Winter NAMM 2000 Report
Part Four
BOSS: Boss brought out some incredible new gear, all seemingly aimed toward the performing/touring musician and songwriter. The BR-8 ($845.00) is a very cool 8-track digital recording workstation for guitarists and other musicians looking for a simple, cost-effective alternative to a tape-based personal studio. If a serious fledgling songwriter wanted to make a really wise investment in gear, the BR-8 is it. The BR-8 is very easy to operate, but includes many of the features that have made Roland’s VS workstations such a hit. You get virtual tracks, COSM effects processing, excellent editing functions, etc. You also get Rhythm Guide, Phase Trainer, and a built-in chromatic tuner.
Next up was the JS-5 JamStation ($595.00), which might be even cooler than the BR-8, depending on who you talked to. With the JS-5, guitar and bass players can jam along to high quality accompaniments in many different styles. You can even record up to 32 minutes of your work, just in case you hit that great groove that could turn into something. It’s very useful for practicing, jamming, songwriting, or learning to play in a new style of music. We saw a demo of this and it gave all of us the “gimmes.”
Boss has also added to their line of professional auto-tuners with the TU-70 ($39). It’s the world’s first guitar and bass tuner with a backlit LED display, making it an excellent tool for on stage use.
Finally, there’s the PK-25 Pedal Keyboard for your VK-77 combo organ. We’re serious. You attach the pedal board to your VK-77 via a single cable, and then start tapping away. It sounds great.
APOGEE: They were showing off two high-quality converter cards, the AP8AD ($1495) and the AP8DA ($1195). These are designed to add quality digital conversion to any Yamaha digital system equipped either with full-size YGDAI card slots. They would make a perfect compliment to Yamaha’s AW4416 workstation we talked about earlier.
TASCAM: Lots of cool new stuff at the Tascam booth. We were really excited about the US-428 Digital Audio Workstation Controller ($599), a handy, compact 24-bit interface that lets you operate computer-based recording and mixing programs. The US-428 hooks up to your computer via a single USB connection – there’s no card required. Your computer gets an excellent MIDI interface with mixing and transfer controls. It looks pretty, too, with aerodynamic lines and a cool, icy blue color.
One of Tascam’s strong points is their professional CD recorders/players. They consistently deliver great value and excellent performance. The CD-D4000mkII ($1299) is a simple, basic yet fully professional CD duplicator. What it comes down to is that this machine reads, writes, and duplicates CDs VERY quickly. And the final results are excellent. Also up was the CD-RW7000 CD-RW recorder ($699), which records rewriteable CDs.
If you burn CDs on your computer, you need to check out the CD-R Pro ($749) and the CD-R Deluxe ($629), Tascam’s latest recording software/hardware bundle. Each package contains a SCSI card, various software, and cables, and is designed to be an all-in-one solution for your CD burning needs. Each package includes both Mac and Windows software.
PRESONUS: There were some very cool new things in development from the smart kids at Presonus. The Quad Com ($899.95) was their new, single rack, four-channel professional compressor/limiter. They also had the Quad Gate ($899.95), a single rack four-channel professional frequency gate with zero crossing circuitry.
Then there was the DigiMax ($1,499.95) eight-channel preamp featuring peak limiter, EQ enhancer, and Analog and Digital outputs. They had a new 4-band parametric EQ, the EQ80 ($2,299.95), with eight channels, Narrow Q select and High/Low shelving. Finally, their Blue Tube ($199.95) was a 1/2 rack space stereo tube mic pre. We’ll be giving you more on all these fine units as soon as we get it.
PARKER: They’ve added two new models to their line of innovative instruments. The Parker Hardtail ($2,650) and the Parker Jazz ($3,375) boast Parker’s characteristic lightweight and easy playability, but add a stronger low-end to the overall tone. The Hardtail is a stealth gray color with a basswood body and neck. It also features a Drop-D tuner. The Jazz is a deep, classy red color with gold hardware – gold piezo, gold fret, etc. The pickup is specially voiced to deliver a warm jazz tone. Very nice.
SONORUS: We were excited about the latest development with Sonorus’s award winning STUDI/O sound card. It now supports Cakewalk’s powerful and popular AudioX protocol. With the AudioX STUDI/O, Cakewalk users can control STUDI/O’s mixer and wordclock setting from within the Cakewalk environment. This lets Cakewalk users automate and save all STUDI/O settings within their Cakewalk project, making it a snap to recall any settings at a later time.
KIND OF LOUD TECHNOLOGIES: Pro Tools artists will be excited about the impressive new plug-in from Kind of Loud Technologies. The RealVerb 5.1 ($1495) is a multi-channel reverb for Pro Tools that provides a multitude of creative reverb options. It boasts excellent physical space modeling for surround mixing, and also has the unique ability to morph between room shapes and textures. Users have incredible control over all Real Verb 5.1’s functions and can blend and mold sounds with amazing accuracy and detail, including the ability to create and change perceived distance between the sound source and the listener. It really is an astounding audio tool. A MAS version for MOTU will also be available.