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Reviews by The Church of Apple

Tag Archives: keyboard

Alto iPA Review

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The Alto iPA is a PA speaker that works with an iPad to provide an awesome karaoke experience. The iPA speaker/dock/karaoke machine is available from Alto for $299.99. Let’s see if this is the speaker to sing on.

Form

Alto advertises the speaker as being a portable speaker. Since it has a handle, it technically is portable. But then again, the original iMac had a handle too and nobody carried that around. It isn’t the lightest speaker either, weighing in at 23 pounds. However, this is not bad at all. First, consider that you probably won’t move it a whole bunch and even if you do, it’s capabilities make up for that weight. It will fit in any normal sized cars so you DJs out there that will take it to and from “work” won’t have much of an issue. Looking at it closely, you can tell that it is in great shape and that it was made well. The part that holds the iPad in and charges it is well made and not made of cheap plastic. The speaker itself is made out of good, hard-cased but well-made material that provides great acoustics for the speaker. The microphone doesn’t appear to be the best made microphone but it isn’t terrible. It isn’t as well made as the speaker itself but it does the job. The front of the speaker is a grill that protects the internals that emits the sound, just like any other speaker. On that at the bottom is the logo for the product which is simple but professional. The ports are located at the back with the iPad dock above that. Even the port area is well made and I wouldn’t predict that the ports will bend or break ever. In all, aesthetically it is a bit bulky but it holds a lot of power and it still looks solid and professional.

Function

The speakers are very, very loud. I don’t even have it a quarter the way up and I already am fearing that the neighbors will call the police for disturbing the peace. Therefore, while full volume won’t be acceptable in the house, it will be acceptable for a large-sized place. This speaker would still be heard by people in the back of a very crowded, very loud place. In fact, the power if the sound the speaker emits could probably allow people to hear the music clearly a half mile away if put on full blast. That may be exaggerating a little bit, but it is very very loud. Because it can get loud, it can get soft too. If you need it as a PA to announce to a few people than it is still great. The sound sounds as great whether it is down low or up high. There are two volume controls. One for sound coming from the dock and one for sound coming from the microphone. This is great since if people want to be louder than the music, they can or they can make the music louder than them so they don’t have to hear the voice that everyone but them thinks is great. In addition, you can add plug in an additional speaker into the speaker so that you can share the sound with two speakers. Again, the microphone is not the greatest but it does the job and the speaker works with all microphones. The possibilities of this speaker are endless. Give a presentation behind the speaker with the iPad there so that you can read off of the notes on it. Or you can sing from behind the speaker. Or you can just talk out of the speaker. The speaker’s added iPad feature is wonderful. The only thing that I wish the speaker came with was a stand for it. You have to buy it. Therefore, if you don’t buy it, you can stick it on a stand you already own, if it fits or you just put it on a table or on the floor. The stand, I think, should be included. All in all, it is a great PA/karaoke system.

Conclusion

Pros

-Sound can get very loud or soft
-The sound sounds great!
-No interference from the mic, no audible static or annoying sounds
-Sturdy speaker
-iPad compatible, use of many different karaoke apps (YouTube still is one of the better ways of getting karaoke)

Cons

-Not the best microphone
-No stand, sold separately

Ways to improve

The only way to improve is to add a stand to the purchase even if they need to increase the price a bit more. After all, people did just spend over $300 for a speaker. If production costs don’t allow for it, that I can understand. It is really up to the company if they wanted to do this but I think they would see more sales if they did.

This speaker is a powerful one, perhaps one of the most powerful consumer PAs on the market. It is loud and it is durable. It may be heavy but that little extra exercise carrying it from your DJ-mobile is all worth it. Despite the lack of a stand, the speaker easily gets 5 stars from me!

Thanks for reading,

Joe

Images Courtesy: Alto

Touchfire Screen

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The TouchFire Screen is a clear, silicon foldable keyboard that touch-typers can put on their iPad and use instead of using the touch-typer unfriendly keyboard on the iPad. It is available from Touchfire for $49.95. Is it the solution for you touch-typers out there? Let’s find out.

 

Form

When I first opened the box to get to the TouchFire, it had it’s own little case. That is a great feature. I opened the case to find the TouchFire Screen. I picked it up and then one of the magnets that is attached to it came off, not a great start. Fortunately, since it was magnetic it went right back on. However, they were glued on too. Not good workmanship on that. To me the keyboard seems flimsy. The part that the silicon folds to is plastic, cheap plastic. One thing I do appreciate however, is that once folded, it is small and it is light. With the carrying case, you can take it anywhere. Also you can keep it attached to your iPad so that it is always on your iPad. In all, the craft of this keyboard fails to impress but there a few things that help it in the Form category.

 

Function

The primary function of any keyboard is to type. This one is unique in that it turns your iPad’s keyboard into a touch-type one. Unfortunately, I do not think it does a whole lot in doing that. FIrst off, the keys on the keyboard are too close to each other to be able to emulate a keyboard. In addition, the feel of the keys feels cheap and not a pleasure to write on. There isn’t much of a difference between the iPad keyboard and the TouchFire in my opinion. This is due in part that the keys are not raised enough to really feel the difference. It does have indentations where the J and F buttons are but that is where the similarities between this keyboard and a real keyboard end. On a good solid keyboard, you don’t have to look down because you know where the keys are based on those indentations and based on the fact that you can feel the keys. On this keyboard, I am having trouble actually feeling the keys. I can’t see myself using this keyboard over a solid keyboard. Another thing, I have a problem with is that, when I use a keyboard I need a rest to put my wrist on and when I put my wrist down I press the keys at the bottom and it messes up my typing. In addition, I have to look down to get to the ABC/123 tab to access numbers and punctuation and to access the world tab for multiple languages. The shift key is sometimes pressed by accident since there is no recognizable key on the keyboard. The functionality of this keyboard makes me abandon it for a keyboard case which is the same or more price than a good keyboard case.

Conclusion

Pros

-Lightweight

-Small and portable

Cons

-Definitely not the best keyboard you can use

-Cheaply made

-You can accidentally hit different keys since they do not have keys that you can feel, such as the the shift key and the 123 tab on the bottom left and right

-Pricey for what you get

How to improve

There are a lot of ways to improve this product. First, add indentations on the shift keys like the other keys. Second, improve the workmanship and improve the quality of the keyboard. Third, make the keyboard more like an actual keyboard. Of course, you could do plan B, scratch this product and sell solid bluetooth keyboards.

This product is not one I would buy at this point. If I were the consumer, I would buy a keyboard case. As a reviewer, I can not see myself recommending this product to anyone and for the first time, I have to give this product a one star review. The portability and weight make it from a half star but considering that the product fails at it’s primary purpose, I can not give it higher than that.

Thanks for reading,

Joe

 

Akai SynthStation 49

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The Akai SynthStation49 is a 49-key keyboard that is made to go with an iPad. You can use the effects on apps on your iPad which then turns into sound after pressing keys on the keyboard. The apps you can use are not limited to Akai’s SynthStation app. You can use the keyboard with any app that has sounds for a keyboard, for instance GarageBand is an app that has it, which is a great app for this keyboard. The keyboard is available direct from Amazon for $219.99. That number seems like a high number but those who need a keyboard on the go with their iPad for recording should use the Akai SynthStation 49 as it is the most versatile keyboard for the iPad I have seen.

Form

As the form isn’t nearly as important as the function, I will be brief but I do want to mention a few things. First, the keyboard is very durable and I trust that it would not break if dropped. The layout of the buttons is clean and not confusing. The iPad fits right on it and it is easy to plug in. The buttons were made of a soft rubber that feels nice to the touch. The keys of the keyboard more importantly feel comfortable and play comfortably. Aesthetically, this keyboard is great!

Function

The keyboard itself definitely works like a champ. The keys are solid and are pleasant to play on and if you use the right app sounds great! I would avoid using the Akai SynthStation app that is free on the App Store. You get what you pay for and the free app is not good. The sounds are terrible and there isn’t even a standard piano sound which I found surprising. However, that does not deter away from the productivity of the keyboard since any music production app such as GarageBand works great on the keyboard. It isn’t a full 88-key keyboard, but it doesn’t have to be, it allows you to go up and down octaves easily, effectively and fast. Using the right app, the keyboard works great. The buttons need to work with all apps, that is something that doesn’t happen. All the buttons only work on the Akai app which you don’t want to use. However, must buttons are still usable when using third-party apps. Another thing, other production keyboard require the Camera Connection Kit but I appreciate that this one does not, it plugs right into the 30-pin. You can also plug in your computer to it via MIDI/USB which is a huge advantage considering that I use the app Synthesia when learning a new song (check it out, it’s a great app!). Also, I can use my pedal with it which is a plus. When it is plugged into the wall, it also charges the iPad. Overall, the keyboard does what it needs to do and excels at doing it.

Conclusion

Pros

-Buttons work easily and are organized well
-Easy set up (about 3 minutes)
-Solid, comfortable to play on keys (important)
-Many affordable apps on the App Store make it incredibly flexible in terms of sounds
-Easy access to change the octave
-Doesn’t require the Camera Connection Kit (saves you money!)
-Plugs into MIDI/USB so you can plug it right into a computer for other uses such as Synthesia
-Charges the iPad when plugged into the wall

Cons

-The lackluster app “SynthStation” iPad app is not the best app for this keyboard, some could argue it’s terrible, and I would be with those people
-Some buttons are not usable in other third-party apps

Ways to improve

One way to improve is to rebuild the app. The sounds on it don’t sound right, there isn’t even a piano sound on there. GarageBand did a much better job with the keyboard than the app that specifically goes to the keyboard did. I would recommend picking up some sounds and design tips from GarageBand while adding more features than what GarageBand has. Another way is just to ask developers, such as Apple or whoever makes apps that go with a keyboard like this, to allow them to add coding that would take full advantage of the buttons on the Akai SynthStation49.

Don’t get me wrong. This keyboard is a solid keyboard that anyone could feel comfortable doing a show with. I have played the piano for a long time and I can tell you that the action and the feel of the keys is better than a lot of other keyboards. The plethora of sounds you can get from the plethora of apps available make up for the SynthStation iPad app. This keyboard isn’t the greatest keyboard on the market but if you have an iPad, you can take advantage of the plethora of apps and for the money. It is the best deal for the money you can find in my opinion. The SynthStation49 receives a 4 and a half star review from me.

Thanks for reading,

Joe