Welcome inSync readers to today’s installment of our report of the 113th AES Convention. Your inSync team traversed the friendly skies to attend this years convention, and what a convention it has been. To bring you up to the minute reporting of the newest, coolest gear we are making this report available to our readers daily. Sit back, relax and enjoy a the 113th AES Convention from the convenience of your browser.
• ARTcessories
If ARTcessories from ART is any indication, sometimes great things do come in small packages! ARTcessories is a line of small, affordable studio and live application “goodies” that include mini-mixers, DIs, tools and preamps. There are 18 products in the ARTcessories line, any of which essentially fit in one hand and range in prices from $45 to $119. Again, small mini-mixers, phantom I/Os, headphone distribution, spliters, cable testers and more fill out the ARTcessories series with extremely handy boxes that any performer and engineer should have.
• Lunatec V3
The Lunatec V3 by Grace Design is a portable, 2-channel microphone preamplifier and high-definition A/D converter designed for audio professionals in the concert recording, music recording and location sound markets. Based on the industry standard Lunatec V2, the V3 represents significant enhancements that enable customers to directly output digital audio signals to high bit depth and high sample rate recording systems. The V3 includes the identical microphone preamplifiers and feature set of the Lunatec V2 and adds ultra-low distortion, stereo, 24-bit A/D conversion. Outputs include S/PDIF (RCA) and two sets of AES3 (XLR) and sample rates of 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4 and 192 kHz are supported. The Lunatec V3 is also equipped with Grace’s new analog noise shaping dither circuit, or ANSR, which can be applied for word-length reduction when sending signals to a 16-bit digital recorder.
• Vintage Electric Piano ROM
Kurzweil debuted the Vintage Electric Piano ROM expansion for the K2600 series here at AES. Instruments include Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer Electric Piano, Hohner Pianet, Yamaha CP-80 Electric Grand and the RMI Electra Piano. Each program in this set was created using high-quality audio samples of the original pianos and then brought to life using Kurzweil’s renowned V.A.S.T. synthesis engine and the sound shaping tools within Kurzweil’s powerful KDFX effects engine. Classic effect pedals, speaker cabinets and recording techniques have all been faithfully replicated. The Vintage Electric Piano ROM is user installable and will be available in November.
• Rumour and Mangler
Kurzweil also showed two new products in its line of professional effects processors. Based on the world-class effects found in the KSP8, the Rumour and the Manler offer easy-to-use, high quality effects for any environment at an affordable price. The Rumour features a comprehensive set of Kurzweil’s finest reverbs and reverb variations including gated, reverse and reverb/compression combinations and a whole lot more. The Mangler focuses on effects such as ring mod, distortion, delay, filters, rotary speaker and others. Both units are single rack space and feature 192 presets, balanced stereo analog I/O and S/PDIF digital I/O.
• 24 I/O
While Mark of the Unicorn did not show in a booth, they did have a presence at AES this year. MOTU announced two new hardware products via the AES Daily news publication available to all attendees. First up – the 24 I/O. If you remember the previously discontinued MOTU 24i, then you’ve already got the concept behind the 24 I/O – though it includes some cool new twists. Tailored for high-definition recording and offering lots of analog inputs, the 24 I/O features an amazing 24 inputs AND outputs on 1/4″ TRS connectors. This allows you to plug in your rack of keyboards, modules, effect processors, and outboard mic preamps and then transfer up to 24 tracks at a time at 96kHz with one 24 I/O in or out of your computer. The 24 I/O is another member of the new PCI-424 family of products from MOTU. The PCI-424 is a PCI card that you install in your computer that allows for four (4) interfaces such as the 24 I/O, or the new 2408 mk3 (or any MOTU PCI interface) for up to 96 possible inputs and outputs at one time. The 24 I/O will be available with or without the PCI-424. The PCI-424 allows for a great deal of expansion and the entire family is compatible with Mac and Windows based software programs.
• HD192
Mark of the Unicorn also announced the HD192, another new member to the PCI-424 family of high definition audio interfaces for the Mac or PC. The HD192 features a staggering twelve (12) microphone inputs and twelve (12) outputs on XLR connections, AES/EBU and Word clock. As part of the PCI-424 system, the HD192 can be combined with three additional HD192s for a total of 48 tracks of 192kHZ recording, or any combination of the new 24 I/O, 2408 mk3 or any PCI MOTU interface. The PCI-424 offers expansion up to four (4) MOTU PCI interfaces all of which – including the HD192 – are PC and Mac compatible.