Not everyone will be the miniaturization/consolidation freak that I am so this may go unappreciated, but I like it.

I've shown you my subcompact Toshiba P-2120 laptop before (933Mhz TransMeta processor, 512MB RAM, DVD/CD-R, discontinued recently) but the keyboard is the new Edirol PCR-1 combo controller/audio interface. Been looking for the right controller to go with my laptop for the past year - I still have an Oxygen 8 and a Tascam US-122 audio interface but that was too darn cumbersome to cart all that around, and the Ozone (an Oxygen 8 with built-in audio interface) is not USB-powered, so I waited. The PCR-1 was announced at Winter NAMM and shipped last week. It's super-thin (about as thin as the open laptop keyboard), light and USB powered so my portable Reason workstation is now a reality. Decent latency too - down to 4ms with some pops, better at 5ms and noise-free at 9ms. The keyboard on the PCR-1 is unique and weird - the keys travel about half the distance of a normal keyboard but it is velocity sensitive and I got used to it PDQ. The PCR-1 has two virtual MIDI out ports (though sadly, no real MIDI outputs) so one MIDi channel is for the key and the other for the knobs. Great fun twisting the knobs and seeing Reason's synths respond in real-time. Very happy camper now, literally... this'll go lots of places.

Now if Edirol would just make an 88-note MIDI controller with built-in audio interface, I could get started on my next-generation stage system...

Hey Pro, kudos to you and your most excellent
setup. How is the sound quality of the
PCR-1's when connected to a professional sound system?

No idea yet. This is a headphone studio at the moment, and if that's any indication then it's going to sound incredible. BTW: the headphone jack on the PCR-1 doubles as an optical digital output.

I've been playing around with some original noodles most of this afternoon and I'm really enjoying it. I've also downloaded Edirol's Reason/PCR memory sets and installed them, which assign the knobs to specific Reason controls (out of the box, just a few knobs work - but load up the memory sets and they all do). That's what I was missing with Reason before - knobs to twiddle with in real time rather than trying to adjust things like filters with a mouse. I've completely adjusted to the short key stroke/action now too. I'm definitely loving the PCR-1.

Ego Systems will soon release the NeON(usb)
and AON(firewire) controllers.
The AON looks quite impressive.