.oO LATEST KEYBOARD NEWS Oo.     written and collected especially for AM/FM by André Meyer  ______________________________________________________________________________  |     |       |     |       |     |       |     |       |     |       | |   |     |       |     |       |     |       |     |       |     |       | |   |     |       |     |       |     |       |     |       |     |       | |   | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Dear AM/FM-readers, first of all I want to say that I am terribly sorry for these old news (some of them are two months old though!), but the main editor of this magazine (Bjřrn A. Lynne - your favorite AM/FM-editor?!?) has been quite busy lately with doing his music to a theatre play and also with working on the music for his next CD. Obviously, this issue you are just reading has been released a bit later than usual. However, I hope you find my news as good as always anyway. Enjoy reading, André Meyer, Editor GVP DSS8+ Great Valley Products, well known for their good hardware products for the Amiga, have just released their new DSS8+ Amiga stereo sampler. The DSS8+ package includes the DSS8+ sampler hardware, improved software (with ARRex interface and Control Panel that allows to control the hardware by other applications) as well as a detailed manual. The software offers the standard options like sampling, copying, pasting etc. as well as channel switching, a programmable low pass filter, a built-in mixer and the possibility to create a sequence (e.g. like in OctaMED or ProTracker). It is also possible to control a MIDI interface without leaving the program. Sampling can be done in up to 51.136kHz in mono or 42.613kHz in stereo. For a detailed review of the GVP DSS8+, look out for it in this issue! Roland TD7 Roland's latest drum sound-module is the TD7 and comes as a 9.5", 1U device. Actually it belongs to Roland's new "Digital Drum System", but it can be naturally also used with MIDI. It offers 512 sounds (various drums and percussion sounds) as well as some few other melody instruments, which is quite unusual for a drum module but might be a nice feature. It has got 14-note polyphony and 4-part multitimbral- ity, can hold 32 drum-sets in the memory at the same time, which can be manipulated by its extensive editing options, an effect-section (with reverb, delay, chorus, flanger etc.), 9 stero trigger inputs (!) and 1 HiHat-control input, 4 audio outputs, MIDI in/out, an AUX-input for a CD-player etc. But its speciality is the built-in sequencer, which actually is not a usual sequencer. You can create a sequence (pretty similar to the Korg Wavestation's "Wave Sequences"), which can be triggered by pressing a key. This sequence is then always repeated (even if you don't hold the key!). Once you have pressed the key again, the sequence stops playing. Emu Morpheus Emu Systems' latest synthesizer is the Morpheus. It comes as a 1U 19" rackmounting-device and incorporates Emu's new Z-Plane synthesis, with which it is possible to crossfade two sounds ("morphing"). Another speciality are its eight 14-pole filters. According to Emu it should also feature extensive control via MIDI. Other features are 32-note polyphony, 16-part multitimbrality and two effect processors. SunRize Samplers Rumours say that SunRize are just working on a cheaper version of their pretty expensive 16-bit hard disk sampling system. The new card will probably offer the same options like its more expensive brother, except SMPTE support and the built-in DSP. Blue Ribbon Bars & Pipes Pro2 Upgrade According to Blue Ribbon, buyers of Bars & Pipes Professional v2.0 complained about the bugs in the program. Because of this, an upgrade of it is now being offered to registered owners for free. The update will not be sent out automatically, so if you would like it, contact the Blue Ribbon division in your country. Blue Ribbon have also released a new collection of tools designed for Media Madness as well as additional standard tools for the prog's MIDI exploits. Emu Vintage Keys Upgrade The upgrade for the Emu Vintage Keys features 8 MB of new waveforms. Among others, there are also the famous Techno-drums from the Roland TR808. Korg X3 The Korg X3 is the successor of the 01/W. It is based on Korg's AL2 synthesis, has a 32-note polyphony and offers, according to Korg, 340 multi-sounds and 164 drum sounds, most of which were totally new sampled. In the 6-megabyte ROM you have access to 200 Programs, 200 Combinations and 128 General Music-Programs, and with an optional RAM- card you have access to further 200 Programs and 200 Combinations. Other features are two seperate effect-processors with 48 effects (e.g. chorus, delay, overdrive, rotary speaker), a built-in 16 track- sequencer with a capacity of 32.000 events, and a 3.5" DD-floppy drive. JBL SR Series II JBL have just launched the models of their new SR Series II line of loudspeakers, including stage monitors, full-range systems and subwoofer systems. Two- and three-way configurations are available, with speaker sizes ranging from 12" to 18". Korg i2 / i3 Already mentioned in the Keyboard News-section of AM/FM #15, here are detailed information about the Korg i3: The built-in interactive "Arrengement"-option is the special feature of it, as it recognizes a lot of kinds of chords over the whole keyboard, and not only in a selected range. The 48 preset rythms can be edited by changing sounds, for example. 64 own ryhthms can be created and saved by the built-in 3.5" floppy drive. It also features 340 multi-sounds, 256 editable Programs, the same effect-section as well as the same 16-track sequencer of the 01/W. The i3 is also available with 76 keys and 6 megabytes of waves, which is called Korg i2. Akai DP88 The 2U 19" rackmounting-device called DP88 is Akai's new digital patchbay. It has to 10 in- and outputs, eight of them are XLR-in/outs and two are optical ones. Altogether 128 configurations can be stored. Roland S750 / S770 Turbo-Kit A turbo-kit is now being offered by Roland to all owners of an S750 or an S770. According to Roland, it should increase the speed for about 30%, heavily improve the timing, and also the screen should be displayed faster. The improvement is caused by replacing the 12 mHz CPU with a 16 mHz chip. Akai S2800 / S3000 / S3200 Sounds The Akai factory library for the new S-series has been increased by 40 disks, which particularly offer analog-sounds of classical synthesizers as well as House, Pop and Techno sounds. Roland W30 Memory Upgrade Roland's memory upgrade for the W30 allows you to expand it up to 13 megabytes. These 13 megabytes include six banks of RAM and six banks of ROM. The ROM banks can contain your own samples, which will be burned onto chips by PA Decoder in Germany. Soundcraft Folio SI Soundcraft's new Folio SI mixer comes in a 18:2 rack-mounting or tabletop version. It features six unbalanced stereo inputs with three-band fixed EQ, a pair of balanced stereo inputs with two-band EQ, a pair of tape returns, and two mono inputs, each with a mic preamp, 48V phantom power for several mics, high-pass filter and three-band EQ with swept mid. All channels have two aux sends. There is also a 12-segment bargraph metering. Emu Sound Engine Actually I have not got many information on this. Anyway, the Emu Sound Engine is a 32-note polyphony module, which is based on the Proteus-series and is compatible to the GM-standard. Further information probably in the next issue. AKG DSM 7 The AKG DSM 7 is a small device to check digital audio connections, such as XLR, RCA and optical ones. The DSM 7 is compatible to the AES/EBU and the S/PDIF formats. Status-LEDs indicate parameters like SCMS-copy protection, emphasis or sampling-rate. Besides there is a row of LEDs that show the volume. It also offers a built-in D/A- converter and a mic-amp.