Two readers have sent follow-up videos (well, one a sort of slide show with audio) regarding tools previously mentioned on CDM, so it’s time to check in and see if we can learn more about these products.

Electronic Kits

Some readers lamented that the Zendrum MIDI controller was a compact unit with pads rather than arrayed like a traditional drum kit. True, that’s part of the point — supreme portability — but if you like your MIDI triggers in a conventional configuration and still want something expressive and unique, you should have a look at the NS2 electronic drum kits from RET. Zendrummer John Emrich must also love the NS2, because he does the demo performance of the NS2, as well — with even more convincing, realistic effect. (Disclaimer, since this evidently upset people last time: using a sampled acoustic kit as the drum sound for the trigger says a lot about the controller, because it reveals how sensitive and consistent the controller is, much as our ears can easily hear how good a MIDI keyboard is by listening to a sampled grand. These are the sounds we know well. Some of you just don’t like drum kits, so you guys I can’t really help.)

R.E.T. Percussion [Audio demo by John plays as soon as you open the page, with accompanying digital slide show]

I know nothing about the NS2, but from what I can tell — and from John’s endorsement — it merits consideration. Thanks to Bryan Tewell for the tip!

Updated: I couldn’t find this on the page but sure enough, there’s a full demo video by John from summer NAMM.

Latest from Universal Audio

The DCS (Desktop Console System) already caught our eye with beautiful design and an interesting philosophy: give computer audio users a high-end mic pre and DI in a compact form factor, perfect for project studios. The demo video from UA offers up more details, but it also teases us with something at the end:

DCS Remote Pre Demo [Universal Audio; video links]

“S” from tychomusic writes:

“If you go watch the demo video for the DCS preamp, at the end there’s mention of the forthcoming Monitor Master and the screen print artwork is shown briefly. This seems like a cool piece, since the only real options in that department are the big knob (pretty bad) and the central station (quite good, but probably not as good as a UA piece) Anyways, I can’t find any real images of it anywhere on the web, this seems to be the only thing out there right now.

Monitor master — sounds good to me, and definitely in line with the ideas behind the DCS pre.

Correction: I incorrectly stated that Euphonix themselves collaborated with UA; instead it is Euphonix co-founders and veterans of the company Scott and Rob Silfvast. I apologize for the error. In a way, this is even better; they represent some of the individual design vision behind Euphonix. See Scott Silfvast’s ideas at the end.

This weekend is the high-end AES audio show in San Francisco, meaning we get to ogle beautiful gear with serious-looking VU meters and drool-worthy audio quality. Universal’s new modular “desktop console system” is at the top of the list on both counts, and it’s actually geared at the project-sized computer music studio.

At long last, Universal Audio’s UAD-1e DSP platform brings Universal’s retro-styled mixing and mastering plug-ins to the increasingly popular PCI-Express (PCIe) bus. Why is that cool? Well, for starters, it lets you run effects like perfect emulations of the retro Roland effects shown here.

Now, some readers here have been skeptical of the performance improvements of PCIe (though, compatibility-wise, many computers make it a necessity). But Universal says the new cards deliver a quantifiable improvement over PCI and PCI-X. Joe Bryan, VP of technology, says PCIe provides lower system overhead, more reliable low-latency operation, and more tracks (up to 254 per card). That’s consistent with what we’ve heard from other vendors like Digidesign. (Of course, the advantage of Universal is, unlike the Pro Tools platform, you can add Universal’s plug-ins to any Mac or Windows DAW you like.)

Bryan also mentions the ExpressCard bus included on recent PC laptops and Apple’s MacBook Pro, which I hope means Universal is considering a mobile-ready product.

Contrary to popular belief, Digidesign ain’t the only game in town when it comes to hardware DSP for effects and instruments. Universal Audio writes us to say that today they’ve updated their UAD-1 DSP system; version 3.9 adds support for Mac OS X Tiger. Users of Logic Pro 7.1 and the upcoming Live 5 will enjoy better support for the UAD-1 on their end, too, thanks to new latency compensation in each of those packages.

There’s a goodie in the new release, too: an emulation of the Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble stompbox, for creating analog-style, wide-stereo effects. The CE-1 was developed by UA in partnership with Roland, the first of three promised stompboxes. For those of you who sing the Song of Roland, I’m sure you’ll crave this. (The update includes a 14-day demo; you’ll have to shell out the US$99 for chorusing after that. If you’re buying a UAD-1 new, there’s a free compressor promotion through the end of June.)

By the way, two things I like about the UAD-1. First, it’s got just one, big vector chip for DSP, saving some of the typical bottlenecks on DSP cards. Second, their slogan is “Analog Ears, Digital Minds,” which seems in keeping with the spirit of CDM. Or . . . wait . . . are we more “Analog Minds, Digital Ears.” Or . . . “Analog Ears, No Mind.” Well, something like that. So, any UAD-1 aficionados out there? Give us a buzz.