Archive for February, 2009

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The Audiorama Is Back!

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

Grundig claims “The design is from the 70s, the technology from tomorrow.” We don’t know if that’s exactly the case, but we do like seeing a reissue of the iconic Seventies speaker. The archetypal Audiorama always looked a lot better than it sounded, however, with today’s technology, the original concept may be realized. The new model is more elliptical and has a dented and chromed silver band, but it appears enough like the original to evoke a nostalgic reaction to anyone who witnessed an Audiorama in the flesh.

To provide the Audiorama’s “surround sound,” two bass/mid-range chassis and a hyperbolically-deflected treble system provide a 100% propagation through 360 degrees. A special design protects the treble sounds from the acoustic pressure of the base tones.

Features:
» Acoustic principle: Closed loudspeaker with 360° surround sound characteristic
» Sine/audio output: 120 watts / 180 watts
» Rated impedance: 4 Ohm
» Number of loudspeakers: 3, (1 treble & 2 bass/mid-range speakers)
» Range: 50 – 30.000 Hz
» Weight: 7 kg

The rated load of the new Audiorama is 120W, with a maximum load of 180W. The 1″ silk dome tweeter can transmit even the finest signals, and the two long excursion bass mid-range speakers form a closed bass system that enables extremely fast impulse processing. A cast aluminium cage with multiple rear ventilation ensures minimum stream loss, while the anodised aluminium membrane provides maximum stiffness and pure base sound.

The speakers can be hung from the ceiling, or supported on a stand. Two colors are available: black and white.

Grundig’s Audiorama is available now. More information on the Grundig Audiorama.

Posted in Music Gadgets, Sound Systems | No Comments »

Ueberschall Unveils Electrolines Sample Library

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

ueberschall has unveiled the Electrolines Liquid library. Electrolines features 78 themes and over 1000 analog synth sequences. Every theme consists of leads, basses and effects, which are different in terms of filter movement, sound and groove.

Electrolines can be used as a main melody, backing or fill-in. It’s also compatible with diverse commercial / professional environments and tracking needs. All cuts have been sculpted especially for electronic music genres like Electro House, Electronica, Minimal, Progressive House, Trance, Tech House and Drum&Bass, to name a few. Electrolines was produced solely with analog synthesizers and signal processing gear. A couple examples include: Moog Voyager, Alesis Andromeda, Omega 8, Se-1x, Sh 101, Korg Monopoly, Oberheim Xpander & Ob-MX.

The Liquid-Player engine makes it possible easily alter the provided content. Change the key, tempo, pitch, or formants of whole melodies or single notes in only a few steps. It also allows you to switch the starting and end points.

Ueberschall’s Electrolines costs €99 and contains 800 MB worth of material including 1024 Bass and Lead Lines. It comes in the AU/VST/RTAS flavors for Mac and PC. More information on the Ueberschall Electrolines Library.

Posted in Samples & Sounds | No Comments »

KRK Releases Budget R6 Passive Studio Monitor

Friday, February 20th, 2009

KRK Systems has released the R6 passive studio monitor. The budget R6 incorporates design cues from KRK’s Rokit line, including radiused edges along the front of the cabinet.

KRK claims the R6 leverages KRK’s research and development into baffle design and fabrication. The curved front baffle was engineered to minimize diffraction of high-frequencies, resulting in a sweet spot that is significantly larger than products with square or lightly rounded baffles. The baffle also houses a molded front-facing bass port that minimizes low-frequency phase distortion and unwanted frequency emphasis typical of rear-facing bass ports. The R6 features 5-way speaker binding posts, a precision crossover and is capable of handling 100 watts (RMS) of power.

The KRK R6 costs $149, and is available now. More information on the KRK R6.

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Native Instruments Releases Absynth Spectral Expansion Kore Soundpack

Friday, February 20th, 2009

Native Instruments has released Absynth Spectral Expansion, a new Kore Soundpack library based on their excellent Absynth virtual synthesizer.

Absynth Spectral Expansion focuses on expressive, highly playable sounds that range from distinctive bass, keys, and piano to exquisite pads, bells and more. Ready for use in Kore 2 and the free Kore Player as well as in Absynth 4, the presets take advantage of Absynth’s unique synthesis capabilities.

With 1,600 Sound Variations, convenient parameter assignments and complete musical metadata for the Kore Sound Browser, Absynth Spectral Expansion fully utilizes the advanced sound shaping and preset management capabilities of the Kore platform.

Native Instruments’ Absynth Spectral Expansion is available now for $59 / €49. More information on Native Instruments Absynth Spectral Expansion Kore Soundpack.

Posted in Samples & Sounds | No Comments »

Chameleon Labs 7802 Opto-Tube Compressor & 7602 MKII Mic Pre/EQ Now Available

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

Chameleon Labs is now shipping their new 7802 Opto-Tube Compressor and 7602 MKII Mic Pre/EQ.

In the spirit of classic opto compressors, the 7802 is a hybrid design of vacuum tube and transformer circuitry combined with modern, high performance components. The 7802 offers smooth, open, full bandwidth compression, while imparting a pleasant, subtle glow to your tracks. The silky attack is achieved via electro-optical circuitry, followed by a robust tube makeup gain stage. Final perfection is presented via the transformer balanced outputs. The 7802 can operate in dual mono or stereo linked mode, features a tube overdrive control, selectable compression (2:1 or 4:1), and a control path HPF for each channel.

The 7602 MKII is the sequel to Chameleon Labs’ popular 100% discrete, Class ‘A’, vintage inspired 7602 Mic Pre/EQ. The 7602 MKII employs a classic circuit design, polystyrene capacitors, a gold contact gain selector and custom wound transformers. New features include: selectable mic impedance, LED input metering, and sleek anodized aluminum knobs. A factory installed Carnhill Mic and Output transformer modification ($249) is now offered as an upgrade. The 7602 MKII now includes an inline transformer power supply. The rackmountable CPS-1 can still be ordered separately, but it is no longer required.

Chameleon Labs’ 7802 Opto-Tube Compressor costs $799 and the 7602 MKII Mic Pre/EQ will set you back $739. More information on Chameleon Labs’ 7802 Opto-Tube Compressor and 7602 MKII Mic Pre/EQ.

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Sonance Unleashes The Kayak Speaker

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

Sonance recently unleashed the unique Kayak speaker. As the latest addition to the NACSound range, it builds on the technology research started with Freewheeler, designed with Ron Arad, which introduced for the first time the concept of a single body with stereophonic emission.

The dynamic configuration consists of two opposing cones with a ceramic wave reflector suspended in the middle. The Kayak can be suspended horizontally between two opposing walls or pillars, or vertically between floor and ceiling, and comes in 14 different finishes to match any decor. Sonance claims that “it is ideal for use in homes or anywhere with insufficient space for the speakers to be mounted from the ceiling.”

Specs:
» Two 1.1″ (28mm) tweeters
» Two Silk 5.7″ (145mm) woofers in molded aluminum
» Impedance: 8 ohms
» Power Handling: 60 + 60 watts
» Sensitivity: 86dB
» Height: 29.92″ (760mm)
» Weight: 12.34lb (5.6kg)

More information on the Sonance Kayak.

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Roland Unveils Free V-Drums Lessons Online

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

Roland has launched V-Drums Lessons, a series of free online drumming videos taught exclusively using Roland drum and percussion products.

Hosted by Roland clinicians and artists, these lessons are designed for every level of drummer. V-Drums Lessons cover various drum and percussion techniques and styles, and also provide helpful tips unique to electronic percussion instruments.

Visitors can view any of the lessons directly in their web browser, subscribe to the free video podcast via iTunes, or download individual lesson episodes directly to their computer.

Roland’s V-Drums Lessons are free. More information on Roland V-Drums Lessons.

Posted in Music Education | No Comments »

Arturia Analog Factory Experience – Long Term Test

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

After putting Arturia’s Analog Factory Experience through one of our longest product tests to date, we have concluded that there is a lot to love about their economical hardware/software virtual analog solution.

Although it is rare to put the words economical and quality in the same sentence these days, Arturia’s Analog Factory Experience can easily be described as such, and at a retail price of $349 this could be one of the biggest bargains currently on the market… More!

Read the entire Arturia Analog Factory Experience Review.

Posted in Gear Reviews | No Comments »

Tone2 Unleashes Gladiator 2 Mega Synth

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

Tone2 has updated their mega-synth, Gladiator, to version 2 status. Tone2 calls Gladiator “a revolution in synthesis” – we call it a buttload of synthesis types crammed into one virtual instrument:

Synth Types:
» Harmonic Content Morphing (HCM3)
» Frequency Modulation (FM)
» Amplitude Modulation (AM)
» Phase Distortion (PD)
» Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)
» Phase Modulation (PM)
» Oscillator sync
» Wave shaping
» Supersaw
» Resynthesis sounds
» Vocoder sounds
» Additive sounds (512 partials)
» Sample playback

Tone2 has neglected to showcase exactly what has been updated. (Marketing kids! MARKETING!!) But here’s their feature laundry list…

Features:
» Big sonic range: unique, analog, warm, transparent and fat sound.
» Low CPU usage.
» Semi-modular: flexible and expandable.
» Over 1,000 presets.
» Real stereo, Dolby Prologic II encoding.
» Up to 18 oscillators per voice; 4x stereo unison.
» 110 different oscillator types with 36,865 waveforms.
» Alias-free: 162x oversampling.
» Psychoacoustical processing.
» 41 unique filters (Analog, vocal, comb, Moog, phaser, EQ, etc.).
» 20 different effects.
» 7 distortion types with a warm, analog sound.
» Programmable arpeggiator, step LFO and trance-gate.
» BPM syncable.
» IQM for clearer chords (intelligent microtuning).

Tone2’s Gladiator 2 will set you back $199 / €149 and is available now in the VST and AU plug-in flavors for Windows and Mac OS X. More information on Tone2 Gladiator 2.

Posted in Updates & Upgrades | No Comments »

Sirius XM Radio Saved By The Bell

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

Sirius XM Radio Inc. has been saved from the brink of bankruptcy by Liberty Media who has agreed to inject $530 million to rescue the troubled satellite radio broadcaster from the clutches of Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network.

Liberty, the media and entertainment company founded by John Malone, will immediately loan Sirius $280 million, about $171 million of which will to pay off debt Sirius had coming due this week. A second round of $250 million from Liberty will also be invested into Sirius XM to help it pay its debts and sit upright. In return for the investment, Liberty Media will own 12.5 million shares of preferred stock in Sirius XM that Liberty can convert into common stock giving Liberty a 40% ownership stake in the radio company. Malone is expected to join the Sirius XM board of directors.

“We are excited to be investing in Sirius XM. We have been impressed with the company, its operations and management team,” said Greg Maffei, president and CEO of Liberty, in a written statement. “Sirius XM’s ability to grow subscribers and revenue in a difficult financial and auto market is indicative of how listeners view this as a ‘must have’ service.”

Mel Karmazin, CEO of Sirius XM, stated, “this agreement enables Sirius XM to continue to develop the opportunities first outlined in the merger of Sirius and XM. By strengthening our capital structure and enhancing our financial flexibility, this investment allows us to continue providing the great content and innovative programming our subscribers know and love.”

Ergen definitely came out the initial loser in this high-stakes round of poker between Karmazin and Malone. Ergen most likely thought he could waltz in and snatch away the company from Karmazin without much of a fight, but the tenacious CEO battled back from his “low stack” position. The street almost likes the move, the stock doubled in price to a whopping $0.16 per share…

Posted in Radio | No Comments »

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