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M-Powered –M-Audio Making History
One of the first clear effects of the Avid (Digidesign) purchase of M-Audio was presented at Messe and although the product is not new to the ball game, it has never played in this field before. Poised to hit a home run for M-Audio is M-Powered, a version of ProTools software that will run with certain M-Audio interfaces. The software is similar to ProTools LE and supports 32 channels of 16 or 24 bit audio at up to 96kHz. You also have MIDI sequencing and access to all the RTAS format plug-ins out there. This is a truly positive effect of the M-Audio acquisition that will give musicians more interface choices if they want to use ProTools. Musicians are no longer limited to the M-box interface as the entry level ProTools interface. So if you already have a FireWire 410, 1814, or the new Ozonic you now can jump into ProTools land with full compatibility of an industry standard. You can order M-Powered now for $299.
 M-Audio has got to be having one of their most prolific years yet, on top of product announcements like the Trigger Finger at NAMM and the M-Powered ProTools mentioned above they have also introduced iControl, a hardware controller for GarageBand.
In addition, M-Audio also showed a new Compact Flash based recorder that will sit in the palm of your hand or easily store away in a shirt pocket. This will be a nice alternative to the Edirol R1 Flash-based recorder in that the M-Audio unit, while it doesn't have a built-in microphone, allows for 1/4” line or mic inputs rather than just the stereo-mini jack input of the R1.
A Big Show For The Little Guys
It has been great to see more and more independent
developers at the trade show displaying that some excellent
software can come from small companies.
Camel Audio, following up on the highly regarded Chameleon soft-synths, has jumped into the plug-in effect scene with two new releases –Camel Phat 3 and Camel Space. Both plug-ins have been developed with form and function in mind, simple but powerful user interfaces, and the ability to achieve very musical results with a minimum of tweaking.
 U-He,
headed up by Urs Heckman who was profiled in last years
Messe report with Zebra 1.5, was back again with Filterscape. This
is a great plug-in and I was really impressed with the powerful
user interface that lets you easily automate and switch between
8 different EQ responses. Other great features include
step sequencers and envelope followers for rhythmic effects.
The cool thing about software from these two independent developers is their unique perspective in user interface and overall design that allows you to get new types of sounds from standard effects processes. Definitely worth checking out.
Roll Your Own Control Surface with Mawzer
 I’ve imagined many times how great it would be to have a simple MIDI based control surface that I could easily customize to my exact needs. It looks that this could become a reality from Mawzer. The “mother brain” unit is housed in a guitar style pedal board case and you simply plug in various modules you want to use like faders, buttons, knobs and endless encoders, and coolest of all –X-Y touch pads. It looks like the initial cost for the “skeleton” is around $700 –not exactly cheap, but this isn't’t just a plain old plastic control surface. The good news is that the individual control modules start at around $30 and go up from there –the most expensive being the touch pad controller at $180.
Peaked My Interest
I’m a Mac user, and when it comes to stereo two track editing it is slim pickings with Peak and DSP Quatro being the two main titles. At Messe, Peak announced Peak 5 Pro and the new features are very enticing. It is clearly apparent that BIAS has paid close attention to what users have been asking for, and just as much attention in implementing the features in a clean and extremely well designed user interface. Things like a powerful new playlist browser that actually allows you to easily add and tweak crossfades directly from the browser. Another enhanced feature is improved sample-rate conversion that rivals dedicated sample-rate converters. There will also be a new package available dubbed Peak 5 Pro XT which will add extended high end processing features. New features include an EQ matching process called Repli-Q, an extensive frequency analysis tool set, and my favorite –a cleanly designed multiband compressor that allows you to see your bands and frequency response in the same window. The package will also include the SoundSoap Pro restoration plug-in.
Atomic Amps -Injecting Tubes into Guitar Modeling
 It seems that the digital world is luring more and more guitarists every day for the convenience of instant recall and multiple amp tones at a great price. Atomic Amps has a new device that can help bring back the “in your face” response that seems to be lacking in most amp modelers when played live. The Reactor is a tube amp that lets you insert your favorite guitar modular, say a Pod, into the amp itself and then sends it thru tubes with an electronic design that is optimized for getting the best tone out of your digital models. The amplifier stage was designed by Harry Kolbe -a legendary amp guru and tech. Of course, this could potentially be very cool for anyone who plans to perform live with soft-synths.
Finding Your Muse
Muse Research announced a significant update for their Receptor stand-alone plug-in box. One of the most significant improvements is that ADAT Lightpipe is now supported giving you 10 output channels to work with. Z-Load gives the ability for plug-ins to be preloaded by simply touching a plug-in then making it instantly recallable when you decide to bring it up -making it perfect for live performance changes. Also, the update provides for very simple but powerful MIDI Splits and Zones on individual channels. Another exciting upcoming feature is Uniwire, which allows the Receptor to be used for DSP processing for your DAW sequencer via a simple ethernet cable. I saw this working during a demo at the Muse booth and have to say it looks like a simple and low latency solution to harness the power of the receptor in your home studio.The Receptor is truly becoming a compelling alternative to a traditional computer based soft-synth and plug-in package.
Allen and Heath Takes MIDI To The DJ
 While the details are scarce, Allen and Heath were showing a prototype DJ mixer that has MIDI Control capabilities. Called the XZone 3D. The mixer functions as a standard analogue DJ mixer as well as having MIDI knobs, faders, and contol wheels for use with applications like Ableton Live. This is definately a product worth watching and hopefully it will make it to the street.
Arturia Breathes Life Into BRASS
Arturia, well known for their emulation of classic analogue synths has jumped into the world of horns with physical modeling technology to recreate the Trumpet, Trombone, and Saxophone all inside your computer. It's hard to evaluate sound quality on a trade show floor, but I suspect this is a leap forward for physical modeling of brass sounds.
Stay Tuned
There was plenty more to report on from Messe for 2005 and will be included in Part 2 of the Messe Notes. As always, stay tuned to the audioMIDI.com eNews for the latest reviews and new product info.
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Part 1