Peter Vogel has posted additional information on the new Fairlight CMI 30A at the Fairlight site.
Unfortunately, the projected price for the new Fairlight CMI 30A is expected to be approximately US $17,000 and the additional music keyboard option US $2,000.
Here’s what that $17,000 will buy you:
Description:
The CMI-30A will utilise the immense power of the latest Fairlight Crystal Core media processor (CC-1). It will not only faithfully reproduce the original sound but go well beyond the original capabilities in a dramatically smaller and more reliable physical form.
The 30A will look like and perform like the original CMI, although the mainframe will be much lighter, for portability. The look and feel of the user interface will also be similar to the original, with classic retro green on black graphics. A replica of the original music keyboard will also be available as an option, or you can use your own MIDI keyboard.
The software will combine the very best of the early Series II and III, with a number of significant new features. Sound quality of 8-bit, 16-bit, or “best quality” 36-bit floating point can be selected and existing Fairlight users can import their entire sample libraries. Even better, non-Fairlight sounds from any source, such as WAV files, can be imported and played with the classic Fairlight sound.
The Fairlight 30A will have sixteen analogue and one digital (MADI) output. However, unlike the earlier CMIs, any one physical output could offer dozens of voices.
All the original Fairlight sound libraries from both the CMI-IIX and the III will be included, plus a huge selection of samples collected from the past 30 years.
CMI-30A Provisional Hardware Specifications
(as at 13 August 2009)
System Components:
- Mainframe — free-standing and adaptable to rack mount, includes 750GB SATA hard drive, DVD R/W drive, USB ports.
- Monitor — 15″ with lightpen (passive stylus)
- Alpha-numeric keyboard
- Music keyboard — weighted, velocity sensitive, MIDI, 6 octaves, 73 keys with pitchbend.
Outputs:
- 24 channels analogue, balanced XLR
- 2 channels analogue monitor mix, balanced XLR
- Dynamic range > 100 dB (unweighted)
- THD < 0.002% @ 1kHz, -1dBFS
- Frequency response +0.05 / -0.15 dB, 20 Hz – 20kHz
- Digital output: 64 channel BNC MADI
Inputs:
- 2 balanced mic inputs XLR
- Sample rate: 44.1, 48, 96, 192 kHz
- THD < 0.002% @ 1kHz, -1dBFS
- Frequency response +0.05 / -0.15 dB, 20 Hz – 20kHz
- SPDIF
Other I/O
- MIDI, MIDI Timecode input and output 5 pin DIN
- LTC (Linear time code) input and output
- Word clock (for synchronisation to external sources)
Provisional Software Specification
The original Fairlight CMIs were renowned for not only their superb sound quality, but also their elegant and intuitive software.
The CMI-30A will combine the very best features of the Fairlight series IIX and the III, with considerable new developments. The “page”, and “sub-page” system will be retained, allowing users to easily navigate around a particular set of functions, while “help pages”, effectively the relevant sections of the user manual, will be only a key-click away.
Sound acquisition, whether through sampling or importing, will be as easy as ever, with playback quality switchable between series I, II, or III quality, or “best possible” 36-bit floating point.
Page DWaveform drawing and FFT sound generation will be available, with the ease of use of the earlier systems. There will also be the ever popular “Page D” display page, expanded to vary the viewpoint (such as rotation) of a 3D sample.Many existing CMI users have requested modulation and live performance controls be given particular consideration. Accordingly, there will be provisions to patch many sources to a variety of functions. Sources will include hand-drawable ADSR generators, sample and holds, LFOs, noise and keyboard following will be patchable to any parameter, such as pitch, filter frequency, filter resonance and many more. It will also be possible to cross modulate samples (ring modulation). Of course, external MIDI control of these parameters will also be available.
The classic “Page R” sequencer will be retained, plus some valuable upgrades such as increasing the number of tracks to 80 (to be confirmed).
Related Posts
- 30th Anniversary Fairlight CMI 30A Update
- The New Fairlight CMI 30A: Start Saving Your Money, It’s Going To Cost $5K
- The Limited Edition Fairlight CMI Series 30A
- Fairlight T-Shirts
- Herbie Hancock Jams On The Fairlight CMI
Tags: Fairlight, Fairlight CMI, Fairlight CMI 30A, Keyboard Synthesizers, Peter Vogel, synthesizer, vintage keyboard
11 Responses to “The $17,000 Fairlight CMI 30A Computer Musical Instrument”
Please Wait
$17,000 is a lot for any synthesizer, especially for one that's got a 30-year-old operating system that looks like something off of a Commodore 64.
17000?!? Ha Ha! That's stupid!
I bet a lot of people are curious to experience the Fairlight, as it is a piece of history; but how many of them have $17,000 lying around? I wonder if they’ll ever come out with a more affordable (but less accurate) software emulation for PC or Mac.
I bet a lot of people are curious to experience the Fairlight, as it is a piece of musical history; but how many of them have $17,000 lying around? I wonder if they'll ever come out with a more affordable (but less accurate) PC or Mac Fairlight emulation.
I wonder if a digital nostalgia wave is about to hit us, like analogue did. It might of course be that the most modern technology is still just an ever-more complex version of essentially digital sound and, if we wish to celebrate its essential non-complexity, there are already movements like 8-bit and circuit-bending of toy keyboards and so on.
With any production effort, there is the aspect of basic material and assembly costs but – equally significant – the way an increasing market subdivides the overheads. For example, Korg's Kaossilator retails for £129 or, say $200 but if they were only planning to sell 100 of them, the retail price – covering R&D and manual production, would be into the tens of thousands of pounds/dollars sold.
Thing is, with the original Fairlight, it's unique selling potential was about far more than the nuance of the sound texture so, in this day and age, I think it'll have a hard time selling at such a premium for this aspect alone when all its other original unique selling points are long since superseded and by far, far cheaper equipment.
I wonder if a digital nostalgia wave is about to hit us, like analogue did. It might of course be that the most modern technology is still just an ever-more complex version of essentially digital sound and, if we wish to celebrate its essential non-complexity, there are already movements like 8-bit and circuit-bending of toy keyboards and so on.
With any production effort, there is the aspect of basic material and assembly costs but – equally significant – the way an increasing market subdivides the overheads. For example, Korg's Kaossilator retails for £129 or, say $200 but if they were only planning to sell 100 of them, the retail price – covering R&D and manual production, would be into the tens of thousands of pounds/dollars per unit sold.
Thing is, with the original Fairlight, its unique selling potential was about far more than the nuance of the sound texture so, in this day and age, I think it'll have a hard time selling at such a premium for this aspect alone when all its other original unique selling points are long since superseded and by far, far cheaper equipment.
I wonder if a digital nostalgia wave is about to hit us, like analogue did. It might of course be that the most modern technology is still just an ever-more complex version of essentially digital sound and, if we wish to celebrate its essential non-complexity, there are already movements like 8-bit and circuit-bending of toy keyboards and so on.
With any production effort, there is the aspect of basic material and assembly costs but – equally significant – the way an increasing market subdivides the overheads. For example, Korg's Kaossilator retails for £129 or, say $200 but if they were only planning to sell 100 of them, the retail price – covering R&D and manual production, would be into the tens of thousands of pounds/dollars per unit sold.
Thing is, with the original Fairlight, its unique selling potential was about far more than the nuance of the sound texture so, in this day and age, I think it'll have a hard time selling at such a premium for this aspect alone when all its other original unique selling points are long since superseded and by far, far cheaper equipment.
I see its market consisting in the successful pop musician who, growing up in the eighties, was wowed and inspired by those using it first time around. Now, they have lots of success and money themselves and tons and tons of equipment. What they'd maybe like, is one piece of equipment that has ample room for patient exploration and quality output, to simplify their methodology; their life etc. etc. and take them back to their original childhood inspiration, in the same way that people of my generation obsess over the modular synths and Radiophonic Workshop. Nostalgia for fabled simplicity has the appeal of the carefully built model railway set: it restores an illusion of personal control.
way overpriced , i really think their pricing is off the mark , they will sell their limited number though as thats all i think they cope to do to a few rich people and thats that.
What I want to know is, what can the new Fairlight do that other sampling systems can't?
Sure, the early units had a certain character to them (Peter Gabriel /Security) but now that we're in the age of crystal clear sound, what unique/better things can it possibly do? Why is it necessary to stick with the "mainframe" hardware model when a single unit with a display (similar in appearance to, say, Roland S-50 but with up to date OS/Hardware) with SIGNIFICANTLY lower cost would be in order?
I just can't see Fairlight's current business plan in any feasible light.
its not the same thing
If it does everything that it's supposed to, then it definitely is worth the price. If you were to buy all the outboard gear and software to do everything that this little dynamo does then it would cost well over $17,000! Considering that when the Fairlight CMI came out it cost roughly $100,000 this isn't really that much.