Noulakaz

The blog of Avinash, Christina, Anya and Kyan Meetoo.

Music

The Focusrite 2i2 audio interface and its free plugins

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On 22 October 2013, I purchased a Focusrite 2i2 audio interface.

Seven years later, it is still working great and I use it mainly now to connect my Yamaha HS5 monitor speakers to my iMac using balanced connections. I rarely use it for recording.

One great thing about Focusrite is the set of plugins it comes with and its Plugin Collective programme. In essence (and I quote its website), this is what Plugin Collective offers: “When you register any Focusrite hardware you gain access to the most innovative music software brands on the market. Plug-in Collective keeps you up to date with the latest tools, offering you new free downloads every couple of months, along with generous discounts.”

Over the seven years, I have managed to get all of those for free:

  • Audiority Deleight
  • Audiority Distortion 1
  • AudioThing SR-88 (SoundMaster Memory Rhythm SR-88)
  • D16 Sigmund
  • Eventide EQuivocate
  • Focusrite and sonible Balancer
  • Focusrite Red 2
  • Focusrite Red 3
  • Focusrite Scarlett Compressor
  • Focusrite Scarlett Equaliser
  • Focusrite Scarlett Gate
  • Focusrite Scarlett Reverb
  • Mastering The Mix BASSROOM (for six months though)
  • Mastering The Mix IGNITE
  • Novation B-Station (Novation Bass Station)
  • Positive Grid BIAS AMP 2 LE
  • Softube Drawmer S73 Intelligent Master Processor
  • Softube Saturation Knob
  • Softube TSAR-1R Reverb
  • Softube Tube Delay
  • Sound Radix SurferEQ Boogie
  • Venomode DEEQ
  • Venomode MAXIMAL 2
  • Venomode PIVOT
  • and the quite excellent XLN Audio Addictive Keys

I also have a licence for Ableton Live Lite but I have not installed it because I now use the also quite excellent REAPER.

My favourite artists for the past 15 years

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I have been using Last.fm for the past 15 years (yes!) to track all the songs I listen to. Each time I play a track, whether it’s at home or on my phone, the track is added to my Last.fm profile. As you can easily imagine, after 15 years, Last.fm knows more about my music taste than most people in the world. So, without further ado, here is a list of what artists (and bands) I’ve listened to during the past decade and a half.

Rank Plays Artist
1 4,782 Depeche Mode
2 1,193 Avinash Meetoo
3 907 Madonna
4 906 Michael Jackson
5 696 Radiohead
6 660 Duran Duran
7 649 Erasure
8 522 The Beatles
9 512 Moby
10 487 U2
11 479 Daft Punk
12 456 Air
13 343 New Order
14 324 Björk
15 315 Kraftwerk
16 314 Aphex Twin
17 287 Jean-Michel Jarre
18 272 Indochine
19 263 A. R. Rahman
20 247 The Human League
21 232 Lana Del Rey
22 229 Pet Shop Boys
23 224 Etienne Daho
24 220 Massive Attack
25 219 Fischerspooner
26 210 Amy Winehouse
27 204 Boards of Canada
28 192 Coldplay
29 190 David Bowie
30 186 a-ha
31 186 OMD
32 186 The Cure
33 179 Lorde
34 178 David Guetta
35 171 Bob Marley
36 166 Röyksopp
37 165 Kaya
38 164 Dave Gahan
39 159 Portishead
40 156 Autechre
41 151 Kanye West
42 151 Pink Floyd
43 148 Atoms for Peace
44 147 Nine Inch Nails
45 146 The Knife
46 142 The Chemical Brothers
47 138 Django Django
48 137 Leftfield
49 132 Morcheeba
50 129 Nirvana

As you can see, I am a massive fan of Depeche Mode (and me!)

The rest is a mix of electronic music (e.g. Radiohead (yes, it’s electronic music to me!), Moby, Daft Punk, Air, Bjork, Kraftwerk, etc.), 80’s (e.g.  Duran Duran, Erasure, New Order, etc.) and classics (e.g. Madonna, Michael Jackson, The Beatles, U2, etc.)

I don’t like thinking of myself as eclectic. I’m more of a completist. I like collecting music. For me, music is a supreme art form and every kind of music is worth listening. I also sincerely believe that there is no bad music. Every single artist must love whatever he/she has done (or, else, that track would not have been released). It’s only that anyone of us has distinct taste and what I like (e.g. me!) is not necessarily your cup of tea. That’s fine.

Dream HiFi setup: Audiolab and Dynaudio (Take 2)

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One of the “exercises” I love doing is imaging my perfect audio setup.

Two years ago, I thought that my dream combination would be a Nad integrated amplifier and Dynaudio speakers and, since last night, I have changed my mind. I now believe that my dream setup for listening to music would be:

The amp retails at £600 and the speakers cost £500 a pair. So £1100 or about Rs 50,000 at today’s exchange rate. Quite steep but, bear in mind, that this is not an expense but more of an investment for years and years to come.

Pity I don’t travel to the UK much or else I would have got the components today itself.