39 Producer’s Edge Magazine Fall Winter

Words by Saga Legin

Total workstation solution

combining music and studio

technologies.

“I’ve made the new Timbaland

Special Edition MiKo with

Tim’s Touch. It’s got

everything I need in a

single box and when I use

it, we make masterpieces.”

- Timbaland

If I buy this will I sound like Timbaland?

Will this replace all my hardware

pieces? Should I buy this for my first

production system? Is this the best

bang for the buck when it comes to

workstations? Can I really have any

sound module I want in my miKo by

using its mimiK cloning software?

I

had a chance to test run the MiKo

Timbaland edition from Open

labs. The hype surrounding this

machine is enormous and kind of

pulled me in as well. After looking

at countless youtube footage and

reviews I had to get my hands on

this beast of a machine.

Open In the Lab

The Miko is no small piece of equipment. It is pretty heavy, about 30

pounds wider than it appears in pictures. The interface is Microsoft based with

the open labs logo as the desktop background. It comes loaded with sound

libraries from E-MU, Roland, Ensoniq, Moog and more. The host sequencers and

GUI include mFusion, mimiK, Karsyn, Wusikstation v3, Reaper, V4 sound library

and Cubase Le to name a few. Now keep in mind, you can install any windows

compatible software onto the machine like a standard PC. It also uses a Presonus

mic pre and has 4 inputs and 6 outputs.

Meeting the MiKo

After setting up the MiKo I immediately went into a program that comes

native with the unit (except the se model). The program that I couldn’t wait to use

was Mimik. It allows you to clone any of your existing keyboards, and/or sound

modules onto the MiKo’s hard drive. Mimik is supposed to be very intuitive and

give you the capability to copy all the attributes of the sound your cloning (velocity,

note range, decay, etc). I thought wow, this is a program sent from the gods. I

can not only use the massive library of sounds this thing comes with, but also my

keyboards and modules with it as well. I own a Korg OASYS, n364, mo phatt,

Roland XV5080, and a Motif rack. So I dived right in and began the process of

cloning my machines. To my dismay, the cloning process, for one sound in a bank,

Open Labs MiKo Timbaland Edition

40 Producer’s Edge Magazine Fall Winter

takes approximately 25 to 30 min!

Once cloned the quality of the sound

is far less than I expected. This could

be due to the inexpensive Presonus

mic pre being used. The sheer size

of the folder that mimiK creates for

the sound is large and would require

you to have a great deal of hard drive

space available in order to hold the

samples. Plus the format that it saves

your sounds is not compatible with all

popular virtual samplers on the market

(I won’t name names).

MimiK or Mimic?

After I recovered from the

disappointment of the mimiK I moved

onto the rest of the Miko. In action

the V4 Sound Library by E-MU was

impressive. I own several E-MU

modules (plus the SP1200) and I must

say the sounds on there were dead

on. It was like having those classic

modules at your fingertips - set out for

you in a smooth GUI ready to play. Most

of the sounds were pretty close- if not

identical to their hardware or software

predecessors. Out of all the modules I

liked Karsyn the best. It reminded me

of Kontakt 3 in the way you can layer

instruments. The included sounds were

quality- especially the grand piano.

Close Labs

In the end the Miko did impress

me with it’s accuracy of sound and

inventive all-in-one approach to the

digital workstation. I liked the fact

that it is upgradeable since you can

add multiple hard drives and you are

not limited by the included software/

instruments. The option to install any

program that is pc compatible was an

ingenious idea. Mimik disappointed

me and probably was the main reason

that I can not give this machine a higher

rating. The bundled sequencers make

for added value, but I didn’t like the

interface on Reaper; I didn’t find it as

user friendly as my usual combination

of Pro Tools and Logic. The sounds,

although accurate, are somewhat

dated. I didn’t hear anything that I

haven’t heard in the last 10 years. This

is not the place to look for cutting-edge

and next years’ sounds.

Sealed Lab

In conclusion, this machine is great

for the artist who is just starting out

without a lot of gear at their disposal.

It is essentially a computer, keyboard,

dj mixer, mic pre, all mixed into one

solid package. The producer who

already has a good amount of gear

and computer with sequencer probably

does not need this unless overkill is their

intention. To the ambitious audiophile

this might also be something worth

checking out.

Special Edition Timbaland MiKo LX

starts at $4299.00

Visit Open Labs at Openlabs.com for

overview videos, tutorials and sound

examples.

Specs at a glance:

Expansion Slots:

(3) PCI Slots (2 available for upgrades),

(3) PCI-E Slots (2 available for

upgrades), (2) 3.5” Bays: (1) Start Up

Drive and (1) Available for Upgrade,

(1) 5.25” Dual-Layer DVD-RW burner

(8.5GB/disc)

Audio I/O:

(1) High Performance Audio I/O

Card with Low Latency including

24-bit/96kHz professional 4-in/6-out :

(2) mic/instrument preamp inputs (with

Phantom Power 48V), (2) analog line

inputs, (6) analog line outputs, S/PDIF

digital I/O (coaxial)

Connections:

Midi In/Out, 1) Sustain and (1)

Expression ports, 2) USB 2.0 ports,

3) (1) FireWire 400 port, 4) (1) Gigabit

(10/100/1000) Ethernet port, 5) (1)

Headphone Jack with Volume Control

41 Producer’s Edge Magazine Fall Winter

Karsyn:

Live performance workstation for virtual instruments.

VST host [max 32 instances] with audio effects capable of processing live audio. ReWire

master device. Automatically scroll through presets while playing.

Hottest feature: Scenes are one of the most powerful features of forte. Scenes enable

you to use a single rack for an entire performance and automate preset changes, output

routings, and mutes.

Each rack file can contain multiple scenes visible in the Scene window. Each Scene

contains a complete configuration including:

•?

A preset for every instrument in the rack. This does not need to be a saved preset

because the actual settings of each instrument are saved instead of just a name.

•?

An effect preset for every audio effect in the rack. Again, this does not need to be a

saved preset. Bypass status is also saved.

•?

A MIDI input enable for each port on each Instrument Module.

•?

A MIDI keyboard range, transpose, channel and controller remap for every MIDI input on

every Instrument Module.

•?

An output Buss selection for every Instrument Module.

•?

A tempo (which many VST and DirectX plugins will follow).

•?

A transport (used by many drum machines, arpeggiators, and ReWire devices).

Coolest feature: Auto-start on boot up, auto-recovery, remote control, SceneView and other

features eliminate the need to use the keyboard and mouse during live performance.

MimiK:

Keyboard or sound module

cloning software. Triggers device

and records audio stream to create

a software soundbank composed of

multi-samples.