Livid Instruments has introduced the new Alias 8 MIDI Controller.
Here’s what they have to say about the Alias 8:
The Livid Alias 8 delivers the quick and dirty control you need in a durable, compact package with high-quality controls. Perfect as a portable mixer control, the Alias 8 is designed to satisfy the essential needs of every studio or a live rig.
Eight “channel strips” of knobs, faders, and buttons, and a full-size master fader easily adapt to traditional mixing. The dual-function encoder makes it easy to change the MIDI channel (up to 15 channels), instantly extending its reach to control more of your software, while always keeping track of any LED feedback on the other channels. The encoder can also be used as a MIDI control for flipping through tracks or adjusting your cue volume – just push the encoder down to change its function.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LrWn9q9pKU
Features:
- 8 – 30mm faders
- 1 – 60mm fader
- 16 – rotary potentiometers
- 16 – RGB LED backlit buttons
- 1- push-button detented encoder
- 2 analog expansion ports for Livid XPC and DIY controllers (up to 16 additional analog controls)
- 15 banks of control on separate MIDI channels
- Character display
- USB powered class-compliant MIDI
- Crafted by hand
Very nice!!!
very nice indeed. i have a million uses for this device
What is “crafted by hand” supposed to mean? That the final assembly is performed by some factory worker, which is the norm for consumer electronics anyway?
Too expensive. $199 would be perfect.
“Too expensive. $199 would be perfect.”
Free would be even better – but you get what you pay for.
Not everybody wants to fill their studios with cheap junk, made out of plastic and cheap knobs & sliders. Livid’s controllers are designed for people that want solid gear that’s going to last.
Excluding labour costs, there’s not more than about $30 worth of stuff in the controller – and that is using high quality components. The markup on audio gear is incredible, but then again the sales volumes aren’t that high except for a select few brands.
Sorry, that’s simply not true. It’s expensive to manufacture equipment with decent components in North America.
You must also remember that the cost of board layout, firmware development and industrial design is a considerable up-front expense that has to be amortized over the life of a product.
If you didn’t notice, I did say “excluding labour”. Of course there are design costs, but it’s a fairly trivial piece of gear. Electronic components are also a lot cheaper than people think. There doesn’t seem to be any custom molded parts, so there’s no huge startup costs either.
I do stand by my comment regarding markup. On a piece of DJ gear I worked, the retail price was almost ten times what the distributors paid.
Not sure why you’re hating on Livid. It sounds like maybe you haven’t invested in pro-level gear before – because this is reasonably priced for what you get. It is certainly built better than the Launchpad or APC40, which are in the $100-200 price range.
It’s still expensive by market standards. Of course Livid doesn’t have the same economies of scale that other manufacturers do, but on the other hand this is pretty basic in terms of functionality. It does look like a decent piece of gear, although I wish the fader throw were longer.
“crafted by hand” means the potentiometers are soldered by hand, and the final assembly is by hand too. The only thing done by machines is place small components on the PCB by a pick and place machine, and the Metal housing is cut with a CNC machine. Other than that, its all done by hand.
So it’s made like any other small-volume consumer product, and it’s just your typical marketing BS? Great if they’ve made the decision not to farm out the manufacturing to China, but dear god I’m tired of marketing crap.
enough with the negativity! if they’ve built well and want you to tell you that in their advertising literature so you are better informed about the quality of their product then surely that’s ok?
the fact is that livid make some of the best midi controller available on the market, i tour a lot and my Livid Code is one of the most reliable and sturdy bit of kit i’ve got.