Arturia Microlab

78 / COMPUTER MUSIC December 2020
> reviews / mini reviews
A rapid-ire round-up of sample libraries, ROMplers and music gear
mini reviews
Web zoomcorp.com
Format PC/Mac, mobile recorder
We do love gadgets that can enhance your
computer music-making experience, and this
latest gizmo from Zoom looks, on the face of it,
to do just that, with a side helping of just about
everything else! The Zoom H8 is touted as a ield
recorder, multitrack recorder, podcast recorder
and even an audio interface. As such it could
well be a jack of all trades but does seem to have
the specs to back up just about all of the claims.
First you can treat it as a 24-bit/96kHz USB
audio interface that ofers up to 12-tracks of
simultaneous recording. To go with this you get
four mic XLR inputs (with phantom power), a
mic capsule and two XLR/TRS combo
connectors. You can record everything to SD
card or straight to your computer.
You get three diferent modes or apps to help
the device carry out its various tasks. The Field
app allows you to set record levels for all the
inputs; in the Music app you get more of a
standard mixer environment to adjust levels of
inputs which can include, keyboard, guitars
and microphones (you could even record the
individual parts of an entire band should you
wish and mix it all down with volume and pan
data); and then inally Podcast mode lets you
record from up to four external mics (plus
inputs from the supplied XYH6 XY mic
capsule), with four extra ‘Sound Pads’ for
playing those essential jingles and music
snippets (there are 13 to choose from to start
with, and you can add your own iles easily).
Other features include a metronome, punch
in/out recording, efects and EQ in the Music
app and efects in the Podcast app plus
markers and auto recording in the Field app.
Mention must be made of the excellent
colour touch screen which enables most
actions to be made with the deft swipe of a
inger and all very intuitively.
Honestly we’re surprised at how impressed
we are at the scope of the H8 which seems to
turn its expertise to any recording task. You
might well pay this asking price for a decent
audio interface, but with the apps you get a
whole lot more besides. Then there’s around 13
hours of battery life which adds a great level of
portability to the concept, although the H8 is
way bigger and bulkier than many ield
recorders and too big for most pockets.
Otherwise it’s weirdly brilliant.
n 9 / 1 0 n
Zoom
H8 Handy Recorder £375
Web arturia.com
Format PC/Mac, mini keyboard
There are so many small controller keyboards at
the moment that we feel slightly swamped by
them, so much so that we’re playing catch up
with this release from Arturia, the Microlab.
At £64 it is obviously one of the cheaper
keyboard controllers on the market, although
not that much cheaper than Arturia’s own
Minilab Mk2 which might be worth shelling out
another 15 quid for if you want the (many) extra
controls. However, what Microlab has going for
it is portability. At around 0.8kg and a tad over
40cm in length it will it in most bags. It’s also
USB-powered with the cable wrapped around
and part of the design, tucking as it does into the
rubber protective case which, incidentally, is
available in blue, orange or black.
Enclosed in said case, the keyboard feels
durable and sturdy, able to take the odd knock
on the road. The keyboard is better than some at
this size, being the same as Minilab and
surprisingly playable.
Controls are sparse and include up/down
octave buttons plus a Hold button for latching.
This doubles as a note sustain option (there’s no
sustain pedal input) and sends chord notes for
single key hits when the Shift button is held.
Similarly the Shift button doubles up the
pitchbend and modulation touch strips into
controls to page through and select categories
and presets via the Analog Lab software.
This software is one of a number of titles
bundled with the keyboard – which also include
Bitwig Studio 8Track and UVI’s Grand Piano
Model D – and probably the best, featuring as it
does 500 presets, including vintage synths
(both analogue and digital) , acoustic
instruments (pianos, organs etc) and string
machines. This might be the Lite version – so
you only get 500 of the 6,500 sounds from the
fuller option – but that’s still plenty to go with at
this price level. Indeed it’s re ally the software
that could be the deciding factor at this end of
the market as there are some great options from
Akai, MAudio IK and more that might feature
extra pads and rotaries but fall down on the
bundle. As it stands this is a great all-rounder if
you need something compact and robust.
n 8 /10n
Arturia
Microlab £64
CMU289.rev_mini.indd 78 16/10/2020 09:37