WHAT'S NEW

Jan 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Len Sasso

MOTU MachFive 2

MOTU (www.motu.com) has released a major upgrade to its flagship sampler. MachFive 2 (Mac/Win, $495 [MSRP], upgrade $195) comes with 32 GB of content, is Mac OS X Universal Binary and Windows Vista 32- and 64-bit compatible, and runs both standalone and in all plug-in formats. A special edition of VSL Orchestra and an 8 GB, 24-bit, 96 kHz sampled grand piano are notable additions to the library. MachFive reads all major sampler-instrument and audio-file formats directly — no conversion is required. You can have any number of parts in a single instance of the plugin or standalone version, and each part features 256-voice polyphony, multiple keygroups and keygroup layers, and up to 200 discrete audio outputs.

MachFive 2 offers full-screen browsing and editing. In particular, the new Loop Lab lets you edit and create REX, Acid, and Apple Loop files. With the integrated synthesizer, you can create complex stacks of sampled and synthesized sounds, and you can apply its synthesis engine to sampled sounds. In addition, you get an onscreen graphical mixer, 47 real-time effects covering all the bases, drag-and-drop import and export, multichannel surround support, and batch processing.

PreSonus Monitor Station

The Monitor Station ($299.95) from PreSonus Audio Electronics (www.presonus.com) is a complete monitoring solution in a desktop unit. Its three stereo balanced ¼-inch TRS speaker outputs have separate level adjustment for comparing your mixes on different speaker setups: all on, one at a time, and Subwoofer mode, in which you select between two outputs and then toggle the third (subwoofer) on or off. Mono mode lets you check for phase cancellation. In addition to two stereo balanced ¼-inch TRS inputs, an Aux/Phono RCA input lets you compare your mix with your favorite CD or vinyl recordings.

Beyond mixing, the Monitor Station is right at home in a studio recording environment. Its stereo main and cue outputs feature separate input selection and dimming, with variable level adjustment. Four headphone amplifiers have their own volume controls and input selectors. For talkback, you have a built-in microphone as well as a balanced female XLR connector with 2,400 input impedance and a mic preamp with 55 dB of gain. Metering uses two peak-holding 8segment LEDs, with a range of -26 to 0 dBfs. An external AC power supply powers the Monitor Station.

Digidesign Mbox 2 Micro

Digidesign (www.digidesign.com) has answered the requests of numerous users who want access to their Pro Tools sessions on the road. The pocket-size Mbox 2 Micro (Mac/Win, $279 [MSRP]), the newest addition to the Mbox 2 family, delivers analog audio output and monitoring through an ⅛-inch stereo jack with associated volume-control wheel. The bus-powered device resembles a USB flash drive and requires a USB Type A port. It supports 24-bit resolution at sampling rates up to 48 kHz.

The Micro comes bundled with Pro Tools LE software, more than 45 Bomb Factory and DigiRack effects plug-ins, and the Digidesign Xpand sample-playback and synthesis workstation. The bundle makes it easy to edit and mix sessions created on Pro Tools HD, LE, and M-Powered systems, as well as to create original loop- and virtual-instrument-based sessions on your laptop computer. Digidesign notes that this is an analog-playback solution; other members of the Mbox family offer audio and MIDI recording and digital output.

CEntrance MicPort Pro

Building on its experience providing innovative solutions to leading audio manufacturers, CEntrance (www.centrance.com) has introduced its first hardware product. The MicPort Pro (Mac/Win, $124.95) is a USB class-compliant Class A mic preamp. The device offers 24bit, 96 kHz operation with optional 44.1, 48, and 88.2 kHz sampling-rate compatibility. You plug your mic into the balanced XLR connector on one end, plug the included USB cable into the other, and then connect the MicPort Pro to your computer.

The XLR jack carries switchable 48V phantom power, and an ⅛-inch TRS jack on the USB end of the unit provides a headphone signal for zero-latency monitoring. The unit is bus powered; no external power is required. Small input-gain and headphone-level knobs grace the top of the unit. Manufacturer specifications claim 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency response, 5 k input impedance, and 103.5 dB dynamic range. You also get a universal driver for using two MicPort Pros to record in stereo.

Vir2 Instruments SyntAX

Vir2 Instruments (www.vir2.com) has just released the third in its line of sampled instruments. SyntAX (Mac/Win, $159.96) is a collection of Native Instruments Kontakt 2 patches with custom interfaces that make full use of Kontakt's KSP scripting engine for pitch- and gate-sequencing effects. The heart of SyntAX is a 3.6 GB, 24-bit, 44.1 kHz library of more than 2,000 synthy patches developed by Bunker 8 Digital Labs (www.bunker8.com). The categories include arpeggios, atmospheres, pads, effects, basses, and leads. But it's the scripts constituting the scatterFX engine that set SyntAX apart.

ScatterFX consists of two sequencers: ScatFX (for 32-step rhythm patterns) and StepFX (for 64-step pitch patterns). They can be toggled on and off independently, but they also interact. For example, you can sync the pitch pattern to multiples of the rhythm-pattern rate. Each instrument has an enveloped, resonant lowpass filter, and you can save 16 setups per instrument. You can target Program Changes and most parameters with MIDI and host automation. The package comes with Kontakt Player 2 for standalone use, and in major plug-in formats for both platforms. All instruments are compatible with Kontakt 2 and Kontakt 3.

Ableton Live 7

Ableton (www.ableton.com) has released Live 7 (Mac/Win, $499). Under-the-hood improvements include a 64-bit mix-summing audio engine, POW-r dithering, and optimized sampling-rate conversion. The new Compressor device has three compression models and sidechain capability. The Gate and Auto Filter devices also support sidechaining. High-quality modes for Operator, Dynamic Tube, and Saturator provide antialiased processing and reduction of digital artifacts. EQ Eight gets a face-lift and a 64-bit mode for increased accuracy. The new spectrum analyzer gives visual feedback at any point in Live's signal path. In addition, the fully reworked MIDI engine minimizes jitter.

Live's Session and Arrangement views are significantly enhanced. REX files can now be played on audio tracks or be automatically sliced into a Drum Rack with an accompanying MIDI trigger clip. Drum Racks are a new rack type with pads for triggering each chain in the rack. The Arrangement view supports time signature changes, and Session View Scenes can have a time signature and a tempo embedded in their names. Arrange-track automation is held in lanes, and you can simultaneously view and edit multiple lanes. An in-line mixer with a foldout channel strip for each output appears automatically for tracks that house multioutput instruments (multichain racks, for example).

Three new add-on instruments developed in collaboration with Applied Acoustics Systems (www.applied-acoustics.com) physically model electric pianos, analog synthesizers, and stringed instruments. Two other new add-ons, Session Drums multisampled drum libraries and Drum Machines sampled drum machines, keep the beat going. Ableton's own Essential Instrument Collection is beefed up with more acoustic and electric drums, and new presets optimized for better sound and quick loading. You can purchase the add-ons individually or in a bundle called Ableton Suite ($799) that includes Live 7.

Steinberg Cubase 4.1

Steinberg (www.steinberg.net) has released free update version 4.1 (Mac/Win) of Cubase ($799) and Cubase Studio ($399). Although incremental updates, they offer a surprising number of new features and enhancements, including full Windows Vista 32- and 64bit support. The Sample Editor has a new Inspector-style section that consolidates all audio-editing functions. Sidechain inputs are available for a variety of VST 3.0 plug-ins. Free Routing (Cubase only) eliminates all routing limitations, which, among other things, makes stem recording a snap. The Track Inspector has a new Quick Controls section with eight user-definable MIDI controller assignments to target any mixer or plug-in parameter.

The new Global Transpose Track affects all audio, MIDI, and instrument tracks and can optionally keep all transpositions within an octave to minimize unnatural-sounding artifacts. The Play Order Track has been redesigned and renamed the Advanced Arranger. You can trigger parts; play modes let you determine how often each part is repeated and what happens next; and more flattening options are available. The Logical Editor now operates on the project level and is significantly enhanced. Import and export is improved for a variety of media types, and Cubase can open Sequel files, allowing Sequel to be used as a songwriting sketch pad.

Black Lion Audio MicroClock

Black Lion Audio (www.blacklionaudio.com) has put its experience modifying professional audio-recording equipment into its first manufactured product. The MicroClock ($425 [MSRP]) is a 4 × 1 × 3-inch standalone word-clock generator that's capable of clocking three devices via its three 75 BNC outputs.

Generating sampling-rate frequencies from 44.1 to 192 kHz, the device is suitable for clocking entry-level audio interfaces, such as the Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro and top-of-the-line units from MOTU, Digidesign, RME, and others.

Download of the Month

DAEVL.PLUGS (MAC/WIN)

Daevl.Plugs ($36) is a devilishly clever suite of plug-ins from Vlad Spears of Daevlmakr Media (www.daevlmakr.com). These 18 Pluggo-based plug-ins require some form of Pluggo to be installed on your system. Options range from the free Pluggo Runtime or Pluggo Junior to the full suite of 100 Pluggo plugins, which I recommend highly. You can download your choice from the Cycling '74 Web site (www.cycling74.com).

Of the 18 Daevl plug-ins, 9 are CPU-light versions of more-complex brethren. The plug-ins in each class share a common interface, so it's easy to learn their controls, and they're intuitively laid out. Delay, radical modulation, pitch-shifting, filtering, and various methods of distortion feature heavily in various combinations. The results are not highly predictable, and the intention of these plug-ins is to wreak havoc with your audio; these are not polite, pretty-sounding effects to spice up your next new-age or smooth-jazz track. They're great when you want to add some grit to almost any kind of material — percussion, lead, ambient, and so on — and lots of presets help point the way.

Daevl.noise is one of my favorites among these plug-ins. It's an audio-replacement tool that substitutes pitched and unpitched noise for incoming audio. Its three pitched-noise channels let you set pitch, wobble (the amount of random pitch flutter), and other parameters. The unpitched-noise channel has filter-type and cutoff settings along with wobble. Envelope followers with attack- and decay-time settings gate the noise.

Daevl.triptych is another favorite. It's a filtered-delay effect featuring three parallel multiband filters feeding three time-shifted feedback-delay lines. You draw in multiband-filter curves, set the delay and shift times, and mix the outputs until you have something useful (see Web Clip 1).

BONUS MATERIAL
Web Clips: Listen to a bassline subjected to four Daevl.plugs plug-ins