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INTRODUCTION

Mackie Speakers have been around quite a few years now and I have been a few bands that have used their SRM (Sound Reinforcement Monitors) range of speakers and I must say I have always thought they do a very professional job, are reliable with a great build quality and sound great. Mackie decided to re-design them and they now have a version 2 range of SRM speakers and following my review of their cheaper Mackie Thump range, I decided to look at the SRM 450v2.

I thought that the SRM 450 (both version 1 and 2) had 15inch woofers because of the frequency range that they both cover from 45Hz – 20KHz, but they do in fact have 12 inch woofers. This frequency range is as good as many 15” active monitors on the market.
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Here is something special I seemed to have missed from the NAMM 2012 show – the announcement of Access Virus Ti O/S 5 which is going to bring us some great new filters. This Synth just grows and grows and gets better all of the time. Have a look at this:-

Namm 2012 and it is amazing how many small items sound so huge. Korg have a couple of updated items with so much more but they have become very small – The Korg Kaossilator 2 which is a palm-size phrase synthesizer and the Korg Mini Kaoss Pad 2 a great little effects processor. I think this You Tube Clip says it all. Have a blast with these:-

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Namm 2012 and a great looking product to tempt you away from your existing Pad Controller – The KMI QuNeo 3D Multi-Touch Pad Controller which adds the power of touch recognition in other dimensions. It has 27 Pads, sliders and rotary sensors are pressure, velocity, and location sensitive. Even the 17 switches respond to how hard you press. It has a fantastic lumination scheme combining variably diffusive elastomers with 251 multi-color LEDs to give you immediate visual feedback that is responsive and very informative. It is a true experience of light, feel and sound.

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Namm 2012 and Nord has launched the brand new streamlined and portable hammer-action 88-note digital piano – The Nord Piano 2 HA 88. Those great guys at Sound on Sound have recorded some footage with Nord at Namm:-

With extensive additional feature sets that bring the hardware bang up to date with competitive rival plug-ins and a player’s piano feel and new controls making it all the more authentic, it covers all your bases.

Perhaps the most important addition is one of sympathetic strings, or Acoustic Resonance as it’s called here, which replicates the sounds of strings other than the ones you’re playing very gently reverberating in the background – it’s the piano ‘jangle’ that occurs when you hit an acoustic instrument’s keys hard with the sustain on, and its inclusion here can only make for a more authentic playing experience.
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Namm 2012 and Roland Cakewalk have announced the realease of SONAR X1d update to be available in February 2012. All registered SONAR X1 customers can download the free SONAR X1d update at Cakewalk.com.

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Namm 2012 and here is another great little product for Live Mixing where you can Mix on the Fly – Mackie DL1608 16-Channel Digital Live Sound Mixer with iPad Control. Mackie have also made this very funny video to show its potential:-

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Well I am sure you are no stranger to the Korg SV-1 piano. At Namm 2012 they have presented a limited edition reversing the black and white keys. Don’t forget if you need some extra sounds for your SV-1 at an extreamely reasonable price – just go here:- http://www.tonylongmusic.co.uk/korg-sv1-sound-pack/

Namm 2012 – Day 3. Here is a World first – The very first USB Keytar Controller from Alesis – The Alesis Vortex USB-MIDI Keytar Controller using MIDI and USB and a MIDI assignable accelerometer to bring your performance to new heights of showmanship with a simple tilt of the neck. In addition the Alesis Vortex features 37 velocity keys with aftertouch offering a complete melodic range, but also 7 assignable pads to create your own beats on the fly or trigger sequences and clips. Additional features on the neck include, a finger controlled touchstrip assignable to any MIDI function, a sustain button, a pitch-bend wheel, a thumb-controlled volume slider and octave buttons. Here is a brief clip as to what to expect:-

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OK – We are into Day 2 at Winter Namm 2012 and I am now looking at the Waldorf Pulse 2 Analogue Synth. This has been some wait since the original Waldorf Pulse that was with us in 1996. There seems to be a great influx of Analogue Synths at present as people seem obsessed with sounds from the past and what they can do with them 2012-style. They just  love the squelchy fat sounds full of knob-twisting ecstacy and filters that change every aspect of basic sound itself. Well I don’t know whether the Waldorf Pulse 2 is as good as this but hopefully in the later part of the year I will be doing a full review on one to find out- so bookmark this Site now.

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