New Gear Alert: Tactile Controller by Touch Innovations, Face-Melting Tones by Joey Sturgis & More

Touch Innovations announce availability of new workflow-enhancing DAW controller.

Somewhat reminiscent of an old-school arcade game, Kontrol Master may be just as fun for users who seek a more hands-on DAW experience.

Kontrol Master by Touch Innovations provides a unique experience, effectively integrating users’ second hand into the mix using a high-precision, highly-responsive knob to control virtual knobs, faders, and more. By simply hovering the mouse pointer over the object to be controlled, users can immediately start using that knob for the tactile feel that so many of us are missing in our digital workflow.

Kontrol Master is USB powered; plug it into your computer, customize the unit using the KM software, and begin tweaking immediately. The single knob provides accurate control of different objects in various software interfaces. Pressing one of the three white buttons allows that knob to control vertical, rotary, and horizontal objects. The two orange buttons let users instantly surf across multiple monitors. These and all other buttons make it possible to fire a combination of up to 24 different kinds of actions, such as keystrokes, shortcut keys, and MIDI events.

Kontrol Master is available for online purchase directly from Touch Innovations for $299, with free shipping in the continental United States.

TASCAM delivers versatile TM-series microphones.

Whether you’re expanding or just starting to build your mic collection, the TM-series by TASCAM is a great and affordable way to cover a lot of ground.

TASCAM is expanding their TM-series of microphones with a number new models including the TM-180 and TM-280 large-diaphragm cardioid condenser mics, the TM-60 small-diaphragm condenser, and TM-Drums drum microphone set. These affordable microphones are an excellent starter kit or a great way to expand a growing mic collection.

TASCAM’s TM-180 and TM-280 condenser microphones feature a 1.33-inch (34 mm) diaphragm and provide a switchable 80Hz high-pass filter and a 10dB pad. The TM-280 can handle hotter signals than the TM-180 (up to 135dB SPL versus the TM-180’s 130dB SPL). Both are housed in sturdy cases and come with a shock mount, and the TM-180 includes a zippered carry bag.

TM-Drums is a set of four microphones designed to capture a small acoustic drum kit and deliver a balanced, modern sound. The TM-50DB dynamic kick drum microphone offers a frequency response of 50Hz to 15kHz, while the TM-50DS snare mic ranges from 50Hz to 14kHz. Both have integrated stand mounts.

The TM-50DB and TM-50DS are tuned to integrate with the pair of TM-50C small-diaphragm (16 mm/0.63 inches) cardioid condenser microphones included for use on cymbals and hi-hat, as well as overheads. Each TM-50C can handle up to 135dB SPL and comes with a mic clip and foam windscreen. A set of 3/8″ to 5/8″ thread adapters are included with the set.

Also new from TASCAM is the TM-60, a small diaphragm condenser mic offering low noise, wide frequency response, and a super-affordable price.

The TM-series microphones are available immediately with anticipated prices of: TM-180 $149.99; TM 280 $249.99; TM-Drums $199.99; TM-60 $59.99; TM-AR1 $149.99.

Joey Sturgis Tones introduces Toneforge Jason Richardson.

If you’re a fan of All Shall Perish, Born Of Osiris, Chelsea Grin, or Jason Richardson alone, his signature Toneforce plug-in by Joey Sturgis Tones puts his behemoth guitar sound right at your fingertips.

Toneforge Jason Richardson​ is the latest addition to the Toneforge line of plug-ins. Jason Richardson has made a name for himself and his guitar playing abilities in bands such as All Shall Perish, Born Of Osiris, Chelsea Grin, and most recently as a solo artist with the release of his debut album, “I”, in 2016. Now, ​Joey Sturgis Tones​ is excited to bring Jason’s unique tone to the masses with his signature Toneforge plug-in, released at this year’s Winter​ ​NAMM 2017​.

The plug-in features: Guitar tones derived from Jason Richardson’s album, “I”, 3 new amps, 2 custom guitar cabinets, 3 new pedal models (delay, lo-fi & reverb), an onboard tuner, and a post-processing section.

Check out this video by JST featuring Jason Richardson and engineer Taylor Larson, in which they go into detail about the origins of the plug-in.

Toneforge Jason Richardson​ is available now at ​jrtone.com​ for $99.

Blue Cat Audio announces MB-7 Mixer 3.0.

Users of Blue Cat Audio MB-7 Mixer 2.0 will find great use in what the updated version 3.0 has to offer.

Back at NAMM, Blue Cat Audio announced an updated version of their MB-7 Mixer plug-in. This innovative tool splits the signal into several frequency bands (up to 7) and lets you remix and process them as if they were separate audio tracks. MB-7 also features the ability to load up to 4 third party plug-ins per band and thus transform any regular plug-in into a frequency-aware multiband processor.

New features for MB-7 3.0 allow users to:
– Copy/paste and save band settings (including plug-ins) as sub-presets.
– Map sub plug-ins parameters to automate them in host or control them with MIDI.
– Lock GUI state to prevent changes when loading presets.
– Band Controls Groups can now be identified by colors.
– Adjust contrast for spectrogram display.
– Spectrogram now keeps history when resized.
– Import spectrum curves for EQ compare & matching, and export EQ curves to share with other Blue Cat Audio plug-ins.

MB-7 3.0 will be available sometime in Q1 2017. Pricing for its predecessor (MB-7 2.0) is $129/€99; Pricing not yet disclosed for version 3.0.

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