NAMM 2006 Winter Show Update: M-Audio announced the availability of the ProjectMix I/O / Live 5 Studio Bundle—a complete hardware/software music production suite. The bundle for Mac or PC includes M-Audio’s ProjectMix I/O and Ableton Live 5 production software.

“Live 5 has totally redefined the way people are making music,” says Adam Castillo, M-Audio’s marketing director. “ProjectMix I/O adds the tactile feel of a true hardware mixing console while simultaneously integrating powerful interface functionality. The combination forms the core of a complete, elegant studio environment that truly brings out creativity.”

ProjectMix I/O’s combination of a motorized control surface and 18 x 14 audio interface is the perfect match for Ableton Live 5—the software that lets users create, record and perform in real time like no other music software. In fact, they work seamlessly and intuitively together to form a complete hardware/software production studio.

Some of the myriad possibilities and advantages of this integration of products include easily assigning software tracks to hardware I/O and channel strips; tweaking plug-in parameters displayed automatically on the LCD screen; improvising songs right from ProjectMix I/O’s controls, including prelistening to loops and samples via headphones; and accessing custom Live control mappings with the press of a button.

ProjectMix I/O’s features include transparent operation with most other popular DAW software including Pro Tools M-Powered 7, 18 x 14 24-bit/96kHz audio interface with Lightpipe, eight microphone/instrument preamps, nine 10mm motorized faders, eight assignable rotary encoders with LCD readout, dedicated transport controls, MIDI I/O and more.

Live 5’s award-winning features include intuitive operation, the ability to automatically conform segments of different tempos to the master project tempo, changing pitch and tempo independently on the fly, linear and clip-based recording, real-time resampling, numerous unique built-in effects and much more.

The ProjectMix I/O / Live 5 Studio Bundle is currently shipping for a limited time and carries an MSRP of $1,599.95 USD.

More information is available at the M-Audio site.