We don’t stop until NAMM does! The NAMM Report rolls on, with more expert coverage from your dedicated NAMM Report Crew.
Part 4 of the NAMM Report kicks off with a visit to Samson, who were showing off their new C-Class Series of outboard gear. Featuring pro five processing components, the C-Class Series combines the ease and performance of digital gear with the feel and familiarity of analog equipment, all for a pretty decent price. The first in the series is the CoValve Tube, a Mic/Instrument Pre-Amp that delivers variable gain and tube process saturation for adding harmonics. It will maintain transparency no matter what mic you’re using. The CoValve also includes 48-volt phantom power, phase reverse and peak limiter; an analog VU output meter and 6-segment LED input meter.
Next is the C-Com 16 Stereo Compressor/Limiter, providing usable, dynamic control over 16 presets including variable threshold, ratio, attack, decay, release and output level.
Then there’s the C-Com Opti Optical Compressor, a fully adjustable compressor with threshold, ratio, attack, release and output controls, plus a photocell element, giving that much sought after magical feel only an optical compressor can.
The C-Control Control Room Matrix Selector is an excellent solution for studios with multiple monitors, headphone mixes and tape or digital sources by providing easy, instant monitor mixes or dubs. Designed with the DAW user in mind, the C-Control bridges the gap between software and hardware mixers, bringing the most sought after functions of a console’s master section your virtual mixer.
Finally, the CoQue 8 Four-Channel Headphone Amplifier gives you clean, rich sound with independent volume control for each of the 8 headphone outputs.
The digital audio wizards at the Steinberg gave us a look at the new Audiolink 96, a very cool I/O solution for ASIO compatible Audio Production Systems such as Cubase VST, Wavelab and Nuendo. With Audiolink you can integrate multiple computers (Mac and/or PC) so you don’t have to run your entire studio off one machine. You can run your soft synths on a separate computer from your audio plug-ins, which could be on a separate machine from your recorder, and it’s all integrated on a common digital bus.
We’ve heard a little talk recently about the decline of the dedicated sampling machine, but those days seemed far, far away after a glimpse at what AKAI had going on. Their MPC4000 sampling workstation takes their line of world-class MPC samplers to a whole new level. It’s the first MPC sampler whose sampling engine with a sampling engine that’s more than just a percussion sampler. In fact, the Z-96 is a full-fledged, professional sampler, offering sampling frequencies up to 96kHz at 24-bit. The onboard RAM is expandable to 512MB, and there’s an onboard 4-channel effects processor boasting a 56-bit internal architecture. Q-Link knobs give you realtime control of parameters, and an onboard USB port accommodates a large array of options, from a CD-R or hard drive to a keyboard for naming samples and files.
We also checked out their PD16 Pad Control Surface. Basically, with the PD16 you can map MIDI data to any 16 pressure and velocity sensitive pads. Among other things, this means that you won’t need to pound out drum sequences on your keyboard; you can pound them out on MPC-quality pads, just like nature intended. DJs and dance music artists will especially love it.
Over at the Tascam booth they were showing the CD-D1x4, a blazing fast professional CD burner that’s very simple and easy to use. You can create CD copies of an original audio or data CD at up to 16x duplication speeds. That means you can replicate an hour long CD in under 4 minutes! The CD-D1.4 is housed in a 4U 19-inch rackmount enclosure and features industrial grade TEAC CD-ROM and CD-RW mechanisms and a CD-ROM drive (master) coupled with four CD-RW drives (slave). Key features include multiple write speeds, disc analyze and disc verification. Two CD-D1.4 duplicators can be linked together via the unit’s rear panel cascade port allowing for up to a total of eight CDs to be copied in a single pass.
Also on display was Tascam’s entry into the arena of the mini “pocket studio,” the, errr, PocketStudio 5. This affordable and powerful multitrack digital recorder uses Compact Flash cards for media. It features four audio tracks that can be used for vocals, guitars and other instruments, plus an internal MIDI synthesizer module that can be used to play back sequences along with its audio tracks. It also has 100 internal effects and a built-in USB port for easy interface with your computer.
Another new arena for Tascam (sort of) was their series of X Series DJ Mixers. The X Series includes 5 different models – the X-15, X-17 for pro mobile DJs, and the XS-3, XS-4 and XS-8 for scratch DJs. The X-15 and X-17 are both rackmount pieces featuring 4-channel DJ mixers with discrete three-band EQ available on each channel, and inputs for main and auxiliary microphones with fader start capabilities. The X-17 adds an onboard three-bank sampler with a Compact Flash card input slot that can be used to store and play back samples. The X-17 also offers front-panel aux input and output jacks with individual level controls as well as crossfader reverse controls.
The XS-3, XS-4 and XS-8 are 2-channel mixers designed to offer affordable mixing solutions for performance-oriented scratch DJs. The XS-3 offers three-band EQ, a host of inputs and outputs including line and phono inputs on each channel, balanced and unbalanced master outputs, a recording output, an effects input, a mic input, and more. The XS-4 offers all the features and ergonomic design desired for serious scratch DJing, with an uncluttered, logical control surface and more sophisticated audio interfacing than the XS-3. The XS-8 is Tascam’s top-of-the-line DJ mixer with a fully adjustable crossfader and channel fader curves, crossfader and channel fader reverse controls, a 3-band EQ, interfacing for external effects sends and returns, discrete level controls for stereo outputs, dedicated EQ controls for the mic input and more.
But there’s even more great news from Tascam! A lot of musicians and recordists out there have been waiting for a lower-priced version of Tascam’s US-428 digital audio workstation controller, and we’re happy to report that it’s now a reality. The US-224 Digital Audio Workstation Controller is indeed a trimmed-down, simplified version of the previous model, offering many of the essential features that made the US-428 a hit: the ability to interface with both Windows and Mac-based platforms via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port; and compatibility with applications that accept standard MIDI controller messages. Plus no additional interface card is required for installation. The US-224 gives you control over any number of software faders via four hardware faders selectable in banks with buttons located beneath the US-224’s jog wheel. The control surface also supports transport and control functions for sequencers and DAWs. As far as I/O, the US-224 can support two inputs and two outputs of 16- or 24-bit audio simultaneously at 44.1 or 48 kHz, and is equipped with two balanced XLR and two unbalanced line/mic/hi-Z inputs, as well as S/PDIF digital input/output.
“Ahhh, you young guitarists with yer amp modeling and yer newfangled digital this-and-that. Back in my day, when we wanted the sound of a Fender amp, we had to BUY a Fender amp…”. Leave it to Vox to remind us that sometimes, there’s a lot to be said for returning to the original source of these sounds that have become so sought after by guitar players. Case in point: their re-issue of the classic Clyde McCoy Wah Pedal. This is a bulls-eye accurate recreation of the full, throaty Wah sound beloved by the British invasion guitarists of the 60s. Vox made a few updates to ensure more consistent performance, but besides that, the Clyde McCoy Wah pedal is practically the real deal – but will cost you far less than the real deal would these days, if you could find one.
That concludes Part Four. The NAMM Report will return tomorrow with Part Five.