Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Reason 3.0
Reason 3.0 should be available sometime in the new year. Many of the new features are focused on making Reason a powerful tool for live performance.
A new module, the Combinator, will allow users to build elaborate chains of Reason devices-instruments, effects, pattern sequencer etc., and save as a Combi patch. The Combinator can load multiple instruments and route them all through the same effect units and dynamic processors, making it a playable, performance friendly device.
Other new features include:
Remote: Instant out of the box integration with most major control surfaces.
New soundbank: An expanded soundbank with increased focus on providing a wide palette of multi sampled instruments and huge sounding Combi patches.
New browser: Find stuff faster with a free text search across your entire sound library, organize your sounds in favorite folders, audition play all samples and patches via MIDI.
MClass: A mastering suite comparable with any hard- or software units. The suite consists of a four band parametric + shelving EQ, a stereo processor, and a compressor and a maximizer with look ahead limiter.
Pricing, upgrades and other details should be released in January. According to Propellerheads, there won't be any free upgrades.
- Kelly
Posted at 8:48 AM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::
Thursday, November 25, 2004
M-Audio - yet another soundcard...
Continuing to expand their line of affordable soundcards, M-Audio has introduced the Fast Track USB.
This is a great little soundcard for recording guitars or vocals with professional 24-bit/48kHz sound, plus it includes software for adding effects to your recording - without any other gear necessary! Fast Track USB has a 1/4" instrument input, an XLR microphone input, as well as a headphone out and RCA stereo output jacks. The included software also functions as a ReWire or VST plug-in, so you can also use it with a compatible host program and take advantage of the included effects.
- Kristin
Posted at 8:20 AM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Keystation 88ES - lots of keys for a small price!
M-Audio recently expanded their popular line of Keystation keyboards with the Keystation 88ES - a full size, 88 key MIDI Controller. This keyboard is perfect for anyone with a piano/keyboard background - it has a full size, 88 key keyboard - so you don't have to worry about running out of room when recording, plus the keys are semi-weighted, giving you a fairly realistic keyboard feel! For the studio musician, the Keystation 88ES includes pitch and modulation wheels, slider, and buttons which make it equally useful for playing and programming synths, samplers. It's also bus-powered, so one simple USB cable is the only connection you need! And at under $300 US, this keyboard is an excellent value!
- Kristin
Posted at 8:44 AM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::
Thursday, November 18, 2004
The R-4 - Multi-track recording and editing without a computer.
Edirol recently announced the R-4, four channel digital recorder and wave editor. The R-4 is a complete recording unit with a 40GB hard drive, four channels with 24-bit/96kHz stereo recording, a built-in limiter and 5 different dynamic processors. It also has a large LCD display, which makes it great for editing audio with its Wave-Form Editor - you can trim, append, split and merge files all without having to go to your computer! The R-4 can drop markers anywhere within an audio file so you can quickly and easily skip back and forth to important points and it can also loop any section of audio with its A-B Repeat function.
Connections on the R-4 include 4 XLR/TRS combo microphone jacks with phantom power, RCA analog output, S/PDIF Coaxial Input and Output, built-in stereo microphones, built-in speakers, and a USB jack for connection to a computer. The USB2.0/1.1 port allows your computer to see the R-4 as a USB Mass Storage Device for high-speed Drag & Drop access to files. Plus, connect the R-4 to any LANC compatible video camera to sync start and stop through an L connector.
This powerful recording unit is scheduled to start shipping in February 2005
Posted at 11:18 AM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Steinberg & Canadians...
Steinberg Canada has recently released a policy regarding Canadian customers who purchase Steinberg products from outside of Canada. The message is simple - you are on your own if you don't purchase from a Canadian authorized dealer. Steinberg Canada refuses to provide tech support and upgrades to Canadians who purchase their Steinberg products outside of Canada. Apparently Steinberg US isn't willing to provide these services to Canadians, even if they made their purchase in the US.
If you read Steinberg's policy you can understand that they can only support their Canadian service centre by selling product to Canadian customers. They don't get any revenue when Canadians buy Steinberg products outside of Canada, so they don't want to offer their service to those who choose to import rather than buying locally.
Although understandable, it is frustrating since most US dealers don't make their Canadian customers aware of this, and Steinberg US hasn't acted to prevent US dealers from selling into Canada. Is there a better solution?
Perhaps Steinberg (now owned by Pinnacle) needs to finance their support on a global basis, instead of forcing local distributors to provide the service out of their own revenues. At least if they were to do this for North America, it would make life easier and less confusing for customers. Or perhaps Steinberg can implement a policy of providing tech support from the office that sold the product. If you buy from a US dealer, you get tech support from Steinberg US, if you buy from Canada, you get service from Toronto, and if you buy from Steinberg Germany, well, I hope you speak German!
Support is such an important and vital component of any software vendor's business model, but it is often overlooked. Personally, I would be willing to pay more for a product that has a great reputation for tech support than by saving a few bucks and buying something that will waste hours of my time waiting on hold.
Has the time come to sell support separately? Reduce the price of the software, provide everyone with one free tech support incident, and after that it is pay as you go?
- Kelly
Posted at 12:24 PM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::