Winter NAMM A New Tech Smorgasbord
TC Electronic's PolyTune tunes all your strings at once
Winter NAMM brought on a flood of new production introductions last week. Check out some of the brand-new products, important upgrades and upcoming releases we’re excited about.
(Also, be sure to check out the new speakers we profiled earlier this week from Blue Sky and our roundups of New Mics and Cool New Music Production/DJ technology.)
TC Electronic’s new PolyTune pedal, a stomp-box sized polyphonic tuner, has been much buzzed about. Strum all the strings on your guitar or bass at once, and the PolyTune will tell you which strings need tuning. Check it out: http://www.tcelectronic.com/polytune.asp
Universal Audio announced the impending release of its Manley Labs Massive Passive EQ plug-ins, in Q1 2010, and the exciting emulations to come via its co-development with Ampex to create “the world’s most accurate and exhaustive magnetic recording tape and tape machine emulations” for the UAD-2 platform.
Another big UA announcement is its newly-inked licensing agreement with the Harman Pro Group. UA will be developing, marketing and selling plug-in emulations of Lexicon, dbx, Studer and AKG for the UAD-2 powered plug-in platform.
AND, UA’s also now working with Dunlop to bring classic guitar and studio effects to the UAD-2 platform. Dunlop is a manufacturer of guitar stompboxes and studio-oriented effects under the Dunlop and MXR brands.
PreSonus announced version 1.1 of its Studio One DAW software, which features a variety of enhancements — you can now draw automation waveforms and lock automation points to selected events, create and modify keyboard shortcuts with the new key-command editor, view your Undo history, and take advantage of dynamic time stretching to change tempos within an event.
The PreSonus Presence virtual instrument has been redesigned, upgraded to 96 voices, and enhanced with effects; the Impact VI now includes Velocity layers, an envelope Hold parameter, and a multimode low-pass, bandpass, or high-pass filter; and the file Browser has gained a MIDI preview player which displays the MIDI fileʼs length in bars and the number of notes in the pattern so that you can quantize MIDI Note ends (Note Off) as well as Note On messages.
An “Upload as Digital Release” option has been added to Studio One Pro’s Project page, allowing users to upload songs, art, and metadata to the SoundCloud Web service. SoundCloud’s also partnered with Abbey Road’s online mastering service, and the PreSonus StudioOne integration contributes to its goal of enabling “a fully integrated digital music ecosystem.” At Winter NAMM, SoundCloud also announced a partnership with Audiofile Engineering’s Wave Editor, and impending integration with Ableton Live.
Waves introduced the new Horizon plug-in bundle (MSRP: $5,750 Native / $9,500 TDM), which includes over 50 of Waves’ plug-ins — all 30+ plug-ins from the Waves Platinum bundle, CLA Classic Compressors, JJP Analog Legends, Vocal Rider, L3-16 Multimaximizer, GTR3, UM225/226 and more. Waves is also now shipping its WavesLive MultiRack Native, a software application designed to run multiple simultaneous instances of Waves plugins along with live analog and digital mixing consoles.
SSL X-Patch
SSL showed off its new X-Patch, a 16×16 “SuperAnalogue” routing matrix that can be Ethernet controlled remotely from your computer to incorporate analog processing into your production studio. X-Patch can function as an ‘X-Y Router’ or as a ‘Matrix’ (based on its Matrix console) to create complex processing chains. You can build analog processing chains and then place them into signal paths — i.e. your preferred mic pre, EQ and dynamics processors — and then recall that as your vocal chain at a single stroke.
For more information, i.e. to find out how X-Patch can be a powerful stage or stuido live performance tool for guitarists, visit: http://www.solid-state-logic.com/music/xlogic%20x-patch. X-Patch will be available Spring 2010 priced at $1,199.
IK Multimedia introduced AmpliTube 3 (MSRP: $349.99/Upgrade: $199.99), which is described as a “massive upgrade” of the guitar and bass tone gear modeling software. With over 160 precisely modeled pieces of vintage and modern gear available in one package, AmpliTube 3 is said to deliver “more gear, more feel, more power, more tone.” Find out more HERE.
Moog brought out its new Taurus 3 Bass Pedals, which recreate the sound of the legendary Taurus I. Moog says it’s building less than 1,000 of these beauties, so visit the Taurus Bass Pedals product page SOON to figure out if you need one!
Oh, and check out the “Critical Listening” video of the Taurus Bass Pedals being demo’d at Echo Mountain Studios in Asheville, NC: http://www.moogmusic.com/taurus/.
SM Pro Audio introduced the new DiDock Live (MSRP: $229.99), an MP3 player docking station, which allows for easy integration of your iPod with professional live sound reinforcement. The new DiDock Live lets users mix external signals with the iPod audio stream and set mix levels for the combined signals independently at the master and headphone outputs.
SM's DiDock Live
Independent master and monitor/headphone mixes can be quickly created using the L/R input balance control, mono summing switch, and separate volume control for the external signal level feeding the headphone output. Completing the picture are L/R transformer-isolated XLR outputs with independently switchable ground lifts, a Left/Center/Right output select switch, a “charger” mode for making sure your iPod is always ready to roll, and a remote control input for operating the iPod.
Also new from SM Pro Audio is the Jackaroo (MSRP: $699.99; February ’10), what the company calls “a combination cable tester, signal generator, splitter, combiner, and gender bender.” It’s the “Just Test Everything” unit.
Packaged in a 2U rackmount format, the Jackaroo has a number of front-panel inputs and outputs, including Neutrik XLR, DMX, 1/4-inch TRS, 1/8-inch TRS, RCA, 5-Pin MIDI, BNC, RJ11, and RJ45. Any input can feed any output, making it a snap to test cables, split signals among multiple devices, separate left / right stereo signals, and connect equipment with dissimilar I/O configurations.