I can’t say this was a mind-blowing week by any stretch – I’ve been perfectly happy to stay here in New York, thanks. (Germany, may I ask, why is that you don’t hold events in Berlin?) But there is some news, so let’s have a look:

Dark Energy is a standalone analog synth from Doepfer. For those of us who have looked enviously at big Doepfer racks, but couldn’t afford / find space for / lift them, this is huge news. It’s a monophonic, standalone synth with USB and MIDI (and, naturally, control voltage), weighing just over a kilogram. Once you get beyond the MIDI interface, everything is analog. VCO (triangle-based, FM, PWM control), VCF (24 dB low pass) with external audio input, VCA, LFO1 and LFO2, ADSR. It’s basically a standalone version of the A-111-5 module. As such, it’s a bit limited compared to what’s out there, but there’s still a lot you can do with it, and at EUR400 it’s a Doepfer you can more easily afford.

Dark Energy Product Page

I actually wish they hadn’t used the vintage-style look, because I like the distinctive, Cyberman-silver look of the Doepfer racks. (Maybe a Light Energy version for those who agree?) But that doesn’t make your credit card any less safe from this drool-inducing monster.

The Miniak is a new synth from Akai that crosses the Alesis Micron synth with an Akai body, adding a boom mic and a 40-band vocoder. There are also some Akai-style features – step and phrase sequencing, and a drum machine/rhythm sequencer. There’s no question this is an attempt by Akai to position the Miniak opposite Korg’s microKORG XL and R3 – and, perhaps, an acknowledgement that the “Alesis” nameplate doesn’t mean much to anyone these days. But given the fact that a lot of people like the sound of the Micron better than the Korg, I think it could be a contender. No pricing yet.

Akai Miniak

In other, if less earth-shaking, Akai news, Akai has added an 88-key MPK, their controllers with MPC pads on them. It also includes MPC Note Repeat and Swing. That’s cool, but for 88-key keyboards, action is everything, so I wonder how the quality may be. I haven’t been blown away with Akai on build quality lately. (As an aside, I think these are all variable — some people love them. You tend to hear positive and negative comments about any lower-cost items. I guess part of my concern is I don’t have much experience with 88-key keybeds from Akai or Alesis, so we’ll see what they use and judge then.) The MPK88 also suffers from the same thing I complained about on the Novation SL: the control layout is exactly the same to save cost, even with the added keys, so you get this oddly-cramped control layout in the center and then big blank spaces on either side. Then again, you have a place to store sheet music, sandwiches, etc.

There’s also the rather sad-looking MPD18, which is a 4×4 MPC pad controller with just one fader. I think most people would rather have the MPD24 or MPD32 which actually have other controls on them.

So, in other words, Akai’s APC40 Ableton controller from NAMM and the Miniak from this show are likely to be the big newsmakers.

Samplitude 11 / Sequoia 11: The beloved (if not terribly widely-known) audio software from Magix is getting a pretty significant update – and best of all, Magix is dropping the dongle in the basic version. (See KVR for some heated debate about the value proposition there.) Samplitude has a new integrated UI, a new effects suite, “artifact-free” timestretching, and a new EQ. Sequoia adds “multisynchronous cut” for easier comparison of takes and visual feedback when timestretching, AAF/OMF support, video export, and new user admin features. There’s also a new guitar amp simulation, though I’m unclear why the world needs another of those. Sadly, details are scant right now and someone had the terrible idea of spending time instead of Flash animations of bird woodcuts (see my caption for the image above), but go enjoy:

Samplitude

I love OpenLabs, in that they seem – kind of crazy. DBeat is the latest in their line of massive hardware-computer hybrids. Interestingly, their capacitive touch screen will be multi-touch capable with Windows 7, which is very cool. Otherwise, well, everything you could put on this, they did – that is indeed an iPod dock on the top and a trackball on the bottom right. It comes preconfigured with Ableton Live and their own Riff virtual instrument host, plus GURU running inside Riff.

DBeat [Open Labs]

What you get is an integrated hardware interface and pre-tuned software configuration – though I do wonder how you get inside for repairs / upgrades. It costs US$3999 – 3499 intro – but make one Geico ad and it should pay for itself, as the NeKo did for these guys:

Euphonix with their MC Transport have created what must be acknowledged as the world’s most beautiful jog wheel. It even has a gorgeous Time Code Display, made … well, quite small, apparently because it’s artier? Those are transport buttons, function keys, navigation controls, and of course a numeric keypad, and it all connects via Ethernet – something I’d love to see more of. The controls work with Euphonix’s own EuCon, plus HUI, MackieControl, and plain keystroke support. For those of you who can’t afford an entire Euphonix setup, get the jog wheel!

MC Transport

The surprise news of the store: PreSonus Studio One, a new DAW. Apparently we don’t have enough of those with Samplitude (see above) and Pro Tools and Logic and DP and Cubase and Tracktion and Live and Reaper and Ardour and … so on. As with Mackie’s Tracktion, the goal appears to be to build a new foundation from the ground-up, for easier ease of use and slicker features. But I’m still scratching my head as to what the real advantage is here. The primary selling point is a new audio engine that can switch between 32-bit and 64-bit floating-point audio processing on the fly. (They note “even with a 32-bit OS,” but that’s true of all 64-bit audio; it’s not directly related to the OS.) Other features seem Ableton-influenced – drag-and-drop, instant timestretching and (again, as with Tracktion) a one-window interface. But all in all, this looks like reinventing the wheel to the extreme. (A new virtual sampler!)

One interesting implementation detail: MIDI mapping is designed to be easier, by moving your hardware control and software control for linking. (That’s the way assignment works, for instance, internally in Kore.) And there’s full Mac and Windows audio interface driver and plug-in support, plus even VST3 support.

But if you’re building a new tool in a crowded marketplace, why not do something really different? Why not support OSC or build in clever new networking features or change the interface paradigm? This entire industry sometimes seems addicted to reinventing proprietary tools to create new “platforms,” without any real thought into why we’re doing it. And I personally can’t describe how little I want another DAW. (I could try breaking down and crying, for effect.)

Maybe it’s fantastic. But even if it is, it certainly didn’t take this opportunity to do something radically new.

PreSonus Studio One

And the oddest photo from Messe (snagged for us at CDM):

Messe Picks

These wound up being the biggest stories of the show for us personally – in part, just in terms of what I’m anticipating.

The synth that stole the show without making a sound (meaning, it had better sound great when it ships):

Teenage Engineering OP-1: Insanely Slick, Pocketable Controller + Synth

Operator-1 Details: The Casio VL-Tone of the 21st Century, Plus the Synth Alarm Clock!

High-Density Screens Due; OP-1’s Gorgeous Display

There was one actually-shipping software program that has made a big splash, naturally.

Ableton Live 8 Released (For Real)

A major announcement:

Garritan Rescues Giga Sampling Technology, Talks Open Standards (to me, the biggest news of this show)

Updated Novation ReMOTE SL Line, and the Controller Keyboard Battle Heats Up (cool, though not the “product of the show” Novation hyped it up to be)

Cakewalk V-Studio 100: Mixer + Recorder + Computer Audio Interface + Controller

And no, nothing I covered this week was an April Fool’s Joke. Jeez.

Did I leave anything of import out of this round-up? Let us know!

Disagree with my take? Say so. (That’s why we have open comments.)

For lovers of the simplicity and fun of the Casio VL series, a successor seems is finally here. The Operator-1 (OP-1), even in prototype form, has us hot and bothered more than anything we’ve seen recently. We’ve been able to snag some additional details.

MusicRadar got a video with the creators, though you won’t learn anything new from that. In the interview, Teenage Electronics are just as tight-lipped as they were on the website, and the video “demo” is basically watching the OLED screen light up inside a glass case, with no sound – the prototype just isn’t ready to do more out in public yet.

However, our friend Nostromo did manage to get some other details.

• Swedish All Stars: The team includes veterans of Elektron, the ACNE design firm that worked on MachineDrum and MonoMachine packaging and UI, and Johan of LSDJ fame.
• Casio love: The inspiration is, not surprisingly, hardware like the Casio VL-1.
• Pricing: It’s unofficially expected to be “under the 1000 Euros mark." Note that the target price is EUR600, which is pretty far under EUR1000. Anywhere near that, and it’s a steal.
• Production: They do plan to put this into production. (I believe that, despite my awesomeness vs. shippingness graph – I’d love for them to be the exception.)
• The “mystery” sequencer: It sounds as though it won’t have a tracker as a sequencer, but may bring other “Swedish surprises” as Nostromo puts it.

Back from the messe [nostromo@noisepages]

And a friend of ours also sent along some impressions from the booth (with an even more encouraging target price, if they can pull it off):

The Operator-1 was under glass, so I couldn’t touch it. It is made of solid aluminum, and about an inch wider and longer than a nano controller (have you gotten yours yet, btw?). The OLED [Organic LED] screen is predictably gorgeous, and you really have to be off-angle for the contrast to be affected. It has a USB-rechargeable battery,

It has a rechargeable battery, but no real indication of what battery life is yet.  There’s a 1/8” in, and I was told It will apparently have sampling “in the future.”  They’re looking to hit a price of around 600 Euros, but who knows.  They’re currently working very hard on the sequencing bits.

Also shown by Teenage Engineering are these concept alarm clocks. When they’re not just empty boxes, they’ll have 16×16 LED displays, and the internal synth workings of the Operator-1. Wake up each day to a different synthesizer sound! This would last 10 seconds in my apartment, before I throw it across the room in a groggy haze.

Keep in mind, nothing here should be considered official or on the record. This is stuff that was overheard in the booth, and for a design that’s in-process. I can tell you from having worked with designers that finding price points is incredibly hard, so I feel their pain – even if you want to charge x amount, you may have to balance that against other design compromises you don’t want to make, to say nothing of scale.

Official information from their blog on the beta:

The Beta sign-up is non-binding and all of you who has signed up, will get a confirmation email when the time is right.  • The Beta release is scheduled (very) late this year.  • The hardware dev. is on schedule and will be finalized before summer.  • 4 synth modules are completed and 4 more are under dev.   • We will mail more information next week to all Beta prospects.

But I can certainly say, the thousands who signed up for the beta and I are very, very eager to watch this evolve.

And I want to wake up to those alarm clocks.

Novation has unveiled their revised SL line of controllers, dubbed the SL Mk II. The changes are subtle, but significant.

Looks awesome:

• Fatar semi-weight “fast touch” keyboard action
• Touch-sensitive controls for immediate feedback on the LED screen
• Buttons are now backlit
• Encoders are ringed with red LEDs
• Dedicated buttons for enabling Automap and switching modes (effects, mixing, etc.)
• Speed Dial!
• Bundled with Automap 3 PRO software, which now features keystroke assignment and a heads-up display (and PRO is free with a new keyboard, as expected, though there’s still an upgrade fee if you’re a current owner)
• The ZeRO now has a crossfader
• Lovely new silver-colored knob and fader caps – and a prettier-looking design, in general
• The pads may be flatter on top (the old model has odd, stiff raised pads – I’m hoping that’s improved here)
• It’s the tried-and-trusted SL – with all the software support that entails

Looks less awesome:

• The pads are still tiny
• The X/Y joystick for pitch/mod can be an acquired taste
• Novation has dropped the second LED screen strip above the faders, leaving only the one above the encoders. (not a deal killer, probably, because you can look at the physical position of the faders)
• No crossfader on the keyboard models (Edirol is the one keyboard maker I know of who have done this)
• The transport controls have been relocated to the buttons under the faders, which looks like they’ll be a little tougher to access
• Apparently in the interest of cost savings, the SL mk II will still have the same controller layout on the bigger keyboards – meaning if you have a 49-key or 61-key model, there’s a big blank space instead of more room for controllers (just as on the original SL). Put your iPod touch / iPhone there for extra controls, perhaps. This time, it’s centered, instead of all at one end.

All in all, though, I’d say this is a pretty big step forward. The SL really did set the bar for controller integration and providing a really solid feel. It has always been pricey, but it’s nice to feel a keyboard maker takes computer musicians seriously, instead of giving us the bottom-of-the-barrel “budget” stuff.

I also have to say, too, there’s nothing out there that really can compete with the keyboard-less ZeRO. For quick controller access to your computer software in a layout that fits on your desk (angled with the optional stand), it’s just about perfect. And since M-Audio no longer makes their former Evolution UC-33e, this category is entirely Novation’s.

I’m still concerned about the things I don’t love on the original SL – namely, the drum pads and the tendency of the X/Y pitch/mod joystick to stick. I still quite like the SL Compact: it has bigger pads and traditional pitch and mod, and it’s also cheaper.

On the other hand, you get some additional feedback from the LED rings around the encoders and the backlit buttons, which is a good thing. And the Automap Pro 3 software looks powerful – heads-up displays are, I believe, the future.

The competition between Novation’s refreshed SL and M-Audio’s new Axiom Pro should be very interesting, indeed. The details on each are almost exactly opposite, especially considering they’re basically the same product concept. The Axiom Pro integrates directly with software without the need for a helper app running, as Novation’s, and its controls are just a little more traditional. Novation is adding lights, but M-Audio is mainly leaving them off. For the screen, M-Audio opted for a single, higher-resolution rectangular display instead of the low-res strips on the top of the Novation.

Also, the Novation I believe is still not MIDI class-compliant, meaning the M-Audio piece works on Linux and Novation doesn’t.

M-Audio’s higher-end keyboards (ignoring some of their poorer-quality cheap models) and Novation’s keyboard line have both been extremely competitive. Seeing them square off directly sounds great to me.

Most important to me: just how these things feel, and how well the integration and customization works. Both start shipping in April. Stay tuned.

ReMOTE SL Mk II

ZeRO SL Mk II

(any hopes of MOre norMAL CAPitalizaTION in the nEW RElease, obviously not happening…)

Previously:

M-Audio Axiom Pro Offers Novation Automap Rival – If You’ve Got the Right DAW

Automap 3 Pro: New Heads-Up Display, More Flexibility for Dynamic Controllers

Grab the Automap 3 Beta from Novation; Use it with Reaper, More

Update:

Pricing looks slightly steeper than on the original models. DV247 (street) prices:

GBP299.99 ZERO (no keyboard) MK2

GBP329.99 SL25 MK2

GBP399.99 SL49 MK2

That’d be US$575 at the going exchange rate for the 49-key model, though pricing often doesn’t exactly adhere to conversion rates for currency.

Of course, you can expect discounted pricing on the older models. (Thanks, RCUS!)

Here’s a cruel joke for you: the first day of Frankfurt’s Musikmesse trade show? The date on which all the music tech press releases for the show have dated their embargo? April First.

Now, to me, the whole point of April Fool’s is surprise, or at least humor. April Fool’s has become so obligatory that everything from faux press releases to blog posts are dedicated to the topic whether they were inspired or not. So, you know what? No April Fool’s Day here. Anything covered on this site tomorrow will be – to the best of my knowledge, anyway – real. (Or as near reality as we ever get.)

Ironically, news in our world is so unsurprising, any interesting news is immediately suspected of being fake. Teenage Engineering’s Operator-1 is so cool looking that, aside from concerns it may not ship, some of you have gone so far to worry the whole thing is an elaborate April Fool’s prank. (One clue that that’s nonsense: it was announced on March 30. It even missed the Ides of March.)

But there you go: case in point. Reality actually can be cool. So we’ll stay away from the pranks this year, and any foolery will be of the technological kind. Enjoy.