It patches MIDI and audio connections, it interfaces, it generates SMPTE, it shaves those irritating little bobbles off your favourite sweater... well maybe not, but it could change the way you patch your studio forever, as David Mellor discovers.

It's pretty easy to set up a MIDI system isn't it? Just plug your keyboard into a sequencer, the sequencer back into the keyboard, then take a line from the keyboard's Thru connector and daisy chain it through the rest of your sound modules. I suspect that most people's MIDI systems are connected just like this. Mine is, and it works just fine. But there are always those who want to take things a step further, to try and push the technology to see what they can achieve with it. People who, for instance, may want to use more than one MIDI keyboard controller, or perhaps share sound modules with a MIDI guitarist (perhaps even in live performance). And there are people who want to do really complicated things — like create theatrical sound systems with perhaps a dozen loudspeakers on stage and dotted around the auditorium. Such people will undoubtedly be driven to performing dangerous stunts such as reconfiguring the equipment during the show for a particular special sound effect, then reconfiguring again during a quick scene change. If most of us sit in our studios and play contentedly with a fixed setup of equipment, then perhaps we are guilty of being just a little bit complacent — boring even. There's so much more that can be achieved with a little bit of imagination.

To take my two examples a little further, imagine how it would be if our live MIDI performers and sound system operators had to physically change their systems midshow by unplugging and replugging cables? Courting disaster would be one way of describing it. Much better would be a black box that could handle the replugging of MIDI and/or audio cables all by itself at the push of a button — or at the command of a MIDI program change.

There have been a number of programmable MIDI patchbays on the market, and one or two equivalent programmable audio patchbays, but now we have one unit that performs both functions and adds interfaces for SMPTE and a Macintosh computer into the bargain. The unit is the Anatek SMP16, and I hope you can see from my preamble why it exists and why you might want to buy it. Some people will know already that they want one — providing it comes up to muster — and, just possibly, others will be stimulated into wanting to take their technology just that little bit further.

FEATURES

With such a versatile product it's difficult to impose an order of importance on the list of features. Perhaps it's easier to think of it as four different types of equipment, but all in one box:

• 16-in/16-out MIDI-controlled audio patchbay.
• 7-in/8-out MIDI patchbay with two MIDI processors.
• SMPTE generator/reader with translation to MTC (MIDI timecode), DTL and DTLe (Direct time lock), and MIDI song position pointer and clock.
• Macintosh MIDI interface.

Let's go through each of these functions in turn and put the SMP16 through its paces.

AUDIO PATCHBAY

The first thing to remember about programmable audio patchbays is that they are unlikely to be a substitute for the real plug-and-socket thing. A decent patchbay for a 16-track studio will have at least 150 sockets and probably more. Obviously the 16 inputs and 16 outputs on the SMP16 are not going to be a substitute for such a patchbay, and you probably you wouldn't want them to be (I look forward to the day when the bulky, expensive and potentially unreliable mechanical patchbay can be replaced with an electronic equivalent which is as easy to use). The important point about this unit is that the patches can be re-routed instantly via a MIDI program change message. I think this will be of use principally in a live context; although it may be tempting to imagine using automated patch changing in the studio, in practice I doubt whether most people who experiment with the technique employ it on a regular basis once they have got past the curiosity stage. For live use, however, it could be a godsend. Suppose you're a keyboard player with a stack of equipment and effects units. You might use an on-stage mixer to control your setup during the performance and recreate the right configuration and settings for each song. On the other hand, you might acquire a unit such as the SMP16, have a little re-think, and get the unit to do most of the donkey work for you. Suppose you had two keyboards — keyboard A and keyboard B — and one effects unit. You could use the effects on keyboard A during the first song then, after sending a MIDI program change, on keyboard B during the second.

It's easy enough to say what the SMP16 does as an audio patchbay — routes 16 inputs to any combination of 16 outputs — but you probably want to know a little about how to set it up; equipment with lots of buttons and LCD displays can be difficult to operate sometimes. One point that immediately impressed me about the SMP16 was the large size of the display. It isn't made this big in order to convey a vast amount of information to the user, but rather so that the characters can be much bigger than normal.

Although most displays these days are quite readable from a normal operating distance, very few are clearly visible from the comfort of your chair at the keyboard or mixing position. This one is legible from as far away as normal eyesight (or optician's expertise) will allow — the other side of the room, for most practical purposes.

As you might expect, the system is menu driven so you need to find the item called 'Edit Audio Patch Routing & Names' and press Enter. Setting the patch is simply a matter of adjusting the input to match the output(s) you want. Note that although one input can supply any number of outputs, the reverse is, understandably, not true. Once set, the patch can be saved to any of 50 locations with a name of your choice. Saving an audio patch means going through a sub-menu (I don't like sub-menus) and, when naming it using the up/down keys, the Reset button acts as a blank space (space buttons should be mandatory).

As far as audio patching goes, that's it, and there really doesn't need to be anything more complex. The spec gives some very reasonable figures for noise, distortion and crosstalk, and I certainly couldn't hear any ill-effects.

MIDI PATCHBAY

MIDI patching in the SMP16 offers a little more to get one's brain around. On the rear panel are six MIDI inputs and eight MIDI outputs. MIDI output 8 is duplicated on the front panel, where there is also a 'MIDI Input F' (more on this shortly). The eight outputs can be fed from any of the six inputs or from either of the internal MIDI processors A and B. The two processors can each be set to filter selected types of data from any one input. Got that? No, I didn't at first either — I think that most manufacturers could do with employing, on a freelance basis, musicians chosen for their strictly average understanding of technology. Most pieces of music technology are only used to about 30% of their capability, for the simple reason that designers don't realise how much effort they need to put into making things as simple as possible to operate. Let me try explaining the MIDI patching facilities of the SMP16 again, in a different way...

• There are six MIDI inputs which can be routed to any or all of the eight MIDI outputs.

• There are two processors, A and B, each of which can modify one input and then be routed to any combination of outputs.

• The MIDI data streams from the two processors can be merged and routed to any combination of outputs.

• MIDI input F cannot be routed directly to an output; it must go through one of the processors first.

I think you will see from this that the SMP16 certainly does perform a useful set of functions MIDI-wise, and once you've got over the first hurdle of understanding then all will be straightforward. As well as making MIDI assignments by number, it is also possible to give each input and output a name which, once you have developed your MIDI setup, should make operation simple.

Going back to the MIDI processors, basically they are MIDI filters that allow you to knock out of the data stream certain types of event (selected from Note, Aftertouch, Control Change, Program Change, Pitch Bend, System Common, System Real Time, System Exclusive and All Notes Off). You can select Running Status On or Off for either processor. There is also a provision for the RT120 accessory (which I didn't have for review), which allows input of MIDI Control Change messages in real time via hardware faders.

SYNCHRONISATION

On the side of the SMP16 packaging there is a list of features which includes 'Bit-accurate SMPTE'. This made me worry because a term like bit-accurate would normally cause me to assume that whatever comes into the unit from the tape machine is translated bit-for-bit into MTC or into MIDI clocks. At face value this sounds like a good idea, but I know that in practice what comes out of the recorder isn't always as perfect as it should be, and if any errors in the timecode are translated into MTC or clocks, then only trouble can ensue.

Many timecode driven devices (usually with upscale price tags) have a so-called 'flywheel' function which rides over any short patches of bad code, correcting the problem. Sometimes the period over which the flywheel will operate is adjustable, which is the ideal situation. I have a sync unit (now living at the bottom of a very dark cupboard) which doesn't have this function and, in conjunction with my four-year-old multitrack, it is virtually useless for MTC. I was worried that this might be the case with the 'bit-accurate' SMP16, but thankfully I found that I was able to synchronise via MTC and MIDI clocks without difficulty, although simulated serious dropouts did cause my sequencer to stutter.

The SMP16 handles no fewer than six types of timecode. I bet you didn't know there were six; most users know 24, 25, 29.97 drop-frame and 30 frames per second codes. There is, however, also a version called 29.97 non-drop, and now we are offered 30fps drop-frame. I'm not sure what this is used for, and the manual says that it's only there for people who know how to use it — I don't think there are many of them about.

The SMP16 handles translating from SMPTE to MTC with ease, and it also supports DTL and DTLe for all you MOTU enthusiasts. If you are still using MIDI clocks and song position pointers then you'll be keen to know how the-tempo map works. You are allowed up to 10 tempo changes in each of 10 songs (if 10 tempo changes are not enough, take it as a hint that it's time to move over to MTC) and the changes can be programmed by bar numbers. You can't program a change within the bar, and in fact you can't specify anything other than 4/4 bars. If I wanted to carp then I would say this was a drawback, but in 1993 we really ought to be consigning anything other than MTC for syncing sequencers to the Museum of MIDI along with such curiosities as keyboards without a Local Off mode.

A further option under the heading of synchronisation is the Jam Sync function, which could get you out of trouble one day. Jam sync means that the timecode generator will synchronise to incoming code and generate code that precisely matches it, and continue generating it should the incoming code disappear for any reason. The idea is that you should be able to fix a patch of bad code by jam syncing, dropping in at the appropriate moment. A safer and perhaps more reliable option would be to record jam-synced code onto a spare track and then use that for sync. Repairing damaged code is probably a specialist field in its own right, and better handled by a fully-featured timecode generator, but having jam sync here is an unexpected bonus.

MAC INTERFACE

Not content with providing the three previous distinct and significant functions, the Anatek SMP16 has its own Mac interface too, saving you the expense of buying one. I know that simple Mac interfaces are pretty cheap these days, but if you are using MTC then you really need to have two interfaces, one for music and one for MTC, otherwise something in the MIDI data stream is going to have to give way sooner or later (probably sooner if it's aftertouch or pitch bend). If you're not familiar with the Mac yet then you should know that with two interfaces both the printer and modem ports can be used for MIDI. Although the SMP16 has only one Mac interface this doesn't matter, since the MTC never has to pass down a MIDI cable. It is only mixed with note data in the bi-directional serial link between the unit and the Mac, and since this runs at a healthy 1 MHz (some thirty times faster than MIDI) there is plenty of time for every bit of data to arrive on schedule.

While I'm on the subject of the Mac, I should also mention the editing software for the SMP16. This is supplied in both Mac and Atari versions, but since I recently parted company with my trusty Atari I'll concentrate on the former. The software unfortunately isn't interactive with the SMP16 (which I'm sure it could have been) but works via SysEx dumps. If you use the software then it's probably best to start from that side of things and set up an audio patch using the graphic screen as shown on page 87. The only thing I need tell you is that you simply drag 'patchcords', using the mouse, from input to output. The screen is drawn neatly for you and the connections made. You then have to send the result to the SMP16 and load it up; all a bit fiddly, but I think the advantage that screen-based working gives you is very convenient. Note also the MIDI patch equivalent.

JACK OF ALL TRADES?

That's how I usually describe myself when asked what I do for a living. I usually add the the other half of the popular expression, but in the case of the Anatek SMP16 I can certainly say that it has mastered a number of different tasks to a high degree of expertise. Not everyone is going to need or want one, but for those who want to achieve just that little bit more, it's ideal.

Further information

Anatek SMP16 £699.95 inc VAT.

MCMXCIX, (Contact Details).