Three new products from TC Electronic

Musikmesse doesn’t start until next week but the press releases and rumors are already dropping in. As usual when there’s a big trade fair going I’ll report about a lot of other things than usual. TC Electronic today announced that they will show three new products: a bass cabinet, a delay pedal and a D/A converter.

Let’s start with the piece of gear closest to the topic of this blog, the digital-to-analog converter and monitor control BMC-2 (pictured above). In my opinion it’s really impossible to say anything about the quality of a converter without listening to it. So while I don’t know anything about the quality of the BMC-2, it’s announced with a couple of not so common features and specs.

From the TC Electronic press release:

BMC-2 is a self-contained desktop unit and can be operated without a Mac or PC, putting instant control of sound levels within easy reach – no matter what. As well as controlling the listening level, BMC-2 can also switch between three digital input sources – S/PDIF, AES3, TOS and ADAT, and confirm if inputs are synchronous or not.

BMC-2 drives one set of analog speakers, one set of digital speakers and a set of headphones. Calibrated listening is available with both sets of speakers and the headphone output.

But it’s not all about DAC and Level Control – BMC-2 also puts user-definable reference levels at your fingertips. Simply hit the REF button and BMC-2 will attenuate the output to a user-defined sound pressure level, so reference level monitoring is always just a button-press away.

The REF button sounds pretty useful.

BMC-2 precision re-clocks all inputs, and features high performance jitter rejection based on TC’s patented JET technology that was originally developed for TC Electronic’s flagship System 6000. Get the benefits of optical interfacing without the problems: Asymmetries are corrected, and jitter is completely removed from the equation.

So does this, but I’ll admit I have no experience of TC’s JET technology that I know of.

Analog output offers wide dynamic range on XLR connectors. Peak level metering and Integrity Check – or ‘iCheck’ – is also available on the selected input. iCheck reveals if the signal is spatially compromised, e.g. because of data reduction, such as MP3 or AAC encoded at too low a bit rate.

And for the pickers…

TC’s latest delay pedal, the Nova Repeater, is described as ‘no-frills-with-a-sound-that-kills’. Yeah, we’ll see about that.

Nova Repeater features the same great sound quality that made the Nova Delay the first choice delay pedal for the likes of Paul Gilbert, Doug Aldrich, Nils Lofgren and Allen Hinds.

That’s not fair! They can’t through around great names like that! Anyhoo…

Nova Repeater features six delays types, mono in and stereo out, a dedicated tap-tempo switch, audio tapping and a ‘Killdry’ switch. It also sports a handy multi-function pot, enabling you to personalise your sound with a range of chorus and vibrato effects – great for U2-style ethereal effects or the emulation of tape wow and flutter. And with this being a TC Electronic pedal, you already know that these are top-notch modulation effects that will satisfy even the most discerning ear. Turning the modulation pot clockwise will gradually add more chorus, while turning it counter-clockwise will add increasing amounts of vibrato. That’s right – vibrato has been added to Nova Repeater, an inclusion resulting from feedback from our dedicated guitar effects user base.

I love pedals, both for recording and mixing, but I prefer pedals that basically does one thing, and this looks like it has too many knobs for me (what? you need more than two?).

Nova Repeater also features a Killdry switch, yet another example of our ‘for guitarists, by guitarists’ philosophy. We always listen to our users and this feature was a major request from our Nova Delay users. The Killdry switch completely kills the dry sound and only outputs the wet signal from the pedal. This allows you to use the pedal in a parallel fx-loop or mixer without getting phase problems.

The Nova Repeater delay retails at $149.99 excl. VAT and will ship April 2009.

Last and bassiest is RS410, a 4 x 10” (plus High-Frequency driver) cabinet. It’s 8 Ohm, 600W designed for both stage and studio.

As with all of the RS range, the drivers are custom made by US company Eminence. The adjustable center HF driver ensures optimal response and brightness, and overlaps the frequency response of the 4 x 10” drivers to give added presence in the high/mid sweetspot.

I’ll probably go and check their stuff out. Not least the TC-Helicon VoiceLive 2 which is making it’s ‘European debut’. Nothing new for Powercore or TDM.

TC Electronic