Kenton announces availability of SYNC-5 Active DIN Sync Splitter box
Tue, 20 Nov 2012
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SYNC-5 
LONDON, UK: MIDI utilities specialist Kenton is proud to announce availability of its new SYNC-5 Active DIN Sync Splitter as of November 8...
 
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As implied by name, the SYNC-5 Active DIN Sync Splitter has one DIN Sync input and five DIN Sync output ports to enable users to easily connect several DIN Sync devices to one DIN Sync controlling device — without the usual problems often associated with daisy-chaining devices.

Since Roland popularised the DIN Sync interfacing standard — otherwise known as SYNC 24 — on the likes of its classic TR-808 and TR-606 drum machines, legendary ‘acidic’ TB-303 Bass Line, and early digital sequencers (such as the MC-4 and MC-202 MicroComposers), the SYNC-5 is primarily intended for use with such suitably-equipped, pre-MIDI Roland equipment — all of which work at 24 clocks-per-quarter note. The SYNC-5 can also work with any appropriate Korg devices at 48 clocks-per-quarter note. It cannot convert between the two, however.

Housed in an attractively finished, brushed aluminum box with black screen print, the SYNC-5 ships with an energy-efficient, switch-mode PSU appropriate to the destination country — UK, EU, US, and Australian types are available, so no battery changes required. Simply connect... and forget!

Operation couldn’t be simpler: plug the supplied PSU into the SYNC-5 (which will illuminate its ‘active’ LED), connect the DIN Sync output port of an appropriate drum machine or sequencer to the single DIN Sync input port, and connect one or more of the DIN Sync output ports to the DIN Sync inputs of anydevices to be synchronised; start the DIN Sync controlling device and any connected DIN Sync devices will play along in perfect tempo, as indicated by speed of the now- flashing LED.

It’s just like being back in the Eighties again! And that’s no bad thing, surely, since those still-sought-after DIN Sync devices sound better than ever in today’s software-swamped musical climate. (Just remember: the SYNC-5 is not a MIDI device; neither its input or outputs are capable of handling MIDI data.)

SYNC-5 can be purchased directly from Kenton for £52.80 GBP (including VAT) here: http://www.kentonuk.com/products/items/utilities/sync-5.shtml
 
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About Kenton (www.kenton.co.uk)

Kenton was founded in 1986 by UK musician John Price, who began by building a more cost-effective and well-specified MIDI interface for his beloved Oberheim OBX programmable analogue polysynth than was otherwise available; word soon got around, and today the company designs and manufactures a wide range of far-reaching MIDI solutions from within spitting distance of London’s legendary Abbey Road Studios: “People often ask where the name Kenton came from; my father,Wylie Price, was a bandleader in the ’40s and ’50s, and was a big fan of Stan Kenton, so, when I was born, I was given Kenton as my middle name.”

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