Roland Go:mixer Studio Review: Portable, Professional And Plenty Of Polish

Way backmost successful 2017, Roland carved retired a small niche for itself pinch nan preamble of the Go:Mixer line. The small, portable audio interfaces are a convenient measurement to link a mic and aggregate philharmonic instruments (or audio sources) to your telephone for much master nationalist performances aliases on-the-go recording. At this year’s NAMM show, nan institution unveiled nan latest successful nan family — nan Go:Mixer Studio — and it’s nan astir premium type to date.

The Studio adds a display, multitrack output and onboard effects on pinch a acold much luxurious design. At $300, there’s besides a acold much luxurious value tag. The Go:Mixer Pro-X was already a tin option, and competing products from Mackie and Zoom are besides vying for your hard-earned philharmonic dollars. The large question, then, is tin nan Studio make a lawsuit for itself astatine this elevated value point?

Right disconnected nan bat, successful position of usefulness, nan Studio is simply a coagulated measurement up from nan Pro-X acknowledgment to nan summation of a 2nd XLR port. So if your set is simply a duo, aliases you simply request 2 microphones, each performer tin now person their own. This besides opens nan Studio up for basal podcast situations, too. Technically, you could ever link much microphones done different inputs, but now you tin do truthful without adapters aliases further hardware for illustration preamps. The remainder of nan connectivity remains akin pinch ¼-inch line-in and guitar ports, headset mic support, a 3.5mm aux input and USB-C for audio from your telephone and connecting to nan app.

Other header upgrades see a overmuch higher maximum sample complaint of 24bit/192kHz (the Pro-X capped retired astatine 16bit/48kHz) and there’s MIDI connectivity for nan first clip successful nan Go:Mixer series. The caller effects dwell of a compressor, EQ and reverb. EQ and compression are disposable astatine nan transmission level, allowing for a bully magnitude of imaginative power complete your mix, while reverb is global. There’s a decent action of different types of reverb, too, pinch capable controls to configure them to your taste. I recovered immoderate of them to beryllium a spot robotic, aliases not very musical, but others sounded much accepted and due for my vocals and synthesizers.

The Go:Mixer bid was doing conscionable good without a show up until this point, but nan benefits of having 1 are instantly clear. On nan Pro-X, nan only ocular feedback for your levels was a solitary LED that indicated your audio was successful nan red. If you had aggregate inputs, you mightiness not moreover cognize which 1 was excessively loud. The first use of nan Studio’s display, then, is visible VU meters. They’re not huge, and nan show only shows accusation for 3 tracks astatine a time. This intends you mightiness person to page done a fewer screens to spot nan 1 you want, but it’s infinitely much useful than before.

The adjacent evident advantage of nan surface is being capable to power settings connected nan instrumentality via a menu. Navigation is intuitive, pinch nan surface divided into 3 sections, corresponding to nan 3 knobs conscionable beneath it. The default screen, for example, shows nan channels Mic 1, Mic 2 and Guitar/Bass. Turn nan first knob clockwise to alteration nan summation of Mic 1. The 2nd knob for Mic 2 and truthful on. Click a knob and, wherever applicable, you’ll participate a sub-menu wherever those 3 dials power immoderate is shown supra them. This move strategy useful beautiful good and took seconds earlier it felt natural.

The main limitation is that you tin only spot 3 of nan mixer channels connected surface astatine a clip and there’s nary measurement to manually reorder them. If you person a microphone connected and USB audio playing astatine nan aforesaid time, you can’t spot nan levels aliases power some of those things from nan aforesaid screen. You person to support paging screens backmost and forth.

The bully news is that Roland’s Go:Mixer Cam mobile app does connection a ocular mixer that lets you spot much aliases little each transmission connected surface astatine erstwhile and set levels quickly that way. It’s chiefly designed for creating videos of your performance, but it doubles arsenic a distant mixer if needed. There is 1 caveat pinch nan app, though, which is that you won’t beryllium capable to usage your telephone arsenic a USB audio root — say, for backing tracks — if you want to grounds video pinch nan Go:Mixer Cam app. That’s thing to beryllium mindful of.

The app does person a cool feature, which could besides beryllium a lifesaver: You tin alteration nan “mix” aft recording. If you grounds a performance, but find that your vocals are a spot low, aliases your synth is excessively precocious successful nan mix, you tin set nan levels and re-export it pinch amended balance. You person options to export arsenic video aliases audio only, truthful you tin stock 1 to YouTube and past a type for Soundcloud each from nan aforesaid app. Small detail, but if you want to usage nan app and person nan mixer sample complaint group to thing different than 48kHz, it’ll pass you that it needs to revert to 48kHz and restart nan instrumentality earlier you tin transportation on.

If you for illustration signaling connected nan desktop, there’s besides a GoMixer Editor app for Windows and Mac. It’s really a overmuch easier measurement to alteration settings and spot what’s going connected acknowledgment to nan other ocular existent estate. The EQ conception for each transmission looks for illustration a regular package EQ wherever you raise aliases little points connected a wave chart. The compressor besides has ocular feedback to show erstwhile it’s active, which is lacking connected nan instrumentality itself. Obviously, nan Studio has a mobile focus, but nan desktop app has 2 large trading points.

First, if you for illustration to group your operation levels, compression magnitude and truthful connected astatine home, you tin do that much easy pinch nan desktop app and past prevention it successful a representation slot. You tin past quickly callback this “Scene” connected nan instrumentality while retired astatine a gig. The 2nd is that, for nan first clip successful nan bid (according to maine astatine least), nan Studio is simply a viable mixer and audio interface for nan desktop. The build value is coagulated and weighty, not for illustration nan ray integrative of erstwhile models. It feels premium and this could conscionable arsenic good beryllium utilized astatine location for streaming and podcasting arsenic overmuch arsenic connected nan go. The desktop app makes it moreover much useful successful this scenario.

In position of what’s missing, this mightiness beryllium very use-case specific. I bask utilizing this for physics euphony accumulation aliases pseudo DJ type performances. As such, I’d emotion to spot astatine slightest 1 fader alternatively than conscionable knobs, but this is existent of each exemplary to date. I’d besides emotion for location to beryllium a measurement to spot each nan channels astatine erstwhile connected nan device’s screen. I cognize it’d beryllium a spot cramped and there’d beryllium nary easy measurement to set nan operation astatine nan aforesaid time, but arsenic an overview you could driblet into, it mightiness beryllium handy. And if we’re retired present making wishes for immoderate Studio Pro model, an SD paper slot for autochthonal signaling would really elevate nan portability constituent truthful you wouldn’t request to link a phone, conscionable a powerfulness bank.

Roland has a fewer competitors successful this space, astir notably IK Multemida which makes a fewer portable interfaces. Perhaps nan astir akin is nan iRig Pro Duo and Quattro. The Duo comes successful a small cheaper than nan Studio astatine astir $235 but lacks a show and build quality. I besides personally find IK Multimedia’s apps, while functional, little personification friendly. Mackie has nan M Caster Studio ($200) which adds Bluetooth connectivity but has less beingness ports — that 1 excessively is simply a small older. Zoom’s interfaces often halfway connected their expertise to grounds straight onto nan device, but person much of a vocal/spoken connection focus. The H5 Studio ($299) has a display, built-in mic and onboard recording, but its mixer functionality and outputs for unrecorded capacity are secondary features.

For philharmonic performers, Roland continues to predominate this niche, and nan Go:Mixer Studio is intelligibly nan company’s astir refined interface to date. The connectivity covers astir usage cases, moreover podcasting, and nan layout of nan dials makes it easy to usage successful unrecorded environments. The show is simply a invited summation that goes a agelong measurement to making this consciousness some much useful and much premium. Perhaps nan biggest trading constituent this clip astir is that nan Studio nary longer feels for illustration an other interface you bring pinch you for unrecorded gigs. It tin easy beryllium your main desktop audio interface too, making that $300 value tag abruptly consciousness a batch much palatable.