New Products, July 2008
Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Asher Fulero
ANTARES AVOX 2 VOCAL TOOLKIT
VOCAL-THEMED PLUG-IN COLLECTION
Doubling the plug-in count from five to 10 while maintaining the same price point, the Antares AVOX 2 Vocal Toolkit ($599; www.antarestech.com) offers a full suite of dedicated vocal-processing modules for dialing in a supremely professional vocal sound or discovering a radical new one. New plugs include the powerful Harmony Engine Vocal Modeling Harmony Generator (reviewed in the October 2007 issue of Remix and available separately for $349) for creating extremely realistic real-time harmony parts. The Mutator Extreme Voice Designer uses pitch shifting, throat modeling, pitch-tracking ring modulation and general “alienizing” of your vocal sound. The Articulator is a vocal-optimized vocoder/talkbox, and the Warm Tube Saturation Generator brings the power of the Antares Tube plug-in to bear on vocal tone. Lastly, the very intriguing Aspire Aspiration Noise Processor allows producers to modify the breathiness of a vocal track by emulating air passing over the vocal chords. The five original AVOX plugs (Throat, Duo, Choir, Punch and Sybil) are just as powerful, and together the 10 plugs are included in RTAS, VST and Audio Units versions. Just add a microphone and singer for access to just about any vocal sound you can imagine.
EKS OTUS
DUAL-DECK DJ MIDI CONTROLLER & INTERFACE
As sexy as gear can be, the EKS Otus ($TBA; www.eks.fi) controller provides sleek USB MIDI control that the Finnish company claims is “future-proof.” In addition to the 7.5-inch DJ-style jog wheel, there is an x-y “capacitive” touch pad that can go from Korg Kaoss-style control of multiple effects to mouse control for your computer at the push of a button, great for making things happen on your computer while keeping your hands on the controller. There are two “near-field” motion sensors for controlling effects, a touch-sensitive slider and a whole host of knobs and buttons, all of which are assignable using MIDI learn. The four corners have small, pointed “cloves” as feet, which can fit directly on top of regular turntables while minimizing vibrations for an accurate performance. What's even more impressive is that the entire front panel can switch between two MIDI setups at the push of a button, with all the LED and backlighting changing color to indicate quickly which panel is active — extremely flexible for a dark stage. The included USB 2.0 audio interface offers dual stereo RCA outputs, as well as two S/PDIF digital outs and a ¼-inch headphone jack.
HEAVYOCITY EVOLVE VOL. 1
SOUNDTRACK-ORIENTED VIRTUAL INSTRUMENT
Created by and for TV/video game/film audio producers, Evolve ($399; www.heavyocity.com) from Heavyocity is a cross-platform VST/RTAS/AU/DXI/stand-alone virtual instrument that aims to streamline soundtrack creation by using 6 GB worth of samples and beat-sliced loops to create 250+ Tonal Instruments and 100+ Percussion Instruments that are ready to deliver the goods. All designed with a clear bent to the dramatic, the system is powered by the included NI Kontakt 2 host for tweaking sounds and is divided into Rhythmic Suites, Percussives, Strings/Transitions and Tonality/FX. Each instrument patch has a mass of sweeping, odd noises; rhythmic loops and both realistic and other-worldly sounds to lay out across a MIDI keyboard, making it easy to play complex dramatic transitions, cues, ambient effects and other “frosting” elements that can often slow down an audio production late in the game. When the clock is ticking and you need great sounds that are ready to go, Evolve could be your lifesaver.
KRK ROKIT G2
STUDIO MONITORS
Updated and improved in a number of ways, the Rokit Generation 2 ($299 for the RP5G2, $399 for the RP6G2, $499 for the RP8G2, each speaker; www.krksys.com) studio monitors incorporate many of the advances found in KRK's recent VXT series. With sleek curves throughout, the new Rokits are even more accurate than before, thanks to carefully engineered surface angles that nearly eliminate sound diffraction and distortion from internal reflections. Front-firing bass ports minimize rear-wall coupling and port turbulence, and a special high-frequency Waveguide design helps improve stereo imaging to a wider sweet spot. Inputs are offered for ¼-inch, XLR and even RCA, and an HF control allows for a few roll-off options. Careful speaker voicing and balancing of the biamped system and active crossovers further refine the accuracy. With a peak SPL of 107 dB, these new versions of a classic rock it even harder than the originals.
NUMARK NS7
DUAL-PLATTER DJ MIDI CONTROLLER
Hopefully the first of many DJ devices to appear from the friendly collaboration between Numark and Serato, the NS7 ($1,099; www.numark.com) is a dual-platter motorized USB 2.0 controller designed to lock with the included Serato Itch DJ software, though it can also be used with whatever DJ software you choose. Operating at more than double the regular MIDI data rate for extremely high-resolution tracking and nearly zero latency, the NS7 sports two high-torque 7-inch platters with real vinyl surfaces. Also a 2-in/4-out audio interface, the NS7 supplies ¼-inch balanced microphone and stereo RCA inputs; outputs are offered on balanced XLR or unbalanced RCA. There is a separate booth output, as well as ¼-inch and ⅛-inch headphone jacks. The highly adjustable CP-Pro crossfader is combined with extensive looping, cue point and track selection controls. In addition to all the usual DJ controller trappings, each of the mirrored sides has a cool assignable controller section with four knobs, four buttons and a small horizontal slider, so anyone can quickly customize the NS7 to their own performing style.
FOCAL CMS SERIES
STUDIO MONITORS
Selling the CMS 65 ($995 each; www.focalprofessional.com) and CMS 50 ($695 each) active near-field monitors at by far the lowest price point of any of their product line, Focal included the very same proprietary driver technology as in its significantly more expensive models. Both new designs feature a low driver cone made of hollow glass micro-balls combined with cellulose pulp, creating an excellent rigidity-to-mass ratio. Focal's aluminum/magnesium inverted-dome tweeter extends as high as 28 kHz with extreme precision. Both units also feature high-end class AB amplifiers and are biamplified for matched precision (165W for the CMS 65 and 130W for the CMS 50). Extra enhancements include a Desktop Notch correction filter for balancing out the first reflections when the speakers are above a monitor board, rubber decoupling stands, spikes for tilting the speakers and helpful high- and low-shelving options.
THE BEAMZ
LASER-TRIGGER MUSICAL DEVICE
Like a mall-inspired version of a Theremin, the new Beamz Instrument ($599; www.thebeamz.com) uses six red laser beams as virtual strings; simply wave your hand through the beam to break its signal and send a trigger. Using a USB connection, the Beamz instrument communicates these motions to the proprietary software running on your host computer (Windows XP SP2 and Vista only; Mac users can run it using Windows emulation software such as Parallels). The software includes several packs of samples pre-organized to go together, and via the Website users can purchase many more for $1.99 each. Only for sale at The Sharper Image, this cool new idea is just waiting to be bastardized for use by creative modern musicians; get yours before Björk buys them all up.
SENNHEISER MKH 800 TWIN
MULTIPATTERN MICROPHONE
Sennheiser offers a really great idea that hasn't been seen before with its new MKH 800 Twin ($3,356; www.sennheiser.com) microphone. In order to create its polarity options, a multipattern microphone uses two back-to-back transducers, either adding or subtracting one from the other. The MKH 800 Twin does that just like its predecessor, the original MKH 800, but ups the ante by offering both transducers on separate outputs from the microphone. Now it's easy to change pickup patterns after the recording is complete. Sound amazing? Definitely. By capturing both channels to separate tracks, you can create any polar pattern you like, from omnidirectional to figure-8 and everywhere in between — perfect for finding just the right choice for your mix. Sennheiser's high-quality components, low self-noise, extremely sensitive transducers and extended frequency response (as high as 50 kHz) are all present in this flexible microphone that could save you from losing a great take because of one wrong switch setting.
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