Digital Brilliance Spotlight
Digital Brilliance is being inspired by people with exciting
new ideas for products and applications that illuminate
the imagination through the fusion of advanced technologies
and intelligent design. Here we highlight the stories
and achievements of these Digital Brilliance pioneers.
|
Muse Research Had a Brilliant Idea
As music technology moves more and more into the digital
domain, the computer becomes an increasingly important
tool in music production and performance. However, computers
are not well suited to the needs of musicians with their
demands for immediacy, and their need to perform live.
Muse Research, a new California-based company, saw the
possibilities in the fusion of computer technology with
specialized software to create a new class of music
instrument and audio processor.
  
Their first product is a dedicated hardware host which
plays industry-standard VST audio plug-ins, and VIA
Technologies is playing a big part in their designs.
Their goal was to give musicians, audio engineers, and
producers instant access to their favorite VST plug-ins,
freeing them from the tyranny of the desktop and providing
them with the professional features they need to create
their craft, either in the studio or on tour. Bryan
Lanser, one of the founders of Muse Research, takes
us through the process of creating a new class of "hybrid"
music instrument / audio processor which combines the
power of computer programmability with the convenience
and comfort of a dedicated audio device.
To create a device that delivered on their vision,
Bryan and his colleagues at Muse Research choose an
AMD Athlon Processor with VIA's KM400 and VT8235 chipsets,
a hard drive with a modified Linux kernel, along with
a low-noise power supply, and married it all to a custom
front panel user interface and a custom high quality
audio I/O solution centered around the VIA Envy24HT
audio controller. The VIA Envy24HT audio controller
with its advanced audio architecture and support for
a wide variety of high quality audio interfaces enabled
the support demanded by artists and musicians. What
resulted is the Receptor™, a fully integrated portable
stand-alone music system that runs plug-in software
using MuseMachine™, the company's easy to use proprietary
audio host software technology. The Receptor features
industry leading 24-bit, 192kHz balanced line inputs
and outputs, as well as coaxial S/PDIF inputs and outputs,
a guitar input, headphone output, and an 8 channel ADAT
format optical lightpipe output.
"We're happy with our decision to utilize the
VIA Vinyl Envy24HT inside the Receptor," comments
Bryan Lanser, the VP of Business Development for Muse
Research, and a veteran of Creative Lab's music and
chip division, E-MU / ENSONIQ. "I was pretty familiar
with the PC audio world through Creative and E-MU, and
I'm pleased at how well suited the VIA Envy chips are
to the demands of the professional musician. Between
the 24/192kHz capabilities, support for multiple sample
rates, excellent design support, and ALSA driver compatibility,
the VIA Envy24HT is an obvious choice for us, and we're
very pleased with its performance."
About Muse Research:
The principals of Muse Research are innovators of
core technologies and award-winning products that have
revolutionized the world of music composition and advanced
the art of recording. They come from companies like
Opcode, Be, Passport, E-MU / Creative to name a few.
All are musicians, producers or sound artists with a
personal interest in the excellence of the company's
products. Muse Research's advisors include some of the
music and technology world's best contributors to innovation,
and provides the company with the unique competitive
advantage of being "well connected".
Muse Research is headquartered at Menlo Park, California
in the same building as The Annex, a full-service recording
studio with a long history of gold and platinum recordings
and a breeding ground for a lot of the Bay Area's music
technology industry, as well as a new Pro-Tools Training
facility, called MindLab. This strategic co-location
in a working studio allows Muse Research to gather customer
feedback and perform field research by simply walking
down the hall, yet another competitive advantage of
the company.
|
Print page
E-mail page
