WHAT'S NEW

Oct 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Geary Yelton

Focusrite Liquid Mix

Liquid Mix (Mac, $1,099) is a 32-channel DSP host from Focusrite (www.focusrite.com) that emulates modern and vintage compressors and equalizers. Using the same dynamic convolution processes as Liquid Channel, Liquid Mix furnishes models of 40 compressors and 20 EQs, including hardware from Avalon, Drawmer, Millennia, Neve, SSL, TL Audio, Empirical Labs, Urei, Pultec, API, and, of course, Focusrite. Focusrite says that additional emulations will be available for download.

On each of the 32 channels, you can assign EQ and compressor emulations at the same time. Each channel will appear as a VST or an AU plug-in in your recording software. For Pro Tools users, a free version of FXpansion's VST to RTAS Adapter is included. Liquid Mix allows you to add features to existing models to create hybrid emulations. For instance, you can turn your favorite 4-band EQ into a 7-band EQ or add attack and decay to a compressor that lacks those parameters.

Housed within a desktop controller, Liquid Mix connects to your computer by means of FireWire, which supplies its power. The physical knobs, buttons, LED meters, and LCD screen provide a tactile interface for controlling the included software for Mac OS X. If you prefer, you can control Liquid Mix without ever touching the hardware. An optional expansion card is available for additional channels at high sampling rates. Focusrite expects to ship a Windows XP version as soon as this October.

Mackie Onyx Satellite

Unless you do all your recording in one location, you might think you need two audio interfaces — one for the studio and another for the road. To simplify life, Mackie (www.mackie.com) has begun shipping a FireWire recording system that handles both applications. The Onyx Satellite ($519) consists of two halves. One is the Satellite Pod, a bus-powered portable unit that has two combo XLR/TRS inputs with 48V phantom power, balanced ¼-inch control-room outputs, and two headphone outs with independent level controls. Each combo input also has a switch for guitar-level signals.

The other half is the Satellite Base Station — a docking unit that gives you additional I/O and control capabilities. The Base Station has separate XLR mic inputs, ¼-inch instrument inputs, and balanced ¼-inch line inputs, as well as selection switches for each source, a talkback section with a built-in mic, and ¼-inch insert jacks for both channels. It also has six balanced ¼-inch outputs that you can route in pairs to different monitor setups, and you can control all six outputs with a single knob. Like the Satellite Pod, the Base Station can be powered either by FireWire or by the included 12V power supply. Bundled with the Onyx Satellite is Tracktion 2 (Mac/Win), Mackie's full-function digital audio sequencing program.

URS Classic Control Strip

One of the newest plug-ins from Unique Recording Software (www.ursplugins.com) is Classic Control Strip (native, $249; TDM, $499). Featuring independent compressor and EQ sections with separate in/out switching, Classic Control Strip has a compact user interface and impressive CPU efficiency. URS reports as many as 12 TDM instances per Accel chip and 48 native instances on a Mac G5 Quad at 30 percent CPU usage. The native version supports AU, RTAS, and VST formats and 64-bit processing. The TDM version supports all four plug-in formats and has 48-bit double-precision processing for superior headroom without clipping.

The compressor section emulates a feed-forward, voltage-controlled gain-reduction amplifier with a transformer input. Three essential knobs control threshold, ratio, and makeup gain, and an analog-style VU meter displays gain reduction. The 3-band EQ section emulates channel strip features of three different analog mixing consoles. In addition to three selectable frequencies each for the high and low bands, it provides sweepable frequency and switchable sharp or wide Q for the middle band. You can position the compressor either pre or post the EQ.

Sony Cinescore

One of the fastest ways to create music for picture is with software that automatically assembles made-to-order soundtracks based on your specifications. Cinescore (Win, $174.95) from Sony Media Software (www.sonymediasoftware.com) gives you 20 royalty-free themes and nearly 500 variations in diverse musical genres, from which it can quickly generate any number of fully orchestrated compositions. You can enhance a production project's objectives and atmosphere by selecting a theme and adjusting parameters such as tempo, mood, and intensity. Choose from a variety of ending types and more than 300 sound effects and audio transitions.

Cinescore's mixing and editing features allow you to customize its compositions further. Use envelopes to control panning and volume changes. Specify regions and track markers and time-stretch music to fit your time requirements. Cinescore imports and exports numerous file formats, from AIFF and AVI to MPEG and WMV, and lets you create and save custom variations. Additional theme packs are available, each providing ten themes and dozens of variations.

AMG One

Soundware developer AMG (www.samples4.com) has introduced a multitimbral loop player and editor called One (Mac/Win), available either with ($250) or without ($100) a Core Library. Unlike FabFilter's synth plug-in One, AMG One runs either standalone or as an AU or a VST plug-in and reads REX, Acid, WAV, and AIFF files. The Core Library features more than 4 GB of content that encompasses genres such as hip-hop, Latin, acid house, and Detroit techno (expansion libraries are forthcoming). One's browser allows you to search hierarchically and filter content and effects by name, partial name, type, format, or tempo. You can use One's time-stretching abilities to match beats, and you can trigger and save individual beat slices and export MIDI beat-slice maps.

One has eight virtual racks, each capable of playing a different loop or sample, and you can save multitimbral combinations in a Multi. Each rack has independent MIDI channel, polyphony, tuning, multimode filter, pitch, and envelope parameters. Each rack also has its own 16-step sequencer, which holds as many as 32 samples. In addition, One has four independent effects processors — each offering dozens of delay, reverb, EQ, flanger, dynamics, distortion, and other processing presets. All parameters are MIDI controllable. You can download a demo version of One from AMG's Web site.

Novation ReMote Zero SL

Don't want another keyboard, but still need a remote control surface? Take a look at the ReMote Zero SL ($499.99) from Novation (www.novationmusic.com). It has all the MIDI control features of Novation's ReMote SL keyboards but without the keys, joystick, or touch pad. You still get 8 Velocity-sensitive trigger pads, 8 sliders, 8 rotary encoders, 8 rotary potentiometers, 6 transport controls, and 32 buttons — all MIDI assignable. And you still get rows of LCDs that reveal 16 control assignments and their values at a glance. You even get Novation's Automap, enabling automatic bidirectional communication between the ReMote Zero SL and Apple Logic, Propellerhead Reason, Ableton Live, and Steinberg Nuendo and Cubase (with more to come). That means you can scroll through sequencer tracks or racks of effects without touching your mouse. MIDI In, Out, and Thru and a USB port are on the rear panel.

The ReMote Zero SL comes bundled with the Xcite DVD-ROM, containing a collection of audio software such as Novation Bass Station, Ableton Live Lite 5, FXpansion BFD Ultralite, and 470 MB of LoopMaster samples. Also included is a template editor for mapping controls and creating your own Automap templates.

PreSonus DigiMax FS

Baton Rouge, Louisiana — based PreSonus (www.presonus.com) is now shipping the DigiMax FS ($799), an 8-channel mic preamp with eight channels of 24-bit, 96 kHz ADAT Lightpipe I/O. Each of the eight Class A preamplifier inputs has a Neutrik combination XLR and TRS jack, a direct TRS output, and a TRS insert for external processing before the output stage. TRS inputs on two channels accept guitar-level signals, and the remaining six accept line levels. In addition, each ADAT channel has its own ¼-inch D/A converter output.

Designed as a hardware expansion for digital mixers and audio interfaces, the DigiMax FS has BNC word-clock I/O and two Toslink connectors for dual-SMUX ADAT I/O. All eight channels have individual trim knobs, and you can toggle 48V phantom power for four inputs at a time. Front-panel buttons let you select either BNC or ADAT external sync or one of four internal clock rates. JetPLL jitter-reduction technology, licensed from TC Electronic, uses noise shaping to minimize jitter in the audio band and to ensure instant synchronization over a wide frequency range.

Disc Makers ReflexAuto3

Disc Makers (www.discmakers.com), manufacturer of DVD and CD duplicators, printers, and media, has introduced a high-speed automated tower duplicator called the ReflexAuto3 ($1,890). Capable of burning as many as 18 full DVDs or 26 full CDs in an hour, the ReflexAuto3 holds 100 discs at a time and can operate unattended for hours. Because it has a robotic arm, the ReflexAuto3 can successively duplicate several masters during a single run, and you don't have to manually change discs after every duplication session.

The ReflexAuto3 has a 160 GB hard drive and three 16x dual-layer DVD±R/48x CD-R Plextor drives. Disc Makers recommends its new smudge-proof, ink-jet-printable Ultra HydroShield CD-Rs for use with the ReflexAuto3.

DOWNLOAD OF THE MONTH

Minion 1.1 is a free filter-based, multi-effects plug-in with a unique, graphical modulation system. You can download Minion and demos of other Devine Machine plug-ins, most notably the new Lucifer 2 stutter-and-scratch loop processor, from www.devine-machine.com.

Minion has four effects buses, each of which can hold one of 16 effects. A small mixer in the control panel's lower-left corner sets the level and routing of each bus. You can route each bus directly to the output or into the bus to its right, which greatly expands Minion's effects-processing options.

Most of Minion's effects start with a 2-pole filter: lowpass, bandpass, highpass, or notch. Exceptions include rectifier, hard clipping, and volume effects as well as a peak EQ and power-lowpass filters. You can use the 2-pole filters by themselves or followed by waveshaping distortion. The effects sound great, but the real action is in the modulation.

Each effect has three parameters whose values are represented by the 3-D position of a colored ball. As usual, the dimensions are labeled X (horizontal), Y (vertical), and Z (depth); the z position is indicated by the size of the ball. The x-axis controls the filter-cutoff offset or pan position for all effects. The y-axis controls cutoff frequency for the filter-based effects. The z-axis controls the distortion amount for effects that use one of the waveshapers and resonance for the other filter effects. The y-axis and z-axis control other parameters for the remainder of the effects.

You can move the balls around with the mouse, but more interestingly, Minion has independent LFOs for each dimension of each ball. Each LFO has its own tempo-synced rate as well as offset, depth, and shape. The filter effects also have an envelope follower for controlling cutoff frequency. Moving-filter effects are great for processing almost any type of material, and Minion provides lots of motion (see Web Clip 1). The eye candy alone is worth the download.

REV UP

SUBMERSIBLE MUSIC DRUMCORE 2

With DrumCore 2 (Mac/Win, $249), Submersible Music (www.drumcore.com) has expanded its innovative approach to laying down drum tracks. Like previous versions, DrumCore 2 is a standalone virtual drummer that delivers 24-bit sound and live loops and variations played by prominent musicians. The new content furnishes additional musical genres and content from artists such as rock powerhouse Terry Bozzio, country legend Lonnie Wilson, and jazz percussionist John Bishop. Yes's drummer Alan White's tracks now include odd meters, too.

DrumCore 2's tempo is continuously variable, with bpm accuracy to three decimal places. Enhanced ReWire functionality lets you sync transport controls and playback tempo to any ReWire host. You get independent ReWire outputs and volume, pan, and pitch controls for each drum and cymbal. You can export DrumCore loops as REX2 files, and you can drag loops to REX2-compatible sequencer tracks. In addition, DrumCore can import REX2 and Acid files, and it even functions as a loop librarian.

FINALE 2007

As expected, MakeMusic (www.finalemusic.com) has released a major update to its top-of-the-line music-notation application. Finale 2007 (Mac/Win, $600) promises innovative features, new creative options, and increased productivity. The program can automatically generate dynamically linked parts as you create your score. Intelligent linking knows when to demand consistency and when to allow differences between your score and the individual parts, according to your preferences. Onboard video support automatically synchronizes imported clips in a resizable Movie window. Video work-flow features incorporate user-definable frame rates and refined timecode support.

Native Instruments Kontakt Player 2 and a library of instrumental sounds from Garritan Personal Orchestra are integrated into Finale 2007. You can now select from a variety of Latin percussion rhythms and instruments. You also get new engraver-level functions such as the Vertical Collision Remover, an Update Brackets And Groups command, and enharmonic spelling in chromatically transposed parts. Additional enhancements include improved Human Playback, updated playback controls, and support for Intel-based Macs. Upgrades are priced from $99.95 to $149.95.

DIGIDESIGN PRO TOOLS HD 7.2

Digidesign (www.digidesign.com) has released Pro Tools HD 7.2 (Mac/Win, $199 upgrade), the latest version of its audio workstation software. The upgrade gives Pro Tools|HD users enhanced mixing and postproduction functionality with more comprehensive automation and video capabilities. Now you can use standard editing commands to cut video with audio. You can create multiple playlists and video tracks in a single session and bounce edited video to QuickTime movies for fast auditioning. Combined with the new software, Digidesign's Icon control surfaces gain features previously found only on high-end consoles, such as VCA-style groups with fader spill, 2-knob surround panning, and jog-wheel scrolling and zooming.

Pro Tools HD 7.2 software offers a unique work flow and metadata support that allows you to link alternate-channel audio from multichannel field recorders. Right-clicking your mouse reveals new contextual menus and commands. You can independently nudge and slip fades as if they were audio regions, making it possible to create perfect fades without trimming. You can even turn Pro Tools into a standalone dubber and stem recorder. SignalTools, a new suite of multichannel metering and analysis plug-ins, is also included.