Recording - October 2009 - 8

Sony Gets Small With New Portable Recorder Following up on the success of the PCM-D1 and PCM-D50 digital recorders, Sony has released the PCM-M10, a palm-sized compact recorder. The new unit features built-in stereo electret condenser mics, can record at up to 24-bit/96 kHz audio quality, and has a 4 GB internal flash memory plus a slot for microSD or Memory Stick Micro cards. It runs on standard AA alkaline batteries and has an all-metal case like its larger siblings. Other features: A built-in speaker, digital pitch control, built-in limiter and lowcut filter, track mark functions, 5-second pre-record buffer, and more. The PCM-M10 comes with Sony’s Sound Forge Audio Studio Recorder Edition software, and attaches to any Mac or Windows computer via USB for file transfer. Price: $399 More from: Sony, pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-audio/ MXL Introduces Special Edition Ribbon Microphone MXL Microphones has announced the R77L Classic Ribbon mic, a custom edition of the R77 Ribbon mic with a Lundahl transformer. The new mic is intended for vocals, acoustic instruments, strings, horns, and live broadcasts, or any other application that will benefit from the design’s increased warmth. The R77 and R77L each have a 1.8 micron aluminum ribbon with a bidirectional (Figure-8) polar pattern. Both models come with a desktop stand, 25' Mogami cable, and cleaning cloth in a wooden case. Price: $599.95, $749.95 with Lundahl transformer More from: MXL Microphones, www.mxlmics.com. Focusrite Ships Interface With Monitor Modeling The newest in the Saffire series of FireWire audio interfaces from Focusrite is the Saffire PRO 24 DSP. Building on the foundation of the Saffire PRO 24, the new interface adds a DSP technology called Virtual Reference Monitoring (VRM), which models over 100 different monitoring scenarios, with multiple types of professional monitors and hi-fi speakers, including room acoustics and different listener positions, all over conventional stereo headphones. The Saffire PRO 24 DSP is a half-rack interface with two front-panel mic inputs with high-quality preamps, two line-level analog inputs, six line-level analog outputs, S/PDIF I/O, and ADAT input for use with an external 8channel preamp/converter such as the Focusrite OctoPre. Two virtual loopback inputs for interapplication audio routing bring the total I/O complement to 16 ins and 8 outs. Mixing and routing is all performed within the interface using the Saffire Mix Control software. It comes with the Focusrite Studio Suite of plug-ins, which includes dynamics control, eq, and reverb for latencyfree tracking and monitoring. The plug-ins operate on the interface’s DSP engine and also come bundled as VST/AU software for use in DAWs, along with software and soundware from Novation, Loopmasters, Ableton, and more. Price: $399 More from: Focusrite, www.focusrite.com. New iPhone Apps From Sonoma Wire Works and Retronyms Sonoma Wire Works has introduced a series of iPhone/iPod touch apps called InstantDrummer, which allow the user to combine loops with built-in effects to create complete drum parts that can then be exported to a DAW over Wi-Fi. Intuitive controls include a part sequencer, tempo adjustment, quick tweaks for Intensity and Variation of the patterns, and much more. The first of these InstantDrummer apps is Heartbreaker, featuring 130 MB of drum sounds and loops recorded by Jason McGerr of Death Cab For Cutie. Retronyms, the iPhone/iTouch developer that helped create Sonoma’s popular FourTrack iPhone recording app, has released a new touch-controlled musical instrument called DopplerPad. It combines a unique touch interface with a library of 37 instruments, dual touchpads, overdub capability, a built-in mixer with crossfade and mute control, a gate arpeggiator, the ability to create and input samples using the iPhone’s internal microphone or an external mic, programmable scales, and much more. Tools are currently under development that will allow both apps to share data with FourTrack, as part of an initiative called Mobile Audio Product Integration or MAPI. 8 RECORDING OCTOBER 2009 Price (introductory): Instant Drummer, $0.99; DopplerPad, $9.99 More from: Sonoma Wire Works, www.sonomawireworks.com; Retronyms, www.retronyms.com, www.dopplerpad.com.

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-audio/ http://www.mxlmics.com http://www.focusrite.com http://www.sonomawireworks.com http://www.retronyms.com http://www.dopplerpad.com

Recording - October 2009

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