Review: Frontier Design TranzPort
Pages: 1, 2, 3

Installation

I installed the TranzPort driver from the included CD onto my 1.5GHz G4 PowerBook running OS 10.4.6 (Tiger). Installation was fast and easy, but I don't know how much of a recommendation that is for the TranzPort, since installation of just about anything is fast and easy on Macs. To use the TranzPort with some applications, you may need to download a driver update from Frontier's website. After the driver installation (Frontier says the "after" is important), you connect the TranzPort's wireless interface to a USB port.

The TranzPort works with a growing list of apps, including:

I tried it with Reason and iTunes, which seemed like a good sample, as it covers both the producer and the consumer sides of making music. (I dislike the idea of "consumption" in connection with music, but it's the industrial category we're stuck with.)

In both cases, the experience of using the software was transformed.

The default mappings in the iTunes layout (screen image simulated). The "Play One Track" label at far right corresponds to the footswitch input.

Tranzforming iTunes

With a TranzPort, iTunes finishes its journey to the living room: you can finally get comfy on the couch, and the computer can sit where it wants.

You start by selecting iTunes Controller mode in your new TranzPort menu (Mac) or SysTray item (Win), which appear after you install the driver. Pushing any button on the TranzPort or plugging in the receiver will then launch iTunes.

Basic operation is intuitive: press the TranzPort's Play button and iTunes plays a song; press Stop, it stops. Fast Forward and Rewind behave the way you'd expect. The TranzPort's big data wheel adjusts volume, which is what you'd guess a big wheel would do. And the Track Left and Right buttons skip to the previous and next track, respectively. Pause is not quite so obvious; you pause by pressing Play again while a song is playing. (That's also the way it works in iTunes' native interface.) You could stop here and be happy. You now have a super remote for iTunes, and you could use the system to replace your CD player.

The TranzPort menu (or SysTray icon in Windows) lets you switch quickly between control setups.

But there's a lot more if you want it, including functions that iTunes doesn't have on its own. To go beyond the basics, you'll want to consult Frontier Design's iTunes guide, covering the remapping of the box's 20 buttons and data wheel for this app. (Frontier's Downloads page has guides to working with compatible apps, as well as technical information on creating your own maps for unsupported software.) Here are some of the iTunes button mappings, followed by an example scenario of how you might use them:

• Punch: Toggles Song Shuffle mode on and off.
• Loop: Cycles through three repeat modes: Repeat Playlist, Repeat Song and Repeat Off. When you're in Repeat Song mode, you can loop a section of the song instead of the whole thing; press Shift-In at the beginning of your loop, and Shift-Out at the loop point.
• Prev/Next/Add: Prev and Next choose the previous or next playlist, and Add will add the currently selected song to the currently selected playlist. Shift-Add will create a new playlist.
• The Data Wheel in combination with...
  • Rec: Selects by artist.
  • Mute: Selects by album.
  • Solo: Selects by song.
  • Shift: Changes your rating of the current track.
  • In: Changes the current song's start time.
  • Out: Changes the current song's stop time.

So far, that's just a list of features. Here's a step-by-step example of what you might do with them:

1. Sit on the couch (see couch manual, not included).
2. Press any button to wake up the TranzPort. (It has no On/Off switch; it just goes to sleep when ignored for awhile.) Then, press any button to launch iTunes.
3. Press Play and then Shuffle to listen to a random selection of songs from your library. Up comes "Fallen" by k.d. lang, written by Ron Sexsmith.
4. If you love this song, hold the Shift button and turn the Data Wheel to add stars to the song in iTunes' Rating column. (The stars also appear on the TranzPort's LCD.)
5. Make a playlist called "Great Singers Cover Great Songs." Press Shift-Add to create the new playlist (you'll have to use your computer's keyboard to name it), then press Add to add the current song to that playlist.
6. Think to yourself, "I like this song so much I want to learn how to play it." Set up a loop in order to start studying it: press Loop until the TranzPort display says you're in Repeat Song mode. With the song playing, press Shift-In to mark the loop's start point. Play or cue to the end point you want, and press Shift-Out. Press Stop and then Play, and the song will start looping between the start and end points.

An iTunes listening session under TranzPort control. You can audition, rate, and even loop songs (or song sections) remotely.