ART IEQ EQUALISER

Hard on the heels of the ART ⅔rd octave programmable equaliser comes the new ⅓rd octave Intelligent Equaliser or IEQ.

The IEQ ⅓ is available as a master or satellite module, the latter has no front panel controls, and one master can control up to 15 satellite units. The unit provides 31 fully programmable bands of equalisation, with 128 memory locations to store your settings and you can assign a 16 character name to each memory. Any memory can be recalled manually or via MIDI.

The IEQ also incorporates a 32Hz high pass filter and the 31 ISO centred bands may be varied in ½dB steps. All EQ settings may be displayed on a monitor and ART can supply their own 19" rackmounting screen if required.

Contact Harman UK, (Contact Details).

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TOA MONITORS

A new range of nearfield/audio-visual monitors have just been introduced by TOA. There are three different models in the range: the 312-ME-AV (135 watts) and 280-ME-AV (90 watts) use a three-way speaker system, whereas the smaller 265-ME-AV (75 watts) uses a two-way system.

All three monitors feature internal shielding of the magnetic components to eliminate interference to nearby video screens and both the 312 and 265 incorporate a vented bass reflex enclosure design.

Contact TOA Electronics Ltd, (Contact Details).

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WOTABOX

It may be a strange name, but what a box! Well this box is actually a cable testing aid designed to help you quickly sort out which cables in your studio/on stage are faulty and which aren't.

With it you can test a whole range of connectors including XLR, DIN, MIDI, standard jack and phono in addition to testing cables. You can also test any size fuse and, by the use of two probes (included), you can test anything for continuity. The Wotabox is made from lightweight strong acrylic, is virtually unbreakable and is battery operated.

Price £69.90 inc VAT.
Contact Kingswood Studios Ltd, (Contact Details)

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PACER PAD 2

The introduction of the Pad 2 will be of great interest to all those of you who are already aware of the Pacer synchroniser from Audio Kinetics. The new Pad 2 remote control unit offers all the features of the original with several enhancements and new functions.

It is now possible to access the transport functions of all slave tape machines, including going direct to record. The Pacer's timecode generator can now be set remotely from the Pad 2 and a remote calibration facility has been added.

A new feature called 'Mark Master' has been introduced which allows you to specify a point of interest on the slave, either by punching in the time or on-the-fly. Having established this point of interest on the slave, it may then be locked to the master at any point and cued by invoking the 'Mark Master' function. This is particularly useful for spinning-in sound effects at different points throughout the master.

Contact Audio Kinetics Ltd, (Contact Details).

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BEL STEREO SAMPLER

UK manufacturers Bel Electronics have announced the introduction of the BD80S stereo delay line/sampler. This new unit replaces the original BD80 and offers a host of new features. Full delay and sampling is now available in stereo, with up to 6.5 seconds sampling time, or up to 13 seconds in mono. The BD80S is a true stereo unit which allows each side of the memory to be filled individually and at different times.

Features include: retrievable editing of both front and end of samples; pitch shifting from 1/50th of a semitone to an octave up or down; 20Hz to 20kHz effect bandwidth; 80dB dynamic range; manual de-glitch; balanced in/outputs; internal or external audio trigger; as well as MIDI pitch and channel assignment.

Contact SED, (Contact Details).

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YAMAHA PRO AUDIO

Following in the footsteps of the famous NS-10M monitors are the new, bigger NS-40M studio monitors. These have been designed to meet the needs of the working studio and feature a three-way system which uses two 'white cone' bass drivers plus soft dome mid and tweeter units. As well as handling more power, the NS-40Ms have been designed to handle the rigours of continuous professional use. The technical spec lists their performance as follows: 100 watts power capacity, 50Hz to 20kHz frequency response with a 6 ohms nominal impedance.

A new Yamaha power amplifier has also been announced. The P2040 is a high performance, compact 4-channel amp featuring individual volume controls and speaker outputs. It has been primarily designed for audio-visual or surround sound installations.

However, for home recording applications it is ideally suited to powering both main and nearfield speakers simultaneously. In 4-channel mode the P2040 offers 20 watts per channel, whilst switching into 2-channel mode (stereo) gives 40 watts (both figures into 8 ohms).

Contact Yamaha-Kemble UK, (Contact Details).

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SOFTWARE NEWS

Korg have announced their own editing package for their DSS1 sampler. The program runs on the popular Atari ST and offers full editing of DSS1 samples including waveform analysis, looping, redraw and much more. Additional programs are also available for the Korg DS8 and DW8000 synthesizers which also run on the Atari. All programs are available from Korg stockists.

Prices from £99 to £199 inc VAT.
Contact Korg UK, (Contact Details).

Tigress Designs are soon to launch a Roland MT32 editor called the Patchman 32. The program runs on the Atari ST, both mono and colour versions, and features include easy access to all of the MT32's memory, 64 user sounds, 128 preset sounds, 30 drum sounds, 128 patch memories and 30 drum memories. A built-in 'soft keyboard' containing a step-time sequencer allows synth and drum sounds to be played using the mouse whilst editing.

Price £85.95.
Contact Tigress Designs Ltd, (Contact Details).

'M' is Intelligent Music's first software release for the Atari ST. Previously this American software company have only produced programs for the Apple Macintosh. M is an extraordinary music composition environment within which you can explore musical ideas. It's an interactive program which allows you to specify basic musical material, such as notes or chords, then determine the way in which M will transform and generate new musical ideas based on your original input. Sounds like a good source of ideas for those suffering from writer's block!

Contact Take Note Ltd, (Contact Details).

From Steinberg comes Masterscore. This has been written to complement their Pro-24 MIDI sequencer but may also be used as a standalone program enabling any sequence, song or complete score to be printed out in standard musical notation. Masterscore's features include: up to 48 staves per page, notes entered by mouse or QWERTY keyboard, key change on part or global, extensive editing capability and comprehensive printer control options, plus much more.

Price £325 inc VAT.
Contact Evenlode Soundworks, (Contact Details).

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ACOUSTIC ENERGY MONITORS

The first product from newly established London company Acoustic Energy Ltd, is the AE1 nearfield monitor. These units have been developed by Phil Jones, an electronics engineer/producer/recording engineer. The AE1 monitors are the culmination of three years research and development to build the ideal nearfield monitor.

Technically, the AE1 is a two-speaker unit using a 5" bass/mid driver and a 1" tweeter. The design results in a 35Hz to 30kHz frequency response with a quoted 200 watts power handling capability into 8 ohms.

Contact Acoustic Energy Ltd, (Contact Details).

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STEINBERG TIMELOCK

Steinberg have recently introduced the Timelock, a SMPTE interface for use with their Pro-24 MIDI sequencer program, which allows you to synchronise the sequencer to any audio tape recorder. The Timelock itself plugs into the Centronics port of the Atari computer and is less than the size of a Walkman.

All SMPTE parameters are specified as well as all variables such as tempo, start time and cue times, all of which may be stored on disk along with the Pro-24's song data. When in use, the Timelock resolves MIDI sequences played on the Pro-24 to 384 steps per beat and the SMPTE lock-up time is under 1.5 seconds. Another useful feature of the Timelock is its DIN Sync port which enables you to sync up non-MIDI equipment such as old Roland drum machines.

Price £399 inc VAT.
Contact Evenlode Soundworks, (Contact Details).

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TAC AUTOMATION

Owners of Scorpion and Matchless mixers manufactured by Total Audio Concepts will be pleased to learn that mixer automation is coming your way in the shape of a universal interface developed specially by TAC.

TAC felt that instead of recommending one specific automation system they would build an interface which would allow you to use any company's automation package. This approach means that the mixer can be updated as new automation systems become available, thereby allowing you to take advantage of new technology without having to continually change or modify your mixer. What a sensible move!

Contact TAC, (Contact Details).

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J L COOPER MIX MATE

This latest product from J L Cooper Electronics has been specially developed as a low-cost automation package for 8-track studios. The Mix Mate contains everything needed for 8-track fader/mute automation, including SMPTE or FSK read/write, high quality dbx VCAs, faders and mute controls. The unit is designed to be used with your mixer's insert points and tape recorder.

Various sync modes are available including sync via SMPTE, MIDI song pointers, the new MIDI timecode (MTC) and J L Cooper's smart FSK code as found in their PPS1 Poor Person's SMPTE unit.

In addition to the Mix Mate system, a further package is available called Mix Mate Plus. This interfaces an Atari computer into the system and provides graphic display, expanded memory and disk storage of data.

Contact Evenlode Soundworks, (Contact Details).