AES 2008: New Studio Gear, Rumours and Expectations

[Jeremy Lumsden]

Originally Posted by terminal3

- Pro Tools 8
- Focusrite Saffire Pro 40
- Focusrite Liquid Mix HD - looks like TDM versions of the Liquid Mix emulations
- Sonic Studio PMCD 3 - finally proper universal binary with 'lite' Sonic NoNOISE option as well

(more to come if I hear of it!)

re: Focusrite Saffire Pro 40.

Coincidentally, we've just published an end of line deal on the Focusrite Saffire Pro 10 on DV247

[terminal3]

Originally Posted by Jeremy Lumsden

Thanks Modz1. Maybe we should bundle with the Sonnox Elite Powercore Announced yesterday!

Just spoken to TC, UK pricing for Powercore 6000 to be confirmed shortly.

RRP on the continent is €2,999 (not sure if that's VAT in or out) so it ain't gonna be cheap, what with sterling being in the dumpster against the euro right now!

Still cheaper than a System 6000 though, and a lot smaller! My only concern is that part of the System 6000's charm is thought to be in the AD/DA stages.. they impart a colour which is pretty pleasing to the ear. We'll see how this stacks up...

[terminal3]

SSL X-Rack modules - 4k!!

Solid State Logic | News

Waves Silver bundle -

Waves | Bundles | Silver

New non-UAD plug-ins from SPL on the way as well... that could be very interesting.

New 500-series module from Purple Audio (a graphic EQ) ...

...

[terminal3]

OK, there will be something called the 'Complete Production Toolkit' (for LE)

Hopefully I get a nice cheap upgrade from my DV Toolkit 2.

Pro Tools LE WILL now support 7.1 surround with said toolkit.

There's a lovely little new Surround Panner to make use of this fine feature -

Digidesign | Products | Products | Surround Panner ES Option for Pro Tools

[Jeremy Lumsden]

Our friends at Thermionic Culture have told us:

Continuing on the bird theme related names, the latest offering from the English based Thermionic Culture is the Fat Bustard mixer. As always with Thermionic Culture, this a valve based design which has eight inputs, passively mixed to a stereo buss. The first four channels on the top row of the 3u 19” rack mount unit have fixed alternate panning, eg channel one is routed to the left, and channel two to the right, this is intended to be used with Pro Tools stereo mix stems for example. The bottom row of 4 input channels (channels 5-8) has a variable pan pot with a centre detent. All channels have an illuminated channel on/off switch.

Four valves are used, a pair of 5965 double triodes, the first half of which is pre-amp/eq , the second half is gain makeup in conjunction with the dedicated feedback control which determines the amount of THD. A feedback control at the "MAX" position will yield the cleanest signal possible, while reducing the feedback will add gain and some "valvy" 2nd harmonic distortion. The other pair of valves is the larger 6SN7 double triode connected in parallel to give massive headroom cleanly (approaching +30 dBm). Simple, yet effective bass and treble controls are available too. Connections include eight XLR inputs and two XLR rear mounted outputs, and the obligatory Thermionic Culture trademark square VU meters

UK pricing tbc. We will have a demo unit at one of the Digital Village locations in the next few weeks

[Jeremy Lumsden]

Originally Posted by terminal3

New non-UAD plug-ins from SPL on the way as well... that could be very interesting.

SPL announces Analogue Code plug-ins: Transient Designer, Vox Ranger, Bass Ranger and Full Ranger

The Transient Designer and a set of three EQs (Vox Ranger, Bass Ranger and Full Ranger, based on the passive graphic equalizers of the SPL RackPack) will be available as RTAS, VST and AU versions. TDM versions are soon to follow.


"We are proud to announce that our software design team has managed to transfer the class and extravaganza of our analog processing technologies into the digital domain." says SPL's CEO Hermann Gier. "We always knew that our analog designs have a big potential in the digital domain. Our greatest advantage is that we have developed some of the industry's most iconic products. Latest methods for the high-precision modelling of their circuit designs give us results beyond pure mathematical approaches. Our new digital products are so amazingly close to their analog equivalents now that we call them The Analog Code plug-ins".

Will have UK pricing shortly and shipping dates shortly.

Where's the SPL Lone Ranger?

[Jeremy Lumsden]

Originally Posted by terminal3

RRP on the continent is €2,999 (not sure if that's VAT in or out) so it ain't gonna be cheap, what with sterling being in the dumpster against the euro right now!...

Powercore 6000 is now listed on DV247.

Shipping late October / early November and I know the guys in the DV stores will be up for deals on this

[TrevCircleStudios]

Focusrite Liquid Mix HD - looks like TDM versions of the Liquid Mix emulations

seems like an odd move when it's essentially the hardware they are selling up to now...

Our friends at Thermionic Culture...

Would that be Nick T or Horse? We spent an pleasant evening over a glass or two of the foaming ales in Amsterdam debating this one (to the best of my recollection).

[terminal3]

Originally Posted by TrevCircleStudios

seems like an odd move when it's essentially the hardware they are selling up to now...

I'm told that the Liquid Mix does not integrate into Pro Tools as well as people would like (of course Digidesign doesn't like anyone using non-Digi DSP) - so I would imagine that the LM is a hard-sell to PTHD users at all. TDM seems logical - the plug-ins are still copy-protected so there's no piracy threat and they might be able to generate some cash. Basically it's a Sintefex box in TDM form...

Now, doing native versions of the plug-ins that ran as RTAS in LE would seem a rather stupid move... but I sort of understand this approach.

[Monarch]

Originally Posted by terminal3

Waves Silver bundle -

Waves | Bundles | Silver

...

I have to say I am disappointed with the price for the Silver bundle. I thought it would be lower. It seems more gold plated than anything else. Great plugs but a big missed opportunity IMO for Waves.

[terminal3]

Originally Posted by Monarch

I have to say I am disappointed with the price for the Silver bundle. I thought it would be lower. It seems more gold plated than anything else. Great plugs but a big missed opportunity IMO for Waves.

I agree. Buy the Renaissance Maxx bundle if you must have a Waves product and then fill in the gaps with stuff from other manufacturers.

[TrevCircleStudios]

if you must have a Waves product

I agree. R-verb and comp are pretty good actually. Otherwise, I wouldnt look far beyond mcdsp or UAD in the software realm.

[Jeremy Lumsden]

Pro Tools 8 has been announced here

Pro Tools 8 discussion here

[modz1]

Focusrite News from AES Show

Liquid Mix for Pro Tools HD

Liquid Mix HD combines the sound of priceless and historically significant compressors and EQs with all the benefits of operating directly inside the Pro Tools HD environment. Over 60 instances can be used simultaneously on an HD 3 system, and can be used for recording and mixing.

Each instance of the Liquid Mix HD plug-in provides emulations of one Compressor and one EQ, selectable from a choice of high-quality vintage and modern day classics. Forty Compressors and twenty EQs are available straight out of the box, with additional emulations available online for free. As per the original Liquid Mix, a hybrid user-defined 7-band ‘super EQ’ is available in every instance, built out of separate classic EQ bands.

Focusrite Liquid Mix HD


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Focusrite assume worldwide distribution of Forte Suite Plug-In

Based on the now-legendary Focusrite Forte recording console of the mid 1980s and utilizing virtual vintage modules, Forte Suite brings Focusrite’s sonic signature to Pro Tools with sophisticated modeling of the ISA 110 EQ and ISA 130 dynamics processors. Surround modes are also included as well as graphical representations of EQ, compression, and related module curves.

Focusrite Forte Suite



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A New Generation of Focusrite Firewire Audio Interfaces

The Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 is attentively designed to be the best sounding interface in its class with today’s project studio in mind.

Features:

i> Eight award-winning Focusrite pre-amps

ii> Ten analogue outputs, ADAT i/o, stereo SPDIF i/o and 2 virtual ‘loopback’ inputs for routing digital audio

iii> Comes with a Suite of Focusrite plug-ins. All-new Focusrite Compression, Reverb, Gating and EQ VST/AU plug-ins. Focusrite’s established xcite+ bundle is also included (Ableton Live Lite, Novation’s Bass Station soft synth and over 1 gig of royalty-free samples)

iv> Zero-latency 18 x 16 DSP Mixer/Router software sets a new standard for audio interface control (at price point).

Focusrite Saffire Pro 40



All products Available Nov.08

[mutilatedlip]

That Focusrite Sapphire is excellent value for money.

Who was it on here recently looking for something just like this?