The US presidential election is in its final stretch. Before election day on November 5, Engadget is looking at where the candidates, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, stand on the most consequential tech issues of our day.
Broadband access in poorer and more rural communities has been a major campaign issue since 2008. Bridging the digital divide was a key component of Barack Obama’s platform. And, while far from perfect, his administration did a lot of work to grow the nation’s fiber-optic infrastructure, free up wireless spectrum and expand access to subsidies for low-income families. While successive administrations have promised to continue the work of bringing high-speed internet to the most underserved communities, the results have been disappointing. Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have pledged to get Americans online, but political realities will make that goal difficult.
Kamala Harris
During the Biden administration, Harris has acted as a sort of unofficial broadband czar (similar to her other unofficial titles of AI czar and border czar). This means she is deeply involved with and expected to carry forward the current administration’s policies. That could give her a chance to salvage some sort of positive legacy from what is currently a rather spotty track record for Biden on broadband.
Under President Biden, the White House secured roughly $90 billion to close the digital divide, $42.5 billion of that specifically for BEAD, the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. This gives states money to fund the planning and buildout of broadband infrastructure, whether that be running new fiber to rural areas, installing Wi-Fi in low-income apartment complexes or training workers for new careers in telecommunications. Unfortunately, BEAD has been hampered by numerous delays, and very little of the money has actually been doled out. Virginia only received initial approval for access to $1.48 billion in funding in late July, despite having been first to file a request in September of 2023.
There is plenty of blame to go around for the slow and messy rollout of BEAD, but conservatives have been able to successfully turn it into a weapon against Harris. Stringent requirements around environmental impact, labor practices and affordable access have made BEAD an easy target for Republicans who see regulation and bureaucracy as the enemy of freedom and economic growth.
The NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration), which administers BEAD, has found itself on the defensive, claiming the program is on track. Though, it’s unlikely any projects funded by BEAD will break ground until well into 2025 if not later.
As an outgrowth of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, BEAD is a key part of President Biden’s (and by extension Vice President Harris’) legacy. A focus for a Harris administration will likely be speeding up the distribution of BEAD funds and accelerating the groundbreaking on projects like fiberoptic and 5G infrastructure. But it’s unlikely there will be dramatic policy shifts under her leadership.
Donald Trump
Similar to President Biden, Donald Trump made grand promises about expanding access to broadband, especially for rural communities, but largely failed to deliver. Not only that, but Democrats managed to turn that failure into a campaign weapon against him in 2020.
Under Trump and Ajit Pai, the FCC launched the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, which promised $20.4 billion to expand rural broadband. However, it was merely a rebrand of an existing subsidy program established under Obama. The Trump administration’s efforts beyond that were far more modest than those of the Biden or Obama eras, and included initiatives like investing $1.3 billion through the Agriculture Department’s ReConnect Program.
Neither Trump nor the RNC have much to say about rural broadband or the digital divide this time around. That could suggest another term would again be defined by small-scale investments rather than large infrastructure programs. While the Trump campaign has tried to distance itself from Project 2025, the document was drafted by a number of people in Trump’s orbit, including former staffers. So, it’s not a stretch to assume he might adopt some, if not many, of its policies.
That document focuses largely on what can be seen as one of the Trump administration’s wins on the technology front: 5G. Project 2025 calls for freeing up additional spectrum for wireless broadband and streamlining the permitting process. It calls for the FCC to pursue an aggressive strategy for freeing up the airwaves and selling them to commercial interests. It also, unsurprisingly, calls for scaling back regulations regarding things like environmental impact and restrictions on building on federal lands in hopes of spurring the construction of more cell sites. It also wants to speed up the approval process for satellite providers, like StarLink, which it sees as vital to America’s economic and national security interests.
Project 2025 calls for these efforts to be consolidated as part of a national broadband strategy. It cites a Government Accountability Office report from 2022, which states there are “over 100 programs administered by 15 agencies” as evidence of mismanagement and a potential for waste.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/election-2024-what-will-the-candidates-do-about-the-digital-divide-133045561.html?src=rss
The US presidential election is in its final stretch. Before election day on November 5, Engadget is looking at where the candidates, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, stand on the most consequential tech issues of our day.
Broadband access in poorer and more rural communities has been a major campaign issue since 2008. Bridging the digital divide was a key component of Barack Obama’s platform. And, while far from perfect, his administration did a lot of work to grow the nation’s fiber-optic infrastructure, free up wireless spectrum and expand access to subsidies for low-income families. While successive administrations have promised to continue the work of bringing high-speed internet to the most underserved communities, the results have been disappointing. Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have pledged to get Americans online, but political realities will make that goal difficult.
Kamala Harris
During the Biden administration, Harris has acted as a sort of unofficial broadband czar (similar to her other unofficial titles of AI czar and border czar). This means she is deeply involved with and expected to carry forward the current administration’s policies. That could give her a chance to salvage some sort of positive legacy from what is currently a rather spotty track record for Biden on broadband.
Under President Biden, the White House secured roughly $90 billion to close the digital divide, $42.5 billion of that specifically for BEAD, the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. This gives states money to fund the planning and buildout of broadband infrastructure, whether that be running new fiber to rural areas, installing Wi-Fi in low-income apartment complexes or training workers for new careers in telecommunications. Unfortunately, BEAD has been hampered by numerous delays, and very little of the money has actually been doled out. Virginia only received initial approval for access to $1.48 billion in funding in late July, despite having been first to file a request in September of 2023.
There is plenty of blame to go around for the slow and messy rollout of BEAD, but conservatives have been able to successfully turn it into a weapon against Harris. Stringent requirements around environmental impact, labor practices and affordable access have made BEAD an easy target for Republicans who see regulation and bureaucracy as the enemy of freedom and economic growth.
The NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration), which administers BEAD, has found itself on the defensive, claiming the program is on track. Though, it’s unlikely any projects funded by BEAD will break ground until well into 2025 if not later.
As an outgrowth of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, BEAD is a key part of President Biden’s (and by extension Vice President Harris’) legacy. A focus for a Harris administration will likely be speeding up the distribution of BEAD funds and accelerating the groundbreaking on projects like fiberoptic and 5G infrastructure. But it’s unlikely there will be dramatic policy shifts under her leadership.
Donald Trump
Similar to President Biden, Donald Trump made grand promises about expanding access to broadband, especially for rural communities, but largely failed to deliver. Not only that, but Democrats managed to turn that failure into a campaign weapon against him in 2020.
Under Trump and Ajit Pai, the FCC launched the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, which promised $20.4 billion to expand rural broadband. However, it was merely a rebrand of an existing subsidy program established under Obama. The Trump administration’s efforts beyond that were far more modest than those of the Biden or Obama eras, and included initiatives like investing $1.3 billion through the Agriculture Department’s ReConnect Program.
Neither Trump nor the RNC have much to say about rural broadband or the digital divide this time around. That could suggest another term would again be defined by small-scale investments rather than large infrastructure programs. While the Trump campaign has tried to distance itself from Project 2025, the document was drafted by a number of people in Trump’s orbit, including former staffers. So, it’s not a stretch to assume he might adopt some, if not many, of its policies.
That document focuses largely on what can be seen as one of the Trump administration’s wins on the technology front: 5G. Project 2025 calls for freeing up additional spectrum for wireless broadband and streamlining the permitting process. It calls for the FCC to pursue an aggressive strategy for freeing up the airwaves and selling them to commercial interests. It also, unsurprisingly, calls for scaling back regulations regarding things like environmental impact and restrictions on building on federal lands in hopes of spurring the construction of more cell sites. It also wants to speed up the approval process for satellite providers, like StarLink, which it sees as vital to America’s economic and national security interests.
Project 2025 calls for these efforts to be consolidated as part of a national broadband strategy. It cites a Government Accountability Office report from 2022, which states there are “over 100 programs administered by 15 agencies” as evidence of mismanagement and a potential for waste.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/election-2024-what-will-the-candidates-do-about-the-digital-divide-133045561.html?src=rss
The US presidential election is in its final stretch. Before election day on November 5, Engadget is looking at where the candidates, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, stand on the most consequential tech issues of our day.
While the environment and climate change are standard fare for elections, the 2024 campaign has put a surprising amount of focus on EVs. Cars and trucks are some of the biggest contributors to global warming, spewing millions of tons of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere every year. So it’s no shock many believe transitioning from traditional combustion engine vehicles to electric will be key to reining in climate change. Of course, an electric car is only as clean as the energy used to charge its batteries, so the Biden administration has also put a lot of effort into expanding clean-energy initiatives in the US. Kamala Harris is widely expected to continue Biden’s work promoting EV adoption and clean energy technology. While Donald Trump has, unsurprisingly, run on a promise to undo it all.
Kamala Harris
On the campaign trail, Harris hasn’t announced any new major policy initiatives regarding EVs or clean energy. Mostly her comments on the matter have been broad but seek to build on the work done by the Biden administration. Between the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the government invested hundreds of billions of dollars in charging stations, EV tax credits, EV manufacturing, wind and solar.
Earlier in her career, as a senator from California and as a candidate in 2020’s presidential primary, Harris staked out a particularly aggressive stance on EVs and clean energy and made them a core part of her political identity. She supported the Green New Deal and was a cosponsor of the Zero-Emission Vehicles Act of 2019, which would have required all passenger vehicles sold in the US to be zero emissions by 2040.
Harris has since backed off many of those stronger proposals but remains a staunch proponent of using federal resources to build out EV and clean-energy infrastructure. She was the tie-breaking vote for the IRA, which included directives to reduce carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030 and included $370 billion for wind, solar, battery and EV production. Much of the $1.1 trillion IRA money remains unspent, but the administration has sped up efforts to use those funds ahead of the election.
That money has been used to expand charging station infrastructure, begin transitioning the USPS to electric delivery vehicles and increase the amount of electricity produced by wind and solar. Through investments and tax breaks, IRA funds have been used to encourage companies to manufacture more EVs, solar panels, batteries and related components in the US. That includes $100 million announced in May for small- and medium-sized car companies to upgrade their factories for EV production. Harris and Biden have also talked up the fact that the IRA has created 170,000 clean-energy jobs in just one year. The administration also placed stiff tariffs on EVs (100 percent) and solar cells (50 percent) imported from China.
Another key component of the legislation are consumer tax credits for the purchase of electric heat pumps, rooftop solar, batteries and EVs. The EV tax credit also comes with specific requirements regarding vehicle eligibility to encourage US manufacturing throughout the supply chain. Buyers can only claim the credit if the car was assembled in the US, has a certain percentage of battery components built in North America and a minimum amount of minerals extracted either in the United States or a country it has a free trade agreement with, or that have been recycled in North America. And each year those requirements increase, ultimately reaching 100 percent of battery components in 2029 and 80 percent of critical minerals in 2027.
Donald Trump
It might seem glib, but Trump’s policies regarding EVs and clean energy can essentially be boiled down to lifting regulations and “drill, baby, drill.” The former president has said repeatedly he would repeal almost all of the Biden administration’s rules regarding emissions, fuel standards and the environment. He also suggested he might get rid of the EV tax credit, which he tried and failed to do during his first term, claiming it unfairly influenced the market, primarily benefited the rich and increased our reliance on China. Considering the price cap on eligible vehicles and requirements regarding component and mineral sourcing, that argument seems on shaky ground. Since securing Elon Musk’s endorsement, Trump has softened some of his anti-EV rhetoric. However, he’s given no indication he’s actually reversed any of his positions.
Trump has also said he will immediately rescind new fuel efficiency and emissions standards established by the Biden administration. He has argued the efficiency requirements are simply impossible for gasoline-powered cars to meet and effectively create a mandate that 67 percent of auto sales in the US be EVs by 2032.
Trump has been even more hostile to clean-energy initiatives. Neither his platform nor the Republican Party’s official platform document mention solar energy at all. And wind energy is only mentioned on the Trump site to deride the Biden administration’s “insane wind subsidies” and generally dismiss windmills as dangerous and inefficient. The bulk of the Trump campaign’s energy policies are focused on expanding oil and natural-gas drilling and investing in nuclear power plants. But he is unlikely to try to end all the IRA’s clean energy and EV initiatives as they often lead to job creation in red states.
In general, Donald Trump is skeptical of climate change and efforts to limit humans’ impact on the environment. He has pledged to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord (again) and called for building hundreds of new power plants, including coal, hydro and nuclear, but wind and solar farms are noticeably absent from his plan for American energy independence.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/election-2024-what-are-the-candidates-policies-on-evs-and-clean-energy-133030889.html?src=rss
The US presidential election is in its final stretch. Before election day on November 5, Engadget is looking at where the candidates, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, stand on the most consequential tech issues of our day.
While it might not garner the headlines that immigration, abortion or inflation do, AI is quietly one of the more consequential issues this election season. What regulations are put in place and how forcefully those rules are enforced will have wide ranging impacts on consumer privacy, intellectual property, the media industry and national security.
Normally, politicians lack clear or coherent policies on emerging technologies. But somewhat shockingly, both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have at least some track record handling artificial intelligence. VP Harris, in particular, has been very hands-on in shaping the current administration’s approach. And Donald Trump was the first president to sign an executive order regarding AI.
That being said, neither has made AI a central component of their campaign, and we’re making some educated guesses here about how either would approach it once in the White House.
Kamala Harris
With Harris’ considerable involvement in the Biden administration’s AI efforts, it’s safe to assume she would move forward with many of those policies. While the White House started laying the groundwork for its AI initiatives in early 2021, it wasn’t until late 2023 that they kicked into high gear, and Harris has often been the public face of those efforts, including holding numerous press calls on the issue and appearing at the Global Summit on AI Safety in London. She has used these venues to draw attention to the potential pitfalls, both large and small, of AI ranging from “cyberattacks at a scale beyond anything we have seen before” to seniors being “kicked off [their] healthcare plan because of a faulty AI algorithm.”
October 2023 saw the issuance of an executive order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence. This order noted the potential for AI to solve broad societal issues as well as its ability to “exacerbate societal harms, such as fraud, discrimination, bias and disinformation; displace and disempower workers; stifle competition and pose risks to national security.” It laid out eight guiding principles focused on creating standardized evaluations for AI systems, protecting workers, consumer privacy and combating inherent bias.
It also called for agencies to name a chief AI officer (CAIO) and directed the federal government to develop policies and strategies using and regulating AI. This included developing technologies for identifying and labeling AI-generated content and building guardrails to prevent the creation of images depicting sexual abuse and deepfake pornography.
Harris helped secure commitments from Apple, Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft, Adobe, Cohere, IBM, NVIDIA, Palantir, Salesforce, Scale AI, Stability and OpenAI to work towards the administration’s goals. She also worked to obtain endorsements from 31 nations of a declaration regarding the responsible creation and use of military AI. At this stage, the latter is merely a commitment to work together to establish rules and guidelines. But there are many absences on that list, most notably Russia, China and Israel.
Because the technology is so new, however, there are still a lot of questions about the specifics of how a Harris administration would handle AI. Besides, without an act of Congress, the White House would be limited in how it could regulate the industry or punish those that run afoul of its policies.
On the campaign trail, Harris hasn’t said much new about the issue, outside of a brief mention at a Wall Street fundraiser, during which she said, “We will encourage innovative technologies, like AI and digital assets, while protecting our consumers and investors.” Harris does have strong ties to Silicon Valley, so it remains to be seen just how much she would try to rein in the industry. But as of now, most of her statements have focused on protecting consumers and workers.
Donald Trump
Donald Trump holds the distinction of being the first president to sign an executive order regarding AI, but his actual public statements on the matter have been limited. In February 2019, he established the American AI Initiative, which created the first national AI research institutes, called for doubling the funding of AI research and set forth broad regulatory guidance. It also called for the creation of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Office, which would serve as a central hub for coordinating research and policy across the government.
Unsurprisingly, the executive order signed by former President Trump and the policies set forth by his allies have focused more on encouraging private sector growth and limited government oversight. The official Republican party platform adopted at the RNC in July called for repealing Biden’s October 2023 executive order claiming it “hinders AI Innovation and imposes Radical Leftwing ideas on the development of this technology.” It goes on to call for the development of AI “rooted in Free Speech and Human Flourishing.”
Unfortunately the RNC platform and Trump don’t get much more specific than that. So we’ll have to look at what the former president’s allies at the America First Policy Institute and Heritage Foundation have put forth to get a better idea of how a second Trump presidency might handle AI.
America First began drafting a document earlier this year that called for launching Manhattan Projects for military AI and for reducing regulations. (Currently, there are limited regulations in place regarding AI, as the government is largely in the information-gathering stage of policy development. Congress has yet to pass any meaningful AI legislation.)
It also called for the creation of industry-led agencies tasked with evaluating and securing American artificial intelligence technologies. This is in contrast with the Biden administration’s executive order, which put responsibility for those efforts firmly in the hands of the federal government.
The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 (PDF) gets into more specifics, though it is worth noting Trump has tried to distance himself somewhat from that document. Much of the discourse around AI in the 922-page tome is dedicated to China: countering its technological advancements, limiting its access to American technology and preventing it from backing joint research projects with American interests, especially on college campuses. It calls for increasing the use of AI and machine learning in intelligence gathering and analysis, while simultaneously calling for a heavier reliance on the private sector to develop and manage the technology.
The document also spends significant time discussing AI’s potential to “reduce waste, fraud and abuse,” particularly with regards to Medicare and Medicaid. However, it makes almost no mention of protecting consumer privacy, ensuring the accuracy and fairness of algorithms, or identifying abusive or misleading uses of AI, beyond combating Chinese propaganda.
Predictable broad strokes
While both candidates’ platforms lack specifics regarding the regulation of artificial intelligence, they do lay out two clearly different approaches. Kamala Harris has made consumer protections and building guardrails against abuse a cornerstone of her AI policy proposals; Donald Trump has predictably focused on reducing regulation. Neither has suggested they would try to put the proverbial AI genie back in the bottle, not that such a thing would be feasible.
The big question marks are just how much of the America First Policy Institute or Project 2025 proposals a Trump administration would adopt. His own official platform mirrors many policy positions of Project 2025. While it may not reflect any of its AI proposals specifically, there’s little reason to believe his approach would differ dramatically on this specific issue.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/election-2024-how-will-the-candidates-regulate-ai-133045610.html?src=rss
The US presidential election is in its final stretch. Before election day on November 5, Engadget is looking at where the candidates, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, stand on the most consequential tech issues of our day.
The Biden administration has been more aggressive than almost any in recent American history in its antitrust efforts. In the tech sector alone, it has ongoing cases against Apple, Meta, Google and Amazon, not to mention its battles with Ticketmaster, Microsoft, Kroger, CVS, Visa, Penguin Random House and more. Biden, Lina Khan (chair of the FTC) and Jonathan Kanter (head of the DOJ’s antitrust division) have spent the last several years working to prevent giant mergers, increase competition and punish companies (however lightly) for unfair business practices. It is unlikely that whoever succeeds Joe Biden will be quite as fervent in their fight against monopolies. That being said, it’s not only possible but probable that either a Harris or Trump administration would be very active in the antitrust field.
Kamala Harris
There is some expectation that a Kamala Harris White House will pursue these sorts of cases less aggressively. Part of that assumption is simply down to the fact that Harris hasn’t said a ton on the issue. She touts her record as attorney general of California in leading lawsuits against the medical industry, and says during her stump speeches that “companies need to play by the rules, respect the rights of workers and unions and abide by fair competition. And if they don’t, I will hold them accountable.” But she often doesn’t get more specific than that.
Her campaign also released a detailed economic policy document, though it makes little mention of antitrust and antimonopoly proposals. When it does discuss those issues, it focuses exclusively on landlords, grocery stores and the pharmaceutical industry. It does advocate for the passage of the Preventing the Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act, though. This bill would make it illegal for landlords to use software from companies like RealPage and Yardi to coordinate on housing prices and rent increases.
However, Harris’ ties to Silicon Valley has led some to believe she would pump the brakes on antitrust efforts focused on the tech industry. Her brother-in-law, Tony West, is chief legal officer for Uber, her debate adviser was Karen Dunn, the lawyer currently heading up Google’s defense in an ongoing antitrust case, and she counts Laurene Powell Jobs (widow of Steve Jobs) among her closest friends. She’s also been quiet in the face of calls from major donors like Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn) and Barry Diller (IAC, Expedia Group and TripAdvisor) to fire Lina Khan.
Nonetheless, she has also surrounded herself with many people deeply engaged in the Biden administration’s antitrust efforts, including Brian Deese, the former head of the National Economic Council (NEC); Rachel Brown, who led on competition policy at the NEC and Bharat Ramamurti, who was not only Deese’s deputy at the NEC but also worked for Elizabeth Warren, who has made fighting big business a cornerstone of her political identity. It’s unlikely these antitrust crusaders would join Harris’ campaign if they did not believe she would continue the work of the Biden administration in some meaningful capacity.
Donald Trump
Unlike what you’d expect from a typical Republican administration, the Trump White House was actually pretty active in the antitrust space, focusing primarily on the tech and healthcare industries. Trump has made no secret of his animosity towards some of the biggest players in the tech space, so there’s little reason to believe he’d scale back or abandon the cases against Google, Apple, Meta and Amazon underway.
During his first tenure, the Trump administration went after Google over its search results and Facebook following its purchase of WhatsApp and Instagram in antimonopoly cases. He also sought to block the acquisition of Time Warner by AT&T. Even after he left the White House, Trump continued his assault on big tech by filing personal lawsuits against Twitter, Facebook and Google, alleging censorship. According to Concurrences (an antitrust think tank), while Republican administrations tend to prioritize criminal cartel cases, the Trump DOJ pursued fewer of those than any administration since Nixon and focused more on mergers and antimonopoly cases.
While Trump hasn’t said much about his antitrust views on the campaign trail, his running mate, JD Vance, has made it a regular topic of his stump speeches. Vance has voiced strong support for breaking up big corporations, especially in the tech industry. He’s even praised Lina Khan as “one of the few people in the Biden administration I think is doing a pretty good job.”
Complicating this, however, under Trump, the DOJ and FTC were constantly mired in controversy, and he was routinely accused of using the agencies to punish his perceived enemies. To make things even murkier, there is no mention of antitrust or antimonopoly efforts or policies either on Trump’s Agenda 47 site or the official RNC platform. This makes it difficult to predict what to expect from a second Trump term. While there was significant antitrust activity on his watch, at times it seemed guided by political whims and personal vendettas. And without a guiding principle outlined in any official policy document, it’s impossible to know what avenues the DOJ and FTC might focus on to go after companies that find themselves the target of Trump’s ire.
While Donald Trump and the RNC don’t spill too many words discussing antitrust issues, the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 document does. It notes there is still some disagreement among Republicans on how aggressively to pursue antitrust action. But it focuses extensively on the changing view within the party that seeks more aggressive actions to break up the largest players in the market.
While Project 2025 pays some lip service to the negative impact on consumers of having too much industry power concentrated in too few hands, it spends most of its time discussing ESG (environmental, social and governance) and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) initiatives by businesses as a non-economic reason to pursue antitrust efforts, suggesting the Heritage Foundation sees antimonopoly laws not as a way to prevent the concentration of economic power, but as a cudgel to punish those promoting social and political ideologies it dislikes.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/election-2024-how-will-the-candidates-regulate-big-tech-133013600.html?src=rss
I’ve been using the AIAIAI Unit-4 Wireless+ studio monitors for a couple of months now. And initially, I wasn’t sure what to make of them. They’re solid studio monitors with 4-inch woofers and 1-inch silk tweeters. They sound good and look good. But the pitch — the reason these things cost $800 for a pair — is that they’re wireless. And not, “they’re studio monitors that also happen to have Bluetooth” wireless, though they have that as well. They include AIAIAI’s low-latency 2.4Ghz wireless tech that made its debut on the Studio Wireless+ a couple of years back. Plus they have sizable batteries, allowing them to run for up to 20 hours without any cables at all.
I was skeptical of the Studio Wireless+, but was eventually won over by the surprising convenience of not being tethered to my audio interface by a 3-meter long coiled cable. The Unit-4 have a somewhat tougher case to make, though. The cables that keep my current PreSonus monitors tethered to my desk don’t get in the way. I don’t have to unplug them to put on my guitar and I don’t trip over them while grabbing a synth from the shelf. Instead, the Unit-4 are meant to solve a very specific problem: needing studio quality monitors when you’re not in your studio.
As you might imagine, this is not a thing I find myself needing terribly often. I’m sure that someone out there, likely professional musicians who spend significant time on the road, would immediately see the appeal. But for a hobbyist like me, finding a use case is harder.
Before we get too deep into the “why,” let’s talk a little bit about the “what.” Until now AIAIAI has focused exclusively on headphones. A more conservative company might have simply made some bog-standard studio monitors and called it a day. But today you can get bog-standard studio monitors, and pretty decent ones at that, for not much money. So rather than just add more noise to an already saturated market, AIAIAI looked to see what it could do that would be unique.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
The somewhat surprising answer it got from some artists was wireless, battery-powered monitors. So it took the low-latency W+ Link technology it had developed for Studio Wireless+ and adapted it for use in a pair of 4-inch studio monitors. Where Bluetooth latency can be all over the map, ranging from around 40ms under ideal conditions with the latest hardware, to well over 100ms, W+ Link is a consistent 16ms. It’s not zero latency, but it’s close enough for a quick recording session or a casual jam.
Because of their size you’re not gonna get a ton of bass out of them. You get a surprising amount more low end just by jumping up to 5-inch woofers. But, it’s not like the Unit-4 lack oomph. They’ve got a decent amount of punch and a reasonably flat frequency response. That said, as with the Studio Wireless+, I find their tone a touch on the dark side.
There is an app for iOS and Android, though, where you can tune the EQ to your liking. I personally scooped the mids and cut the sub bass just a smidge to help brighten up the sound ever so slightly and keep things from getting muddy in my small attic studio. But there are also useful presets in there depending on where you are and what orientation the speakers are in, whether that’s horizontal on your desktop or on a picnic blanket in a park.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
While it’s purely subjective and of little practical value, the Unit-4 look great in any orientation or setting. They’re much better looking than most studio monitors. They’re sleek, black and have a stylish metal speaker grill that attaches firmly with the help of a few magnets. A ring of white light glows around the woofer when they’re powered on too. Like I said, it makes no functional difference, but they’re certainly a visual upgrade from my PreSonus Eris E5s.
There are a few design choices that I can quibble with, however, even if I understand the reasoning (usually to shave size and weight). First off, the Unit-4 lack XLR hookups. This isn’t unheard of on portable studio monitors, and they do have balanced TRS connections, but combo XLR / TRS jacks are pretty ubiquitous at this point and wouldn’t have required much more room.
The power bricks for each speaker are also enormous.Obviously, putting those components inside the speaker, along with their sizable 77Wh batteries, would have dramatically increased their size and weight. But it seems odd that, what I believe are, the largest power bricks in my home currently belong to the Unit-4, while none of the other studio monitors or speakers I own have external power supplies at all, just standard AC cables. They weigh more than a pound each, which means that, despite AIAIAI bragging that the Unit-4 only tip the scales at 2.5kg (or about 5.5 pounds), if you were to hit the road with two monitors and the chargers for each you’d be looking at a total weight of close to 14 pounds.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
That’s hardly unreasonable if your definition of portable is simply that you can move them from place to place — nobody is taking the Unit-4 with them on a whim on the off chance that they might need a studio monitor. Still, I will say that I think AIAIAI should include the carrying case if they’re pitching the portability factor, rather than it being a $70 add-on.
My biggest issue, though, was the decision to remove the battery from the transmitter. The X01 Transmitter that comes with the Studio Wireless+ has a built-in battery. The X02 Transmitter that is packaged with the Unit-4 does not. The perk of this is that, when used as a USB-C audio dongle with a laptop, it’s nice and discrete. The downside is that if you use the minijack output you need to provide your own power, preferably via a powerbank, rather than an AC adapter to minimize opportunity for interference or ground loops.
Part of AIAIAI’s rationale for ditching the battery was that, well, batteries have a tendency to wear out. And this way, you don’t have to chuck the whole transmitter just because it won’t hold a charge anymore. But, the company has figured out how to make practically every part of the studio monitors removable and replaceable (including the battery), so it seems like doing that for the transmitter shouldn’t have been too tough.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
The lack of a battery is a non-issue if you’re primarily using the Unit-4 connected to a computer. But if you’re using a standalone piece of gear like an SP-404, connecting to a mixer for a jam session or out busking it in a park, the extra cable and external power bank become something else to forget at home and kind of undermine the whole “wireless” thing.
I know that seems like a lot of negatives all in a row, but these are honestly pretty minor complaints. And I think that, if you are one of the people who will get a lot of use out of the Unit-4, they probably won’t deter you. The audience here is undoubtedly smaller than with the Studio Wireless+, though. Where almost any bedroom producer could use a solid set of headphones that can be wired or wireless at a moment’s notice, bouncing from low-latency studio mode to Bluetooth at the flip of a switch. The list of musicians that need the same from their desktop studio monitors is probably pretty short.
I can imagine these being super handy on a tour bus but, I am not a touring musician. Instead where I found the wireless feature most useful was for dabbling with new musical toys from anywhere in my house. Rather than hide in my attic, I could bring one of the Unit-4s down into the living room (but not both), connect the transmitter and a powerbank to say, the Gaia 2 and get some work done while also hanging out with my kids.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
Just for the hell of it, I took the Unit-4 to a park to shoot some review photos. I can’t say that’s something I’d want to do terribly often. Lugging them through the park as I looked for a decent enough place to stage my shoot got tiresome pretty quickly. But, I did put their loudness to the test by cranking the speakers all the way with my SP-404 MKII set to top volume. Quite a lot of people stopped and stared at me with open hostility. They still sounded great, with no distortion and the audio remained clear and punchy even from a few dozen feet away. But, like with the Wireless Studio+, the W+ Link does introduce some noise that becomes noticeable as you approach the 75-percent mark on the volume.
They were handy as just regular ol’ Bluetooth speakers. While it’s been a touch too cold to throw parties in my backyard, I’ve set one of the Unit-4s up outside while I’ve raked the leaves. If I really wanted to make my neighbors hate me, I could turn the speakers all the way up and they’d even be audible over my trimmer and leaf blower.
And thanks to their giant batteries they’d easily be able to last through a few hours of yard work, a raucous BBQ, some late night cleanup and then some. AIAIAI claims over 20 hours of battery life, but doesn’t specify if that’s over Bluetooth or W+ Link. I did a battery rundown test where I left the Unit-4 connected over W+, occasionally playing music through them from Ableton Live and djay Pro with the volume set at 75 percent. The first speaker gave up the ghost after 17 hours and 46 minutes, and the second followed 11 minutes later. Considering the Studio Wireless+ last more than four times as long when on Bluetooth versus W+ Link, it’s safe to assume you’d be able to eke quite a bit more playtime out of the Unit-4 if you were using them strictly as Bluetooth speakers. Of course, if you did that you’d be missing out on the whole point of the Unit-4.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
Even though they’re pricey, perhaps the ideal customer would be a busker. The Unit-4 can cover live performances with low enough latency to not be distracting, are reliable monitors for mixing in a studio, and also loud enough fill up an apartment or yard with tunes for a party. The only thing I wouldn’t want to rely on them for is DJing. While you could work around the latency by feeding both the cue and the live mix to a pair of headphones, it’s just a smidge too much if you really want to make sure your transitions are 100-percent on point.
One other thing worth noting is that the amount of latency you experience with the Unit-4 will vary depending on your source (USB-C vs ⅛” TRS) and even whether you’re on Windows or macOS. If you intend to use the Unit-4 with a Windows PC over USB-C you absolutely need to install the ASIO4ALL driver. Built-in Windows audio drivers have improved over the years, but they still can’t hold a candle to Apple’s Core Audio or Steinberg’s ASIO. To be clear, this isn’t an issue with the Unit-4, but with Windows. For the best results and the lowest latency, your best bet is still to use a dedicated Audio interface and to connect the X02 Transmitter to that using a TRS cable. Of course, that also means you’ll have to bring some way to power the transmitter, whether that’s a power bank or a USB-C power adapter.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
If you are someone looking for a pair of portable studio monitors that let you (more or less) ditch the cables entirely, the Unit-4 are basically the only game in town. They’re stylish, natural sounding and have a completely unique set of features. But they’re definitely more of a niche product than the Studio Wireless+. While their $350 price tag isn’t cheap, the flexibility and broader appeal make them an easier sell. The Unit-4 on the other hand are both quite expensive at $800, and trying to solve a very specific problem. At least I can say unequivocally, they solve that problem quite well.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/aiaiai-unit-4-review-unique-wireless-portable-studio-monitors-130048854.html?src=rss
I’ve been using the AIAIAI Unit-4 Wireless+ studio monitors for a couple of months now. And initially, I wasn’t sure what to make of them. They’re solid studio monitors with 4-inch woofers and 1-inch silk tweeters. They sound good and look good. But the pitch — the reason these things cost $800 for a pair — is that they’re wireless. And not, “they’re studio monitors that also happen to have Bluetooth” wireless, though they have that as well. They include AIAIAI’s low-latency 2.4Ghz wireless tech that made its debut on the Studio Wireless+ a couple of years back. Plus they have sizable batteries, allowing them to run for up to 20 hours without any cables at all.
I was skeptical of the Studio Wireless+, but was eventually won over by the surprising convenience of not being tethered to my audio interface by a 3-meter long coiled cable. The Unit-4 have a somewhat tougher case to make, though. The cables that keep my current PreSonus monitors tethered to my desk don’t get in the way. I don’t have to unplug them to put on my guitar and I don’t trip over them while grabbing a synth from the shelf. Instead, the Unit-4 are meant to solve a very specific problem: needing studio quality monitors when you’re not in your studio.
As you might imagine, this is not a thing I find myself needing terribly often. I’m sure that someone out there, likely professional musicians who spend significant time on the road, would immediately see the appeal. But for a hobbyist like me, finding a use case is harder.
Before we get too deep into the “why,” let’s talk a little bit about the “what.” Until now AIAIAI has focused exclusively on headphones. A more conservative company might have simply made some bog-standard studio monitors and called it a day. But today you can get bog-standard studio monitors, and pretty decent ones at that, for not much money. So rather than just add more noise to an already saturated market, AIAIAI looked to see what it could do that would be unique.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
The somewhat surprising answer it got from some artists was wireless, battery-powered monitors. So it took the low-latency W+ Link technology it had developed for Studio Wireless+ and adapted it for use in a pair of 4-inch studio monitors. Where Bluetooth latency can be all over the map, ranging from around 40ms under ideal conditions with the latest hardware, to well over 100ms, W+ Link is a consistent 16ms. It’s not zero latency, but it’s close enough for a quick recording session or a casual jam.
Because of their size you’re not gonna get a ton of bass out of them. You get a surprising amount more low end just by jumping up to 5-inch woofers. But, it’s not like the Unit-4 lack oomph. They’ve got a decent amount of punch and a reasonably flat frequency response. That said, as with the Studio Wireless+, I find their tone a touch on the dark side.
There is an app for iOS and Android, though, where you can tune the EQ to your liking. I personally scooped the mids and cut the sub bass just a smidge to help brighten up the sound ever so slightly and keep things from getting muddy in my small attic studio. But there are also useful presets in there depending on where you are and what orientation the speakers are in, whether that’s horizontal on your desktop or on a picnic blanket in a park.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
While it’s purely subjective and of little practical value, the Unit-4 look great in any orientation or setting. They’re much better looking than most studio monitors. They’re sleek, black and have a stylish metal speaker grill that attaches firmly with the help of a few magnets. A ring of white light glows around the woofer when they’re powered on too. Like I said, it makes no functional difference, but they’re certainly a visual upgrade from my PreSonus Eris E5s.
There are a few design choices that I can quibble with, however, even if I understand the reasoning (usually to shave size and weight). First off, the Unit-4 lack XLR hookups. This isn’t unheard of on portable studio monitors, and they do have balanced TRS connections, but combo XLR / TRS jacks are pretty ubiquitous at this point and wouldn’t have required much more room.
The power bricks for each speaker are also enormous.Obviously, putting those components inside the speaker, along with their sizable 77Wh batteries, would have dramatically increased their size and weight. But it seems odd that, what I believe are, the largest power bricks in my home currently belong to the Unit-4, while none of the other studio monitors or speakers I own have external power supplies at all, just standard AC cables. They weigh more than a pound each, which means that, despite AIAIAI bragging that the Unit-4 only tip the scales at 2.5kg (or about 5.5 pounds), if you were to hit the road with two monitors and the chargers for each you’d be looking at a total weight of close to 14 pounds.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
That’s hardly unreasonable if your definition of portable is simply that you can move them from place to place — nobody is taking the Unit-4 with them on a whim on the off chance that they might need a studio monitor. Still, I will say that I think AIAIAI should include the carrying case if they’re pitching the portability factor, rather than it being a $70 add-on.
My biggest issue, though, was the decision to remove the battery from the transmitter. The X01 Transmitter that comes with the Studio Wireless+ has a built-in battery. The X02 Transmitter that is packaged with the Unit-4 does not. The perk of this is that, when used as a USB-C audio dongle with a laptop, it’s nice and discrete. The downside is that if you use the minijack output you need to provide your own power, preferably via a powerbank, rather than an AC adapter to minimize opportunity for interference or ground loops.
Part of AIAIAI’s rationale for ditching the battery was that, well, batteries have a tendency to wear out. And this way, you don’t have to chuck the whole transmitter just because it won’t hold a charge anymore. But, the company has figured out how to make practically every part of the studio monitors removable and replaceable (including the battery), so it seems like doing that for the transmitter shouldn’t have been too tough.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
The lack of a battery is a non-issue if you’re primarily using the Unit-4 connected to a computer. But if you’re using a standalone piece of gear like an SP-404, connecting to a mixer for a jam session or out busking it in a park, the extra cable and external power bank become something else to forget at home and kind of undermine the whole “wireless” thing.
I know that seems like a lot of negatives all in a row, but these are honestly pretty minor complaints. And I think that, if you are one of the people who will get a lot of use out of the Unit-4, they probably won’t deter you. The audience here is undoubtedly smaller than with the Studio Wireless+, though. Where almost any bedroom producer could use a solid set of headphones that can be wired or wireless at a moment’s notice, bouncing from low-latency studio mode to Bluetooth at the flip of a switch. The list of musicians that need the same from their desktop studio monitors is probably pretty short.
I can imagine these being super handy on a tour bus but, I am not a touring musician. Instead where I found the wireless feature most useful was for dabbling with new musical toys from anywhere in my house. Rather than hide in my attic, I could bring one of the Unit-4s down into the living room (but not both), connect the transmitter and a powerbank to say, the Gaia 2 and get some work done while also hanging out with my kids.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
Just for the hell of it, I took the Unit-4 to a park to shoot some review photos. I can’t say that’s something I’d want to do terribly often. Lugging them through the park as I looked for a decent enough place to stage my shoot got tiresome pretty quickly. But, I did put their loudness to the test by cranking the speakers all the way with my SP-404 MKII set to top volume. Quite a lot of people stopped and stared at me with open hostility. They still sounded great, with no distortion and the audio remained clear and punchy even from a few dozen feet away. But, like with the Wireless Studio+, the W+ Link does introduce some noise that becomes noticeable as you approach the 75-percent mark on the volume.
They were handy as just regular ol’ Bluetooth speakers. While it’s been a touch too cold to throw parties in my backyard, I’ve set one of the Unit-4s up outside while I’ve raked the leaves. If I really wanted to make my neighbors hate me, I could turn the speakers all the way up and they’d even be audible over my trimmer and leaf blower.
And thanks to their giant batteries they’d easily be able to last through a few hours of yard work, a raucous BBQ, some late night cleanup and then some. AIAIAI claims over 20 hours of battery life, but doesn’t specify if that’s over Bluetooth or W+ Link. I did a battery rundown test where I left the Unit-4 connected over W+, occasionally playing music through them from Ableton Live and djay Pro with the volume set at 75 percent. The first speaker gave up the ghost after 17 hours and 46 minutes, and the second followed 11 minutes later. Considering the Studio Wireless+ last more than four times as long when on Bluetooth versus W+ Link, it’s safe to assume you’d be able to eke quite a bit more playtime out of the Unit-4 if you were using them strictly as Bluetooth speakers. Of course, if you did that you’d be missing out on the whole point of the Unit-4.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
Even though they’re pricey, perhaps the ideal customer would be a busker. The Unit-4 can cover live performances with low enough latency to not be distracting, are reliable monitors for mixing in a studio, and also loud enough fill up an apartment or yard with tunes for a party. The only thing I wouldn’t want to rely on them for is DJing. While you could work around the latency by feeding both the cue and the live mix to a pair of headphones, it’s just a smidge too much if you really want to make sure your transitions are 100-percent on point.
One other thing worth noting is that the amount of latency you experience with the Unit-4 will vary depending on your source (USB-C vs ⅛” TRS) and even whether you’re on Windows or macOS. If you intend to use the Unit-4 with a Windows PC over USB-C you absolutely need to install the ASIO4ALL driver. Built-in Windows audio drivers have improved over the years, but they still can’t hold a candle to Apple’s Core Audio or Steinberg’s ASIO. To be clear, this isn’t an issue with the Unit-4, but with Windows. For the best results and the lowest latency, your best bet is still to use a dedicated Audio interface and to connect the X02 Transmitter to that using a TRS cable. Of course, that also means you’ll have to bring some way to power the transmitter, whether that’s a power bank or a USB-C power adapter.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
If you are someone looking for a pair of portable studio monitors that let you (more or less) ditch the cables entirely, the Unit-4 are basically the only game in town. They’re stylish, natural sounding and have a completely unique set of features. But they’re definitely more of a niche product than the Studio Wireless+. While their $350 price tag isn’t cheap, the flexibility and broader appeal make them an easier sell. The Unit-4 on the other hand are both quite expensive at $800, and trying to solve a very specific problem. At least I can say unequivocally, they solve that problem quite well.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/aiaiai-unit-4-review-unique-wireless-portable-studio-monitors-130048854.html?src=rss
I'm not gonna pretend I've figured you, the Engadget reader, out. Trying to predict what is gonna get your little nerd hearts all a flutter is kind of a crapshoot. But, I'm pretty confident that a Tamagotchi in a guitar pedal is right up your alley. Ground Control Audio showed up to NAMM 2024 with the UwU virtual pet buffer pedal.
Now buffer pedals are about the least exciting piece of gear you can buy for your pedal board. Probably even less so than a tuner. But, if you've got a particularly large board or long cables, a buffer can dramatically improve your tone. Basically all it does is take the signal coming in and give it a little boost so you don't lose precious high end to tone suck. Like I said, not exciting.
What UwU does is no different, except that it has a Tamagotchi-style virtual pet and a handful of mini-games built in. As you play, your new pedalboard buddy dances and gains experience points. As the little cat like creature gains experience it evolves over 30 levels with unique animations. As for what happens once you cross that 30 level threshold, well, the company hasn't decided just yet. But there is still time to decide that since the pedal isn't set to start shipping until March.
If simply having a new little virtual friend on your board isn't enough whimsy for you, the UwU also has three mini-games built in. There's Long Cat (a snake clone), Fishy Blox (vaguely Tetris-like) and Neko Invader. The tiny monochrome OLED and small buttons aren't exactly ideal for playing games (and neither is hunching over a pedalboard I might add), but it feels true to its inspiration in old cellphone games.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
If you're sitting there wondering, "why?" Well, first off, why not? Secondly, to keep you playing, obviously. Finding the time and drive to play or practice guitar can be tough. Especially if you're teen with a hectic life of extra curriculars or, like me, a busy dad of two with a demanding day job. The UwU gives you a reason to play beyond just knowing you should. Carving out a few minutes every day to play will keep your adorable little UwU happy and healthy. Frankly, if I had one of these when I was younger and stubbornly clinging to my belief that I didn't need to know music theory or technique, maybe I'd be a more proficient guitarist.
Of course none this would matter if the UwU was a crappy buffer. But it's got 18v headroom and doesn't color your tone at all. It's even super tiny, so finding room for it on even the most crowded of pedalboards shouldn't be too difficult.
The UwU virtual pet buffer is available now for preorder directly from Ground Control Audio for $139.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-uwu-virtual-pet-buffer-is-a-tamagotchi-in-a-guitar-pedal-193633790.html?src=rss
The original Erae Touch was one of the more interesting MPE controllers to come out in the last few years. But it's been on the market for less than three years. So it was something of a surprise when Embodme showed up to NAMM 2024 with Erae II, the next iteration of its customizable controller with significant upgrades and one unexpected new feature.
Now, it's important to note that the version of the Erae II I was able to test out was very early prototype. There were a few bugs, the construction definitely had some rough edges. But the company has plenty of time to iron those out. The Kickstarter campaign opens on February 15 with an expect ship date sometime in June.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
But the vision is already clear. The main surface is largely the same, a singular smooth expanse with RGB lights underneath it. Those are used to illustrate various layouts that can be customized. It can be a standard keyboard, a grid, faders, a step sequencer, et cetera. The design is definitely more refined, even at this early stage. It also acknowledges that while the customizability of the controller was a big draw, it perhaps relied too much on the desktop app and the playing surface for handling settings.
The updated version has a number of buttons across the top for quickly swapping layouts, controlling the new MIDI looper and accessing other settings. There's also a small, but high resolution screen tucked in the top righthand corner next to a jog wheel. The viewing angles on the screen were solid and it's plenty sharp, but its size could pose some challenges. I'm not going to judge it by this very early version of the firmware, but I had to squint pretty hard to make out the tiny text laying out all the MIDI assignments.
The controller itself was very responsive, though. The new sensors (16,000 of them to be specific) were able to track my glides and subtle shifts in pressure with incredible accuracy. The company claims the playing surface has sub-millimeter accuracy. Obviously there's no way I could truly put that to the test on the show floor but, suffice it to say, it was accurate.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
I can already tell that the Erae requires quite a bit of nuance, though, to get truly expressive results from the aftertouch. The surface doesn't have a lot of give, so tiny changes in pressure can result in big changes to the sound.
One of the surprising things is that the Erae II will have swappable skins, kind of like the Sensel Morph (RIP) or the Joué Play, but also, not. The unit I played had a silicone cover like the original that the company says is meant for those who want to play the Erae II with drum stick. It will will ship with a white fabric one though, which was specifically meant to improve the feel and responsiveness for those playing with their fingers.
Changing the skins is a little involved, however. Because Embodme sees the Erae not simply as a tool for the studio, but as a live performance device it wanted to make sure the covers would be secure and standup to abuse. So you actually have to unscrew the frame to pop on a new skin. And since the display on the Erae is already customizable, it's not bothering to have skins with particular layouts, just different materials.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
Embodme also added a ton of new connectivity options. The original simply had a USB-C port and a TRS MIDI out. But the Erae II will have two MIDI out ports, a MIDI in jack, two USB ports, with the ability to be either a host or a device, and 24 configurable analog outs that can send gate, trigger and CV to external gear.
Obviously it's way to early to know for sure how well the Erae II will standup to real world use. But it's got a promising feature set and an intriguing design. If you want to be among the first to get your hands on one you'll be able to back it on Kickstarter starting February 15 with early bird prices of $549 or $649, depending on how early you hop on. When it reaches retail later in the year, however, it will be going for $799.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/embodme-erae-ii-hands-on-a-customizable-mpe-midi-controller-for-your-soft-synths-and-analog-gear-213059410.html?src=rss
The original Erae Touch was one of the more interesting MPE controllers to come out in the last few years. But it's been on the market for less than three years. So it was something of a surprise when Embodme showed up to NAMM 2024 with Erae II, the next iteration of its customizable controller with significant upgrades and one unexpected new feature.
Now, it's important to note that the version of the Erae II I was able to test out was very early prototype. There were a few bugs, the construction definitely had some rough edges. But the company has plenty of time to iron those out. The Kickstarter campaign opens on February 15 with an expect ship date sometime in June.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
But the vision is already clear. The main surface is largely the same, a singular smooth expanse with RGB lights underneath it. Those are used to illustrate various layouts that can be customized. It can be a standard keyboard, a grid, faders, a step sequencer, et cetera. The design is definitely more refined, even at this early stage. It also acknowledges that while the customizability of the controller was a big draw, it perhaps relied too much on the desktop app and the playing surface for handling settings.
The updated version has a number of buttons across the top for quickly swapping layouts, controlling the new MIDI looper and accessing other settings. There's also a small, but high resolution screen tucked in the top righthand corner next to a jog wheel. The viewing angles on the screen were solid and it's plenty sharp, but its size could pose some challenges. I'm not going to judge it by this very early version of the firmware, but I had to squint pretty hard to make out the tiny text laying out all the MIDI assignments.
The controller itself was very responsive, though. The new sensors (16,000 of them to be specific) were able to track my glides and subtle shifts in pressure with incredible accuracy. The company claims the playing surface has sub-millimeter accuracy. Obviously there's no way I could truly put that to the test on the show floor but, suffice it to say, it was accurate.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
I can already tell that the Erae requires quite a bit of nuance, though, to get truly expressive results from the aftertouch. The surface doesn't have a lot of give, so tiny changes in pressure can result in big changes to the sound.
One of the surprising things is that the Erae II will have swappable skins, kind of like the Sensel Morph (RIP) or the Joué Play, but also, not. The unit I played had a silicone cover like the original that the company says is meant for those who want to play the Erae II with drum stick. It will will ship with a white fabric one though, which was specifically meant to improve the feel and responsiveness for those playing with their fingers.
Changing the skins is a little involved, however. Because Embodme sees the Erae not simply as a tool for the studio, but as a live performance device it wanted to make sure the covers would be secure and standup to abuse. So you actually have to unscrew the frame to pop on a new skin. And since the display on the Erae is already customizable, it's not bothering to have skins with particular layouts, just different materials.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
Embodme also added a ton of new connectivity options. The original simply had a USB-C port and a TRS MIDI out. But the Erae II will have two MIDI out ports, a MIDI in jack, two USB ports, with the ability to be either a host or a device, and 24 configurable analog outs that can send gate, trigger and CV to external gear.
Obviously it's way to early to know for sure how well the Erae II will standup to real world use. But it's got a promising feature set and an intriguing design. If you want to be among the first to get your hands on one you'll be able to back it on Kickstarter starting February 15 with early bird prices of $549 or $649, depending on how early you hop on. When it reaches retail later in the year, however, it will be going for $799.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/embodme-erae-ii-hands-on-a-customizable-mpe-midi-controller-for-your-soft-synths-and-analog-gear-213059410.html?src=rss