GUTEN TAG, GEAR LUST
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, Markkus Rovito
The difference between Frankfurt Germany's annual Musikmesse convention and the big American equipment shows boils down to some key differences between the two countries overall: at Musikmesse, there's a lot more drinking, smoking and techno. What more could a jetlagged mind what? Oh yeah, lots of cool new gear.
Performance and production hardware dominated the massive showrooms. With the music world still mourning the loss of Bob Moog, Moog Music kept the synth pioneer's legacy stronger than ever by officially unveiling the Tribute Edition of the new Little Phatty ($1,475) analog synth, the last instrument Dr. Moog designed. The 37-note keyboard has a 100 percent analog signal path but with digital control that allows full MIDI implementation and 100 patch memories.
On the digital synth side, Creamware debuted its unfinished Prodyssey ASB tabletop synth, a 12-voice digital emulator of the Arp Odyssey. Its estimated street price is about a thousand euros. Terratec Producer unveiled a very cool-looking keyboard controller called Area 61 ($759). The 61-key unit can host optional DSP soundboards and has a USB 2.0 audio/MIDI interface.
Other hardware highlights included TC Electronics' C300 Dual Engine1U dynamics processor ($249), M350 Dual Engine 1U reverb and multi-effects processor ($249), Konnekt 24D 14x14 FireWire audio interface with DSP effects ($625) and Konnekt 8 FireWire audio interface ($375). Also on the interface front, E-mu announced its very compact 0202 USB 2.0 audio interface ($129) and its 0404 USB 2.0 audio/MIDI interface ($199). And RME introduced the half rack space Fireface 400 FireWire audio interface with support for 192kHz audio and an internal mixer. Its estimated street price is less than 900 euros. SSL surprised the crowd with Duende, a 1U FireWire DSP box that provides a graphic software interface and 32 channels of 96kHz EQ and dynamics from SSL's C-Series digital mixers.
Anyone looking for a classic vintage mic sound at an attainable price should take note of Neumann's new TLM 49 large-diaphragm cardioid studio mic ($1,699), which uses the same capsule from Neumann's M49 and U47 models. Akai stepped up its MIDI pad control line with the MPD 24 USB pad unit-immediately noticeable for its six MIDI assignable faders and eight MIDI assignable knobs in addition to the 16 drum pads. Focusrite's Liquid Mix is a compact FireWire interface with onboard DSP for 32 channels of simultaneous vintage-styled EQ and compression.
No trip to Musikmesse is complete without a mind-bending look at the Sooperbuth, where Europe's finest professors of tweakonomics showcase their mad musical musings. New or recent products at this year's show included Manikin Electronics Memotron ($1,995), a full hardware digital remake of the Mellotron complete with white casing. The Eowave Bug series of wild analog effects boxes includes the Filter Bug ($399), Ring O' Bug ring modulator ($399), Sci-fi Bug sequenced filter ($399) and Space Bug delay ($499). Studio Electronics had more for the pedal freaks. Its three new extreme modulation stomboxes, the ModMax Filter ($429), ModMax Phaser ($429) and Modmax Ringmod ($449)-are purely analog. Schippmann Music showed Ebbe und Flut, its pre-release, 2U filterbank of epic proportions. Not to be outdone, MFB showed its knob-ridden MultiFilter unit, with a tentative price of 480 euros. Finally, the Sequentix P3 Sequencer ($999) is an old school 8-track MIDI sequencer.
New Musikmesse software was all about plug-ins. UltimateSoundBank demonstrated PlugSoundPro, an expandable software instrument workstation with an 8GB sound library. TerraTec Producer Komplexor ($249) combines virtual analog and wavetable synthesis in one VST plug-in. VirSyn Cantor 2 updates the innovative vocal synthesis instrument. For signal processing software, Yellow Tools Freedom virtual effect rack delivers 40 premium effects in one VST/RTAS/Audio Units plug-in, and the Kjaerhus Audio MPL-1 Pro High Precision Mastering Limiter ($118) plug-in works on VST and Audio Units formats.
DJs were definitely in the haus, as well. Numark continued its breakneck pace of new product release with five devices. The iDJ2 allows mixing from an iPod and any USB media device and includes audio scratching and pitch control. The HD Mix is a complete DJ mixing system that sources audio from its built-in 80GB hard drive; the iCDX is a CD/MP3 player with a USB port for connecting storage drives, iPods and MP3 players; and the D2 Director is a 2U rackmount controller mixer that connects to USB storage drives, iPods and MP3 players. Numark's NuVJ, combines exclusive Arkaos VJ software with a hardware controller, and Virtual Vinyl, a vinyl/audio interface system, lets you scratch and mix video as well as audio. Gemini's big release was the CDT-05 hybrid turntable/CD/MP3 player. Pioneer also impressed heads with its new CDJ-1000MK3 ($1,449) CD turntable and the DJM-800 ($1,699) 4-channel mixer with 61 MIDI-assignable controls.
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