Musikmesse 2006 - A peak at things to come...

[Compyfox]

Yup... it's about that time again. Germany celebrates their own "music fest" as answer to the NAMM with the Musikmesse 2006 in Frankfurt. Of course I went there again too as I didn't attend last year. However this time not at "Visitors Day" on Saturday, but while the disclosed days for professionals.

Another fun fact was the meetup with fellow OCR member "yoozer", who came over from the Netherlands just to pwn my sorry noob a$$ in terms of hardware knowledge. But all in all it was a great fair again, with tons of info, and way too less time to really mess with everything.

Now on to the news, that're partially known from the NAMM and KVR already, however yoozer and I sure have some surprises up our sleeves. Also keep in mind that both of us only covered material that interested "us" in the first place - for example I covered EMU while yoozer might have covered stuff from Korg cause this was our main interest. So don't be angry at us if we can't give you a full coverage - that's what magazines are for (next month).

Now where to begin...

Steinberg started off with a smaller booth than the last years, which was a bit dissapointing, but they went right to the topic with their material. They presented their upcoming VSTi "Halion Symphonic Orchestra" as Alpha version. It will contain 24GB of material bundled with a special configured "Halion Player" to trigger the sounds. The sounds itself sound very realistic: 24bit in 48kHz - so this already kicks off a lot of competitors (and leaves only Siedlaczek String Essentials and Vienna Symphonic Libary). Another thing that's different to the competitors is that the VSTi doesn't rely on Convolution or Reverb, but uses a similar technique like FXPansion BFD with their "rooms". You have two tweaking knobs called "Body" and "Room" where you can add additional realism in terms of sound to the samples.

The package is also laid out so that you can only play the instruments in their natural frequency range, with keyswitches to change betweeen Legato and Staccato (this was the only thing that was available in the Alpha, I sure hope there will be more included). A bit negative is the huge CPU usage. On a 3GHz CPU I saw massive spikes with 2 instances "fully loaded" in idle mode with 25% CPU usage in Cubase SX3, and while running up to 60-70% CPU usage. The MSRP for the package is 499,- Euro, you can upgrade from Halion String Edition for 299,- Euro however, or do a "tradein" from your existing orchestra sample package for the same price as the upgrade. The planned release is May.

Steinberg also presented their new Flagship Wavelab 6, which unfortunately showed me a couple of stuff that could have been done a bit better in terms of "workflow" (functions in quickbuttons, automation can't be done with MIDI CC# sliders or something similar, only swtiches), but they were like "Maybe there will be an update". Two very nice features for engineers sure is the Spectral Editor, where you can mess with the "spectral field" to "erase vocals" for example or other bugging noise without messing up stuff with the EQ. Also a pluspoint (after years behind all others) is finally the capability of using WAV files bigger than 2GB (with a special header that only Wavelab can read). Tons of other stuff was inserted too - so it will take a while to really get into it. MSRP is 699,- Euro, registered SX3 users can upgrade for 399,- Euro till end of April however.

Also did I want some concrete answers from Steinberg regarding their "feedback policy" over at their boards. They know that they're guilty and that this is not okay, and they will get into it as soon as "Halion Orchestra" is out. They also mentioned that they read all messages, every negative feedback is taken to consideration and if you're really pissed about something, call or write a mail as long as it's constructive and they sure will get back to you... Also did I ask them about the rumor with Cubase SX4, whether or not it will come out. Instead of saying "I can't go into that" (like they did with the question if there's Halion 4 planned for this year, and they indirectly confirmed that) they simply smiled at me and said "yes... it will come out" and one of their fellow coders were like "Q4 2006 comes SX4, there won't be a SX3.2 anymore". A lot of stuff that was "wanted" for SX4 will be taken into consideration. For example "native sidechaining" will be included in SX4 for sure.

One of my first stops was the Kjaerhus Audio booth out of surprise. I never thought that they'd have an own booth, but they had. I mean... I could shake Torben Kjaerhus Larsen's hand and thank him for these awesome plugins. BUt by all simplicity and the "small booth" they had, they also represented their new synthesizer "Spectra", an additive/subtractive synth with some nice twists, that was also represented at NAMM. Nice to know for this little devil is that this thing is made for those who don't want to get that much into synthesizers and reading years in manuals to actually get this thing. It's built up as simple as possible, and is very CPU friendly cause your generated "wave" for the synthesis is stored into the RAM and not generated in "real time" over and over. Spectra is aimed in terms of price for 198,- USD.

However Kjaerhus Audio came with a couple of surprises, too. Not only did they present their "Gold Series" plugins for engineering, they also represented the start ofa new plugin series called "High Precision Mastering". Kjaerhus started off with the very first plugin for that (out of a series which will have a Metering Tool, EQ and Multiband Compressor later, too) - the MPL-1. The MLP-1 is a Mastering Limiter, but not just one like everything else. No, the MPL-1 is one of the lesser limiters that works with very acourate Oversampling technique, which makes it nearly impossible for full scale samples to clip. The plugin also uses different look ahead modes for peak detection, and some more possibilities in terms of "release" and "Compression" as other plugins do.

So you can say that MPL-1 is the first of it's kind and I'm really looking forward to that one (even though it doesn't use K-System Meters). The MPL-1 will be available in 2 flavours. As "Standard" and "Pro" version. The difference between those two is, that the Pro Version uses the additional functions like "Input", PDR (which is additional to the Release to prevent pumping), Compression with Look Ahead and Stereo Link balance - while the Standard version won't feature those functions. The MSRP for the Standard version is 98,- USD, the Pro version's MSRP is 118,- USD - very fair if I may add for what you get. The plugin is planned to be released mid April.

Audio Engineers will be also interested to hear that BIAS presented their engineering series with an own booth. Special Emphasis was on their new flagship "SoundSoap 2", which made a lot of noise with the release of the first version, but also included a lot of noise and killed just too much of the recording. These problems seemed to have been fixed in V2 however. I sat down for like 20 minutes and did 1:1 with the sound. Okay... the presentation was in a large hall with a lot of extra noise, but the results were indeed better than with the old version. SoundSoap 2 is planned to be released this spring for a MSRP of 99,- USD.

Unfortunately they didn't present that yet, but it looks like that BIAS also takes a stab at "Mastering" alond with their PeakPro Studio software. I only have an info brochure here, but according to it, the "Mastering Perfection Suite" plugin bundle will consist 6 plugins: SuperFreq (High Performance 4-, 6-, 8- & 10- band paragraphic EQ), PitchCraft (super natural pitch correction), Repli-Q (Spectral/EQ matchin, with astounding results), GateEx (gate/expander), Sqweez-3 & Sqweez 5 (3- and 5-band compressor/limiter/upward expander with linear phase performance) and Reveal (Professional 7tool audio signal analysis suite). The bundle is aimed for a MSRP of 599,- USD.

Terratec Producer showed off again with their hardware modules, the AXON guitar to MIDI controller and 2 nice little things, that sure will please a lot of fans and curious musicians. Let me start first with their new flagship - the "Komplexer". The Komplexer is a totally wicked virtual analogue software synthesizer, with a wavetable synthesis. Listing everything what this thing is capable of, is just too much. Just a couple of things to say about it: SWEET FUCKING JESUS! (own impression, even though it was "only" a early release candidate). The success doesn't come from nowwhere, behind the Komplexer is the ex-Waldorf Crew!

Yeah you heard right "Waldorf", you know... they made the Waldorf PPG Wave, the Q, the Microwave, etc. Hardware freaks in terms of analogue synthesizers. But back on topic. That thing does not only give you a snythesizer with tons of easy editing capabilities and 3 different oscilators (hell even z3ta+ looks old compared to that), a very tasty looking GUI and some phat sounds, nope - that thing can even load all "Waldorf MircoQ" sounds! So you have 2 synths in one! And that for only 199,- Euro well spent starting mid Q2 2006.

Speaking of which... Terratec also presented a new and very noble looking keyboard controller called "Area 61". The Area 61 is a performing keyboard with 61 full-size keys, 2-zone aftertouch, 4 split zones, 10 rotary controller, 2x16 character display, USB connection and a hardware expansion slot. "Wait... hardware expansion slot?!". Exactly. That thing doesn't cost 599,- Euro for nothing, cause it's basicly a synthesizer. And now comes the twist... there're two modules available: Module 1 is a GM/XG compatible wavetable module, while Module 2 is (hold your horses) the Komplexer DSP Synthesizer module. Yup... you heard right... The Komplexer as hardware, which can be programmed via the software Komplexer on the PC. The module itself is aimed for a price of 199,- Euro to 299,- Euro. No set prices and no set releasedates yet - at least according to the creators.

So yeah... Terratec finally made a step into the synthesizer section, and they really start of big time. I guess it's okay to sell my soul to Terratec and "ex-Waldorf" now.

And while where at it, I have another surpirse for you. E-MU/Creative Professional recently did a step into the sampler and sampleplayer section with their "Emulator X2" and "Proteus X2" (I say X2 on purpose, cause this is what they were presenting). My main goal was to go to E-MU and bug them about the Proteus X2 as Proteus Rack Module (XL-1 and Virtuoso 2000) user. My question was "do i really need a hardware card as dongle for this thing? Can't you do this via an USB stick or something?!". Before I could even say this sentence, the british dude who presented that thing shoved out an info brochure, opened up the first page and pointed with his finger on a I/O module called Xmidi 2x2. The only thing that came over my lips after a couple of seconds of pure silence was "you gotta be kidding me! You're bullshitting me!!!" and he was like "no, not at all - forget all that other shit, this is what it's about!".

The thing he showed me was a small little USB MIDI box with 2in/2out. It will be shipped with the Proteus X2 for 199,- USD around June (after all other regular user upgraded to Emulator X2 and Proteus X2). Forget the thing with "installing a Creative Pro 0404 hardware card" - just get this small device, hook it up to your PC and throw it behind your desk - THIS is your new USB dongle!

E-MU also presented their new Xboard controllers what were already presented at Winter NAMM and they also introduced their stab towards the monitor section with their PM5 Precision Monitor speakers (active, 40W each) and an addition PS12 Precision Subwoofer (also active, 200W). I have no prices here... sorry - also did they sound a bit flat to me at the fair.

So yeah... So much about my day at the fair. I was distracted by and with my friends anyway while walking around the complete area rather than spending all my time in Hall 5.0 and 5.1.

There were of course other firms like Native Instruments (representing the KORE Hardware and Software), BestService (Siedlaczek Packs, RobPapen Blue), TASCAM (new mixers and a synth - yoozer might go into that), AKAI (with a new MPC1000 as kind of "trigger finger"), KORG (yoozer might cover that better), MOTU, TC-Electronic (nothing really new either), MOOG with their "Fatty Moog" (that new thing after the death of Bob Moog - yoozer knows more about that) and of course Arturia with their Prophet synth, Imageline with FL6 Producer, Ableton Live, Finale, etc. There was also IK-Multimedia, but the booth was mostly empty (no wonder if they only present old stuff) - however no sign of Spectrasonics this time, but there was a huge VSL (Vienna Symphonic Libary) booth instead.

Also did I take a small look at Behringer (only their new USB mixers were there, no "upgraded" Behringer Control), Kurzweil (they still run on their old flagships, but better than ever), Roland (didn't take a look at the new stuff - was all packed full and the time was short - their V-Drums weren't updated however), Yamaha (way too large hall to see everything), Casio (moving along!), and I ran through the guitar hall (Fender presented a special "Hello Kitty" edition! *shrug*).

And before you ask - NO... I didn't see anything about the school contest - that's on friday, I was there "yesterday" and I wasn't interested at all.

Now I give free hand to my friend yoozer (Rob Jannsen).

[Legion303]

There was also IK-Multimedia, but the booth was mostly empty (no wonder if they only present old stuff)

Any sign of Amplitube 2? They've been saying they were going to present it at Musikmesse for the last month...

-steve

[Yoozer]

Aaaand thanks Compy. Well, my Messe wasn't much of acting like a shutterbug (I took my camera but didn't make much pictures or movies) but I met up with some people I used to speak to online, only. One of them was Compy, who was counting on me to get him in if the people at the door would ask tricky questions - turns out they don't and they'll let you in if you have the ticket.

Re: Waldorf - they're coming back, apparently, because the company has re-formed. No news of them on the Messe yet, but a promising start that they are up again after the insolvency.

Most impressive machine on the Messe was, to me, the Little Phatty. I had a good long chat with the senior engineer who designed and built the thing together with Dr. Moog, and it's a really nice piece of gear. Also, if you shout loud enough they'll think about making a rack version of it; finally a good "box of bass"! It sounds great.

Also, Compy's love for the AKG stuff has convinced me to look in one of their headphones if my trusty old Philips SBC HP890 ever breaks down.

I also had a chance to play with the Alesis Fusion. Guys, this is your best chance to get some awesome hardware synth for a low budget. With the recent price drop, the Mo6 and Fantom Xa and I dare even say the Korg TR pale in comparison, because the thing's an incredible bang for the buck.

Roland presented the SH-201 as one of the new machines; I checked it out and it's a nice VA. Not exceptional (albeit that I'd want it just for the looks, I'm a gearjunkie like that) but solid, easy to work with, and a good sound that doesn't care if it's vintage or not. For the rest, nothing really new; the V-synth and the V-synth XT were already released earlier.

Korg has the OASYS, Radias and X-50/Micro-X on display. I already knew about the first two, but the Micro-X is also something; besides a controller you get a complete Triton Le stuffed in there. Getting a great sound source rarely has been easier.

Yamaha had nothing new that I thought to be really exciting. Too bad. It's about time that they one-up the ES with a bigger screen like the Fantom or Triton has.

I had a totally disastrous trip home; I left Frankfurt at 18.26 (missed my first 2 ICE connections) and arrived at home (finally!) around 23.30.

[Compyfox]

And we didn't see us at Frankfurt Trainstation again? haha... I took the IC at 18:28 (bad mistake, was sitting in a "smoking" section, cause it was the only empty one) and arrived in Nuernberg at 20:32 - but I was too tired to write something (if you sleep only 2 hours and then walk around for more than 8 hours sure is tiring).

Anyway... Didn't you try the Tascam and the Nord Lead stuff with me, too? And there was this ribbon-slider synthesizer again (where I was impressed "again", but didn't catch it's name). Also... the MBF Filterboxes had an own booth (hooked up with video, etc - for live usage and wild effects) but it simply wasn't my world. However the trend moves to "wild modulation" and I've also seen a lot of booths offering stuff fo "build your own MIDI controller".

Also funny to see was that there was a small booth selling T-Shirts (as kind of war declaration/petition) with the sentence "I pay for stuff".

Now that you mention it, Steve... there was a big banner with "Amplitube" at the IKM booth, but I didn't see anybody playing a guitar with Amplitude 2. Sorry.

Heh, yeah Rob... I nearly forced you to go to AKG, and this was the only place you didn't own me. XD

You said "Waldorf is back". The german KEYS magazine was like "we will reveal who the new firm is". My guess is Terratec as their new Godfathers (thanks to the Komplexer), but they didn't reveal that on their homepage yet. Did you get it to know?

And finally somebody said "thanks" to this tread!

[zircon]

The sounds itself sound very realistic: 24bit in 48kHz - so this already kicks off a lot of competitors (and leaves only Siedlaczek String Essentials and Vienna Symphonic Libary). Another thing that's different to the competitors is that the VSTi doesn't rely on Convolution or Reverb, but uses a similar technique like FXPansion BFD with their "rooms". You have two tweaking knobs called "Body" and "Room" where you can add additional realism in terms of sound to the samples.

Well, keep in mind QLSO Platinum is also recorded that way as well. VSL is too I'm pretty sure. But the bit depth and sample rate really have no impact on the actual quality of the orchestral samples. There are tons of other more important factors.

[Compyfox]

Tell that Steinberg. Still... Platinum is way over 899,- USD, VSL (the smallest pack) is also at least 1300,- USD.

I was pretty impressed, too. The brass sounded very realistic (you even get the subtile sounds from the water in the tubes), tons of articulations (though not in the beta they were using) and the possibility to use this thing "raw" or with customizeable "natural reverb".

For 499,- Euro "Halion Orchestra" is the "cream of the crop", EWQL is far from that, you have to admit that. I just disliked how they dissed Siedlaczek however - they're the pioneers in terms of "virtual orchestra" and still top notch.