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The Seventh Annual Remix Technology Awards

Jan 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Markkus Rovito

BEST HARDWARE VALUE Novation Nocturn This year should be a huge one for two things: unemployment lines and this killer universal plug-in controller. Novation's Automap technology makes building a library of custom control maps for all of your plug-ins (or other MIDI software and hardware) simple, and at only $149 MSRP, this is a great product that your broke ass can still afford.
	MOST INNOVATIVE PRODUCT Trinity Audio Group Indamixx Open-source software is about as punk as (legal) computer geekery gets, which makes the Indamixx, a tiny touch-screen music computer preloaded with a full array of open-source programs, the Johnny Rotten of our world. However, Trinity has already topped itself with a more powerful Indamixx model coming in the form of a mini-laptop for only $500.
AUDIO EDITOR BIAS Peak Pro 6 In a year fraught with excellent major upgrades to audio editors, Peak Pro 6 wooed voters with its redesigned interface, large pack of bundled plug-ins, and dozens of new features and improvements, including the Vbox sound-design tools.
	SAMPLE COLLECTION Sony Creative Software The Electronic Music Manuscript: A Richard Divine Collection The name itself is a manuscript, but experimental producer/sound-designer extraordinaire Richard Devine wrote the book on 2008 with this 2-CD set of Acidized beats, bass and glitches, processed in a way you only wish you had the time, gear and experience to replicate. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
FIELD/PORTABLE RECORDER Sony PCM-D50 While keeping the rugged construction, noise-free recording and impeccable sound quality of its big brother, the PCM-D1, Sony dropped the price from two grand for the D1 to five or six bills for the D50, making budget-minded sound scavengers tear up in gratitude.
	SOFTWARE INSTRUMENT Digidesign Transfuser In a nice bit of metaphysics, Digidesign didn't re-invent the wheel, but it did remix the remixing instrument to create Transfuser, drawing inspiration from other tools and adding its own flare to this sampling/sequencing/effecting/randomizing machine. The result is infinite possibility, but with an interface that is quick to learn.
DJ MIXER Pioneer SVM-1000 A bigger DJ status symbol than a Rolls Royce or a Nicole Richie, the expensive, expansive SVM-1000 nonetheless shook the scene. Its four channels of audio and/or video inputs coalesce into an extensive A/V effects section. A set of Beat effects sync audio and video to bpm, while Touch effects let you use the touch-senstive LCD screen to control the visuals, incorporating text and still images along the way.