Korg Triton Extreme 88 keyboard

Extreme as its name, the Korg Triton Extreme 88 keyboard is packed with 1334 presets and functions and features for sampling and music composition. Comparing it to the previous Korg Triton, its 48kHz ROM is five times as much. Selling  at around US2,300, it is not cheap, but quality, precision and functionality comes with a price. The Korg Triton Extreme is also available in 76 keys at US$1,900 and 61 keys at US$1,600. Aside from the number of keys, the difference with the Korg Triton Extreme 88 keyboard is its feature called Real Weighted Hammer Action II keyboard which lets the user experience a true piano feel; this feature is Korg exclusive.

the Korg Triton Extreme 88 keyboard feature Korg's Open Sampling System which is 16 bit and can let you sample audio direct to the sequencer while being played. Its extensive library of samples include Orchestral Collections, Trance Attack, Studio Essentials and Dance Extreme.

With a polyphony of 200 notes, the Korg Triton Extreme 88 keyboard could handle even the densest musical  arrangements. Truly a composer's dream machine, it has 200,000 notes and 200 songs available! Another feature which also became popular is the RPPR, which means Realtime Pattern / Play Recording.

Aside from the Korg Triton Extreme 88 keyboard's extreme functionality in both recording and live apllications, it also looks attractively cool as with the Triton series or other Korg products.

For those who mean serious business in keyboards, production or performing live, this is for you.

***A Gizmo Guerilla Music Gear Review

POD Studio KB 37 by LINE 6

As a musician, I both love performing live and working in studios. Some studio projects every now and then is not only a great outlet for creativity but also provides a good source of extra income. I perform with a traveling band which means we go from one city or country to another, staying in one place for three months up to several years. Even when on the road, I always wanted to be ready to record materials which pops up in our heads or to be able to accomodate client projects such as jingles and other audio projects. Several years back, in order to supplement this need, I had to pay extra baggage charges so that I could bring just some of my equipment. This would include an audio processor, mixer, headphone mixer, midi keyboard, mic-preamp, direct box, headphones, monitors and some guitar and vocal effects processors. This was more than enough to fill-in my usual 25kg baggage limit on most airlines. Not only was it heavy, but the set-up consisted of several components which were bulky which made my travles a nightmare. For years I wanted to have all-in-one gear which is small, light and effective.

Enter the Line 6 POD Studio™ KB37!

Ok, let's tale a look at the official features of the KB37.

It is basically a powerful USB audio interface with a built in 37 keys midi controller with the excellent sound of the POD Farm 2 and a highly comprehensive I/O. The POD farm 2 boasts of more than 80 guitar amp model simulators which can be tweaked and edited; perfect for recording guitar parts. But it is not limited to guitars alone... there also bass amps, preamps for vocals and stompboxes! It is actually a loadful of processors and gadjets at your finger tips, not just plug-ins.

The KB37's control surface has the "retro" look but gives the user full authority on its use. The keyboard features 37 full-sized keys which are velocity-sensitive, solid and has great response to touch. Other controls are modulation and pitchbend wheels, octave buttons, assignable knobs and buttons, play-stop-rewind-forward-record buttons and VU meters for visual monitoring of sound levels.

For the inputs, there is a 1/4 inch PL guitar input, 2 XLR balanced inputs for mics which goes thru the mic preamps, 2 1/4 inch PL line inputs and a 1/4 inch stereo monitor in. For the outs, there 2 1/4 inch PL analog outputs, a S/PDIF digital output, and headphone stereo out. There is also an option to plug in an expression pedal. The guitar input could be set to normal or pad and there is phantom power for use with condenser microphones. Such features offer the user a truly professional recording experience.

Other Key Features are:
> Lowest noise for recording guitar (12dB more dynamic range than similar interfaces)
> Exclusive latency-killing ToneDirect™ monitoring
> Up to 24-bit/96 kHz recording

POD Farm 2 (Mac® AU/RTAS®/VST® and Windows® RTAS®/VST®)

18 immortal guitar amps with 24 cabs
5 thumping bass amps with 5 cabs
29 stunning stompboxes and studio effects (instantly increases to 64 with included FX Junkie model pack!)
6 warm and colorful mic preamps

The KB37 is ideal for use with pouplar DAWs such as the Ableton® Live, Cakewalk®, Logic®, Garageband®, Pro Tools®, Reason®, Cubase®,  and other major softwares for recording. Th unit is USB 1.1 and 2.0 compatible and includes the Ableton® Live Lite Line 6 Studio Edition 16-track ReWire enabled recording software, Reason® Adapted virtual studio and RiffWorks™ T4 recording software for quality and professional recordings. For its average price of US$350, the features and its functions are well worth it! This is simply your affordable, portable music production gear which could produce broadcast quality recordings depending on your know-how and how you use it.

Upon reading about the KB37, I thought this was the gear I was looking for so I took the risk and got one after a week of reading reviews about it. Actually, I was more than satisfied! I got my unit way back in 2007 and have been traveling with it since then. Once or twice a month I am involved in a studio project of some kind and the KB37 proved to be the ultimate tool for the recording musician on the road on a budget. But don't let it's small size fool you as the recording one could do with this is of broadcast quality comparable to the quality output of major and expensive recording studios. If one knows how to use this gizmo properly, the results are nothing less than astounding!

Now my on the recording recording gear has lessened; just a laptop, a pair of monitors, 2 sets of headphones and the Line 6 POD Studio™ KB37. What used to be contained in a big studio room in the 80s or 90s is now neatly packed in one hand-carry travel bag or big knapsack. I love technology.

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***A Gizmo Guerilla Music Gear Review