Interesting audio technology news for December
Timeless sound
The Vox AC15X Hand-Wired is a tribute to the traditional working methods used to build the manufacturer’s combo amplifiers in the 1960s. According to Vox, the new combo’s carefully selected components and carefully designed signal path, combined with the manufacturer’s long tradition of craftsmanship, bring the legendary Vox sound into the present day.
The new Hand-Wired models add selected features such as a spring reverb, effects loop and Boost switch to make the amp even more versatile.
The speaker cabinet matches the original 1960s amplifier cabinet, which is said to contribute significantly to the rich Vox soundstage, above all the recognisable midrange reproduction. Vox says that the AC15X Hand-Wired is equipped with a high-quality, 12-inch Celestion Alnico Blue driver element that reproduces everything a guitarist is entitled to expect from a true Vox amplifier.
The price of the combo is just over 1900 euros.
150 Legendary bass sounds in one pedal
Tonex Pedal Bass Edition is a version of IK Multimedia’s Tonex pedal controller designed for bass guitar. Promising a high-quality, versatile bass sound for gigs and recording sessions, the new pedal includes the manufacturer’s full Signature Bass Collection, which includes 150 Tone Models tailored for bass.
The collection offers ready-to-use presets of sounds from legendary bass amps and pedals, ranging from soft vintage tube sounds to modern, raw distortion. The presets are divided into 50 banks, each based on a specific bass amp and containing three options. The pedal also features 15 proprietary effects, offering even more possibilities for modelling to suit different situations and styles.
At around €470, the pedal’s generous number of controls makes it easy to change and manage sounds.
The Tonex One Bass Edition, which costs around €220 and is lighter and more compact in terms of control, also offers access to a full collection of 150 sound templates, but only 20 can be loaded onto the pedal at a time.
Slice of legend
The SSL Revival 4000 Channel Strip is an analogue channel strip that brings back the iconic 1980s sound of Solid State Logic mixing desks, as heard on many of the famous pop and rock recordings of yesteryear.
The Revival 4000 is a slice of legendary cuisine, combining the SSL 4000 E Series’ classic front end, dynamics section, equaliser and filters into a package that delivers authentic Old Union tones for today’s music production.
The unit features the microphone preamp from the original 4000 E table, which is described as clear and transparent. The 4000 B Series De-Esser is also included, allowing for greater control of vocal and instrumental tracks.
The dynamics section offers a VCA compressor that includes Soft/Hard Knee modes, fast Attack selection and linear and logarithmic Relay. A Gate/Expander provides more options for signal shaping.
The four-range equaliser features full-parameter midrange controls and optional Brown ’02’ and Black ‘242’ circuits, each with its own distinctive sound.
According to the manufacturer, the flexibility of the new product, which costs around 1700 euros, as a recording and mixing tool is further enhanced by numerous additional features, such as Sidechain function, a balanced insertion point for connecting external devices and the linking of two Revival 4000s into a stereo pair.
Audio library for your computer
Spectrasonics’ Omnisphere 3 is a synthesizer software for macOS and Windows environments that allows virtual instruments to run within an audio sequencer program in AU, VST3, VST2 and AAX formats, but also independently without a host program.
Omnisphere 3’s sound library is said to include a staggering 10,000+ preset sounds, as well as many new tools for modern music production and sound design. According to the manufacturer, the sounds in the new software version have been remastered and optimised to a lossless format. In addition to reverb, delay, modulation and dynamics effects, the software’s palette of nearly 100 effects includes a host of special effects such as Pump-O-Matic, Warp Shifter, Pulsar Split and Ring of Fire.
Omnisphere 3 is also ideal for performance use, with Live Mode for seamless layer switching and Stack Mode for splits and crossfades.
Priced at around €390, it integrates easily with external controllers, with more than 300 ready-made profiles for various keyboards and other MIDI controllers.
