in the know
Aug 1, 2001 12:00 PM
VRM-10 DJ MIXER
Stanton's VRM-10 ($2,295) is the world's first tube-preamp DJ mixer. Sporting eight line and four phono inputs for a total of four fader-equipped input channels, the VRM-10 also features 16 onboard DSP effects, including two hall, three room, and two plate reverbs, a spring reverb simulator, four stereo delays, and four chorus/flanger effects. You can assign each effect to any of the four channels or to the master output. The mixer also offers two trigger button activated 24 dB/octave analog filters with bandpass and notch settings. Each of the four channels features a gain control and a 3-band EQ. A booth output and two headphone outs (¼ inch and inch) can be used for prefader or postfader monitoring. Other features include an S/PDIF digital output and two microphone inputs with individual gain controls and shared 3-band EQ.
Stanton; tel. (954) 929-8999; Web www.stantonmagnetics.com
Motif SYNTHESIZER WORKSTATION
Yamaha's Motif keyboard contains a synthesizer, a sequencer, a MIDI interface, a sampler, and a digital-audio workstation that can be expanded modularly. It comes in three sizes: the 61-key Motif 6 ($2,250), the 76-key Motif 7 ($2,750), and the 88-key Motif 8 ($3,250). All three models ship with 85 MB of ROM sound memory. They can also sample 4 MB of 44.1 kHz stereo audio (expandable to 64 MB) through analog or digital ins (digital inputs require an add-on board, which is available separately) and import Akai and WAV samples. You can store sound, sequence, and patch data to a SCSI hard drive, a Zip drive, or a SmartMedia card. The onboard sequencer holds as many as 200,000 MIDI notes and can drive audio loops to sync with the desired tempo. Optional features include analog and physical modeling and FM synthesis. The Motif's control surface contains 4 assignable sliders and 4 real-time control knobs, which can control 16 virtual sliders and 16 virtual knobs.
Yamaha; tel. (714) 522-9011; Web www.yamaha.com
SA-600/SV-2200/SA-2400 TURNTABLES
Gemini has released three new height-adjustable straight-arm turntables: the SA-600 ($369.95), the SV-2200 ($569.95), and the SA-2400 ($579.95). Each unit features a high-gloss black finish and an angled headshell specifically designed to work with conical and elliptical styli. All three decks offer ±10 percent pitch control, pitch bend, a target light, antiskate adjustment, a strobe illuminator, and a soft-touch start/stop button (the SV-2200 and SA-2400 have two start/stop buttons). The SA-600 is a direct-drive manual turntable, while the SV-2200 and SA-2400 are high-torque direct-drive decks with 3-speed drives (33, 45, and 78 rpm) and locking platter-reverse buttons. The SV-2200 is laid out in vertical “battle position” for turntablists and scratch DJs. All three decks are available with or without a cartridge.
Gemini; tel. (732) 969-9000; Web www.geminidj.com
RC-20 Loop Station PHRASE SAMPLING PEDAL
The RC-20 Loop Station ($399) is one of three new Boss twin-series pedals. The Loop Station is a compact, on-the-fly phrase recorder/sampler pedal that can sample as much as 5 minutes and 30 seconds of audio across ten separate looped phrases and one one-shot phrase. All samples or loops can be recalled after the power is turned off. You can overdub sounds or additional loops over stored loops with the aid of Guide Click and Loop Quantize functions and change the stored loops' tempo independent of pitch with Tap Tempo. The Auto Start recording feature samples incoming audio automatically, and a Reverse function instantly plays samples backwards.
Boss; tel. (323) 890-3700; Web www.rolandus.com
Live 1.0 LIVE PERFORMANCE SOFTWARE
Ableton's Live 1.0 ($350) lets you use your Mac or PC to perform, record, arrange, and process audio sequences and samples live in real time. Live 1.0's “time warp” engine uses “warp markers” to enable independent real-time pitch and tempo adjustment with your choice of loops, phrases, and even entire songs. Live 1.0 acts as either master or slave in any MIDI Clock or MIDI Time Code situation. The software supports VST plug-ins and ReWire II, so it can incorporate a variety of effects plug-ins or integrate with a software sequencer. The fully customizable graphical display lets you preview clips in Live's browser, and you can audition the clips through headphones before dropping them into the mix. Each of Live's tracks can be routed individually to separate outputs on an ASIO sound card. The software can make a nondestructive MIDI recording of your entire performance, including effect tweaks and sequence changes.
Ableton; tel. 49-39-288-7630; Web www.ableton.com
Acid Pro 3.0 and Sound Forge 5.0 WINDOWS MUSIC SOFTWARE
Sonic Foundry has released upgrades to Acid Pro and Sound Forge, both of which feature a sleek new interface, additional audio and video format support, and added audio effects plug-ins. Acid Pro 3.0 ($499.99) now supports MIDI playback and recording and CD ripping (and burning). It also includes two remix-minded features, Beatmapper and Chopper. The Beatmapper remixing tool deciphers tempo information from song-length audio files so they can be more easily worked with in Acid Pro. Chopper is a loop-manipulation tool that minces loops into smaller sections for reinsertion into the original audio. Sound Forge 5.0 ($499.95) has bumped its sample support to 24-bit, 192 kHz audio. The software ships with 18 DirectX audio plug-ins, including Wave Hammer mastering compression tools, the Acoustic Mirror room simulator/mic modeler, an enhanced plug-in chainer, and several repair tools for removing clicks and restoring damaged audio. Both Acid Pro 3.0 and Sound Forge 5.0 run on Windows 98SE, ME, and 2000.
Sonic Foundry; tel. (800) 577-6642; Web www.sonicfoundry.com
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