November 12, 2004

OPEN LABS CREATES BUZZ WITH DAW

AUSTIN, TX - Developer of digital music systems Open Labs (www.openlabs.com) created a buzz at AES with its digital audio workstations and has now announced six new resellers in the Midwest.

Six of the leading musical instrument retailers in the Midwest have become official resellers of the Open Labs NeKo64 keyboard workstation and the Open Labs OMX64 digital audio workstation. The six Midwestern resellers announced today include American Pro Audio, in Minneapolis, MN; Cascio Interstate Music in Milwaukee, WI; Firehouse Music in Grand Rapids, MI; Gand Music and Sound in Northfield, IL; Nova Musik in Milwaukee, WI; and Vintage King in Ferndale, MI.

The Open Labs products are the first integrated digital music systems to fully incorporate high-end computers that use 64-bit processors, enabling world-class music production in a single unit. The NeKo64 is priced at $5,495, and enables musicians to essentially take their studio with them to live performances. The OMX64 series, which includes the OMX64 Extreme (priced at $11,995) and the OMX64 LE (priced at $2,195) are fully-integrated 64-bit digital audio workstations.

The NeKo64 embodies many innovations, including: the first keyboard to use Microsoft Windows XP Professional, optimized for musical applications; the first keyboard to integrate a dual-layer DVD-RW drive, which enables users to burn audio, video, or data directly within the keyboard; the OpenStudio Navigator touchscreen interface software, enabling users to push virtual buttons and move virtual knobs and faders with their fingers; an ultra-quiet power supply and chassis fans for studio use. All of the All NeKo64 models include standard high-speed CD-RW, which is also upgradeable to the dual-layer DVD drive. There are six USB 2.0 ports, a built-in IEEE-1394 FireWire port and an onboard 10/1000 Gigabit-Ethernet port for high-speed MIDI and Internet connections.

The NeKo64 incorporates more than 1,000 sounds and effects, more than 100 VST and DX plug-ins; unlimited sounds and options; 500-note polyphony; up to a terabyte of hard drive capacity; 24-bit 96 KHz fidelity; and a maximum 8GB of RAM. The NeKo64 can record 170 simultaneous audio tracks at 48KHz.

The OMX64 Extreme features: three audio sections, with connections for any type of connection; multi-track sequencing/playback of 16 tracks up to 192Khz; more than 200 simultaneous audio tracks at 48Khz, 76 at 96Khz; over 1,000 sounds and effects; 500-voice polyphony; eight channel PCI-X Raid controller card; dual layer DVDRW Drive (8.5 GB per disk); dual head video AGP card.

The OMX64 LE features: 24-bit, 96kHz converters that deliver 111dB (A/D) and 116dB (D/A) SNR and dynamic range; flexible connectivity with 1/4-inch analog I/O, optical and coaxial 24/96 S/PDIF I/O, and MIDI I/O for seamless integration; E-DSP 32-bit multi-effects processor offers over 16 simultaneous hardware-accelerated studio-grade effects with no CPU overhead - plug-in architecture allows new effects as needed; 32 Channels of zero latency hardware mixing/ monitoring with super-flexible virtual patchbay - no external mixer needed; full compatibility with most popular audio/sequencer applications with ultra-low latency WDM, DirectSound and ASIO 2.0 Drivers.