WAVES SILVER COLLECTION
PREMIUM PLUG-IN PANOPLY
THE PITCH Sixteen of Waves’ best effect plug-ins, in a bundle meant for home studios and mix-it-yourselfers.
WHAT PLUG-INS? Renaissance Compressor, EQ, and Axx. IR-L Convolution Reverb. L1 Ultramaximizer. C1 Parametric Compander. S1 Stereo Imager. Q10 Paragraphic Equalizer. MaxxBass. MondoMod. Enigma. TrueVerb. SuperTap. Doubler. DeEsser. Paz Analyzer.
WHAT DO THEY RUN ON? Mac OS X (including Leopard) and Windows XP or 32-bit Vista. Though TDM versions of these same plug-ins are available for Pro Tools HD users, the Silver bundle is strictly native — all plugs use your computer’s CPU. $900 list, www.waves.com
UNIVERSAL AUDIO MOOG MULTIMODE FILTER PLUG-IN
ANALOG FAT, DIGITAL MUSCLE
THE PITCH Moog doesn’t just mean synthesizers — their classic analog filter funks out anything you run through it. Now, you can do it with a UAD-1 card.
THE BIG DEAL Universal Audio knows a thing or two about making vintage analog gear in plug-in form, and they worked from original Moog schematics, with the Moog company’s blessing.
COOL SPECS Has 24dB- and 12db-per-octave modes, self-oscillation like the real thing, mono and stereo modes, sync to host tempo, and an envelope follower to make signals quack like a duck.
RUNS ON The UAD-1 “Powered Plug-Ins” card. A near-future free update will make it run on the UAD-2 (reviewed Nov. ’08). $199, www.uaudio.com
CLAVIA NORD STAGE EX
VINTAGE KEYS AND GIG ESSENTIALS
THE PITCH Everything you could want in a “bottom keyboard” . . . and then some.
BIG UPGRADES You might know the Nord Stage does pianos, killer EPs and Clavs, B-3 organs with real drawbar control and a dead-on Leslie simulation, and basic synths. The EX bumps internal wave memory to 256MB (from 128MB), which a new downloadable sampled Yamaha grand will take advantage of.
COOLEST LITTLE UPGRADE There’s now labeling on the top for all the jacks on the rear panel — no more craning your neck over the keyboard at gig setup. 88 weighted keys: $4,100; 76 weighted keys: $3,800; compact w/ 73 semi-weighted keys: $3,600 (all prices are list), www.nordusa.com
YAMAHA TYROS3
ULTIMATE ARRANGER WORKSTATION
THE PITCH One-man-band keyboards don’t get any more serious than this . . . or any more loaded with features.
BIG IMPROVEMENTS OVER TYROS2 Yamaha’s “Super Articulation” — which follows your fingers and switches samples to duplicate how real acoustic instruments play — hits its second generation with 11 new sounds, better accompaniment styles with better-sounding transposition, real faders (for organ drawbars or other controls), not just rocker switches. Hard disk for recording your whole performance now comes pre-installed, and adds two-track overdubbing.
WHO IS IT FOR? Under the hood, a high-end arranger like the Tyros 3 and a high-end synth workstation like the Motif XS have a lot in common. The big difference is about the language you’re comfortable speaking. If that language is more songwriter/bandleader and less synth geek/producer, you’ll be shocked at how much power the T3 lets you wield comfortably. $4,899.99 list/approx. $3,899 street, www.music-tyros.com
DAVE SMITH INSTRUMENTS MOPHO
MICRO MONO MONSTER
THE PITCH A real analog, monophonic synth with a huge sound and tiny price.
THE BIG DEAL It’s one voice of the Key Buy-winning Prophet ’08 (reviewed Nov. ’07), but it goes beyond that. Sub-oscillators make for bowel-shaking bass sounds, and an external audio input lets you run stuff through the filter. You get an arpeggiator and 16-step sequencer, too.
WHAT’S THE BIG RED BUTTON DO? It’s for when you don’t have a keyboard MIDI’d up. It can trigger a note (at a specific velocity) or a gated sequence, latch notes or sequences on and off, and manually step through a sequence.
WE THINK This is so much fun, and so affordable, it could make even a former Wall Street executive smile. $439 list, www.davesmithinstruments.com
DIGIDESIGN PRO TOOLS 8
MIDI, MUSIC NOTATION, MORE INSTRUMENTS
THE PITCH It’s a whole new look, plus a whole lot of stuff you’ve always wanted Pro Tools to have.
LIKE WHAT? MIDI editing is light years ahead of PT 7.4. Music score editor (courtesy of Sibelius) looks gorgeous onscreen and in print, and is super-easy to use. MIDI and score editor windows are dockable in arrange window. Comping (assembling the perfect track from lots of takes) is now very intuitive thanks to a “mother” track visible above all your “daughter” tracks and quick region selection.
ANY INCLUDED SOFT SYNTHS? Five. Boom, an 808-style drum machine. DB-33, a virtual B-3 organ that kicks ass. MiniGrand, a sampled grand piano. Vacuum, a nasty (in a good way) virtual analog synth. Xpand! 2 — the do-it-all soft instrument is now polytimbral.
WE THINK No hype intended — we saw a pre-release demo at Digi HQ, and the quality of everything listed here, from MIDI editing to virtual instruments, knocked our socks off. This release brings PT into its own as a total creative environment. $TBA, www.digidesign.com
IMAGE-LINE OGUN
METALLIC MODELING MADNESS
THE PITCH Control over 32,000 harmonics to create shimmering, metallic sounds from realistic gongs and cymbals to otherworldy scrapes, drones, and synths.
THE BIG DEAL It’s not limited to these types of sounds. “Re-synthesis” analyzes the tonal content of external audio, recreates it, and can morph between the different tonal qualities of different times in the sample.
RUNS ON Windows XP or Vista as a VST plug-in, but not Mac OS X. Of course, you could put a Windows partition on your Intel Mac. . . .
WE THINK Remember when the Synclavier was the only thing that did full-on additive synthesis and resynthesis — and cost as much as a house? If you don’t, take our word for it — Ogun is crazy bang-for-buck for anyone in search of fresh sounds. $79, www.image-line.com
SIX OF THE BEST FROM AES
If the NAMM show is Animal House, then AES — the Audio Engineering Society convention — is Revenge of the Nerds. As in, recording and live sound brainiacs. Here’s the coolest stuff that we (A) saw there, and (B) haven’t already covered in a recent New Gear or trade show report. Check out keyboardmag.com for even more AES gear!
COOLEST STUDIO KIT:
KORG MR-2000S
What? Ultra-hi-res 1-bit DSD recorder with 80GB hard drive and balanced line inputs.
Why? DSD is the best format in the universe for mixdown and sending your stuff to serious mastering engineers.
Whoa! We saw four of ’em synced to create the ultimate eight-track deck. $1,999 list, www.korg.com
COOLEST LIVE MONITOR:
JBL EON 515
What? Two-way, 450W powered speaker with 15" woofer.
Why? It sounds a lot heavier than it weighs: under 33 pounds! $999 list/approx. $800 street, www.jblpro.com
COOLEST EFFECT PLUG-IN:
LINE 6 POD FARM PLATINUM
What? Every amp model ever heard in Line 6 software or Pod hardware.
Why? The stuff sounds amazing, and the iPhonelike flipping graphic carousel to select amps and processors is effin’ brilliant. $419.99 list/$299 street, www.line6.com
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COOLEST ACOUSTIC TREATMENT:
PRIMACOUSTIC FLEXIBOOTH
What? A hang-on-the-wall “vocal booth” that folds like a three-way dressing room mirror.
Why? Because you need to record vocals in limited space. We tested it on the noisy exhibit hall floor, and it isolated our voices to an amazing degree. $400 list, www.primacoustic.com
COOLEST LITTLE SPEAKERS:
ADAM A5
What? High-end active multimedia monitors.
Why? Either you need a great activelistening system for your “other” computer, or you just want to get into ADAMs at the lowest price yet. $799 a pair in matte black; $879 in gloss white or gloss black, www.adam-audio.com
COOLEST CONNECTOR:
NEUTRIK CONVERTCON
What? Trans-gender XLR connectors.
Why? No more “Dammit, it’s the wrong end!” Just slide the barrel to change this XLR jack to an XLR jill. Look for it On some cable brands and at electronics stores so you can roll your own cables. $17 each, www.neutrikusa.com
