Winter NAMM 2001 Report
Part 5
Having said goodbye to sunny California, your intrepid guest reporter is once again in the land of snow and ice. This NAMM show was the largest ever, however, and there is still a lot of new gear to report on, so let’s get right to it.
Mark of the Unicorn gave us a sneak peek at a new Firewire audio interface, the 828. With 8 channels of analog I/O, including 2 inputs with mic pre’s, plus 8 channels of ADAT lightpipe, stereo S/PDIF and an ADAT sync port, this will be a full-featured, professional interface. There are trims and meters for each input, and the monitor section has separate controls for master and studio levels. A number of companies are working on Firewire interfaces, but the 828 is the first one we have seen working, and it sounded great. This could be the solution for all those owners of laptops, iMacs and G4 Cubes, who have been frustrated at the difficulties of getting multiple channels of high quality digital I/O for their machines.
As promised, there’s still more Roland gear to talk about. Roland’s V-Drums have changed the way many drummers thought about electronic kits, but there has always been a complaint about the feel of the cymbal pads. Now with the CY-14C 14″ crash cymbal, the CY-15R 15″ ride cymbal with 3 way triggering (edge, bow and bell) and the CY-12H 12″ dual trigger hi-hat cymbal, Roland has answered the critics. These new triggers accurately mimic the movements, inertia and feel of acoustic cymbals, while maintaining the low volume of the rest of the electronic kit. They will be available both as upgrades for existing electronic drum kits and as part of Roland’s new Session Set, which will be similar to the V-Pro Set, but with the addition of 2 crashes, 1 ride and 1 hi-hat trigger. In addition, the set will have a TD10 module expanded with the TDW1 board and a KD120 mesh head kick pad, all mounted on a snazzy new red stand system. This deluxe package is sure to please even the pickiest acoustic drummer.
Presonus was showing off a new combination EQ and dynamics processor, called the DEQ624. This 2 rack space unit looks like a traditional stereo 31-band graphic EQ married with a complete dynamics section with compressor/limiter and gate, but is actually a completely digital piece. With high quality 24-bit A/D and D/A converters, this great-sounding EQ will be familiar to use, but also boasts features like the ability to lock out the front panel controls when the device must be left unattended, and an adaptive 60 cycle hum canceling circuit that removes hum while leaving low end information intact (and it really works well!). This EQ looks as though it can compete with the real high end units, but comes in at a price that was a real shocker to those of us who checked out the unit – list price is just $595.
At the Yamaha booth, attendees were treated to some sounds from a new, affordable synth, the S03. This 64-voice polyphonic, 16 part multi-timbral instrument has over 25 MB of ROM taken from the S series, organized into over 700 patches. With full GM/XG compatibility, and shipping with XG Works Light software, at a list price of just $629, these keyboards will make a great addition to many a musician’s rig.
The market is getting pretty crowded with good, low cost condenser mics these days, but Rode, one of the companies that started that revolution, has introduced a pair of new mics that up the ante a bit more in that arena. The NT1000 has a true large (1″ diameter) diaphragm capsule and new transformerless electronics, giving it excellent sound and dynamic range. The NTK sports a similar capsule with tube electronics. These exceptionally well-built mics come with a very modest price tag as well – the NT1000 lists for just $395 and the NTK will be just $595.
Antares has announced an update to their ground-breaking Autotune plug in. Dubbed Autotune 3, the new software delivers even faster and more accurate pitch detection due to algorithms optimized for specific inputs, including Soprano Voice, Alto/Tenor Voice, Baritone/Bass voice, Instrument and Bass Instrument. In addition, Autotune 3 will include phase coherent pitch correction for stereo tracks, a Bass Mode that lowers the lowest detectable frequency by about one octave, the ability to detect target pitches in real time from a MIDI keyboard or sequencer, compatibility with higher sample rates (88.2 and 96kHz), and enhanced efficiency on Pro Tools Mix systems. There is also a new “Make Scale From MIDI” function, where an unknown or unconventional scale may be set up simply by playing a line from a MIDI keyboard or sequencer. With all these enhancements, it is likely that every current owner of the plug-in will want to upgrade.
True Audio, distributed by Neumann, was showing off 2 new stereo mic pres. These serious audiophile pre’s feature a true 24 volt, discrete front end, M/S stereo decoding, a stereo phase correlation display (perfect for positioning stereo pairs of mics), front panel discrete direct inputs and more. The P2analog has standard analog outputs, while the P2digital has A/D converters which can do 16, 20 or 24 -bit word lengths, and sample rates of up to 96kHz, with outputs on both AES/EBU and ADAT optical (with multichannel digital routing options). These state-of-the-art preamps will be of interest to many discriminating engineers.
Audio Ease has a new plug in for the MAS platform and Digital Performer. Called the Altiverb, this super reverb takes full advantage of the Altivec Velocity Engine in the Apple G4s, but what’s even more exciting is the sampling technology at its core. Not unlike some hardware reverbs costing in the multiple thousands of dollars, the Altiverb’s algorithms are derived from the impulse responses of actual acoustic spaces. Unlike those boxes, with this plug-in you can actually create your own reverbs by sending an impulse (starter’s pistol, or swept sine wave) into an actual space, recording it, and processing with the software to derive the new reverb. There is also a place in the interface to attach a JPEG picture of the space. Best of all, you can buy the Altiverb and a G4 for thousands less than the cost of the hardware sampling based reverbs.
That does it for today’s inSync report on the Winter NAMM show. More new gear reports will follow tomorrow, but for now, this is David Klausner, back in the MidWest (brrrrr!), signing off.