The latest This Week in Music Tech covers essential production tips from Objekt, takes a virtual tour around Mathew Jonson’s incredibly hardware-filled studio, and rounds up a few product updates—including Steinberg’s new USB audio interface, the Faderfox DJ44 controller, and the Touch Board, an electrical board that combines with conductive paint to allow users to essentially draw whatever MIDI controller they want.

Berlin-based producer/DJ Objekt (a.k.a. TJ Hertz) offered up a few tips for fellow tunesmiths on XLR8R this week, laying out some sound advice on monitor levels, room treatments, and more steps to help get one’s tracks to, well, sound good. The Hessle Audio veteran and Native Instuments developer/programmer’s five gems of wisdom can be read here.

This week, controller developer Faderfox unveiled the DJ44 MIDI controller, a comprehensive, DJ-minded unit which is designed with its own case, allowing for extreme portability to match with Faderfox’s reputation for high-quality design. More information and pricing for the DJ44 USB controller can be found here.

Steinberg‘s new USB audio interface, the UR44, was introduced this week. The six-input, four-output interface features high-quality audio converters capable of 24-bit, 192-kHz audio, four Class-A mic preamps, MIDI in/out, iPad connectivity, and more. Steinberg’s UR44 will be available to purchase very soon; in the meantime, full details on the new units can be found here.

The Kickstarter campaign for Bare Conductive‘s Touch Board has raised almost five times the amount it had originally aimed to, most likely due to the fact that what it presents is just a damn cool—almost magical—idea. Combining the company’s conductive paint (which allows for electrical paths to simply be drawn) with the Touch Board, users can essentially draw the circuits they want to create, and in particular, the points at which the human touch interacts with these circuits. The best part about the Touch Board, though, is that it is possible to use with MIDI, potentially giving owners of the unit (and a good deal of conductive paint) the ability to draw their own MIDI controllers. To check out more details and potentially donate to the campaign, those interested should head here.

And lastly, Attack Magazine had a chance to peak around the synth-covered studio of dance music veteran Mathew Jonson (whose Her Blurry Pictures LP recently dropped via Crosstown Rebels). Clearly a connoisseur of hardware, Jonson’s studio is full to the brim with drum machines, synths, racks of FX, and the like—but not a computer in sight. Jonson’s sonic laboratory is certainly a sight to behold, and one that can be taken in over on Attack Magazine’s site, here.