TuneStudio eases recording sessions

As a guitarist and singer, I've been looking for an affordable device that lets me make good recordings without a lot of muss and fuss.

So when I first saw the TuneStudio, which is electronics accessory maker Belkin International Inc.'s recently-released four-channel audio mixer -- and the first I've seen with an iPod dock -- I was excited but skeptical.

The prospect of recording songs by my band, the Cupcake Fighting League, straight to my iPod with something more advanced than a small portable microphone intrigued me. But I had doubts about how portable and versatile the TuneStudio would actually be.

As it turns out, the TuneStudio is an affordable choice ($400, though it is widely available online for $200 to $300) for musicians who want a stylish, lightweight device for recording and mixing on the fly -- all good things since you never know when inspiration might strike.

When gazing at the gray, sloping face of the TuneStudio for the first time, I was immediately excited by the bevy of dials, inputs and LEDs that cover the product, promising plenty of recording options.

Without paying much attention to the included manual, I plugged in the yearbook-sized TuneStudio, attached a microphone and guitar through two of the inputs and popped my iPod into the device's dock.

Not all iPods work with the device, but it does support the iPod Classic, second- and third-generation iPod nano and fifth-generation iPod Video.

I plugged in my headphones and turned on the TuneStudio and the option to record popped up on my iPod's screen.

It was simple to record guitar and vocals simultaneously by myself, and I was pleased with the clarity of the sound. It took me some time to figure out how the various frequency equalizer and other audio-adjusting knobs should be tweaked to make my voice and guitar sound best, but it was fun to play around and get my bearings.

I was curious to see how the TuneStudio would react to less-direct input so I took it to a Sunday band practice and set it up with two microphones plugged into its XLR inputs and angled in opposite directions.

While we didn't get incredible results, the recordings were surprisingly clear. The vocals, which came out very quiet on a recording on a different portable device that belonged to a friend, were right up there with the guitar, bass, keyboards and drums.

In fact, we liked the recordings so much we uploaded them to our MySpace page. Once the files are on a computer, they also can be enhanced with various music editing software.

Though the TuneStudio supports four simultaneous audio inputs, recordings to the iPod are WAV files that consist of a single stereo track, which makes it hard to edit unless you record each instrument and vocal part alone. It would have been nice if the individual tracks matched the inputs.

Fortunately, the TuneStudio can be attached directly to a computer via a USB cable (not included).

Another issue I had with the TuneStudio was the lack of a padded carrying case. And it would be cool if the TuneStudio included more than one headphone jack.

Generally, though, the TuneStudio was fun and easy to use and produced consistently good sounds that made me want to keep playing and recording.