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            .oO collected and written for AM/FM by André Meyer Oo.
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Akai S2800 / S3000 / S3200

Akai  will  probably  present  their new samplers S2800, S3000 and S3200 on the
NAMM-show.   All  three samplers feature 32-note polyphonie and 16-bit sampling
with 44,1khz sampling-frequency.  Further same features are resonance filter, 2
LFOs,  2  envelope generators (1 standard-ADSR-generator and 1 generator with 8
rate-  and  level-parameters),  50  effect-presets  as  well as APM.  APM means
"Assignable Program Modulation" and allows you to choose any source (e.g.  mod-
wheel,  pitchbend,  aftertouch, velocity, LFOs, envelopes and MIDI-controllers)
to  control  any  parameters  (filter  cutoff  frequency,  LFO rate, LFO depth,
volumes and panorama position, to name only a few).
The  S3200 is capable to read and write SMPTE-timecode.  Besides it is equipped
with  an  AES/EBU- and an SCSI-interface.  Direct-to-disk-recording (similar to
the  S1100  v2.0) is also possible.  The S3200 comes with 8 megabytes of memory
(expandable up to 32 megabytes) and 8 seperate outputs.
The  S3000 comes with 2 megabytes of memory (expandable up to 32 megabytes) and
8  seperate  outputs.  It can be expanded with the AES/EBU-interface and/or the
SMPTE-reader/generator.
The S2800 comes with 2 megabytes of memory (expandable up to only 16 megabytes)
and  2  seperate  outputs.   It  can  only  be  expanded  with  a  SCSI- and an
AES/EBU-interface.
The prices of the three new AKAI studio samplers are not known yet.



E-mu Vintage Keys

The  new sample-player by E-mu called "Vintage Keys" comes as a 1U rack-module.
Its  8  megabytes  sound  library  (expandable to 16 megabytes) consists of 384
preset-sounds  which  are  legendary keyboard-sounds of the last three decades,
e.g.    the   original  sounds  of  the  E-pianos  Rhodes  and  Wurlitzer,  the
Hammond-organs, analog synthesizers and the first popular sounds from Fairlight
and  Yamaha.   As Vintage Keys was derived from the Proteus-modules it also has
32-note  polyphonie  and 6 outputs.  Additional there is now a digital lowpass-
filter with resonance.



Sony MiniDisc

The first MiniDisc Walkman has just been launched by Sony.  MiniDiscs are small
disks  (like  computer-disks).   They  are  smaller  than  the new DCC tapes or
ordinary  tapes  and  feature fast access (like on CD) and CD-quality.  But the
most  important  advantage of the new MiniDisc is, that you can record your own
music  on  them  like on the old tapes.  60 minutes of music can be recorded on
each  of  the  current available ones.  74 minutes disks are already announced.
At  the  moment  250 MiniDisc-titles are available and hundreds more titles are
expected for this year.



Kurzweil K2000 upgrade V1.3

A  new  upgrade  is  being  offered by Kurzweil for the owners of the K2000 and
K2000R.   The  new upgrade includes 200 new programs, 100 new sounds as well as
15 new banks.  Besides the SCSI support and stereo sampling have been improved,
and now Akai S1000 and Ensoniq EPS16+ sample files and keymaps are supported.



Double Dutch SAM1 upgrade

The new operating system offers the possiblity to save several MIDI-files up to
512kb  on  only  one disk.  Also the 1 megabyte-expansion is now available with
which it is possible to have access on 1 megabyte of waveforms (btw, read AM/FM
#10 "Latest News Section" for more detailed information).



Valhalla Soundcards

Coming  very  soon  are  some new soundcards from Valhala for Korg Wavestation,
Korg   01/W,   Korg  T-series,  MKS-70,  Roland  JD800  and  Roland  D70.   The
"International Gold"-series for Wavestation will be increased by three volumes.
A  new  soundcard  for  01/W and a new "T-Gold"-disk are announced.  Also a new
"Gold"-disk  for  the  MKS70 and JD800 are available soon.  The "Studio"-series
for D70 and JD800 will be completed soon, as new cards will be launched.



Yamaha SY85 Sounddisks

Two  new  sounddisks are now available for Yamaha's new synthesizer SY85.  They
are  called "Top 40" and "Super Synths" and will delight your SY85 with 256 new
sounds as well as some new performances.

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