WHAT'S NEW

Apr 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Geary Yelton

Mojave Audio MA-100

A new microphone from Mojave Audio (www .mojaveaudio.com) made its debut at the recent NAMM show. The MA-100 ($995) is a tube condenser mic with a 0.8-inch-diameter diaphragm and interchangeable cardioid and omnidirectional capsules. Designed by David Royer, the MA-100's cathode-follower circuitry gives it lots of headroom for high-SPL applications such as miking drums and guitar amps. It's also suitable for applications that typically call for small-diaphragm tube condensers, such as recording cymbals, acoustic guitar, and piano. Mojave recommends using pairs of MA-100s for stereo recording.

Like the MA-200 introduced in 2005, the MA-100 contains a Jensen audio transformer and a military-grade JAN 5840 vacuum tube. It comes with a padded flight case, a shockmount, and an external power supply that's switchable between 110-120 and 220-240 VAC.

Edirol M-16DX

If you've been waiting for the cost of digital mixers to drop, check out the M-16DX ($799) from Edirol (www.edirol.com). The M-16DX is a 16-channel modular mixer that functions as a 24-bit, 96 kHz audio interface and connects to your computer via USB 2.0. It's the only mixer in its price class that can analyze and compensate for your studio's acoustics, thanks to a feature called Room Acoustic Control. The mixer's backlit 122 × 32-pixel LCD can graphically show each channel's EQ curve and a spectrum analysis of your entire mix. Onboard DSP furnishes COSM insert effects, reverb and echo, and finalizing effects such as multiband compression.

The M-16DX comprises two units: a Mix Controller and an I/O Module. The Mix Controller has four mono and four stereo channel strips, each with dedicated knobs for level, pan, and three bands of EQ; buttons for select, mute, and solo; and another knob for aux 1, aux 2, and effects. Two additional stereo channels have no EQ or pan controls. The I/O Module has four XLR inputs with phantom-powered mic preamps, two channels with switchable high-impedance inputs, optical and coaxial S/PDIF I/O, and more. Additional features include 16-band graphic EQ and scene memory for recalling mixer settings.

Yamaha MM6

Because the MM6 synthesizer ($699) derives its sounds from the Motif series, Yamaha (www.yamaha.com) calls it the Mini Mo. With a 61-note keyboard, quick-edit controls, and more than 200 arpeggiator types, the MM6 is well suited to live performance. The instrument's Performance Memory stores Voice combinations, backing patterns, and other settings needed for live work, and recalls them at the press of a button. An onboard collection of sequencer patterns encompasses contemporary styles from rock and electronica to rap and hip-hop.

The MM6 is 32-voice polyphonic and 16-part multitimbral. Alongside 128 General MIDI presets, it has 418 user presets and 22 drum kits. Effects types include 25 reverbs, 30 choruses, and 189 DSP effects such as echo, distortion, compression, and amp simulation. The internal sequencer has eight tracks for real-time recording and another track for patterns, with 96 ppqn resolution. You can store sequences, patterns, and performances on USB flash drives for transferring to anything that can read Standard MIDI Files. The USB-to-Host port gives you a direct connection to your computer's sequencing software. The MM6 comes with a copy of Steinberg Cubase LE (Mac/Win).

Line 6 GearBox Plug-in

Line 6 (www.line6.com), maker of Variax guitars and basses and the POD family of outboard guitar processors, manufactures a suite of plug-ins that supplies virtually every modeling algorithm the company has ever developed for vocals, guitar, bass, and other instruments. Called GearBox Plug-in, the bundle comes in two varieties — Silver ($419.99) and Gold ($699.99) — and supports AU in Mac OS X, VST in Windows, and RTAS on either platform. Both versions include the TonePort D.I. USB direct box, which allows you to monitor your processed source with very low latency, regardless of your computer software's buffer size.

The Silver bundle features models of 18 guitar amps and 24 speaker cabinets from the POD XT, 5 bass amps from the Bass POD XT, 6 mic preamps, and 30 studio and stompbox effects. The Gold bundle ups the ante with models of 78 guitar amps and 24 cabinets from the POD XT and Vetta II, 28 bass amps and 22 bass cabinets from the Bass POD XT, 6 mic preamps, and no less than 80 effects. A large collection of professionally programmed presets is included, and you can transfer your own presets to the POD XT Live and other Line 6 products. If you already own a POD XT, TonePort, or GuitarPort, you can download GearBox Plug-in only for $199.95 and run all the models in your device in a native plug-in format.

M-Audio NRV10

M-Audio (www.m-audio.com) has introduced the NRV10 ($899.95), an 8 × 2 analog mixer that works with your computer as a 10 × 10 FireWire audio interface. Built-in DSP effects provide 16 programs that include reverb, echo, chorus, flange, and delay. The included NRV10 interFX software (Mac/Win) adds a compressor, expander/gate, and two VST effects slots to each channel, so you can use computer-based third-party effects onstage. You can route and record mixer channels directly to individual sequencer tracks, monitoring through plug-in effects, and return audio channels from your computer for direct mixing and monitoring with no latency.

The NRV10 supports 24-bit sampling rates as high as 96 kHz using Pro Tools M-Powered and other audio software. Five XLR mic inputs feature phantom-powered Octane preamps. Each of the mixer's four mono channels and two stereo channels has independent volume faders, buttons to switch between FireWire and audio input, and knobs for pan, DSP effects, aux and monitor send, and three bands of EQ. The headphones section facilitates DJ-style cueing, as well as sending the main or monitor mix to a performer. You also get independent level faders for the mix, control room, and headphone outputs. The NRV10 lets you move seamlessly between composing, recording, practicing, editing, and performing without ever having to reroute connections.

Korg mini-KP Kaoss Pad

Eight years after launching the first Kaoss Pad, Korg (www.korg.com) has introduced the mini-KP ($250), a model that makes the Kaoss concept even more portable and affordable. At its heart is an x-y touch pad that lets you control several parameters simultaneously by tapping and rubbing its surface with your fingertips. The mini-KP is smaller than previous models — small enough to fit in your shirt pocket — and it can be powered by four AA batteries, enhancing its usability for mobile audio production and performance applications.

The mini-KP comes with 100 presets drawn from the KP3's effects collection. Some are traditional, such as reverbs, filters, and EQ, and others are Korg innovations with names like Digi Talk, Radio Isolator, and Mid Grain Shifter. The mini-KP's built-in sound engine can even generate timbres inspired by the Radias synthesizer. Effects can sync to tempo, and a Tap/BPM button lets you detect an input source's tempo or manually tap the beat. You can lock in the effects settings at any point, and let the effects decay gradually when you lift your finger from the pad. The mini-KP has RCA line inputs, RCA line outputs, and a minijack for headphones.

Audio Ease Altiverb 6

Audio Ease (www.audioease.com) is shipping a significant upgrade to its pioneering convolution reverb plug-in. Now called Altiverb 6 Regular (Mac/Win, $595), the native version has an enhanced user interface, a browser for impulse responses (replacing the pop-up menu), a wider set of adjustable parameters, and 40 automation presets for total recall of all parameters. Altiverb 6 Regular supports stereo sampling rates up to 96 kHz in AU, Audio Suite, MAS, RTAS, and VST hosts on the Mac and in RTAS and VST hosts in Windows. Upgrading from any version of Altiverb 5 to Altiverb 6 Regular is free.

Altiverb 6 XL (Mac, $995) introduces additional features and makes Altiverb available for Mac users with Pro Tools|HD Accel hardware. Along with the Regular version's improvements, the XL version adds TDM support for Accel chips, channel configurations up to 5.1 surround, zero TDM latency at rates as high as 48 kHz, and a maximum 384 kHz sampling rate for native plug-in formats. Upgrades for current HTDM owners range from $100 to $129 (depending on the purchase date), and an upgrade from native Altiverb 5 to Altiverb 6 XL costs $400. Support for non-Accel HD chips is in development.

Get Smart

Spaces Speak, Are You Listening? ($39.95) presents a comprehensive perspective on the influence that environment has on any listening experience, whether you're attending a concert and sitting in the balcony, watching a film in your home theater, or visiting a Gothic cathedral. Subtitled Experiencing Aural Architecture, the 437-page hardbound book emphasizes the importance of physical space's audible attributes and offers advice on setting up rooms for listening. Authors Barry Blesser and Linda-Ruth Salter describe how space affects mood by integrating disciplines ranging from music and audio engineering to sociology, anthropology, and cognitive psychology. They explain how the concepts and language of aural architecture can help you develop a better understanding of how space enhances well-being. Spaces Speak, Are You Listening? is published by MIT Press (http://mitpress.mit.edu).

Two new books in the Skill Pack series from Thomson Course Technology PTR (www.courseptr.com) promise to ramp up your Digidesign Pro Tools proficiency. Editing Audio in Pro Tools ($29.99), by Michael White, aims to give you a thorough understanding of Pro Tools' editing capabilities by explicating all the resources at your disposal. The author guides you from the initial session setup to working with Spot, Slip, Grid, and Shuffle modes. He explains the edit tools and tells you how to navigate regions and edits. In later chapters, he covers region and track grouping, looping regions, and finding tempo and timing solutions using Beat Detective.

EM author Brian Smithers tackles the various situations you'll encounter while mixing in the studio in his new book, Mixing in Pro Tools ($29.95). After discussing signal processing in detail, he takes you from a rough mix to advanced signal flow and explains automation, doubling parts, and stems and submixes. He touches on sidechain processing and related topics, and then offers suggestions for working with external effects and managing resources. Both Skill Pack books take a practical, hands-on approach to getting the most from any version of Digidesign's multitrack recording software. Each includes a CD-ROM containing source files for working with the techniques presented in the text.

Just about everyone who works with computers knows the horror of catastrophic data loss that can result from a crashed hard disk. The key to preventing such a scenario is the subject of Mac Maintenance and Backups ($29.99), published by Peachpit Press (www.peachpit.com). Over the course of 228 pages, author Joe Kissell lays out a series of tasks to perform daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. He tells Mac users how to recognize and solve problems before they become disastrous, and he gives instructions on how to recover from a crash. If you own a Mac, this book can save you a lot of time and trouble.

In Windows Vista: The Missing Manual ($34.99), from O'Reilly Media (www.missingmanuals.com), David Pogue eases your transition to any version of Microsoft's new operating system. He introduces you to updated features and provides clear instructions on performing necessary tasks such as keeping your computer secure and building a network. From the Welcome Center to the Registry, Pogue offers helpful tips on everything from configuring your audio hardware and managing Media Center to making the most of speech recognition and remote control, all in a casual style that's easy to comprehend. If you're considering making the move to Windows Vista, this book can help you recognize and resolve potential problems before they occur.