The latter is a handy and highly addictive feature I’ve been pushing on every software vendor I know since I first saw it in the Write! text editor.
I can’t tell you how much I enjoy the lack of “Save your work?” dialog boxes and infinite undo and redo across sessions. Continual save and tracking facilitate infinite undo and redo. Luna stores all MIDI and audio files, as well as settings and a history of actions in a macOS package for easy transfer. Its existence does, however, point out the potential for further MIDI mayhem. It’s capable and easy to use, but nothing extraordinary. The only MIDI extension in Luna 1.01 is the free ARP arpeggiator.
Out of the gate there two audio extensions that mimic the saturated sound of tape: Oxide (generic and included for free) and Studer A800 ($299 if you don’t already own the DSP version) plus another that imitates the bus summing (mixing audio signals from multiple channels) of a Neve 80 series analog mixing desk ($299). Luna also features “extensions,” which are proprietary audio and MIDI plug-ins that embed into the mixer. I tried importing a batch of files from 44.1kHz to 96kHz and there was never a hiccup. The audio engine can re-sample and play anything from 44.1kHz to 192kHz on the fly, while background rendering creates files matching the current project sample rate that will be used eventually to reduce the processing overhead this rate juggling incurs. Luna allows you to mix sample rates freely, which, while not unique in the DAW world, is completely transparent. When you create a cue mix it’s actually happening on the interface, and you can even turn the 48 volt phantom power on and off. Inputs appear automatically and there’s no buffer size setting. Now Luna handles all that so visits to Console are rare.Īs a byproduct of this DAW/hardware integration, there’s no configuring of the audio interface. Formerly, UA’s separate Console application was required to set up the Apollo’s DSP effects on cue mixes (what the artist hears in the headphones) and inputs.
First and foremost there’s the largely seamless melding of the Apollo interface DSP effects with those that are computer-rendered. Universal Audio’s Luna with two windows open showing the two main views: timeline and mixer.Īfter the break-in period, it was time to delve into some of the impressive stuff going on under the hood. It’s not note for note, but the users of Avid’s flagship DAW will feel at home right off the bat. Even the keyboard shortcuts are largely the same.
That was more than enough time for the schematical and operational resemblance to Pro Tools to sink in. I spent about 15 minutes luxuriating in Luna’s new-car smell and getting used to the general layout.