SOS
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Digital multitrackers, Karma synth and Kaoss mixer head Korg's 2001 roster
The D1600 records at 16-bit and 24-bit resolution, offering 16-track playback at 16-bit and eight tracks at 24-bit. Plenty of virtual tracks -- 16 per playback track -- are available for alternative takes and, as with the D16, audio can be recorded directly to these tracks without having to set them up for playback. Non-destructive digital editing operations include copy, paste and erase, with up to 99 levels of undo/redo. DSP functions are also specified, in the form of normalisation, fades, and time The 1600's MIDI spec includes MIDI Time Code, MIDI Clock and MIDI Machine Control compatibility, and there's a custom tempo track. On the digital front, the D1600 provides 24-bit optical S/PDIF I/O, and a SCSI connector allows external devices to be used for recording or backup. Audio can be exported or imported as WAV files, via CD or DOS-formatted external media, and audio data backed up by Korg's eight-track D8 or their D16 to an external drive can also be loaded into the D1600. A feature list too long to print here also includes a chromatic tuner and preset drum-machine rhythms. The D1600 is due to land soon and should retail for around £1500. That's not all the new digital recording hardware from Korg: they also launched the 12-track D12 (£850). Features include a 16-channel digital mixer with four analogue inputs (and thus four-track simultaneous recording), effects, internal CD-RW option, and 16- or 24-bit recording (six-track playback only in the latter mode). Two phantom-powered XLR connectors and a guitar DI input are fitted, and the D12 boasts similar editing, automation and effects capabilities as the D16 V2 and D1600. The NAMM show was quite a big event for Korg, as they also launched a brand-new synth (pictured below left). Called the Karma, the new keyboard is finished in eye-catching metallic red. It offers the synthesis, effects and sequencing capabilities of the successful Triton family (see Triton review June 1999), but adds a new technology that morphs together a variety of auto-accompaniment and arpeggiator-like facilities to aid the instant creation of music under real-time control. A bank of knobs and switches provides control over various musical elements, synth parameters and effects. The Karma is 62-voice polyphonic and can accommodate Triton synth expansion cards. It includes 425 PCM multisamples, 413 drum samples (32Mb in total), 102 effect algorithms (f The last in Korg's new list of hot products is the £500 Kaoss Mixer, which welds a comprehensive DJ mixer to an enhanced Kaoss performance control pad (see original Kaoss review, SOS August 1999). The mixer offers dual inputs, compatible with line-level or turntable signals, and allows effects processing and 23 seconds of 44.1kHz/16-bit sampling to be integrated with music generated from record or CD, or another synth. Korg also mention the Kaoss Mixer's 'Ultra Boost' option, which can add extra low-end power without causing speaker distortion, and a new 'Auto-BPM' function that analyses the incoming signal and matches time-based effects to signal tempo.
| Sunday 8th November 2009 |
Arriving too late to include properly in SOS's digital 16-track buyers' guide on page 168 this month is news of Korg's brand-new D1600, which was launched at the Los Angeles NAMM show in January (for more late-breaking news from NAMM, see page 15). As does its predecessor, the D16, the new multitracker combines a digital mixer with a 16-track hard-disk recorder and effects, all controlled via Korg's excellent TouchView LCD interface. The 24-channel mixer section offers eight balanced analogue ins, including four phantom-powered XLR mic connectors and a guitar DI option. Sixteen faders are provided, and mixes can be automated via snapshots or MIDI-recordable controller data transmitted by mix controls.
expansion/compression. One attractive option is internal CD-RW drive installation, for backup or audio mastering. The new machine continues the D16's flexible effects tradition: up to eight mono or stereo insert effects are available, there are two effects tied to aux send/return loops, and a final mix mastering effect is provided.
ive insert effects, two master effects and a three-band EQ can be used simultaneously), 640 user Programs (384 filled with factory sounds), plus General MIDI Level 2 sounds in ROM. Combinations, of which there are 768 (including 384 factory Combis), allow up to eight programs to be split or layered. The Karma is expected to retail for around £1600.
