Tag Archives: gear news

Line 6 Sonic Port Transforms iPod touch, iPhone and iPad into Studio-Quality Guitar System

Line 6, Inc., leading manufacturer of innovative solutions for musicians, today announced the new Sonic Port guitar system for iPod touch, iPhone and iPad. Building on the success of the popular Line 6 Mobile In digital interface, the Sonic Port system delivers pristine audio quality, legendary Line 6 guitar tones and all the inputs and outputs needed to transform a mobile device into a studio-quality music creation system.

“Sonic Port provides an easy way for guitarists to make studio-quality music on their iOS devices,” said Max Gutnik, Vice President of Product Management, Line 6. “Customers can pair it with CoreAudio apps to record, practice, perform and more. For example, the free Line 6 Mobile POD app lets guitarists dial in their favorite artists’ tones in an instant, while the Jammit app is perfect for practicing. All in all, Sonic Port brings amazing audio quality and a great music-making experience to iOS devices.”

Sonic Port is a sleek, highly compact digital audio interface that connects to an iPod touch, iPhone or iPad 30-pin or Lightning connector, enabling guitar players to jam and record using CoreAudio music apps such as GarageBand®, and gain access to the acclaimed Line 6 Mobile POD® app. Unlike other devices that connect to the analog headphone jack of an iOS device, Sonic Port features an all-digital signal path resulting in best-in-class sound quality. With 110dB of guitar dynamic range and up to 24-bit/48kHz audio quality throughout, Sonic Port allows musicians to get the most from CoreAudio music apps.

For forward-thinking musicians who want to use an iPod touch, iPhone or iPad as the centerpiece of a mobile studio or as a performance tool, Sonic Port provides a variety of inputs and outputs for connecting instruments and outboard gear. A 1/4″ input makes it easy to connect guitars and basses, while keyboards, mixers, CD players and other iOS devices can be connected via the 1/8” stereo input. For monitoring, users can simply plug in their headphones or powered studio monitors and enjoy unparalleled audio fidelity. Musicians can also connect to a guitar amplifier via the 1/4” guitar/line-level output.

The companion Mobile POD app (available as a free download from the App Store) opens the door to an incredible collection of highly prized vintage and modern guitar gear. The app includes 32 amps, 16 speaker cabinets and 16 effects—all of which can be fully adjusted, mixed and matched to create a virtually endless range of tones. Mobile POD includes over 10,000 tone presets created by artists, Line 6 and other guitar players—and guitarists can also store and instantly recall their own custom tones.

Thanks to a partnership between Line 6 and Jammit®, Sonic Port instantly integrates with the award-winning Jammit app, allowing guitarists to learn, jam and record along with original multi-track master recordings of their favorite songs. When used together, Sonic Port and Jammit form the ultimate jam-along experience. Each track can be isolated for closer scrutiny, looped for extended practice or slowed down to a comfortable pace for learning. When used with Line 6 interfaces, Jammit loads amp and effect sounds that are custom made for the song, automatically changing the sound when appropriate as the song plays.

Sonic Port includes a detachable 30-pin dock connector cable and a Lightning connector cable for direct connection to iPod touch, iPhone and iPad devices. Mobile POD is a free download from the App Store. Sonic Port is compatible compatible with iPod touch (4th and 5th generation), iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPad (3rd and 4th generation), iPad 2, iPad and iPad mini.

Sonic Port is expected to ship in June of 2013. Learn more about Sonic Port and Mobile POD at http://line6.com/sonicport.

Sennheiser Partners with UniqueSquared to Bring Mobile Studio to Austin During SXSW

Audio specialist Sennheiser announced that it has partnered with music retailer UniqueSquared to bring a 45-foot mobile recording studio bus to Austin during its world-famous music week between March 14th and 16th. The UniqueSquared Mobile Studio, which will make stops at various locations in downtown Austin during its music festival, is being co-sponsored by Sennheiser and features a control room, isolated vocal booth / tracking room, a listening lounge and plenty of gear from Sennheiser and Neumann. Music fans are encouraged to attend and admission is free.

The UniqueSquared Mobile Studio will feature an assortment of world-class microphones from Sennheiser and Neumann and several dedicated listening stations equipped with a selection of the latest headphones from Sennheiser — including the HD 800, which many audiophiles consider to be the best-sounding headphone in the world. Following is a selection of the audio equipment that the mobile recording studio will have on hand for musicians and fans to demo:

-Sennheiser e 906, e 914 and MK 4 instrument / vocal microphones
-Sennheiser e 835 and e 935 dynamic vocal microphones
-Neumann TLM 103 condenser microphone
-Sennheiser Amperior, HD 25, HD 205, HD 280, HD 650,HD 800 headphones and others
-TRUE Systems P2 Analog preamplifier (distributed by Sennheiser)

“We are happy to co-sponsor the UniqueSquared Mobile Studio this year in Austin,” commented Tim Moore, artist relations manager, Sennheiser. “It is exciting to interact with so many diverse music fans in one place, and the Mobile Studio enables them to try out a wide range of Sennheiser and Neumann products in a professional environment before making a purchasing decision.”

The UniqueSquared Mobile Studio, which will also have products for sale, is being presented in conjunction with the Sennheiser / Paste party at The Stages on Sixth — where 33 artists will perform over the course of three days.

Over the course of the showcase event, one pair of Sennheiser HD 800 headphones will be given away each day to three lucky registered showcase attendees and hundreds of cards will be given away featuring free music downloads of Sennheiser artists. A dedicated, interactive listening station will be provided for the duration of the event so music fans can experience Sennheiser’s latest products including the Amperior DJ-style headphones, which were recently unveiled at CES 2012.

UA Releases Ampex ATR-102 Mastering Tape Recorder Plug-In

Universal Audio (UA), a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio recording hardware and software, is proud to announce that the Ampex® ATR-102 Mastering Tape Recorder –– considered by many engineers to be the best-sounding tape machine for final mixdown –– is now available as a faithful plug-in emulation on the UAD-2 Powered Plug-Ins platform.

For more than three decades, the two-channel Ampex ATR-102 Tape Recorder has turned music recordings into records. The perfect complement to the workhorse Studer® A800 Multichannel Tape Recorder Plug-In, the officially sanctioned ATR-102 plug-in provides the final, cohesive analog polish and punch for any in-the-box mastering session, without the ongoing maintenance and calibration of a physical tape machine.

Impeccably developed over a nine-month period in the renowned UAD engineering tradition — and incorporating presets from noted ATR-102 users Chuck Ainlay, Richard Dodd, Buddy Miller, and Mike Poole — the ATR-102 Mastering Tape Recorder Plug-In faithfully replicates the unique dynamics, frequency response, and saturation characteristics of the original hardware. Scrutinized and fully authenticated by Ampex Corporation, the sound of the ATR-102 plug-in for UAD-2 is virtually indistinguishable from its analog cousin.

“With the Ampex ATR-102, we’ve taken the time to provide all the popular tape formulas and hands-on calibration options of the original hardware,” said Matt Ward, President of Universal Audio. “With a mastering tape deck as iconic as the ATR-102, we wanted to make sure that its sound remained fully intact in the virtual world.”

“To bring the complexity of a such an iconic tape recorder as the ATR-102 to the digital world is no small feat,” said Gordon Strickland, Chairman and CEO of Ampex Corporation. “Universal Audio is the only company we could trust to faithfully and accurately model our Ampex legacy products, as they too have a legacy that spans back half a century with their analog products.”

Available for purchase via UA’s Online Store, the Ampex ATR-102 Tape Recorder Plug-In sells for $349.00.

The Ampex ATR-102 Tape Recorder Plug-In is available as part of the new UAD Software v6.0 release. In addition to the Ampex ATR-102 plug-in, v6.0 includes the release of the Brainworx® bx_digital V2 EQ and SPL® Vitalizer MK2-T direct developer plug-ins, as well as highly anticipated Pro Tools compatibility enhancements and Mac OS X Lion support.

ATR-102 Mastering Tape Recorder Plug-In features include:

Ampex®-authenticated plug-in emulation of the ATR-102 Mastering Tape Recorder — the most popular professional 2-track machine ever made
Provides rich, cohesive tape sound, without the hassles of calibration, maintenance, tape degradation, etc.
Adjustable (L/R) Tape Delay, Wow, Flutter, and Crosstalk
Requires a UAD-2 DSP Accelerator Card available from authorized dealers worldwide
Models entire ATR-102 electronic path, including transformers, amplifiers, Input, Record. and Repro paths
Featuring multiple Tape Formulas and Calibration Levels for mix down
Independent L/R Input Gain (Record) and Output (Reproduce) Level
IPS Speed/Emphasis Curve chooses between 3.75 NAB, 7.5 NAB, 7.5 CCIR, 15 NAB, 15 CCIR, 30 AES
Independent L/R record Bias, Record EQ, and Playback EQs, with Auto and Manual Cal capabilities

More information on the ATR-102 Mastering Tape Recorder Plug-In:
http://www.uaudio.com/store/special-processing/ampex-atr-102.html

Promotional video for the ATR-102 Mastering Tape Recorder Plug-In:

UAD Software v6.0 is available as a FREE download for Mac and PC users worldwide:
http://www.uaudio.com/support/uad/downloads.html

Learn more about the award-winning UAD-2 Powered Plug-Ins platform here:
http:// www.uaudio.com/uad-plug-ins.html

What’s New in Pro Tools 9

Jolting onto the scene in the early nineties, Pro Tools quickly managed to solidify itself as the industry standard in digital recording, as evidenced by the widespread usage of its systems among music production pros and home studio indies. From its ease of use out of the box, to serious professional applications, its flexibility and breadth of features has served varying levels of industry pros and novices alike. Considering the first incarnation had four tracks (channel your Led Zeppelin here) and a cost of $6,000, today’s newly released Pro Tools 9.0 listing for $599 (standard version) provides major bang for the buck.

With this new version, Avid has stepped in to greatly unify key features contained in different versions (or levels) of Pro Tools resulting in a streamlined single installer for Pro Tools and Pro Tools HD, as well as features only previously available in HD, LE or with additionally purchased options (production kits). This new single installer will search for your existing software, verify the version checking if it is authorized, and automatically cue the install of the correct version.

The new Playback Engine settings allow for choosing which of your installed audio engines you wish to use, including any third-party audio interface with supported Core Audio (Mac, including Mac built-in audio) and ASIO (Windows) drivers. Finally, Pro Tools is open to other hardware and you can also choose among multiple interfaces from the audio settings. This is the biggest change and one destined to cure the frustrations of those creating a studio on a budget only to realize they had to acquire hardware to match. This means new users only have to buy software and can use their existing hardware, although bundles of hardware/software are available at a savings. One really cool added capability is that you can now mix on the run even if no external hardware is installed.

Some of the features previously available in HD which are new to LE and lower level users are improved session and system settings, overlapping I/O paths, advanced Digibase search features, auto-scrolling tracks in the mix and edit windows, PRE support (mic pre settings built into each input), advanced Beat Detective features and delay compensation (if you use a lot of plug-ins, this intuitive feature will adjust for any delays from signal processing).

Pro Tools LE will no longer be developed as most of the specific functions in LE are now incorporated in 9.0, which Avid states effectively replaces all lower versions of Pro Tools LE software. Also Avid says it will continue M-Powered software development but has nothing new to announce at present.

Another major change is the advanced import and export options with 9.0 now supporting the import and export of AAF and OMF sequences, previously only available as a paid option. The AAF import includes stereo tracks and RTAS plug-in data. Yet another value-add is the inclusion of export to MP3, with no option required for lower versions. This should come as a relief to those of us finishing a painstaking production and mix only to find out we had to pull the final WAV or AIFF file into iTunes or some other tool to get it into an email-able format! As MP3 is such a widely used format, this seems like a no-brainer.

Pro Tools 9.0 also offers more audio and MIDI tracks with 96 voices of audio (32 simultaneous) compared to 48 and 18 in Pro Tools 8.0, and a doubling of MIDI tracks to 512. This new version also includes variable stereo pan depth options, more busses, auxiliary and instrument tracks, as well as 7.1 and 7.0 surround sound with Complete Production Toolkit 2 (previously only with HD).

In summary, the cracking open (I hear pecans here) of the previously closed hardware compatibility is a monumental change and value-add, and in itself makes for a strong argument for the new version/upgrade. Avid has intelligently integrated many sought after features from varying levels into the basic version including built-in MP3 export, AAF and OMF compatibility and more audio and MIDI tracks. Pro Tools is sure to stay relevant as it continues to put valuable tools in the hands of anyone able to press ‘record’ as well as giving industry pros the necessary tools, while further enabling the ability to bring tracks from your bedroom to a high end studio or vice versa.

-Rob Nolfe is a music royalty auditor, songwriter and owner of MZK Entertainment.

rob@mzkenertainment.com