The Spank! Records Blog

KRK Rokit Generation 2.0 Speakers in stock. The what's and why fors!

KRK have released the second generation of their highly popular Rokit line of monitoring speakers, refining a number of design points to hopefully provide an even clearer monitoring experience at very reasonable price.

First off the new Rokits look different, with a more rounded wooden body much closer in appearance to their big daddies, the KrK V series. Traditional rectangular speakers with square or slightly rounded edges suffer from diffraction as sounds leaving the edge of the cabinet are reflected back into the original sound field, and at different time intervals. This phase distortion creates a "narrow" or boxy" sound. The Rokit Generation 2 Series eliminates this issue with radically engineered curved surfaces, so diffraction is virtually eliminated. Simply put, you'll get better sound in a wider area.

The changes are not however, merely cosmetic. The generation 2 Rokits include re-designs of both the Rokit tweeter and the woofer to attain improved top end frequency response, increased articulation, better imaging, faster attack times and less distortion. The 1" Neodymium Soft Dome tweeter is more natural and less harsh than metal-domed tweeters, resulting in reduced ear fatigue and more natural mixes. The Glass Aramid Composite Cone Woofer maximizes excursion performance without compromising reliability and minimizes distortion.

The first generation speakers where already a great monitoring speaker for a relative pittance and with the improvements made in this re-release KRK have again raised the bar in what home producers & studios can hope for in a price conscious speaker.

Thanks.

Matt. Spank!

Numark PT-01 USB in Stock!

As previously mentioned, now in store (and in my hands)!

Numark PT-01 series turntable now with USB functionality.

Included with the turntable is 'EZ Vinyl Converter' to import your vinyl recordings onto your computer, sending them directly to your iTunes music library and automatically separating them into tracks.

Also included is the Audacity wav editing suite to reduce clicks, pops, noise or edit samples out of your imported audio files.

PT-01 USB also includes an RCA input so you can connect other sound sources, even analogue tape decks so you can convert them to digital files aswell!

R.R.P. $239 

Matt. Spank!

Vestax Handy Trax Portable Turntable now in stock!

Compact, durable and easy to operate. All you could ask for in a portable turntable. Ideal for travelling or as a spare turntable for around the house. Easy RCA out jack into a sound-card to record your vinyl into a digital format.

• Dynamic balanced tone-arm, durable enough for anywhere play at almost any angle and strong enough to resists the pressures of the modern vinyl user.
• Volume control fader.
• Pitch control and tone control dials.
• Line in, line out and headphone out.
• Tri speed playablility. 33 1/3, 45, and 78 rpm.
• Inbuilt speaker.

R.R.P. for $259

Thanks,

Matt Spank!.

The 2008 Melbourne Reason Producers Conference

I think this may be a first of it's kind for Australia - a conference dedicated to the business & creativity of electronic & dance music...nice!

This is a 1 day conference in Melbourne, and will consist of discussions, creative clinics, demonstrations and interactive classes. Essentially, you're getting the inside scoop on how to both produce & sell your music, information that's not usually easy to get your hands on.

Confirmed panelists will include people from APRA & AMCOS, MySpace TV, Spark Media, One Love Music, Media Arts Lawyers, Beat Broker and EMI Music Australia. These discussions will involve your rights as an artist, how to market yourself, legal issues and so on.

There will also be product specialists running demos, including James Bernard from Propellerhead, Laz Harris from Mackie/Tapco, Anthony Garvin from SAE, DJ Kuya (who ran a great demo night for us here a couple of months ago), Jason Doonan (Propellerhead Australia Endorsee), and more.

There are also some great prizes to be won, including a mastering prize from Studio 301 in Sydney for 4 winners, including releasing the mastered tracks as an EP through Bellarine Recordings.

PLUS the first 200 ticket sales will include a free giftbag from Crumpler, containing a copy of the AT magazine's Guerilla Guide to Home Recording, the Musictech Focus on Reason Magazine, TRPC Notebook and Pen, mix CDs, and more.

And, lastly, there will be an after-party with sets from Beatnick (Live), DJ Kuya (Ableton/Korg remix set), Shamblz, James Bernard from Propellerhead (Live), Jono Fernandez (Ableton remix set), and Johnny Hooves & Friends, plus more special guests to be announced. Tickets are $15, but if you attend the conference then you'll get free entry.

If you're going to go and live in Sydney, I just booked my flights down on Virgin Blue and a lot of the cheapest sale fares have sold out unless you leave later in the night on Friday, so I'd recommend jumping online quickish.

There are so many good reasons to go to this, and I think it's great that we finally have an event of this calibre worth going to. It will also be a fantastic opportunity to hang out with like-minded producers, I'm really looking forward to it. Hope to meet up with some of you down there!

Tickets are $89 incl. bf, and are available through us either instore or online.

M-Audio Fast Track Ultra in stock now.

Ideal for the home producer looking to get a little more adventurous with the size of their live recording, just arrived in store is the M-Audio Fast Track Ultra audio soundcard.

With high-speed USB 2.0 connectivity the Fast Track Ultra contains four pre-amp XLR inputs or 8 unbalanced lines. Featuring both analog and digital I/O, it allows recording on all eight channels simultaneously with pristine 24-bit/96kHz fidelity—while M-Audio’s mature low-latency drivers ensure rock-solid stability and performance. The on-board MX Core DSP mixer processes eight hardware inputs and eight software returns to the eight hardware outputs, delivering flexible routing and monitoring with delay and reverb. Compatible with most major audio software.

Ideal for the home producer who is looking to record multiple live instruments at once, record a live room sound or even venture into mic-ing up live drumkits this sound card provides enough channels and flexibility to perform all these tasks.

RRP. is $599

Thanks,

Matt, Spank!

New ECLER NUO mixers in stock this week!

Just about to hit shelves, ECLER have released an updated on there NUO range of mixers. Introducing the NUO 2.0, 3.0 & 4.0.

Available with either 2, 3 or 4 mixing channels, the new range are tailored to any kind of DJ and music style thanks to its versatility and plenty of features, such as the precise and ergonomic full cut EQ, professional FX loop with Send and Return control in pre or post fader mode, faders curve adjustments and suitability for the awarded magnetic ETERNAL crossfader for the professional scratch DJ. Whatever the music style you play, the NUO 4.0 will please all your needs.

Its superb sound quality and robust format, plus two balanced XLR microphone inputs and two balanced XLR outputs for Master and Booth make it also a perfect mixer for installations.

They should be available online or instore by the end of the week.

Matt Spank!

Numark PT-01 Turntable now with USB - convert vinyl to digital for under $240!

Numark are re-releasing there PT-01 series turntable now with USB functionality, so that you can simply plug the turntable into a spare USB port on your computer and get straight into converting your vinyl recordings into digital files.

Included with the turntable is 'EZ Vinyl Converter' to import your vinyl recordings onto your computer, sending them directly to your iTunes music library and automatically separating them into tracks.

Also included is the Audacity wav editing suite to reduce clicks, pops, noise or edit samples out of your imported audio files.

PT-01 USB also includes an RCA input so you can connect other sound sources, even analogue tape decks so you can convert them to digital files aswell!

For $239 rrp. this is now the cheapest option on the market to convert vinyl music into a digital format. They should be hitting our shelves by the end of the month. 

Matt. Spank!

Akai MPD32 Instock!

They've arrived, they're jet black and they're oh so functional.
The AKAI MPD32 midi controller is now in stock. Updating upon the MPD24 the MPD32 offers improved velocity pads (based on the MPK49's pads), a new control bank to allow for 16 extra control knobs, note repeater and extra space for 20 new preset banks.
Having now used one, I'm pleased to report this product succeeds in updating the MPD24 without removing any of the originals appeal. It looks and feels a little bit more solid, the fader knobs and controller casing particularly appear to be made a little more sturdily. Installation and set-up, something of an ordeal with it's predecessor are improved, helped a great deal by the fact that this product now ships with Ableton Lite 6 and is quickly identified and basically plug and play with full versions of the program. Codecs for the MPD32 are included with Reason v.4 and this software also quickly identifies and runs the controller.
Thanks, Matt.

Arturia Synths - Buy 1 Get 1 Free

We have a great special available for the great range of software synths from Arturia.

For the next couple of months until the end of August, you can purchase 1 of their synths and receive a voucher for a 2nd synth that you can download directly from their website.

Arturia is well-known for their software reproductions of vintage synths like the Jupiter 8V, CS-80V, and the Minimoog V (one of my personal faves). They all come with a ton of presets made by professional sound designers, all of which can be completely tweaked and re-saved as your own preset. They'll work in all software that supports VST, RTAS or AU plugins (i.e. Apple Logic, Ableton Live, Cubase, Pro Tools etc).

This is a great opportunity to pick up an extra one for free. We expect to have the vouchers available in the next couple of weeks, but you can buy 1 now and we'll send you the voucher as soon as they're ready.

If you have any questions at all, just drop us a line or give us a call.

Click here to see the range of Arturia synths on our website