NAMM 2008: Hot New Products, Part 1

NAMM 2008: Hot New Products, Part 1

18 January, 2008 | 3.29PM

• Section: Music News Topics: Technology
• Written by: francispreve

Yesterday, in addition to chasing down interviews with club legends, we managed to have a peek at several new products from Arturia, Dave Smith Instruments, Akai and a few others.

Here’s our take on the first round of production tools for 2008.

Arturia

Arturia is entering the hardware game this year.

Big time.

In addition to a quick upgrade for their Prophet softsynth, they’ve announced two hardware synths.

Origin Keyboard (pictured in the main caption) is a mondo version of their Origin module, featuring integrated versions of their virtual synths: the Minimoog, the CS-80, the ARP 2600, the Moog Modular, the Jupiter-8 and the Prophet VS.

In addition to a 61-key velocity and aftertouch enabled keyboard, there are a slew of knobs and a dedicated 5.2” TFT screen for clear visual feedback. 

Origin Keyboard MSRP: $3,499 USD / 2,999 €

Arturia’s other hardware offering comes in the form of a hybrid package called Analog Factory Experience.

Based on the much-acclaimed Analog Factory 2.0, a software instrument offering 3500 legendary synthesizer sounds, Analog Factory Experience includes a high quality 32-key MIDI keyboard.

Musicians just need to plug the keyboard via USB and launch the software.

Analog Factory Experience MSRP: $349 USD / 299 €

Our Take?

Arturia products are absolutely top-notch when it comes to emulating vintage analog gear.

On the show floor, these new products sounded terrific.

Studio and laptop users will probably want to stick with the software-only versions, but live PA artists with a taste for analog-type sounds should definitely take a closer look.

Dave Smith Instruments

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, Dave Smith Instruments introduces two more incredible products.

In addition to a prototype of the LinnDrum II: Analog that we mentioned in Monday’s preview posting, Dave was demoing a brand new rack mount version of the Prophet ‘08, complete with the same fifty knobs and an identical sound engine to the keyboard version.

Unless you’re a touring act, rack mounting a Prophet seems a tad wasteful if you ask me, since you’d obviously want all those knobs right in front of you to twiddle and tweak.

Users will also have the option of ordering a tabletop wedge version for easier access.

Shipping in the spring, the coolest feature is its price.

MSRP: $1,649 USD

Akai

Akai is a company that has been at the forefront of hardware samplers for over 20 years.

With products like the legendary MPC line (originally designed by synth tech pioneer, Roger Linn), Akai cemented its role in hip hop and electronica production.

And speaking of the MPC, Akai is book-ending the series with two new units.

At the high end, the new MPC5000 takes the concept to an entirely new level by adding a three oscillator virtual analog synth, eight tracks of hard disk recording, 40 all-new effects and compression and EQ on the master bus.

This system could well give several software DAWs a run for their money.

At the other extreme is the XR20, a super-portable drum machine with 12 pads, along with Reverb, EQ and compression.

It’s nice to see this revolutionary product continuing to evolve.

Vir2

Vir2 Instruments is one of the hottest new names in sample-based softsynths.

At NAMM, Vir2 launched two products and announced a third.

Elite Orchestral Percussion is a 19 GB library of gorgeously recorded acoustic percussion that is designed to meet the needs of soundtrack composers.

But after listening, I’m convinced those sounds would be equally bombastic in a club track; it’s all a matter of context.

BASiS is their new bass softsynth that covers everything from electric bass guitar to hard and biting synths.

The neat thing here is that Vir2 has included quite a few customizable performance options for creating really dynamic riffs.

They also demoed a sneak preview of their MoJo horns collection, which is extremely well suited for traditional house and funk jams.

Alesis

Interesting fact: The Alesis SR-16 was the longest running beatbox in production, having remained unchanged since its introduction the early 1990s.

(If only the same could have been said about the TR-808, but I digress…)

This year, they dropped the SR-16 and replaced it with the SR-18, which retains much of the original’s charm, while adding effects, battery power (nice!) and an extended set of new sounds.

To some, this may be a subtle upgrade, but in a lot of ways, it sets up the portable beastie for another decade-long run in studios and backpacks.

-

For the next few days, we’ll be prowling the show floor and assessing this season’s crop of new products, so check back all weekend for even more reviews and information.

• (1) Comments
• (1675) Views