2009 NAMM Show: At last year’s NAMM show, we were impressed by the technology behind KRK’s ERGO (Enhanced Room Geometry Optimization) room correction system.

It’s a system that automatically measures the acoustics of your listening room and adjust/corrects the output of your monitors to compensate. (See our video demo of the KRK ERGO system).

Just in time for this year’s show, KRK Systems has announced worldwide availability of ERGO. (It was originally expected in April of 2008). The ERGO system retails for $799.

Propellerhead software has announced the 2008 Bassline Battle.

Reason 4 are invited to put together the funkiest, illest, baddest bassline and drum beat combinations for a chance to win grand prizes, provided by Propellerhead Software, Focusrite, KRK and Novation.

Entering the battle is as easy as 1-2-3:

1. Use the Reason Electric Bass ReFill, or the Electric Bass demo ReFill available for download here, to create a killer bassline. For competition purposes, your funky masterpiece must conform to the following guidelines:

• It must consist of Bass, Drums and Percussion only
• It must be based on the Reason Electric Bass ReFill (full or demo version)
• It can not use third party ReFills or self-contain samples
• It must be 8 bars long

2. When you are done, upload your bassline as a Reason .rns song file. You can upload up to three separate basslines. You have until November 24 to upload.

3. When submission time is over, it’s time for the Reason user community to rate the basslines. The top 10 basslines will proceed to a final round. In the final round, the top 10 submissions will be rated by our superstar artist panel consisting of Mocean Worker, Arabian Prince, Chaka Blackmon, DJ Babu and Mix Master Mike. The winners will be announced on December 19th.

Prizes

The Grand Prize from Focusrite, KRK and Novation consists of the brand new Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 Audio Interface, a pair of KRK Rokit Powered 5 G2 Monitors + a KRK 10s Subwoofer, and a Novation ReMOTE SL COMPACT 25 MIDI controller.

The second prize winner can choose between the Studio Combo that contains all four of Propellerhead Software’s hypersampled ReFills, or ReCycle 2.1 – the toolbox for sampled grooves that lets you create your own REX files from sampled material.

The runner-ups will receive a limited edition, custom finalist “Quite Funky” t-shirt

The second generation Rokit incorporates several technologies from the company’s flagship VXT and E8B lines, including radically radiused edges along the front of the cabinet. The new Rokits replace the current Rokit 5″, 6″ and 8″ models.

I’ve got a pair of Rokit in the Synthtopia studio, and have found them to offer great sound for their price.

The new Rokits leverage KRK’s research and development into baffle design and fabrication. The Rokit G2’s curved front baffle was engineered to minimize diffraction of high-frequencies, resulting in a sweet spot that is significantly larger than products with square or lightly rounded baffles. The baffle also houses a molded front-facing bass port that minimizes low-frequency phase distortion and unwanted frequency emphasis typical of rear-facing bass ports. The end result is a harmonious yet accurate blend of low and high-frequency components that result in a more accurate speaker. Additionally, the Rokit G2’s voicing has been slightly enhanced to provide even better mix clarity and precision.

The new Rokit G2’s have a MAP price of $149, $199 and $249 for the 5, 6 and 8 inch versions, respectively. They are available now.

One of the most interesting introductions at NAMM this year wasn’t a synth or new control surface, but KRK’s ERGO – a digital room analysis and correction system.

ERGO analyzes and compensates for bad room acoustics, which can negatively effect your mixes.

The unit connects to a computer via Firewire when it is performing its room analysis, but since all correction processing resides in ERGO, no overhead is needed from the computer audio system. This means that ERGO can function in pure analog systems since it can work as a stand-alone room correction/speaker control unit after room analysis is complete.

Acoustic treatment room correction isn’t as sexy as a new synth, but it can make a big improvement in your mixes.

ERGO is $799, but you can expect this technology to drop in price in the next few years and become a standard part of home studios.

At the Winter NAMM Show, KRK announced ERGO, a digital room analysis and correction system. ERGO (Enhanced Room Geometry Optimization) aims to improve your studio mixing space by correcting for real world acoustic problems.

ERGO analyzes and compensates for undesirable room acoustics which can negatively impact audio mixdowns. The unit connects to a computer via Firewire when it is performing its room analysis, but since all correction processing resides in ERGO, no overhead is needed from the computer audio system. This means that ERGO can function in pure analog systems since it can work as a stand-alone room correction/speaker control unit after room analysis is complete.

In addition to room correction, ERGO also acts as a speaker switcher and master volume control. It is also a 4-in, 6-out Firewire audio interface with 120dB SNR digital-to-analog converters and phase-accurate signal processing.

KRK also incorporates Firewire and S/PDIF input for digital connections to DAWs such as Pro Tools and other systems.

We were able to check this out at the NAMM Show and were impressed with the technology, but the price will probably scare a lot of people off. KRK emphasized that the ERGO wasn’t a replacement for an acoustically treated room, but instead was the next best thing.

ERGO will be available on April 2008 at a retail price of $799.

KRK Systems has released the VXT Series of studio monitors. The series was created using stringent design philosophies similar to KRK’s flagship close-field monitor, the Exposé E8B. The VXT Series has been designed to reproduce the true nature of the audio material and raises the bar for recording monitors used by professional engineers, musicians and DJs world wide. .

The VXT Series includes new proprietary woofers and tweeters, a newly designed curved face plate for excellent imaging, a new cabinet design that provides low resonance, improved structural integrity and extended low-end and slotted ports that greatly reduce port turbulence.

KRK engineers started with the functional cabinet design of the flagship monitor, the Expose? E8B to create a high performance yet attractive line of monitors. The curved cabinet and faceplate provide excellent imaging characteristics and a wider “sweet spot”. The use of ABS structural foam as the cabinet material provides excellent damping characteristics and extended low end due to more internal volume. The ABS foam also absorbs shocks really well so the cabinet is extremely impact resistant.

With the VXT Series, KRK engineers set out to improve transient response in the system. The tweeter’s dome is comprised of true silk, as opposed to cloth, which translates to fast transient response, excellent imaging and extended frequency response.

The new woofer inside the VXT Series has improved transient response by using a stiffer, lighter cone that provides very low distortion and extended low-end.

“It was important for us to have the VXT Series mirror the same look and performance of our flagship monitor, the Exposé E8B” commented Mike Newman, KRK System’s Product Manager. “The same expertise and care that went into the design of the Exposé, went into the design of the VXT Series. The wider sweet spot, excellent imaging and extended frequency response will make the VXT Series the preferred choice for recording professionals and musicians worldwide.”

The VXT Series features tamper resistant switch covers to protect against others changing your personal settings, integrated Omni Mount support for easy wall or corner mounting, ground lift, defeatable limiter and auto mute controls, and high and low frequency adjust switches on the VXT6 and VXT8.

The new KRK Systems VXT Series monitors will be in stores in late May and have the following list prices (per individual speaker): VXT8: $799, VXT6: $599, VXT4: $399.

For more information on KRK Systems and KRK Systems complete product line, go to www.krksys.com. To request additional information or images of the VXT Series, please contact PR Representative Brian Metcalf at (305) 576-1171 x11 brianmetcalf@maxborgesagency.com