphone volume, and mute, unmute and delete tracks without requiring any additional hardware or software.
Underneath the Spire’s surface serenity there is a lot of paddling going on. A custom-designed omnidirectional condenser microphone sits behind the integral grille and is angled upwards on the assumption that the Spire will normally be positioned lower down in front of the vocalist or acoustic musician on a low table or similar support. For more complex mic setups, the two rear-panel combi connectors feed preamps developed by Grace Designs. The built-in microphone is disabled when a mic or instrument is connected either to input 1 only, or to both rear-panel inputs simultaneously. When only input 2 is in use, the internal microphone remains active.
Pressing the Soundcheck button initiates an automatic setup function that simply requires you to play and/or sing into the Spire — either directly and/or via any connected external sources — until the process completes. You can monitor its progress via an incremental illumination of the LED ring. Soundcheck not only sets the optimum gain level for each input but also activates the onboard intelligent digital signal processing (DSP) that aims to correct and enhance your recordings by reducing noise, clipping, room reverb and other unwanted artifacts in order to make them sound more ‘produced’. If you’re familiar with iZotope’s Neutron program you’ll know just how effective that company’s proprietary DSP correction and enhancement can be and, if you’re not, a visit to www.izotope.com will enlighten you.
Alongside its DSP correction capability, the Spire Studio also carries a small selection of Recording Effects that are only available individually and which have to be recorded as part of a track. An integral 2.4GHz Wi-Fi hotspot allows the connection of a compatible iOS device as a touchscreen-based wireless remote control.
Visit the Ableton site, or the Serato site, you get a slick, helpful experience that guides you through the process of buying, installing and using the software. There’s the grander experience of the brand.From the moment you consider buying software – any software – your experience is part of what you pay for. Mixmeister studio 7. 7 mac.
App Assistant
This remote control interface for the Spire Studio comes in the shape of version 2 of the stand-alone, iOS-only Spire Music Recorder app. Although the Apple iTunes store listing implies that the current 2.6.1 version of the app — which requires iOS 10 and above — is compatible with the iPhone 5S, that compatibility actually ended at version 1.1.14, which means that you’ll need either an iPod Touch, iPhone 6, iPad Air, or iPad Mini 2 (or their later versions) in order to gain remote control of the Spire Studio.
The Spire Music Recorder was first released in August 2015 as a handy little four-track iOS recording app that featured iZotope’s DSP audio enhancement (limiter, de-esser, dynamic EQ and stereo imager); touch-and-drag mic input level adjustment and stereo mixdown; hands-free voice control of record start (a feature that has yet to cope reliably with my mongrel Scottish accent); a metronome; and the ability to share to other apps, cloud storage, email and messaging services.
The v2 Spire Music Recorder update not only added four additional tracks, but also updated the app to turn any compatible iOS touchscreen device running it into a wireless remote control for all the Spire Studio’s functionality when connected to that unit’s integral Wi-Fi network.
In Use
Using the Spire Studio in stand-alone mode is simply a matter of powering it up, plugging in a pair of headphones, pressing the New Song button (which creates a new Spire Studio Project), pressing Soundcheck and playing and/or singing until that process completes and, finally, pressing the Record button. Once you press stop, the next track is ready to record and, should you wish to, you can carry on — repeating the Soundcheck process when necessary — until all eight tracks are used up. To record two sources simultaneously, plugging into both rear inputs simultaneously (or leaving the internal mic active by plugging into input 2) will ready two tracks for recording.
Drawbacks that you need to bear in mind when running the Spire Studio stand-alone is that there is no way to manually adjust the input level of the track you’re recording and that there is no facility to create a level-balanced cue or master mix. However, add remote control via the Spire Music Recorder iOS app and both these issues vanish instantaneously.
Appiness
Launching the app brings up its home screen, from which you can connect to the Spire Studio and its onboard Wi-Fi. Once connected, the app enables you either to create a new project, to load an already recorded project, or to import or download an audio file from your device or from any other sources that it can reach — iCloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc. Once downloaded, the file is converted into the Spire format and uploaded to the Spire Studio to create a new Project.
The recording screen in the Spire app. When using the app, the basic recording process is only slightly more complex than when running stand-alone: connect your source(s), open the Record screen, run the Soundcheck procedure (from either the app or the Spire Studio) and you’re ready to record. If you wish, you can manually adjust the track input level and also add a single recording effect to the track(s) that you are ready to record, and audition the result before you start recording. The available effects include three amplifier emulations (Verb ’65, Tube 30, Bass), an Acoustic Shaper for guitars of that variety, two reverb sounds (Warm Voice and Deep Space Vibes) and two delays (Intimate Space Vibes and a Vintage Dub Echo). Usefully, both delay times are linked to the tempo of the onboard metronome.
11 rows Norton Security is the best antivirus software if you have computers that run different. Also the main reason to get mac antivirus software is to protect fellow windows users who are connected in the same network. There are very less malwares or viruses for mac so getting infected is very rare. What is the best anti-virus software for a mac. One is Safari on the Mac, protected by the Mac antivirus that's under test. The other three use the protection built into Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer.
On-screen controls enable you to modify the Amount and Tone of the two Vibes and the Dub Echo, the Character and Amount of the Warm Voice, and the Shine and Shape of the Acoustic Shaper. The amplifier emulations are more comprehensively equipped, the Reverb ’65 and Tube 30 having Tone, Tremolo, Tremolo Depth and a Bright switch in common, with the former (as you’d expect) sporting a Reverb level control and the latter featuring Drive level instead. The Bass amp’s five controls are Tone, Presence, Drive and Blend, topped off by a Boost switch, the combination giving you access to more overdriven guitar sounds.
Recorded tracks are displayed on the Record screen as fairly rudimentary waveforms, the colour of each track corresponding to the Spire Studio’s hardware LED track display. Track editing controls that are available on the Record screen are Mute, Delete and Trim, which allows you to delete unwanted areas at the beginning and/or end of a track to clean up your tracks before proceeding to mix them down to stereo. To assist you in auditioning and setting a trim point, touching the on-screen playhead for a second or so brings up a zoom mode with a one-second audio loop.
The Mixer page lets you adjust each track’s level and pan.The Spire Studio’s Mix screen, rather than having faders, displays a graphical representation of a stereo soundfield populated by numbered circles, each corresponding to a recorded track. Moving a circle upwards in the soundfield increases its volume and moving it to the left or right pans it. The only other controls available in Mix mode are the per-track Mute and Mono/Stereo ‘switches’. Once you’ve created your mix, you can email or save it straight from the Mix screen in m4a or wav formats, and upload it directly from the app to social media or SoundCloud if you so wish. If you want to have more control over your mix, individual tracks can be exported and saved for import into your DAW. An entire Spire project can also be exported for sharing with other Spire Studio users, and for backup purposes.
Another point to note is that projects recorded on your Spire Studio are saved to your iOS device when opened in the app over Wi-Fi, so that you can work on them ‘offline’. Depending on the amount of memory available in your iOS device, you may have to actively manage the number of projects stored on it. Opening a recording made on your device when connected to the Spire Studio automatically exports it to form a new project.
Overall
How to use garageband to record voice on ipad pro. Although the original operational paradigm survives pretty much unchanged, the app-based control surface of the Spire Studio represents a significant step away from the traditional Portastudio form factor at a relatively attractive price for what’s on offer — provided that you already own a compatible iOS device.
By combining a touchscreen interface with their own proprietary DSP software, iZotope have come up with a digital audio recorder that, to my mind, is true to the original Portastudio concept of a simple-to-operate multitrack recorder that enabled musicians to capture moments of inspiration, to create demo tapes and even, in the shape of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, to record a commercial album release.
The fact that the Spire Studio and its associated app have the potential to do all that and more at a very high performance level without requiring any external microphones or hardware (other than a pair of headphones), shows just how much the technology of audio recording (and our relationship to it) has advanced over the last 40 years.
If you’re looking for a portable, quick and easy to use digital multitrack recorder, or if, like me, you already own a compatible iPhone/iPad that you’re using as a musical notebook, then you should take a very close look at iZotope’s Spire Studio. I can’t see me wanting to send this one back.
Pros
- Superb overall performance.
- Simple and intuitive operation.
- Excellent results from the integral microphone.
- Soundcheck feature and iZotope DSP ensures optimum results.
- Rechargeable internal battery gives true portability.
Cons
- To make investing in a Spire Studio an attractive prospect, you’ll need to already own a compatible iOS device.
Summary
An ingenious update of the original Portastudio concept that offers musicians the opportunity to produce high-quality multitrack recordings in a compact, portable, easy-to-operate package.
information
$349
It's not often you come across really rad smart music accessories, and the Spire Studio is a breath of fresh air and a humongous step in the right direction for the future of mobile recording. Stop recording sloppy demos with your iPhone's microphone and check out the Spire Studio. Just be prepared to fork over some dough (especially in Canada — yikes!).
A studio in the palm of your hands
That's a literal statement. Think of a pack of rewritable CDs you can buy at any electronics store. That's basically the size of the Spire Studio, but the Spire's diameter is even smaller, so it really fits in the palm of your hand. It's magnificent what such a small thing can do. And, you just have to charge it up and you have yourself a cable-free mobile studio, so you can take it to the park or wherever your travels may lead you, and it'll work for 4 to 6 hours, promises iZotope.
It really fits in the palm of your hand.
You have everything you need to start recording: two rear inputs that double as XLR and quarter-inch jacks (including phantom power for your mics that need it), simple record and play buttons, a 'Soundcheck' button, a 'New Song' button, and a headphone volume button.
Download the Spire app for iPhone (sorry, Android users, including myself), connect to your Spire via Wi-Fi, and you're ready to go. The best part is that, if you've forgotten your phone, you can just record right to the Spire, and it'll sync up with the app the next time you connect. That's gold, Jerry. Gold.
How it works
The Spire is about as straightforward as you could hope. You quite literally turn it on, and hit record. Or, you turn it on, connect with the app, and hit record. That's really all you need to know to get started. The built-in microphone is excellent. I recorded acoustic guitar, vocals, and even drums, and they all sounded great. Thanks to the magical Soundcheck button, your levels are automatically set — you hit the button, play for 10 seconds, and boom. You can also manually set your levels, which I actually liked a little better for drums, but do what sounds best to you. I was actually very pleasantly surprised by how well the Spire balanced out the drum kit, and there was virtually no clipping — and that's in an echoey, unfinished basement at that.
The Soundcheck button is magical and creates an excellent balance.
You'll probably want your own metronome if you want to record to a click track with drums (or an awesome pair of noise-isolating headphones), but other than that, it works well.
You can record up to eight tracks in a single session, so you can lay down drums, then plug in headphones to lay down guitar and bass, and then do up your vocals. I like recording acoustic guitar and vocals the best. Hit the soundcheck button, play and sing a bit together, and it ends up perfectly balanced — it's glorious.
When you open up an album, the background color changes, for example. When you navigate the application, there are animations that make it feel both smooth and snappy.The biggest fault of Xpotify is that it doesn't have offline music support. For me, that doesn't matter, because I always stream my music, but I recognize that for some users, such as frequent air travelers, the lack of offline support is a deal breaker. Best free spotify app. I also noticed that on Xpotify I can play Spotify radio stations but can't browse the stations I've made in the past. Xpotify is more visually reactive than Spotify's desktop app.
Thus the application goes farther the backbone base to have some advanced editing tools likewise channel manipulation. Download gimp 2.10 mac iso. Plugins used to be collected together in the GIMP Registry, but that no longer exists. It also has an “open as layers” command, which is a noteworthy feature which is used to locate an image into the layer of another layer.These features help build worthy software efficiently compared with other overrated applicationPlugins PLUGINS OF GIMP PORTABLEThe GIMP plugin scene is a bit of a mess. Below are some plugins which are compatible with GIMP Portable edition. Which means they’re now scattered around the internet.
Origin reset tool mac download. You can add recording effects before you hit record to change the shape of your sound, and if you're plugging electric guitars in directly, you have your choice of a couple amps, where can alter tremolo, reverb, brightness, and other cool settings.
The 'Acoustic Shaper' effect is pretty awesome, adding a lovely, almost haunting reverb, which you can crank or turn down to your pleasure. I did a quick cover of 'Ache With Me' by Against Me! and was able to get that cool, reverby 'ch-ah' breath sound with it. It's cool enough when you can record your own rough songs ideas on the fly, but when you can do covers and actually full-on emulate recordings, that's rad as hell.
Electric instruments
Electric guitar is a bit of a sticking point for me when it comes to the Spire. I first tried with my Epiphone ES-339, which has two humbucking pickups, and even clean it was too much for the Spire (even after using the Soundcheck setting). It was a little overblown and distorted.
Stick with delay pedals — OD and distortion are gonna ruin your signal.
The home version of UltraMixer has all features you need to start in the world of digital DJing. No matter you play music on the next house party or in your party cellar. Index of ultra mixer. You can adapt the speed of music with speed controls like a real DJ “by hand” or you sync automatically tracks with the “sync” function and you can create your own DJ-mix.
I then tried my American Standard Strat, which has humbuckers on the bridge, and clean was gorgeous, even with the tone switch in fourth position, and I even added the Hot Tubes side of my EHX Hot Wax overdrive pedal, and that wasn't too bad, but once I kicked in the Crayon side and added more distortion, the signal was fully distorted. I also tried to get a dirty sound with my Super Badass distrotion from Dunlop, and that signal was also overblown, even after soundchecking and turning down the volume knob on my strat.
So I'd say stick with delay, trem, and other non-distorting effects pedals if you don't want a muddy tone. Or, even better, just plug in a microphone and mic your amp instead.
A solid app with a couple caveats
The Spire app is wonderfully straightforward and makes excellent use of 3D Touch. When you're trimming a track, if you firmly press the slider, it'll play the part of the track you're at, so you can trim with precision. The only downside is that you can't slide the tracks at all, so if you're recording multiple tracks, you'll want to get things perfectly in time (where the metronome feature comes in handy!).
If mini plug, make sure you have the right jack on the back of the computer (there's two) Then go into System Preferences. https://rewardpowerup.weebly.com/blog/onn-mini-speakers-v300-drivers-for-mac. Are the speakers powered? Is there a volume control on the subwoofer, or an external fob with a volume control on it? Select 'Sound' and see if you can select something other than 'Internal Speakers' - the computer may just not be aware that you want to use the external speakers.
The other minor annoyance is the inability to listen to audio from your iPhone when you're recording with the Spire unit itself. Say you'd rather lay down drums after your record guitars — you'd have to plug headphones into the Spire unit in order to hear playback. It can be done; it's just a little cumbersome.
You can trim, mix, and even export individual tracks to tweak them in other apps.
The Mix section is really cool, since you can mix each track the way you'd like it, and even set the fade right or left. You just can't adjust the mix for certain parts of each track; you set the level for a particular track, and that's how it's set for the whole song. That being said, if you export individual tracks to another program, you can adjust them there. The Spire is really about just getting your ideas down to turn them into perfection later on.
Sharing is caring and easy as pie
One of the best features of the Spire Studio is just how easy it is to share your recorded projects. You can simply AirDrop your stuff right from the iPhone app to your Mac, which is ridiculously convenient, or you can email files, send them as texts, send 'em straight to social media or SoundCloud, and even export the individual tracks to work on them after in GarageBand or wherever you like to tweak your music. That makes the the Spire the perfect demo tool.
Celebrity endorsements
I don't usually care to much when a celebrity hypes a product — they're usually paid quite well, and I don't tend to trust anyone's opinion when money's involved.
That being said, one of my absolute favorite musicians (Laura Jane Grace of Against Me!) recorded a fun song using a Spire Studio, and I'd be lying if I said that didn't make me want a Spire of my own just a little bit. Check out 'Park Life Forever' in Spire's video below. It's a fun behind-the-scenes look at Laura Jane recording using the Spire, while chatting about the tune's inspiration. 'Park Life Forever' is a far cry from 'Baby, I'm an Anarchist,' but it's a cute, happy way to showcase the Spire's spur-of-the-moment spirit.
And here's the full making of video, where you can watch Grace record the whole tune:
If that's not the most wholesome thing you've seen today, then I don't know what is.
How much?
For $349 US, you get a full-on studio that fits in your backpack. Edit on the fly, record, effects, the works. The app is free to download as well. It just sucks living in Canada right now, where this thing costs me upwards of $500. I feel like that's a bit of a tall order, but if you're a serious musician, then it's likely worth it to you.
Should you buy it? Hell yes
The longer I play with the Spire Studio, the more I absolutely love it. It's incredibly convenient when you have a random idea for a tune and you can just go grab it, pick up an acoustic guitar, and lay it down on the fly. No need to plug it in (provided it's charged), no need to turn on a computer, hell no need to even pick up your phone if you don't want to add any effects or anything. Just soundcheck, play, boom.
If you want a super convenient way to do up demos and even create full songs, with built-in effects, mixing, and more, then yes, you should pick up a Spire Studio for yourself. It's convenient, multi-faceted, and just as great as you'd hope.
We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.
Apple everywhereThe App Store, Apple Arcade, and Apple Music come to more countries
Izotope Spire Manual
Apple this morning announced that it has expanded its services to multiple new countries around the globe.