Following up the success of its Duende FireWire DSP unit, SSL has introduced Duende MINI, a hardware box about the size of an external hard drive, but including the same DSP processing power of the 1U rackmount Duende. While the Duende comes with 32-channel capability, the $799 Duende Mini starts out with 16 channels–upgradeable to 32 for $399. Out of the box, Duende Mini includes SSL’s EQ and Dynamic Channel plug-in and can host other SSL Duende-powered plug-ins, such as the X-EQ and X-Comp. If you upgrade the Duende Mini to 32 channels and add the Stereo Bus Compressor plug-in for $399, you’d essentially have the same capability of the original Duende at the same price. Duende Mini is schedule to ship in February.
Sonnox has introduced its first plug-in since becoming an independent company in April 2007. With the new SuprEsser plug-in, it is attempting to fill the void of a professional quality de-esser in plug-in form. The highly featured SuprEsser includes a Simple mode for fast fixes, but also effectively doubles as a linear phase dynamic EQ when used in Advanced mode. Employing three listening modes and an intuitive visual waveform display, users can locate the problem frequencies quickly.
SuprEsser is scheduled to ship this March in RTAS, AU and VST formats for a price of $315. It will also be available for Sonnox’s customized bundles, in which customers can receive a discount of up to 40 percent, depending on the number of plug-ins they buy.
After a quiet 2007, Stanton is looking to rock the DJ world this year with its new SC System, a two-piece MIDI controller setup that can work as a tandem or as seperate units. The SCS.1m Mix Controller takes on the familiar appearance of a combination DJ/console mixer, with four channel strips, precision metering, a full FireWire audio interface and much more. Meanwhile, the SCS.1d Deck is the size of a full-size professional DJ CD player, except that it is MIDI only. It’s 10-inch high-torque motorized platter gives you a real turntable feel, and it also includes 4 360-degree rotary encoders. The SC System is schedule to ship in May for a price to be announced.
Hey Cory Lamb here on B.S.E. records at NAMM on the first day. Chilling with my favorite manufactures and making many new friends. I also went and talk to cakewalk about some new solfware powered by intel to use on my new up and coming album. I also headed over to my favorite mic. brand audio-technica and ran into Timothy B. Schmit. and his enginer Hank linderman.
and also heading over to see my friends at ultimite ears to check out there new product. and while blogging I also ran in to Leland Sklar one of the nices guys on the planet.
Building on a solid 1.0 release, M-Audio unveiled Torq 1.5 today, and it’s packed with new features to this up-and-coming DJ software. Let’s get right to the juicy new bits.
Improved Tempo/Pitch Alteration
•Tempo Anchors allow marking tracks with varying tempos—Torq’s effects and samples follow the tempo changes in the song
•Tempo Master assigns a playing track to serve as the master tempo source for all tempo-related functions
Advanced MIDI Control
•Transmit/receive MIDI beat clock for synchronization with other hardware/software and easy switching between DJs
•MIDI soft takeover prevents parameter jumps when using external controllers
New User Interface Features
•Hide Mixer option conserves screen space
•Preview songs in headphones before loading to deck
•New database categories for bit rate, file type, year and label
•Select multiple files to add to playlists
•Musical Style Preferences improve results when analyzing tracks
•Drag and drop songs into decks while in browser max view
•Warning message if loading a new song onto a Deck that is playing
•Warning message when attempting to exit Torq
•Global Tempo metronome can be monitored in headphones
•Auto Gain feature matches the gain levels between decks
Enhanced Effects Processing
•Internal effects can be grouped into effects chains
•VST effect tempo synchronizes with tempo of playing deck
•Effects can be used in a post-fader configuration
Rock-Solid Integration with Traditional DJ Hardware
•Skip Protection keeps the music playing even if the Control Vinyl or CD skips
•True Key Lock keeps the pitch constant when adjusting external turntable speed
The Bus, EM's editorial blog, features posts from all the EM editors on topics related to gear, recording techniques and much more. It's also home to posts from a selected group of guest bloggers.
