Mixman Studio By Brian Lance, Tampa PC Users Group First of all, I would like to mention that if you are looking for a sequencer or MIDI-compatible program, this is not it. What it does is allow anyone to create music using a unique interface to mix supplied tracks (.TRK) live and save a mix (.MIX) to a standard wave file (.WAV). Minimum requirements listed: Windows 95Pentium (MMX for optimal performance) 16MB RAM 5MB HD space (100MB preferred) CD-ROM 16-bit DirectX-compatible soundcard

I would add that you will need DirectX 5 or later, and MMX is required for pitch-shifting.

On the other hand, the quality of output (.WAV) is not related to the performance of your machine. You always get CD-standard output.

Setup was easy. I took the full install, so the total was 103MB with all mixes and tracks. After perusing the manual, I opened the Demo Mix. My first mix took only 10 minutes, and most of that was messing with settings. I mixed once and then recorded it to a .WAV. A 93 second mix resulted in a 16,170KB file. This is not surprising - CD-quality sound is 16-bit PCM stereo at 44,100Mhz; or 172kb/sec. So you could burn this right onto a CD! You can also import .WAV files or record directly into Mixman Studio. By comparison, my .MIX was 40KB, only having the track, timing and other information. The tracks used were 1.61MB.

I used Windows 95's Sound Recorder (SNDREC32) to convert the resultant .WAV. SNDREC32 will convert to different formats and do simple editing. Try this: right-click on a .WAV, select Properties and go to the Preview tab. This is quicker for previewing a large .WAV, versus actually loading it into SNDREC32.

At 22050Mhz, 8bit PCM stereo, 4043KB, there was no appreciable change in music quality (low-end Labtec speakers). At 8000Mhz, 8bit PCM stereo, 1467KB, the quality suffered: Cymbal crashes weren’t crisp, bass was dull, and there were small amounts of noise.

Under ADPCM format, music is uneditable (not Mixman's fault!). Changed to ADPCM 22050, 4bit Stereo, eighth the size (2046KB). With my speakers, this was indistinguishable from the original.

There are also much better sound editors on the market, and better converters. One I have used is GoldWave: http://www.goldwave.com/

Items that would be nice to add in a later release are:

• Track names by each mixing ‘turntable’, over the (very nice) graphics.
• The ability to copy settings to a text file, like track modifications.
• Concatenation of two or more mixes.

One small problem I had with displaying dialogs was easily solved by looking online at their Product Q & A. I believe they are going to put tracks online for downloading, but they are not online yet.

Overall, Mixman Studio has a decent interface, and the help manual has a comprehensive tutorial. On-screen help is a nice touch with overlays.

Like the material mentions, you can mix live, create a tape, a CD, add it to a multimedia presentation, wherever you need music.

Online: http://www.mixman.com/

• Technical support through Q&A and Email. Registering gets you a CD of tracks.
• Description: http://www.mixman.com/studio.html .
• Make sure to stop by the links page!
• Demos of the original Mixman (Win 3.11/95) and reviews.

Available soon: Mixman Soundiscs. Files in various styles: Gospel, Funk (George Clinton), Hip-hop, etc. in .TRK, .WAV and stereo audio files.

Ordering: 1-888-4MIXMAN (1-888-464-9626). u