IPAD APP REVIEW
So what can this little App actually control? Well pretty well everything a Mackie Control can, and that’s quite a lot.
AC-7 Core showing channel settings for selected channel
Obviously fader levels, channel balance plus most of the other channel settings including input source, output routing, phase, mono/stereo, input monitoring on/off, aux send levels ; yes it’s really that comprehensive! You get dedicated buttons for REC, SOLO and MUTE plus a rather strange rotary control (normally for pan) which is mostly hiding and kind of half pops up when you touch it to adjust. Luckily there’s a fader flip function which allows you to bring the pan pot down to the main faders.
The main five transport controls are there and on either side ‘single’ and ‘by 8’ channel bank buttons so its each to move to the channels you want to control.
Controls for groups and mains are similar to the extent that they exist in Sonar and there’s a dedicated master level fader.
Coming to displays, all of the pushbuttons have simulated LEDs to show on/off status; there’s a very clear time position clock which can be switched between ‘real’ time and SMPTE and there are level meters on all of the channel strip displays. They are not exactly response nippy but I was amazed that they managed to keep up with the actual audio level at all considering they are being updated via the WiFi network.
Working in Sonar it was also possible to allocate control of the EQ and Compressor functions to AC-7’s control screen but I found this a bit fussy to control mostly because of the rather daft design of the previously mentioned rotary pots.
Yes you can even get into plug-in control but I began to feel a certain loss of reality coming on, so I decided to call a halt before the lure of the included Jog wheel took hold (yes you can do audio scrubbing!)
So has it any practical use?
One of the things I like to do is to review mixes in a different environment, as I find working from my (excellent) PMC nearfields a bit tiring after a long session. I am lucky enough to have a fibre connection from my little home studio cum development office into my lounge hi-fi system, so getting a high quality digital audio feed into the lounge is easy.
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