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November 28, 2004
preview: creative cardbus soundblaster card...
The PCMCIA Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook is without doubt one of the most absurd product names cottoned, so I'm probably going to refer to it as the ZS Notebook from here on in. Laptops are becoming increasingly popular, and from my own recent investigations prices seem to be dropping right across the board. Even a moderately specced laptop equipped with a fast external HDD would make a pretty decent mobile audio workstation.
There aren't so many options for improving the sound capabilties of the laptop though - a few years ago slow processor speeds, slow hard disks made it just about pointless to bother with a laptop for music purposes. Moving along though - a couple of years ago Creative released the Audigy EX which was a USB external soundcard - and there has been a few other companies who have come to the table with an internal PCMCIA card soundcard. It's logical that creative have released the ZS Notebook about now - lest their competition get in there with a killer product first.
They claim once again 24 bit audio for the ZS Notebook - which as always I'm a bit dubious about. But enough of that kind of talk. I'm sure the well meaning people in marketing land have checked with legal and it's okay for them to use 24bit in very much the same way cheap stereo makers use the term P.M.P.O instead of watts RMS. It comes with a breakout cable so that you can plug into a 5.1 or 7.1 audio system - obviously for when you're not on the move. It also features support for DTS-EX and Dolby Digital EX decoding. I get the feeling that apart from offering improved sound handling capabilties for the music user, they're pitching this to the laptop user who wants to watch movies with pristine sound at home. Although I imagine if you were that picky about your sound quality, wouldnt you be watching on a bigger screen than that of your standard notebook?
They claim a improvement in the SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio)saying that the noisefloor is much higher with inferior integrated audio - hard to substantiate one way or another, but I'd be inclined to believe them in this particular case - for the ZS Notebook they're speccing a SNR of 104dB. It also features CMSS 3D technology for "a full cinematic experience over headphones or over a multi channel speaker system..." Presumably this means theres a little cannon that comes with this that pelts jaffas and popcorn at the back of your head. Capital!
It'll retail $369 and will be shipping December - that's very soon kids! If you're in need of improved sound on your lappy or just the occasional jaffa pelted at your head drop into your local retailer to check it out.
Posted by funnelbc at 10:40 AM | Comments (0)
November 26, 2004
assault charge dropped on vines front man
Apparently it's okay to wack about camera people if you're a rockstar. I would of thought that in the rough and tumble world of music journalism you'd expect the occasional broken camera when dealing with tetchy rockstars. But my world view also finds a practical place for teddybears equipped with cannons. But that's just me.
"Craig Nicholls, 26, was charged for allegedly kicking a press photographer and damaging her camera at one of his band's concerts in Sydney six months ago." Apperently Craig Nichols has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndome - which is characterized by social and communication difficulties. What's more interesting is that "The band has not broken up, and Craig looks forward to doing what he loves and lives for -- getting back to writing and recording music with the Vines"
Cool man, they can cut a new record, trash some hotel rooms, and get to real business of rock and roll - kicking reporters arses.
Source: Sun times Via www.undercover.com.au
Posted by funnelbc at 04:01 PM | Comments (0)
November 25, 2004
a loyalty card you may actually use... indiecard!
Indie Initiative have something rather exciting on the boil. They're offering a membership card that will not only support them as a website and the good work they do to promote local music, but also give you a stack of rather handy discounts at various shops & services around Melbourne town.
It comes in a couple of flavours, including a band discount card (for $55 per annum) which give you discounts with a bunch of handy shops, theres a fan card ($25 p.a) and even a corporate rate ($110 p.a). The fan price which will be of interest to most people includes...
"You are eligible to win prizes for competitions for CD’s, concert tickets etc.
Gaslight 10%
Polyester 10% cash 5% card
Eclectic 10% off (Both stores)
Dangerfield 10%."
This is a really nice idea, IndieCard check it out
Posted by funnelbc at 03:43 PM | Comments (0)
November 24, 2004
apple rumour - firewire based i/o interface coming
Update: apple insider has this slightly more realistic looking rendition of what you'd be getting from apple for sub $200AUD. They've supplied some fairly compelling reasons to believe in this puppy, not the least which being, that in the 10.3.7 OSX update (earlier versions) Apple included firewire audio interface drivers. Handy. Apple swallowed up Emagic - makers of the supurb Logic Audio - and have used that nouse to produce this... so it should be a reasonable quality product. I think one of these, an ibook and a copy of just about any music package would make a quite decent portable music workstation - if you were say buy, this if/when it eventuates, an ibook and use garagband, you've have a rather cute audio setup. Certainly not the most amazingly powerful setup, but for the money - not too shabby either.
/update
Wel well well, what do we have here then? The image is a artists impression of what Apple might be making. They're rumoured to be launching a firewire based audio breakout box code name "Asteroid". The basics are as follows. 4 inputs, limited to any 2 active simultaneously - it has XLR and 1/4" Tip Ring Sleeve Jacks (2 of each) phantom power, 2 analogue channels for output and also 1 digital.
It'll be designed to work with garage band, and they intend to launch it at the San Francisco Macworld expo in January 2005. If it surfaces - cool. If not.... well.. I'm still having trouble coming to grips with the US retail price being bandied about $129USD - as a rather witty commentator points out on the powerpage.org website, "150? Come on! Apple sells socks for 40 USD..."
Source: powerpage.org Via Gizmodo.com
Posted by funnelbc at 08:11 PM | Comments (0)
November 23, 2004
telstra... casey... oh dear... he he
Heh. I haven't had a chance to post this one up, and I'm sure that everyone would of heard about it already. But here goes. Apparently Telstra popped a congratulatory ad in various metropolitan papers to congratulate Casey Donovan on her win. What is interesting is that they included in the text, a link to what they thought was her website. Sadly, they forgot the .au on the end and the rest as they say is history. The site that was at the .com address was infact, a gay porn website. Ouch. Ouch Ouch. As someone who works in an advertising studio I know that we work to very tight deadlines and I feel sympathy for the poor designer who put together the ad. I bet that when it comes time for someone to cop an arse kicking over this, It'll be the designer that cops the crap. Just when we go around bandying the term "bland" about the countryside they go and proove us wrong - accidentally.
In sort of associated news, telstra bigpond music have exclusivity rights to the new single up until a few days before the general release to the public.
News.com.au article about this incident
Posted by funnelbc at 01:01 PM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2004
mick says: the blandness is apon us!
Australian Idol fans have started to launch attacks on the future of Australia's newest 'idol' Casey Donovan – merely hours after her crowning. The upset is surrounding the record company (Sony-BMG) and their decision to use a cover as the song that will launch Casey's career. The song, Listen With Your Heart, is similar in sentiment to first release of last years Idol winner Guy Sebastian, Angels Brought Me Here. Both songs have been labelled as being 'sentimental' and 'bland', with supporters of the show demanding something more 'pop'.
This is once again a display of the record labels manufacturing artists, not taking into account the fact that they have individual styles and tastes, rather looking at a song that can be re-hashed and published for public mood of the current moment.
Further to this, I am strongly disappointed that an American wrote the song. This is 'Australian Idol', and that to me means that should draw on the US version, not completely impose Australian talent into an American model. (Seems to be the way of the mainstream industry up until now, why stop when it's making them so much money - ed)
More gripes from the 'Idol' fanbase can be read at http://www.insideaustralianidol.com.
Great to see that the spring weather is bringing out some tall poppies, I was wondering what to do with myself of late! I am off to mow the lawns…
-Mikinoz
Posted by funnelbc at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)
November 20, 2004
jbl onstage ipod accessory
The ipod's popularity is spawning accessories left right and centre. And from the good folks at JBL we have the JBL onstage ipod speaker system. Not quite sure why it has to be in the funny ring shape as the speakers are only at the front, but none the less it looks like you perch a beer or something in the middle. Presumably to make the shitty music you're listening to more bearable. Teach you to download hanson my friends.
Still, looks nice, and I'd love to hear one in person. It allows a pass through connectivity the computer so you can sync it to itunes (or your ipod sync software of choice) instead of perching it in the dock. Which if you like me, happen to own a basic 15Gig that didn't come standard with the dock mind find appealing.
JBL's Product Page Via Gizmodo
Posted by funnelbc at 05:03 PM | Comments (0)
November 18, 2004
Street teams...
Got a burning passion for your favourite band? Can't get enough of their 'inside' news and gossip? Want to get those billposters for your bedroom? Desire mp3's that are specifically for an elite group of fans? Street Teams are not new by any length, although of late their importance has been recognised by the bands that they support (and their labels) and are receiving more attention. A Street Team (ST) is a group of dedicated fans that get involved with the promotion of a band for free. This support comes in the way of stickering, billposting, flyer distribution and management of fan based web sites. Starting out in the US and now more and more starting in Australia, these groups are playing an important part in the awareness of the live music scene in towns and cities across the nation.
It is considered to be of the highest order of 'fanhood' to be a ST'er. You are a diehard supporter of the music and philosophy that the band expounds. Now it seems, that there is reduction of a selflessness surrounding ST's. Intelligent record companies have decided that there is cheaper ways than mass marketing to get 'word' to the people that they need to touch with their promotional message. It is more common now for bands and labels to reward teams by putting on secret gigs, printing small batch clothing, unique versions of songs on mp3, posters, stickers and so on.
Australian bands have a strong ST culture with bands such as MGF and 28 Days amongst others that are appearing on the Australian Street Teams site. At AST, you sign on to a subscription for the bands that you want to support. When a band asks for ST's to help an email call goes out and the members go off to do their duty.
I think that this is a superb way of supporting your band on the local scene and also to promote live 'band' music, moving people back in to bars and clubs for the 'band' not the 'DJ' or jukebox.
Get online and sign up to Australian Street Teams and join them in promoting the Australian music community – just like we endeavour to here at onetonnemusic!
-Mikinoz
Posted by funnelbc at 10:51 AM | Comments (1)
hilarious! it's a marketing war!
Creative's chief executive is apparently declaring a marketing with apple and its music playing progeny, the ipod. There's some funny quotes in this short piece, not the least of which being... "The MP3 war has started and I am the one who has declared war..." I see. Apparently Creative want to sell lots of music players, and take top spot in the mp3 player market from Apple. Which is all well and good, but Apple are established, have had pretty tremendous sucess with itunes and have cool ads with dancy sillhouetty people. Even their Digital Rights Management for their itunes music downloads is much more progressive than most if not all of their counterparts in the online music game.
You can check out the article from Mac Central Via themusic.com.au
Related: Early reviews of Creative Zen Jukebox mp3 players
Posted by funnelbc at 10:28 AM | Comments (1)
November 17, 2004
the fun police is here! err. the forums!
Remember onetonne music is more than just a site with awesome news and features… it also has a strong online forum community.
Check it out the onetonnemusic forums.
There are the regulars and ring-ins, but mainly it is a place to ask for help, learn a thing, share some info, have a laugh (mainly at my expense), post reviews and generally speak about 'Australian music'.
Check 'ya there soon!
Posted by funnelbc at 04:29 PM | Comments (0)
mick says: it's time for a rage renaissance
I am staring at my computer and all of a sudden instead I can see the Radiohead Karma Police music video playing on the screen. I realised that I was actually hallucinating, but all the same it made me remember a few years back, a little younger (still in college – before drinking crept into our lives) and the late nights/early mornings watching Rage film clips.
Remembering back even further into my childhood, I recall watching the early morning Rage instead of the cartoon crap that my sister enjoyed (as you do when you are 7). I clearly see myself being 10 and watching Madonna's Like a Prayer. Anyways, back to the present.
Today Rage still goes, and goes hard. It still provides the 'Top 50' on a Saturday morning and has Guest Programmers at night. This is to say that the formula has not changed much over the last years. I like Rage as it is simple. No talking heads/breasts/bad gelled haircuts giving opinions that are corporately biased, just music vids.
The Rage website is also a bit of a shrine. It houses all of the playlists since 1998 – which is cool, you can sign the guest book and stream some videos. Not much technically here that is to jump for joy about, although there is a section called 'How to get a video played on rage'. Now this to me is a great thing for Australian music. Get your song dubbed over your video and send it in on tape. Rage will copy the song to their files and then play it (if it meets a standard) in the future. They never guarantee if and when, but it is there for someone to select if they chose to do so.
I am going to stay up late on Saturday night with my girl and watch the Little Birdy's Guest Programmer space, make some pop-corn and refrain from booze to have a personal 'Teenage Rage Renaissance'. I think if you identify with this article, you should too!
Posted by funnelbc at 12:57 PM | Comments (0)
Jesusonic CrusFX1000
Coming to a church fete near you - Jesusonic CrusFX1000. Sounds like a member of the God Squad renamed his Harley, but it is far, far cooler than that.
This is a fully programmable computer based effects processer that runs complicated customisable fx's with no latency. Working for guitar, bass and vocals the unit is shaped in the form of a crusafix and has on board a 8" screen and a qwerty keyboard for programming your effects arrangements, or creating new ones on the fly.
I am not a user of such devices, so I am not able to comment on what there is currently in the market, but it is a very cool looking thing. Jesusonic also has a download of their software that runs on the device (for free) and are in the process of developing a resources page for people to share their customised effects.
Check it out at their Project Page Gizmodo
-Mikinoz
Posted by funnelbc at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)
do you want some onetonne stickers?
As I mentioned earlier. I have made up some stickers, and fresh from the sticker-a-torium I have made another batch of homebrew stickers. They have permanent ish adhesive on them and are laser colour printed, and seem to withstand spring rain quite well. Should you wish to get your greasy paws apon some stickers wing me an email on info at ausmusician dot com and I will post some out to you. Free! It don't get cheaper than that!
There's a variety of designs and I'm sure that if you wanted to stick some up where you can spread the word of onetonne that would be just dandy!
Why they look like this! young men and menettes!
Posted by funnelbc at 08:32 AM | Comments (0)
November 16, 2004
mick says: I suspect pop music might be crap
Since it's inception in 1973, the American Music Awards have been an alternative to the Grammy Awards to honour achievements in popular music. Unfortunately, founder Dick Clark would be disappointed to see that popular music is no longer similar to that of 30 years ago and the following list of winners is why...
Pop-Rock:
Male Artist: Usher.
Female Artist: Sheryl Crow.
Band, Duo or Group: OutKast.
Album: Confessions, Usher.
Soul-R&B:
Male Artist: Usher.
Female Artist: Alicia Keys.
Album: Confessions, Usher.
Country:
Male Artist: Toby Keith.
Female Artist: Reba McEntire.
Band, Duo or Group: Brooks & Dunn.
Album: Shock'n Y'All, Toby Keith.
Rap-Hip Hop:
Male Artist: Jay-Z.
Band, Duo or Group: OutKast.
Album: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, OutKast.
Adult Contemporary:
Artist: Sheryl Crow.
How do these stack up next to past winners Perry Como, James Brown and Bing Crosby? I do not own any album or single of the artists listed as 2004 winners. In some opinion I consider that these awards are mainly a 'lolly-pop' for the record companies to strive for. Create an artist, market them, sell much music, get nominated and rewarded, on sell more music as 'Award Winning'. It is as much an award that should go to the Companies as the artists.
Not always a cynic, but in this instance it appears an award for 'Pop' music is no endorsement for 'Good' music!
Check it out for yourselves at American Music Awards. (Pretty abysmal website too - ed)
-Mikinoz
Posted by funnelbc at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)
australia's worst songs...
This is a bit of a travesty, but here's a Herald Sun article that talks about some of Australia's worst songs. I was not even going to post it, but anything that makes mention of Joe Dolce's 'Shuddup Ya Face' is fine by me.
Via themusic.com.au
Posted by funnelbc at 09:05 AM | Comments (0)
creative zen micro jukebox reviews...
By way of the very excellent Gizmodo I'd like to point you in the general direction of these first reviews of the new shiny and above all.. shiny... Creative Zen Micro Jukebox. Hi-Fi.org Forums have a nice user review of the jukebox, and there's an interesting size comparison to be made between the zen and the ipod mini. That is to say, the Zen is thicker, but smaller in terms of height and width. Next up, There's this rather cluttered c.net review. Goddamn hard to read with all that clutter and crap on the page. And finally, extremetech.com take a look at the zen also.
My take? Well obviously I haven't got one to tinker with, but gathering from the reviews, it seems creative have taken note of what makes the ipod a joy to use, like the touch strip (instead of the wheel) - they've even put in a clicker speaker like the ipods. Battery life is improved, extra gig of storage and the screen is apparently better. I don't think it will be enough to call the masses away from the ipod, but it's a good effort by Creative, and I think they deserve to sell quite a few of these.
Posted by funnelbc at 08:49 AM | Comments (0)
November 15, 2004
cream to tour again (briefly)
It has been announced that Cream, the legendary 70's rock outfit that split at the height of their fame, are to reform for a handful of gigs. Cream was a ground-breaking act with the headline talent of Eric Clapton, created a sound that was dubbed as 'heavy'. Cream are considered a pioneer band of the Hard Rock genre. Playing their last show together in 1968, the band fell apart over personality and 'ego' conflicts, of which the scars have run deep. Since this time, the band has played only once together at the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, where they were inducted.
I am interested to see how this all goes. I am sure that there will be a frenzy for show tickets. These will be held at the Royal Albert Hall in London. No doubt there will be a little more 'production engineering' than the shows in the 70's, and hope that these gigs are recorded to DVD so the experience can be shared here in our lounge rooms too.
On a side note, Eric Clapton is planning on releasing a new CD/DVD in December entitled "Sessions for Robert J"
Check out more information at Billboard.
-Mikinoz
Posted by funnelbc at 12:50 PM | Comments (0)
November 13, 2004
mick says: koshie to move to australian idol!
In a very average interview in the Sydney Morning Herald, I leant today of a band that I have not heard of called Evermore. This trio from New Zealand have been in Australia for sometime now since thier recording of Dreams, off which comes a mainstream track It's too late. This track featured on the US TV show OC.
The only thing that I wanted to really comment on is a section of the article, by George Pathalingal, is a reference to an up-and-coming music critic, David Koch. 'Koshie', morning anchor of Network 7's breakfast show, Sunrise, allegedly spoke of the band having a sound similar to that of Groove Armada and another direct quote was that they sound like "Coldplay mixed with Groove Armada".
As I mentioned before, I have not heard this alleged 'musical blend' from this band, but Evermore are quoted as saying that 'Kochie is a good fan to have'. I have my suspicions. Although, I speculate, we may see David move networks, from 7 (Sunrise) to 10 and from am TV to pm as a judge for the next round of Australian Idol.
A closing quote from the article author "Listening to Evermore's epic, ambitious and fine debut album, Dreams, it's fair to presume the Sunrise host has never heard a Groove Armada record. But he's not far off with the Coldplay call."
Another priceless excerpt from the article was "We like the Finn brothers," 17 year old drummer Dann Hume (one of the 3 Hume brothers that are Evermore) says after nearly bringing up his porridge at the mention of Hanson. "Um, you know what? I've got a soft side for the Bee Gees - amazing songwriters. I just wish somebody at some point said, 'Hey, that high-voice thing you do? Nah.'" - this is music literature GOLD I say!
I think that both the SMH and Sunrise should stick to their specialities and leave the real musical critics have the final call of a band that are being dubbed as 'NZ answer to the Bee Gee's" - Give me strength! If you want quality reviews, I suggest you tune in to us here at onetonnemusic!
Imagine some sort of standard disclaimer here about the above article being opinion, and that by reading it you consent to having your house given to us, and losing the right to sue us. Imagine that eh?!
-mikinoz
Posted by funnelbc at 12:56 PM | Comments (0)
queenscliff music festival
Last weekend in November sees the Queenscliff Music Festival rock the shores of Swan Bay for another year. This event is large, and by way of large i mean 300 performances by 90 artists, including icons and current idols.
The festival has a blues, jazz, roots basis and will be starting out on the Friday night with Xavier Rudd and the lovely Kate Cebrano will perform (and be broadcast on ABC also). Continuing through Saturday will see Paul Kelly and for those old rockers out there (kids ask your parents about them) Max Merritt and the Meteors. Sunday will have Diesel play also. Without boring you too much, more contemporary others in the line-up include; Wicked Beat Sound System, Tim Rodgers and the Temperence Union, James Morrison (yeah!) and The Beautiful Girls.
I am sure the chardonnay set will be out in force and that there will be manic parking arrangements, as much as Queenscliff is a great place, it does not often attract so much attention.
I suggest you don't get it second hand, visit the Queenscliff Music Festival homepage for more details.
-Mikinoz
Posted by funnelbc at 12:47 PM | Comments (0)
November 11, 2004
Inside Films Award: Decoder Ring Somersault
Decoder Ring was last night awarded 'Best Music' at the Inside Film Awards in Sydney for their soundtrack to the highly acclaimed Australian film Somersault. This follows similar success at the Australian Film Institute awards this year for Best Original Music Score. There is a lot of momentum behind this film, dubbed 'a coming of age film' for director Cate Shortland, and many viewers are moved to comment on the succesful use of the score. The Somersault soundtrack rose above Paul Kelly and the Boon companions work for Tom White and the collective work of David Hobson, Josh Abrahams and Lisa Gerrard for One Perfect Day.
By Mikinoz
As reviewed recently on onetonnemusic by Funnel, Decoder Ring creates an enchanting score that envelopes the audience, almost as if it is warming them whilst they are watching the film set in the cold climes of Jindabyne.
There is most probably more success waiting for this soundtrack as it debuts on the international martket as the film has been sold to 30 countries and opens in France, January, UK, Feburary and the USA, mid next year.
The Somersault soundtrack was also produced by Decoder Ring. The band recorded much of album at their studio which they relocated to a farm outside Kiama . Further tracking and editing work was done at Soundfirm at Fox Studios alongside Somersault's sound designer Sam Petty.
Posted by funnelbc at 12:49 PM | Comments (0)
preview: creative to deliver hot new emu based hardware
Some time ago, I found out that EMU - maker of all things nice and synthy had been bought by Creative, and that was why the main chip on the soundblaster live series card was the EMU10K. Logical that they put EMU's best foot forward and put their hardware in sub $100 soundcards(!). It did however give the early soundblasters real clout in the audio market as well as the home market, and they went on to sell 1 squillion cards. EMU haven't been as high profile as many of the other audio companies that are kicking about but I was delighted to find out that creative are continuing to support EMU as a brand unto itself and are helping them deliver some rather tasty new gear to the consumer, quite possibly at a starting price point that I would have expected to fall strictly within the soundblaster domain.
They've pitched the new range for the "Desktop Professional and Home Studio Musicians" which seems like the right spot given the price points and feature sets. It's a difficult market to enter, as there's already several companies who do similar things with little to distinguish each product. I think what's unique or at least helps the new EMU gear stand above the crowd is that they also happend to boast hardware accelerated effects - as well as the sundry I/O featuring hardware digital signal processing (DSP), that's certainly something to notice.
On the topic of onboard DSP I have no reason to suspect that the quality will be anything short of excellent, my experience of EMU hardware to date has been universally positive. Without hearing them I can't personally vouch for the quality, but I would bet should one magically appear in my greasy paws, I wouldn't be dissapointed. EMU has a strong history of producing studio quality hardware and they're chasing hard to catchup with whats happening with software synths. Zero processor overhead is what you get from onboard DSP (at least if the inbuilt effects are what you want to use) and at this price, there's not many cards that have this kind of processing firepower. There's a few cards floating about that have exciting DSP capabilities but none have the the pedigree these have and none that I know of are available with DSP and effects under $299AUD. Sadly there seems to be the usual price hike that we experience with technology gear down under and the EMU 0404 has an estimated street price of $99 in the states, I'm not so good with the maths (or the book learnin') but that price conversion doesn't quite work out. Still that's only RRP and even at that price I venture that it is indeed a reasonable price to pay.
Theres a lot to like about the new gear, but of note from the press release it states that the 1820M ($1199 AUD) (has a) "half-rackspace breakout box that features premium 24-bit/192kHz converters - the same A/D converters used in Digidesign's high-end ProTools HD interface. " Holy crap man! If this isn't even half true, this is damn fine news. I'd be very interested to see DigiDesign's response to that. Pro-Tools HD rigs are well in excess of 20,000AUD for the unititiated. The prescense of Neutrik pro-grade connectors also indicates to me that EMU are taking this very seriously, and personally, I cannot wait to check these out for real.
There's lots of other juicy information, and I've included a copy of the press release for your very own eyes below. Enough of the me, and more with the Specs!
Visit EMU Online or Creative.com
----------
E-MU 1820M, 1820 and 1212M Digital Audio Systems deliver professional I/O, Hardware-Accelerated, Effects and Sync on your PC from AU$299
SYDNEY - November 10, 2004 - Creative Labs Pty Ltd, a local subsidiary of Creative Technology Ltd (NASDAQ: CREAF), a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products for PC users, today announced Creative Professional E-MU Digital Audio Systems - 24-bit/192kHz PCI audio interfaces that deliver everything musicians need to produce audio on a PC with professional results, including mastering-grade converters (the same A/D converters used in Digidesign®'s flagship ProTools® HD 192 I/O interface), hardware-accelerated effects and mixing, and seamless compatibility with all major PC audio/MIDI software. There are three Digital Audio Systems: the E-MU 1820M, 1820 and 1212M, each matched with I/O and sync options to suit the specific needs of musicians, recording engineers and sound designers, and ship with comprehensive WDM, DirectSound® and ASIOT 2.0 drivers for Windows® 2000 and XP. E-MU's Digital Audio Systems has started shipping at recommended retail price of AU$1199inc GST for the E-MU 1820M, AU$949 inc GST for the E-MU 1820 and AU$499 inc GST for the E-MU 1212M.
"Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro with the I/O hub has been the choice of music hobbyists to produce music. With this exciting range of Creative Professional E-MU Digital Audio Systems, we are able to extend on the Sound Blaster to deliver more professional solutions for the hobbyists and even the professional musicians," said Sim Wong Hoo, Chairman and CEO of Creative Technology Ltd.
Hardware-accelerated Effects, Mixing and Monitoring
All three Digital Audio Systems feature E-MU's powerful E-DSP chip, an effects processor that can deliver over 16 simultaneous hardware-accelerated effects, freeing your computer from running CPU-intensive plug-ins that limit your audio performance- a feature only offered by the most high-priced DAWs on the market. E-MU's Digital Audio Systems ship with over 500 effects presets, and the effects architecture is fully expandable, allowing you to add more effect plug-ins to your system as needed. The E-DSP chip also provides zero-latency, hardware-based mixing and monitoring via the included PatchMix DSP mixer, delivering unmatched flexibility in routing audio between all of your physical and virtual (ASIO/WDM) inputs and outputs- no external mixer needed.
Total Analog, Digital and Sync Connectivity
E-MU's Digital Audio Systems all feature ADAT, S/PDIF and FireWire® interfaces, as well as connectivity to a family of internal and external I/O and sync options.
The E-MU 1820 Digital Audio System ships with a 24-bit/192kHz half-rackspace breakout box that offers I/O expansion with everything from pristine 1/4" balanced inputs and outputs to specialized I/O like turntable inputs (with ground lug and hardware RIAA preamp), dedicated speaker outputs and two studio-grade TFProT preamps with 48V phantom power and 40dB of gain. These preamps feature Neutrik® connectors and accept mic, line and Hi-Z level inputs for total flexibility in plugging any microphone or instrument straight into the system. This breakout box also provides two sets of MIDI I/O, and is powered over the EDI (E-MU Digital Interface) cable that connects it to E-MU's PCI card - no external power needed.
The E-MU 1820M Digital Audio System ships with a mastering-grade version of the half-rackspace breakout box that features premium 24-bit/192kHz converters - the same A/D converters used in Digidesign's high-end ProTools HD interface. These converters deliver an unbelievable 120dB SNR, an incredible audio spec at any price, but unbelievable for a system priced at less than AU$1500. No other audio solution available offers the performance, flexibility and value of the E-MU 1820M.
The E-MU 1212M Digital Audio System offers the same mastering-grade converters on a I/O daughter card, providing a pair of balanced inputs and outputs as well as MIDI I/O - the perfect solution for any application that only requires a couple channels of premium analog I/O (i.e. mastering, remixing and running virtual instruments).
The E-MU 1820M Digital Audio System also ships with a sync daughtercard that allows musicians to lock external analog and digital systems together with a stable, high-resolution time base. The sync daughtercard supports Word Clock Sync in/out for sample accurate phase-lock of your digital studio, SMPTE Sync in/out for stable synchronization of external analog tape and video, as well as MTC (MIDI Time Code) out. Together with the comprehensive analog and digital I/O options available, E-MU 1820M offers complete, professional-spec connectivity to your entire studio, at a fraction of the price of the competition.
E-MU 1820M I/O Configuration:
. Two TFPro Mic/Line/Hi-Z preamps (w/48V phantom power)
. Six 1/4" Balanced Inputs
. Eight 1/4" Balanced Outputs
. Turntable input (w/ground lug and hardware RIAA preamp)
. 24-bit/192kHz ADAT In/Out (switchable to S/PDIF)
. 24-bit/96kHz coaxial S/PDIF In/Out (switchable to AES/EBU)
. 24-bit/96kHz optical S/PDIF Out (switchable to AES/EBU)
. Two sets of MIDI In/Out
. Four stereo 1/8" Speaker Outputs (configurable from stereo to 7.1)
. Stereo Headphone Output
. Firewire® Interface
Sync:
. Word Clock In/Out
. SMPTE In/Out
. MTC Out
The E-MU 1820M also ships with a comprehensive audio software package that includes Steinberg Cubase VST 5.1, Steinberg Wavelab Lite 2.5 and SFX Machine LT.
E-MU 1820 I/O Configuration:
. Two TFPro Mic/Line/Hi-Z preamps (w/48V phantom power)
. Six 1/4" Balanced Inputs
. Eight 1/4" Balanced Outputs
. Turntable input (w/ground lug and hardware RIAA preamp)
. 24-bit/192kHz ADAT In/Out (switchable to S/PDIF)
. 24-bit/96kHz coaxial S/PDIF In/Out (switchable to AES/EBU)
. 24-bit/96kHz optical S/PDIF Out (switchable to AES/EBU)
. Two sets of MIDI In/Out
. Four stereo 1/8" Speaker Outputs (configurable from stereo to 7.1)
. Stereo Headphone Output
. Firewire® Interface
The E-MU 1820 also ships with a comprehensive audio software package that includes Steinberg Cubase VST 5.1, Steinberg Wavelab Lite 2.5 and SFX Machine LT.
E-MU 1212M I/O Configuration:
. Two 1/4" Balanced Inputs
. Two 1/4" Balanced Outputs
. 24-bit/192kHz ADAT In/Out (switchable to S/PDIF)
. 24-bit/96kHz S/PDIF In/Out (switchable to AES/EBU)
. MIDI In/Out
. Firewire® Interface
The E-MU 1212M also ships with a comprehensive audio software package that includes Steinberg Cubasis 4.0, Steinberg Wavelab Lite 2.5 and SFX Machine LT.
Pricing and Availability:
The Creative Professional E-MU 1820M has a recommended retail price of AU$1199 inc GST; Creative Professional E-MU 1820 has a recommended retail price of AU$949 inc GST and the Creative Professional E-MU 1212M has a recommended price of AU$499 inc GST. All Creative Professional products are now shipping in Australia and New Zealand. Also available is The Creative Professional EMU 0404 at a recommended retail price of $299 inc GST and the Emulator X at AUD$749 inc GST and the Emulator X Studio at $1399 inc GST.
Posted by funnelbc at 07:15 AM | Comments (2)
November 09, 2004
this news just in... australian idol judges... irrelevant!
The minister for youth affairs Jacinta Allen has given the Australian Idol judges a serve for being rude. And let's face it, I'm not quite sure if it all stacks up. The fat, largely ignored music "guru" has been hired to to be the hardman, much like that woman from home and away who was the bitch in that dodgy game show. It's all bollocks anyway, but I do feel that buried somewhere in my deep hate for everything Australian Idol which is only just surpassed for my contempt for the Incumbent government, there is a point in this little article.
"When a model gets $500,000 a year and a social worker gets paid $30,000 a year we know we've got a serious issue in the community about what is important," he said."
And I totally agree. There's not enough room for me to bitch about how craptastic Australian Idol is, there is however enough room for me to link the news article. Via themusic.com.au
Posted by funnelbc at 10:07 AM | Comments (1)
m-audio firewire solo it's full o' newness!
Good news singin' hobos! You too can record you latest song about stabbin' and all that good stuff with the rather shiny and nice M-Audio firewire solo. It's a self contained I/O box for recording that features 6x24bit/96kHz interface, mic, guitar and line inputs. It even has a 'real' XLR mic jack which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. It's got spdif so you could hook it up to cheap digital mixer and get some serious in/out action for relatively few dollars. It runs off bus power, which means that If you are on a bus... no it runs off the power that your firewire port supplies. This is a nice little self contained option and it is mac and pc compatible.
M-Audio's page for the FireWire Solo Via Synthtopia.com Via Gizmodo
As an added bonus, synthtopia.com also have a review of the Roland SP-606 Sampling workstation. Clicky!
Posted by funnelbc at 09:56 AM | Comments (0)
November 05, 2004
red eyes - high place
A mate of mine handed me a copy of this, and said give it a listen. "It's a locab dub and reggae outfit, you should check em out, they're mental" And ye verily he was right these guys are mental. I simply cannot wait to hear more of their stuff, its abosolutely solid. The High Place single features the songs High Place, Babylon Falling, Ultra Magnetic and two remixes of Ultra Magnetic and High Place. This is a really polished and outstanding effort. Apparently they're a 10 piece outfit and have been building up a cult following in Melbourne town. Which could mean anything when translated from press release speak, but after listening to them, I'm sold. It's got a nice hot groove, and excellent vocals. It's not cookie cutter dub either, and the remix tracks bring it up to a late night dnb style mix.
This is truly excellent music to groove to. The quality of the recording is spot on, and the mix is excellent. If you cannot stand the spring rain, this is definately the thing to improve your mood. It's improved my already. Spark one up and catch these guys anytime you can.
Track Listing
The Red Eyes -
1. High Place
2. Babylon Falling
3. Ultra Magnetic
4. Ultra Magnetic (Deep Fried Dub)
5. High Place (Towers of Babel Mix)
Posted by funnelbc at 08:58 AM | Comments (0)
apple's life preserver won't save big music
Maybe it's been said before, but record companies are largely to blame for the decline in sales, not peer2peer. Infact this rather choice opinion article from TechNewsWorld. Bravo.
"They've been seeing a decline in sales and are scapegoating P2P file sharers and commercial P2P application operators for their troubles, refusing to acknowledge that bad, self-generated PR, bad business and marketing strategies and decisions, and over-priced, cookie-cutter releases may have something to do with their troubles."
TechNewsWorld.com Article Via indieinitiative.com
Posted by funnelbc at 08:47 AM | Comments (0)
gameboyz orchestra
This has nothing to do with the local scene, but I'd love to know if there's some folks around that are getting involved in this kinda stuff. I've met a few folks who are into video game soundtracks, and indeed import the original game scores from Japan, but the Gameboyzz Orchestra Project takes it a little further and composes music on GameBoy consoles. Nerdy, but cool in a kinda lo-fi futury kinda way. Love it.
Check out the wired article and Gameboyzz Orchestra Project
Posted by funnelbc at 08:37 AM | Comments (1)
November 04, 2004
hp bluetooth headphones
Man I love new technology, especially like those blue tooth moblile headsets, cos they dont make you look like a 1980's version of the future at all. No, not at all. Some technology products just look plain naff, and so too, have most Bluetooth headphones until now. The unlikeliest of saviours has stepped in on behalf of the Bluetooth wearin' hoverboard riding masses. They look rather understated and are available on the HP website. Gizmodo wonders whether they're going to work with anything apart from the ipaq PDA's and I would wager that some nerd in a basement is already beavering away making them work more universally.
Posted by funnelbc at 09:26 AM | Comments (0)
jaxter artist awards music competition
I want an mbox. And if you have any sense young man/lady you do as well. They're the budget box from Digidesign, makers of all things hotness for audio recording, and they're truly hot. Did i say hot? Hot.
"The 3rd annual Jaxter Artist Awards music competition is now open for entry to songwriters. This year we are again calling for anyone under 35 to submit original pieces of music of any genre for the chance to win cash and prizes valued at over $9,000. The main category winner will receive their choice of $5,000 cash or $2,500 cash plus an iMac. They will also receive an Mbox with Pro Tools from digidesign." What's to lose And if your a design nerd like me you can also have a shot at entering their cover design comp and potentially bag yourself some exposure in Desktop magazine, $1000 bucks payola and a stack fo TDK dvds. Cool man.
Go and check out Jaxter's etchings upstairs...
Posted by funnelbc at 08:55 AM | Comments (0)
November 02, 2004
the winston giles orchestra - promo ep
Firstly, I'd like to apologize to the Winston Giles Orchestra for leaving their CD in the bottom of my backpack collecting skunge and general bottom of backpack muck. Luckily it cleaned up a treat. (Or that the very least, well enough so that the cd still works.)
Yeah, so if you get a copy that's as vintage as this example, you're cool and there's no need to keep smoking and wearing your fancy von dutch hat backwards.
This is a very slick sounding record actually. Quite professional sounding mix, with a good variety of tunes. I really want to get a copy of "Soundtracks for Sunrise" so I can check out more of the sounds. Musicially it wanders, but premdominantly it features excellent samples and live sounding intrumental recordings beside more electronic ambient beats. I really cannot fault these tracks, beside having very polished production values - almost to a point if you get what I mean...
Maybe because musically the first track "We wait for sunrise" shares a strong similarity to lemon jelly's body of work, i'm a bit unsure of how to rate this. Theres that same whimsical building and progression of the tune, having a listen to the streaming version of the full album online, a few songs share this layered acoustic guitar sound. I'm not sure how I feel about it musically, as that sound is pretty well nailed by Lemon Jelly. But once again a sampler cd like this takes their music out of context. Most of my concerns are put to rest by Mercy for the Wicked which has a really nice combination of fatter synth sounds and very tidy drum (samples or playing?) sounds. It finishes up with The Banished Matadors, which is a flamenco inspired number. Very solid, psychedelic electronic awaits if you grab yourself a copy of this, or even better the full album, Soundtracks for Sunrise.
Winston Giles Orchestra Promo EP
File Under: Surreal beats.
Website:Winstongilesorchestra.com
Track Listing
1. We wait for sunrise
2. Mercy for the wicked
3. The banished matadors
Posted by funnelbc at 08:31 PM | Comments (1)
Soundbuzz?
Soundbuzz are in a deal with Optus to launch another online music service here in Australia. Apparently they think that '2005 will be the watershed year for online music downloads'. More like a big juicy chunk of the music download pie is going to waste with absolute crapola in terms of local music vendors. Am I the only one who's happy to pay for a cd from an online store, and is more than a little dubious about paying virtually the same for a vastly inferior product? Yeah. I thought so.
From IT AsiaOne Via themusic.com.au
Posted by funnelbc at 03:00 PM | Comments (0)
ipod photo chunky
Hey. Apple! Don't you know that technology goods are supposed to get increasingly svelt?! You're going the wrong way! Here's the new ipod photo next to an ipod standard - yes the ipod photo is the chunky one! Holy technology comparison robin!
Posted by funnelbc at 02:53 PM | Comments (0)
lexar debuts some flash music players
I hate flash players, becuase even though I have an ipod, I desire to have a flash player. I'm basically mentally unstable when it comes to justifying new new gadgetry. So in that vein, here's some new flash music players from Lexar. Most importantly they have a USB connector built in, so no need for a special cable (unless your usb ports have a chunky surround like many proprietary PCs) and you're away. There's the LDP-400 (128mb capacity - yech) and the LDP-600 (256 and 512mb) which basically boils down to the fact that the 600 allows the use of SD cards for expansion. Which is basically what you want from a flash music player.
Posted by funnelbc at 02:34 PM | Comments (0)
November 01, 2004
mono.net temporarily down?
Have I been living under a rather large rock or have mono.net only recently disappeared off the net? They went offline on the 26th of September. Seems like their hosting bill is getting to be a hassle, and I'm not surprised that site gets a fairly serious amount of traffic daily. Apparently they're looking into more high profile sponsors and the like. Crazy that such a nice site could be getting so much traffic. Awesome, but kinda sad, cos of the financial strain it's obviously causing.
Apparently there's emergency shelter for the mono.net horde at Mess and Noise. All the best mono.net folks, you've done a great deal for the local scene and the online Australian music community.
Posted by funnelbc at 01:59 PM | Comments (0)