Gadgetoid

The very latest addition to the Korg Pa series is the Pa588, a Stage Piano/Workstation hybrid that combines the sound and playability of Korg’s excellent stage pianos with professional arranger features.

The Pa588 has an 88-note real weighted hammer action keyboard designed to emulate the feel of a concert grand. This, combined with powerful arranger features, an intuitive interface, the same synthesis engine found in the Korg M3, more than 880 additional sounds and over 50 drum kits makes the Pa588 a very promising and flexible workstation on paper.

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Along with Radias Version 2, a major update to the Korg Radias system, Korg are bundling a new set of patches designed to emulate the MS2000, MS2000B and microKorg.

Radias Version 2 boasts several new features including additional destinations for the Virtual Patch function, support for Korg Komponent System connection with M3 Music Workstation and Radias Sound Editor compatibility with Windows Vista and Intel Macs.

You can head on over to Korg and download Radias Version 2.0 software now.

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In a move that absolutely eclipses Roland’s offering of artist-produced patches free for the V-Synth GT Korg are releasing a mahoosive 512 additional Programs for the Korg M3 absolutely free. These will range from classic keyboards, guitars, basses, woodwinds, brass and much more.

The new sounds effectively double the internal EDS Programs available on the M3 to 1024 and are sure to inspire musicians to create new compositions with them.

The new patches are available as part of the Version 1.2 system upgrade for the M3. You can click here to go directly to the Korg M3 website and download the new patches, along with Version 1.2 software for your Korg M3, now.

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An extensive variety of patches for the V-Synth GT made by professional artists and users of the synth is available on the Roland V-Synth website.

The six currently available artists include Jordan Rudess, Paul Hartnoll and more; all of who have contributed a hanful of interesting patches for this powerful synthesizer. I don’t have a V-Synth GT to try them out, but if you do they’re absolutely free so what are you waiting for?

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At Musikmesse 2008, Frankfurt, Germany Steinberg Media Technologies has demonstrated a technical preview of their new CC121 Advanced Integration Controller. Offering dedicated, maximum-quality, hardware controllers and a flexible new controller concept the CC121 will provide full Cubase 4 integration and control, support Windows XP/Vista and Mac OSX, and will be available in Q3 of 2008.

Pricing and a more precise release date have yet to be confirmed but the CC121 promises a fast and intuitive Cubase experience. See over the fold for a little more information.

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The Motif XS has finally found its way into a rack unit in the form of the Yamaha Motif-Rack XS Tone Generator.

The Motif-Rack XS includes 1,152 voices, 65 drum kits and the Motif XS synthesizes engine for building custom Voices. There are also built-in studio quality effects, thousands of arpeggio types (of which up to 4 can be played back simultaneously) and 5 front-panel control knobs that give access to 20 different parameters in real-time.

An optional mLAN16E2 interface card connects the Motif-Rack XS to a computer with a single firewire cable through which audio and MIDI data is communicated.

The Motif-Rack XS will drop in June for $1,499.99 and Digital Village are offering the opportunity to pre-order from the first UK shipment.

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Yamaha have joined the exclusive audio-interface/mixing desk hybrid club with the introduction of the Yamaha Audiogram 6 and 3 which are both USB enabled mixing desks designed to be a complete recording solution for PCs.

The Audiogram 6 comes with a couple of XLR combo inputs with preamps, one with phantom power, and a one-knob controlled compression filter for quickly getting the right sound from your microphones and instruments.

There are also two stero inputs, stereo and headphone outputs and, of course, a USB jack for hooking it up to your workstation. It will retail for $199.99 this August.

The Audiogram 3 is a simpler version with just one phantom powered combo input, a stero input and a headphone output plus USB and will retail for $139.99.

Both Audiogram models are bus powered and come with CUBASE AI which is all you need to install to get started recording unless you have a preferred application. They are literally plug and play.

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Building upon the sucess of Yamaha’s MM6 “Mini Mo” synthesizer the new Yamaha MM8 Music Synthesizer will also feature sounds from the Motif Series. however this larger sibling of the MM6 will boast an 88-note Graded Hammer action Yamaha keyboard making it essentially a full-sized version of the MM6 with all the features that made the MM6 successful.

Unfortunately the one gripe I’ve always had with the MM6, looks, has not been fixed; the Yamaha MM8 still boasts the ugly, boxy, grey exterior. This could, perhaps, be part of the reason behind the MM6 and MM8s budget pricing and I am almost convinced to let Yamaha off for sacrificing superfluous design in favour of producing solid audio products at such affordible prices. However Yamaha have proven themselves masters of attractive design (You need only look to the slimline Clavinova series) so I remain somewhat let down by the Yamaha MM8s aesthetic that somehow manages to be a step back from the consumer DGX series Yamaha I owned years ago. Curves, please, Yamaha.

There’s no word yet on when this will be available in Europe, but it’s set to drop in the states in July for $1,299.99 placing it well below more professional synthesizers in the price spectrum.

Digital Village also have the Yamaha MM8 available for pre-order at £699, putting it in a similar ball park to the Roland Juno G and the Korg Triton TR61 in price. Not a bad price at all for a budget synth with an 88-note Graded Hammer action keyboard! This makes the Yamaha MM8 look like a solid choice as a master keyboard offering both portable synthesis and VST or rack control.

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Just when I thought the Roland Juno-D couldn’t possibly get any better Roland have thrown a curve ball and crammed more awesome sounds into their already incredibly good value for money package. This might be somewhat dissapointing for anyone who has just bought a vanilla Juno-D, but remember you’ve still bought into the best budget Synth on the market.

The Roland Juno-D Limited Edition, looks and feels the same as the regular Juno-D, the only difference is in the sounds. Roland have packed in a realistic multi-sampled 88-note piano which puts the Juno-Ds old piano patches to shame and sounds exceptionally good for such a low-end synth. (Yes, I have tested it for myself) The piano patch isn’t the only new sound, however, the Juno-D limited edition also boasts new organ patches recorded by none other than Jon Lord plus some vintage synth sounds and electric pianos. Some of the new synth sounds are excellent and do exceptionally well to compliment the Juno-D’s already fantastic set of sounds.

If you’ve been eyeing the Juno-D then the Limited Edition should really be the icing on the cake for you. I will either be replacing or complimenting my existing Juno-D with this beauty shortly.

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For the aspiring, mobile and professional computer DJs Numark have got three potential solutions for you. Total, Mobile and Professional. These are all, if the “in a box” didn’t give you a clue, one box DJ solutions that eliminate the need to choose software, a controller, an audio interface and headphones.

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