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Dexter certainly looks like a state-of-the-art piece of technology.

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Back in the glorious days of hardware, it was easy to get the feeling that your studio had more control over you than you did over it. Frequently, synths would mysteriously lose MIDI connectivity, or would suddenly stop responding to controllers. No two days were quite the same and while it's easy to get misty-eyed and nostalgic now, at the time it was a right pain in the downstairs-round-the-back.

One of the greatest pleasures to have emerged from the software revolution is that we now feel much more in control. The catch, of course, is that mouse control tends to be most people's sole connection to their software, making simultaneous tweaks impossible and putting a barrier between producers and their gear. The glut of keyboard-based and standalone controllers lining the shelves of your local store give an indication that this situation isn't everyone's cup of tea.

Of all the controller products available, perhaps JazzMutant's own Lemur has been the most eye-catching. The Dexter represents JazzMutant's second foray into the world of GUI-based software control, but takes away the Lemur's 'do anything' open nature in favour of a potentially more popular plug-and-play instant solution.

Getting started

The Dexter connects to your host PC or Mac via ethernet and is currently compatible with Logic, Cubase, Sonar and Nuendo. To get going, you need to run the host software and, for Logic users only, a second application called JazzDaemon, which helps handle real-time information exchange between the Dexter and your computer

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After installation, Dexter automatically picks up a TCP/IP number from your computer, so you're free to complete the hardware handshake by selecting your computer name on a dedicated Dexter setup page. Once you boot your software of choice (in our case Logic), the name 'Dexter' appears in your list of available control surfaces.

Logic users should note that you'll always need JazzDaemon open before you boot Logic for communication to take place.

Once you're faced with Dexter's GUI, you can't fail to be impressed. The screen's icons are shown in a kind of glossy retro-futurist cool - almost an extension of the look Ableton have adopted for Live.

The main mixer screen offers access to eight individual tracks and the master output simultaneously, with the latter displayed in a separate box to the right. Each individual track features a long-throw fader; a pan button, which renders the fader a pan control instead; quick access to mute, solo and track arm modes as well as shortcuts to a track's EQ plug-in (assuming you've set one up), and a dedicated Track Edit button (pressing this means that Dexter's whole screen focuses on the settings for that single selected track).

The Master section within the Track editor also displays bus sends and levels assigned to these. To edit a send level, press the relevant send and its icon flashes. You can then use the fader to adjust the send amount. Un-toggle the Buss icon and you're done.

The master fader itself has tricks up its sleeve too, not the least of which is a zoom control. This enables you to focus in on a specific area of the fader's travel. When automating volume, it's frequently the case that you don't need every decibel from maximum to silence, with more subtle changes often more appropriate. The Zoom mode lets you tailor the fader's area of operation, so that more discrete movements are easier to execute. Very neat indeed.