Every once in a while, it’s worth pausing to note how there’s less equipment packed into the average studio these days when compared to its counterpart of five years ago. Many of the MIDI synths have gone, along with the effects processors and DAT machines, leaving a hefty computer and bloated plug-in folder in their wake, possibly flanked by a nice mic pre, copious external drives and a decent set of monitors.While this has made life easier on many levels, it’s also true that a new hardware counter-culture is under way. Traditional manufacturers have been forced to think on their feet and start offering products relevant to this digital age. Korg are one company that fall squarely into this category - they’re among the first of the ‘majors’ to offer their synth classics in plug-in form with the release of their Legacy Collections.They also developed the Kaoss Pad, a real-time effects controller that sits beautifully alongside a laptop. And now they’re at it again, this time attempting to reinvent the mixer. So welcome to the Zero8 Live Control Console - a mixer, FireWire audio interface, MIDI controller and real-time effects processor in one tidy package.OverviewDespite boasting such a range of features, the Zero8 is first and foremost a mixer. The top panel features eight input channels, each of which can choose from a variety of input sources (more on this in a moment). Beneath these, each channel features a gain control, EQ selector knob, EQ and pan controls, three effects sends, a cut/solo toggle switch, and, lastly, a cue button.Below these, ‘A’ and ‘B’ LED switches lie above a DJ mixer-style level fader. To the right of the front panel, in the master section, you’ll find a touchscreen LCD display and a selection of rotary dials and buttons, which access more global controls for effects levels, MIDI controllers and output levels, among other things.In the top right-hand corner, stereo VU meters keep you in touch with output levels. The all-important DJ crossfader lies in the bottom right-hand corner, allowing you to switch back and forth between ‘A’ and ‘B’ busses, whose audio content is assigned by a simple press of the relevant button at the bottom of each channel strip.InputsBut this ain’t the half of it. The rear panel gives much more insight into the potential of this device, as it’s loaded with input possibilities. There are three sets of phono inputs, so a trio of turntables potentially lie in wait. Then you’ll find two XLR mic inputs with independent phantom power switches and gain pads. In case your mic sources are dynamic, separate quarter-inch mic ins are also available, with a high/low gain toggle switch.Next, a dedicated guitar input, followed by two sets of stereo line ins per channel (16 each in total), with both quarter-inch line ins and CD-player RCA connectors available here. As far as outputs go you’re all set too, with independent balanced outs available in both XLR and line form, alongside separate line level outs for your DJ booth monitoring.There’s even an S/PDIF digital output that matches the analogue out’s level but allows you to feed the whole mix caboodle to a DAT machine, computer or other digital source, should the desire arise. The remaining connectors concern themselves with connectivity; namely, the two FireWire ports and MIDI In/Out, both of which lead us rather neatly to what happens when you turn this monster on.SimpleOnce you’ve recovered from the Zero8’s power-up light show, it soon becomes apparent how joyous this unit is. At the top of each channel strip, a rotary dial allows you to select the input you’d like to use, with the three phonos, two mics, guitar, line, audio, audio and MIDI and MIDI your available choices.The first half should be relatively self-explanatory. Make your rear-panel connections, use the dial to select the relevant ports and the signal will bomb down the channel. What might be less obvious are the FireWire and MIDI choices. The FireWire ports act as an audio interface - you can connect this to your laptop and receive audio from your laptop as a signal source and/or use the Zero8 as an audio source to record sounds to your computer.A PC audio driver ships on the accompanying CD (plug and play on the Mac), and then you’re off. Integration couldn’t really be any simpler. Once you’ve picked your audio source of choice the signal continues down a familiar route, with three-band EQ available on each channel complete with sweepable mid, a pan dial and three effects send dials. The first two of these allow you to send signals to external processors, while the third provides access to the Zero8’s comprehensive internal effects system, of which more shortly.So what’s the MIDI rotary setting for? Well, set your input source here and all the dials present in the channel strip turn into MIDI controllers, bunging out user-defined MIDI messages. The bundled CD contains Korg’s ZeroEdit software, which lets you configure the dials to the controllers of your choice, so regardless of the instruments you want to control, you should have no problem matching your favourite parameters to any given dial.To top it all, switching from one of the audio sources to MIDI changes the given channel from red LEDs to blue ones, so you can tell at a glan