After 20+ years in professional audio: live sound engineering, studio technical direction (Deep Forest, Pierre Jacquot), head of digital marketing at Playback.fr. A first-hand witness to the analog-to-digital shift, I track the whole audio landscape and break it down here — no fluff.
Doepfer overhauls its modular ribbon controller. The A-198-2 keeps the 50 cm Trautonium-style sensor but bolts on an OLED screen, nine programmable quantisation scales and an optional MIDI output — turning an expressive but unruly ribbon into an instrument you can actually play.
It is the synthesis that defined the sound of the synthesizer: start with a harmonically rich waveform, then carve the tone by taking away what you do not need. Here is how the oscillator, filter, envelope and modulation chain really works, and why it is still the best way into every other kind of synthesis.
Denon takes its four-channel standalone DJ system and seriously muscles it up: an eight-core ARM processor, multi-zone MPCe pads borrowed from the Akai world, onboard stem separation and a built-in DMX output. The Prime 4 G2 is aimed squarely at DJs who play without a laptop.
Waves launches Atlas Reverb, an all-new algorithmic engine with more than a hundred programs tuned by ear. Halls, plates, chambers, springs and imagined spaces, plus a ducker and an output EQ: a look at a reverb aimed at sitting in the mix.
Drawmer brings its dynamics know-how to the 500 Series with two new modules: the FET-based FC1 for bite, the opto OC1 for smoothness. Detented controls, BIG and AIR modes, CRUSH saturation — the British brand packs a good chunk of its rack into a single slot.
Rhodes puts the percussive bite of the 1977 Clavinet D6 ‘Transition’ back in your hands, this time in software. A close-in sampling of the pickups and EQ circuit, the in-house FX suite, and controls the original never had: here’s what Clav Pro brings to the table.
On stage, a vocal mic isn’t judged by its spec sheet but by what it forgives: feedback, drum bleed, a moving hand and a singer cupping the grille. Here’s how to weigh dynamic against condenser, read a polar pattern and dodge the traps that wreck a live vocal.
SYNCO’s Xtalk XPro wireless intercom goes full-duplex with no base or bodypack, adding dual antennas, a claimed 500-metre range and up to 13 units. An affordable alternative to cable and high-end comms systems, from 129 euros.
TELEFUNKEN redesigns its low-profile M81-SH dynamic: 40% lighter, 10% shorter, vibration-damped and shipping with new accessories. A stage instrument mic built for tight placements, around $249.
Reloop refreshes its most affordable direct-drive deck with a reinforced chassis, reworked controls and a factory-fitted Ortofon OM Black cartridge. A serious gateway into vinyl at 349.99 euros.