SO many machines, so little time. And they're coming out so fast that even before you've sweated over the complexities of a new space-age toy and finally figured out how to make optimal use of it, you learn to your dismay that it's become as obsolete as your PC's main processing chip.

Roland's CDX-1 DiscLab, a multitrack CD audio workstation which first hit the market two years ago, is about as dated as any self-contained music production boxes manufactured during that time. But because of its flexible styling -- it's being touted as "part digital multitrack recorder, part phrase sampler, part CD burner" -- the CD-RW-based DiscLab seems to have a longer shelf-life than the average digital gizmo.

In any case, if you're looking for a ready-to-roll tabletop workstation that will let you lay down basic tracks without much head-scratching, this is the baby you should get your hands on.

Disco driver or rockin' station?

Designed to please those who fancy flashy decks, the CDX-1 DiscLab has a perspex outer shell and a silver control panel that boasts chunky-sized buttons.

There's a slide-out CD drawer on the right of the machine with LEDs for CD-RW, CD-R, Audio CD and Busy above the drive.

The back panel includes MIDI In and Out/Thru, S/PDIF ins and outs (both coaxial and optical), stereo line-out and line-in on phono jacks, a guitar input jack, and a pair of mic inputs on both jacks and XLRs (without phantom power).

The eight-track multitrack recorder lets you put down two tracks at once onto a preformatted CD-RW. There're eight faders with individual track status buttons but panning can only be done virtually.

Then there's the array of standard recording/editing controls, including a data wheel and scrub punch-in/out buttons.

The backlit LCD screen at the top of the panel is rather tiny, but it does manage to squeeze in such vital information as parameter access and time location.

On the top right of the machine is the bounce/mixdown/mastering section that also includes some cool editing tools.

In the middle of the unit is the phrase-sampling section which features eight pads and buttons for Clipboard and Hold functions. Up to 64 banks of pads can be stored at a time, and there're separate controls to set the overall level of sample playback.

You can have up to five minutes of high-quality sampling on the machine as it is, and have the option of upgrading to a 128MB DIMM chip for 43 minutes of sampling.

There's also a Rhythm Guide section -- a drum machine of sorts -- that offers various techno-style patterns. You can edit the patterns via tempo map though it can be a rather tedious operation if you're one of those who beat freaks who have to have a fill or a roll at the end of every bar.

Finally, there're four banks of Roland's highly-regarded COSM effects -- guitar multi-effects, groove effects, studio effects and mastering tool kit.

Let's get tracking!

You can dive into the CDX-1 DiscLab even without reading the manual, though it's important to feed the machine a fresh CD-RW before you take it for a spin.

And since this machine is principally designed for dance-music producers, it's set up to prove its groove force right from the word go.

Setting the machine for sampling and recording is a no-brainer, though things get trickier (the manual does a great job of explaining the operations step by step) and more limiting once you start combining sampled/sequenced tracks with what you're currently recording.

And as soon you move on to bouncing and bunching up phrase samples, you'll find out that the denser your mixes are, the less polyphonic the sampling section becomes.

As far as creating your own samples goes, it's a fairly simple job of recording your favourite sounds or lifting some from a CD of .WAV files. Sample-manipulation -- truncating, looping, normalising etc -- is also pretty headache-free.

The reliance on CD-RW for storage does mean the machine is slower than hard-disk recorders for most functions. But once you get used to the delay time during editing, storing and writing operations, you'll begin to realise that having all your finished stuff saved straight to affordable CD-RW media can be pretty neat.

Even neater is the bonus CD Creation function that lets you record audio from sources like record players or cassette machines directly to CD-R.

The COSM effects, which include some terrific amp-modelling flavours for guitar players, are great for adding a touch of class to your recordings. Although the mastering effects, including multi-band compression, are not extensively tweakable, they do let give your recordings some pro-style polish.

Then, once you're satisfied with what you hear in the mastering section, you can burn it to CD-R in track-at-once mode and dazzle your friends or torture your neighbours with your self-created compositions.

The final call

With its top-notch sound, user-friendly layout and multi-function capabilities, the CDX-1 DiscLab definitely merits recommendation as a studio-in-a-box DJs who create their own remixes and dance-oriented home-recording enthusiasts should check out.

And if you're a dance-music buff with a yen for high-octane guitar, you'd waste no time digging into the way-cool menu of COSM offerings.

Ambitious multitrack maniacs might find the machine wanting in certain respects ('What, only eight tracks?', 'No way to keep my toons stored on the machine all the time?', 'Hey, where's the phantom power for my condenser?'...).

But if you're looking for a take-anywhere machine for basic song sketches or exploring techno music, the CDX-1 DiscLab has plenty going for it.

PROS: Great all-in-one unit for on-the-go sonic dabblers; highly useful selection of Roland's much-lauded COSM effects including amp-modelling and multi-band compression.

CONS: CD-RW-based recording and storage can be a bit tedious; no phantom power; some frustating limitations when combining samples and audio tracks; not as competitively priced as the new generation of hard disk multitrackers.