Best of Musikmesse 2016: New Audio Gear Roundup

Last week Frankfurt, Germany was the central gathering place for dealers, developers and distributors of musical instruments and music production tools from all over the globe.

Following directly behind Prolight + Sound, Musikmesse played host to new product releases and demos, along with attendees from over 130 countries. Here are some of our favorite new gear releases:

Studio Software:

Plugin Alliance

Plugin Alliance and brainworx have unveiled three new audio tools:

SPL’s chameleon-like EQ Ranger Plus

The SPL EQ Ranger Plus, is based on a sweet-sounding series of passive graphic EQs designed to focus on optimal center frequencies for each application, instantly providing a quick path to the right settings for a particular kind of instrument.

EQ Rangers Vol. 1 had three separate EQ modules with uniquely optimized frequency settings: The Vox Ranger, Bass Ranger, and Full Ranger. These extremely musical EQs allowed engineers to use handpicked critical bands to quickly dial in a frequency response for those particular sources in their mix.

Now, SPL has collaborated with Brainworx in evolving the EQ Rangers to their next level, 181 genre-specific models designed by Grammy winning mixer/producer Craig Bauer and Brainworx founder Dirk Ulrich.

The Acme Audio Opticom, based on a powerful and flexible optical compressor with glorious tube-powered, triple optoelectric, cold-rolled steel-covered military-grade components. Slap it across the drum buss for solid and seamless LA-2A styled leveling. Force vocals through the input to add grit and attitude to a wimpy take. Use Amp mode to add harmonic color to a guitar or bass line without even touching the dynamics.

The Opticom XLA-3 is a bombproof beast of an optical compressor, and thanks to Acme’s cooperation with Brainworx, it’s now available in plugin form to tame and/or soothe any sound you throw at it.

And finally, the bx_panEQ, an innovative plugin that lets you select an EQ in any area within the entire stereo field. You can now focus on any element in a complex stereo signal and EQ just part of the stereo field.

Three New plugins from Plugin Alliance.

UAD-2 Satellite USB DSP Accelerator and Fender Amp Plugins

You can now run UAD-powered plug-ins via USB 3.0 on Windows-based PCs with improved performance at higher sample rates and reduced plug-in latency compared to FireWire.

Universal audio has also announced that they’ve entered into a new partnership with Fender to start modeling their classic and iconic guitar amps.

Time will tell what amps they model first, but we’re hoping to see UAD try their hand at emulations of studio staples like the Twin Reverb, Bassman, Princeton and Champ sometime soon.

USB 3.0 equipped UAD processing power. Plus: Look for Fender amp models, coming soon.

Eventide

Eventide and Tony Visconti’s Tverb Plug-In is inspired by the late David Bowie’s Heroes album, recorded in 1977.

Tony Visconti partnered with Eventide to faithfully recreate the fabled “gated room” vocal recording technique used by Visconti and Bowie and make it available in an accessible plug-in format.

Like the original analog technique made famous on “Heroes”, this plugin features models of moveable microphones, allowing you to adjust reverb size and tone of the room to taste.

Adjustable polar patterns for microphone and a compressor module are available on microphone 1 to adjust the amount of ambient room tone, and two linkable post-reverb gate modules allow control over when the gates on the room mics close, the speed at which they close and the length of time they are forced to stay open.

Limited time special intro price of $149 ($249 MSRP)

Emulate Bowie’s “Heroes” and Capture Hansa’s studio 2, the Meistersaal concert hall with Tverb.

Softube

Softube’s new plugin suite, Modular, brings the popular Eurorack format to the software world.

Moog and Buchla may have started it all with their modular synthesizers in the 1960s, but Doepfer finally made modular hardware synthesis affordable in the 1990s by introducing the Eurorack standard.

Today, Softube has made the Eurorack modular synthesizer truly accessible for everyone with the Modular plug-in, a new cross-platform modular synthesizer plug-in that looks, works and sounds exactly like its analog Eurorack counterparts.

Softube Modular is available from May 11 for $99.

Softube Modular recreates the Eurorack system for software users.

Revoice 3.2 Standalone Vocal Editing Suite

Officially launched at Musikmesse in 2016, Revoice Pro 3.2 from Synchro Arts now includes manual tuning enhancements, scale grids, a bar and beats display, Doubler enhancements, plus a host of other audio processing and workflow improvements.

Unique Features in Revoice Pro 3.2 Include:

• Improved Manual Warp (Pitch and Time) Editing Tools: Autoplay adjustable note against selectable reference tracks
• Tuning and Scale Grids: Select and display with adjustable reference frequency
• Bar & Beats Display: Tempo grids can be displayed and loaded from MIDI files
• Improved Doubler: New factory presets, automation functionality and formant range increases
• Improved DAW integration and workflow: With Studio One, Pro Tools and others

Limited-time intro price: 20% off until April 30th ($599 MSRP)

Deep customization of vocal recordings with Revoice Pro 3.2.

IK Multimedia

The Miroslav Philharmonik 2 CE orchestral library features strings that soar, woodwinds that dance, brass that commands and a full symphony orchestra of sounds at your fingertips, all expertly performed with musical articulations for real music played by real musicians.

From flowing legatos to animated pizzicatos, from aggressive spiccatos to elegant staccatos, from the most subtle pianissimo to the most triumphant fortissimo and more, Miroslav Philharmonik 2 is a sweeping vision from a master artist embodied in a new virtual instrument that brings the orchestra to life. It’s not enough to just have good recordings of classical instruments.

IK Multimedia Miroslav Philharmonik Orchestra 2 CE.

Studio Hardware:

Radial

Radial Engineering isn’t new to stunning us with their innovative pedal series, TONEBONE. Two of their new Musikmesse debuts are especially relevant to engineers and recording musicians who need to regularly switch between instruments and amps on the fly:

Bumper is a routing pedal that lets you connect up to four instruments to a single amp, enabling you to effortlessly switch between each of them using a single footswitch.

Whether you’re switching between guitars for a live set or auditioning a variety of instruments for a tracking date, the TONEBONE pedals promises to make the task more seamless than ever.

Route four instruments into a single amp with Bumper.

The design begins with Radial’s coveted Class-A buffer circuit for the most natural tone. Each instrument can then be tailored with Drag control load correction to compensate for the buffer, replicating the tone and feel of it being connected directly to the amp.

High-output active instruments can be adjusted using the trim control to reduce the sensitivity. This allows quick changeovers without having to adjust stage amp volume or mixer settings. In addition to the stage amp out, there is a separately buffered tuner out for quick on-the-fly adjustments.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, the Headlight lets you connect up to four amps to choose from with a single footswitch, making auditioning amps for tracking easier than ever.

Route one guitar into to four amps using Headlight.

Radial’s Class-A buffer circuit eliminates distortion and artifacts, while the “Drag” control load correction delivers the natural tone and feel of the instrument. From there, each output is optimized to eliminate the hum and buzz that is commonly associated with ground loops.

A series of ultra-bright LED indicators provide visual status feedback for the active outputs and mute function. The Headlight is made from 14-gauge steel to ensure the protection against outside stress. This also shields the inner workings from external magnetic fields. Power may be supplied by any standard 9V PSU (not included) or by a typical multi-pedal power brick.

Your favorite TK eq in a convenient 500 format.

TK Audio Releases TK-lizer 500 EQ with Mid/Side Processing

Halmstad, Sweden-based TK Audio’s TK-lizer 500 carries over their flagship TK-lizer dual mono EQ with added M/S functionality.

The TK-lizer is a Baxandall EQ, with the high and low bands selectable between shelving or peak. The built-in M/S function lets you process your mid and side signals separately, allowing you to affect the stereo width of your music and EQ with greater precision.

A few minor additions to the original design include extending the cut/boost range to +/-8dB across forty-one discrete steps. The level control ranges from infinity to +6dB, also in forty-one discrete steps, and both the high and low bands can be switched from peak control to shelving duty.

Boss RC-202 Loop Station

Boss’s new RC-202 loop station is based off of their RC-505 and designed for creating loops on the fly. This edition adds new features that should make it particularly for DJs, beatboxers and electronic musicians as well as live instrumentalists.

Four “Input FX” and four “Track FX” are available at once, and loops can be saved to memory in real time for seamless creative expression while performing. Expanded foot control and MIDI capabilities are also included, ideal for looping musicians who have their hands occupied with guitar, keyboards, and other instruments.

Pioneer TORAIZ SP-16 Analog Sequencer

Pioneer collaborated with Dave Smith Instruments resulting in an analog sequencer built for production, or DJ performance, and equipped with true blue Dave Smith analog filters based on those in the Prophet-6. The TORAIZ SP-16 is also equipped with Pro DJ Link to sync with CDJs.

This 8GB sampler and sequencer comes with 2GB of Loopmasters sounds already on board, and allows you to create and store up to 256 patterns with help from a 7-inc touchscreen display.

Monitoring and Interfaces:

Dynaudio’s LYD-5

Dynaudio

The LYD-5 is Dynaudio’s latest premium small-format near-field monitor. With its low volume precision, LYD is the perfect fit for smaller setups and home studios.

It uses lightweight aluminum wire and voice coils in its handmade drive units, making its transient response quick and accurate, and includes a state-of-the-art Class-D amplifier with a 96 kHz / 24bit signal path and DSP to provide outstanding performance in any space.

Also available are the new LYD-7 and LYD-8 models.

Antelope

Antelope’s Zen Tour

Antelope aims to revolutionize the portable interface market with a remarkably compact and powerful interface, billed as its most accessible and versatile recording tool to date: Zen Tour.

This new interface features an ultra-portable form factor, Thunderbolt and USB connectivity, 8 analog inputs and outputs, and some high-end DSP effects including hardware-based guitar amp and cab simulations, making it an ultimate creative recording tool for musicians and bands.

The 8 analog inputs including 4 switchable Mic/Line inputs and 4 HiZ/Line inputs, and adds on  digital ADAT & S/PDIF I/O for increased connectivity options, meaning Zen Tour provides plenty of options for tracking several instruments simultaneously.

Summing It Up

Staggering amounts of gear and software debuts are always welcome to invade our subconscious here at SonicScoop. With these concluding some of our favorites at Musikmesse 2016, let us know yours in the comments below!

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