Thursday, January 4, 2007

NAMM preview: M-Audio's dedicated controller for something


So far it's nothing more than a picture on a MySpace page, but this is the new thing from M-Audio. Sensibly, given their enthusiasm for cheap plastic and ugly design, they've decided to photograph it in the dark, although it must be said those coloured lights and glowing buttons and knobs are pretty. Concensus of opinion seems to think it's a dedicated controller for Ableton Live - with what looks like 10 clip launch buttons (maybe in four banks?). Perhaps they've done some Behringer-style borrowing of the Faderfox form factor and added a Fisher-Price lighting scheme. An Ableton controller would make sense, as M-Audio own distribute Ableton (and so they're both part of the Avid empire, along with Digidesign/Pro Tools and Sibelius). Presumably we'll know everything on January 18th, when NAMM opens. (Thanks Danny)
UPDATE: See, this is why I write about stupid videos and weird-looking synths. Turns out Ableton might be divorcing M-Audio, so this is unlikely to be an Ableton controller, and more likely to be connected with M-Audio's Torq DJ-ing software (produced by their 'SynchroScience' department) Thanks to everyone in the comments...
UPDATE 2: Here it is. It's called Torq Exponent and it's proper Fisher Price... (Thanks Tomasz)

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