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Alesis has introduced the Prestige Series digital pianos, with advanced features and at an affordable price – the Prestige, Prestige Artist. Both feature 88 keys, multiple voices and built-in speakers.

Alesis claims that the Prestige Series pianos feature “the most advanced and versatile sound library ever created for a digital piano,” which is quite some statement. The standard model contains 16 voices, while the pricier Artist edition has 30.

Both pianos have a graded hammer-action keyboard with adjustable touch response. Sounds can be layered – two at once or split across the keyboard, and in Lesson mode, the keyboard is divided into two sections with the same pitch and voice. Alongside the grand piano voices, you get electric pianos, strings, organs and synths, all of which are said to have been carefully multisampled.

Polyphony on the standard Prestige is 128 notes,  while the Prestige Artist model is 256 notes. Both pianos have a 50W (2x25W) micro-array speaker system that promises plenty of volume and clarity.

Other features in both pianos include a reverb with five selectable types, a record mode so that you can hear your performances back, and a built-in metronome. Both Prestige models also include 60 free interactive lessons from Melodics, three months of Skoove Premium and two months of TakeLessons | Live. Connectivity includes stereo 1/4-inch outputs, 1/4-inch and 1/8-inch headphone outputs and USB-MIDI.

Further enhancements for the Prestige Artist piano include an OLED display and the inclusion of a piano-style sustain pedal while the standard Prestige piano comes with a standard sustain pedal.  Both models are also bundled with a music rest and power adapter.

Alesis Prestige Artist, 88 Key Digital Piano

The Prestige and Prestige Artist digital pianos should be available.  Find out more on the Alesis website.

Rift is powered by a bipolar distortion engine that offers six stages of processing and comes with 30 custom algorithms. This is a hybrid distortion processor that promises to let you excite your sounds like never before. You can combine two of these algorithms in the waveshape engine; you get plenty of control here and visual feedback to indicate what is happening.

Rift comes with more than 400 presets, and fast tweaks can be made in the Play view . More detailed editing can be carried out in the Advanced view.

Other features include 24 custom stereo filter types for pre/post distortion morph filtering, feedback and delay effects, and a modulation section that offers curve sequencing. You can also engage pitch snapping and MIDI tracking for feedback and filter.

Rift runs on PC and Mac in VST/AU formats.

Find out more on the Minimal Audio website.

Minimal Audio Rift is currently available for the introductory price of $75 (regular price $129).

Lunacy Audio has introduced CUBE, a new dimension of sound.  A new software instrument that lets you create and explore sounds through a 3D interface.

CUBE maps samples to the corners of a virtual ‘cube’, and then lets you explore the sonic space as you ‘move’ within the cube.

Features:

• 100+ Sampled Instruments
• Over 3000 samples with multiple dynamic layers
• 400+ Presets
• 40+ Orbits – Creative motion presets for transforming your patches
• 8 Samplers – Each with an arpeggiator, filters, envelopes, step sequencers, reverse, monophonic, glide, pan, and tuning
• 13 FX Modules – Filters, Visual EQ, Saturation, Waveshaping Distortion, Bitcrusher, Compressor, Chorus, Phase, Delay, Algorithmic Reverb,
• Convolution Reverb, Limiter
• Powerful Modulation System – 4 detailed LFOs, macro control, and a beautifully-designed modulation matrix
• Custom Graphics Engine – A proprietary OpenGL graphics engine for visualizing your presets and transforming your sound in real-time
• Orbit Customizer – Build and save your own orbits from scratch with per-axis control
• Randomization Algorithms – Quickly create new patches by randomizing sounds, orbits, and FX
• Eco-Mode – A special CPU saving feature that minimizes RAM usage and CPU load
• Custom MIDI Control – Set global CCs for the Orb position and main page controls

Lunacy Audio CUBE is available now, for macOS and Windows, for $249.