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Lemondrop and fireball join the ranks of tabletop instruments.

1010music has introduced the nanobox series, a pair of pocket-sized polyphonic synthesizers, based on granular and wavetable synthesis in cute and capable packages. The nanobox mini synthesizers are designed to be portable and powerful, so that they work as mobile music making devices or as part of your existing studio.

There are two to choose from – lemondrop and fireball – with each being polyphonic and offering touchscreen control.

The official overview video:

1010music promises a “freshly-squeezed approach to granular synthesis,” lemondrop is powered by two granulators plus an oscillator, along with two multimode filters, two envelopes, two LFOs and one modulation sequencer. There are six effects, too: flanger, distortion, chorus, phaser, delay and reverb.

The lemondrop is loaded with sound from lush pads to glitchy textures, and you can morph and shape sounds with the X/Y touchscreen controller. You get 100 presets and WAV files to get you started, and you can either edit these or create your own patches by using the touchscreen to take a deep dive into the parameter set.

nanobox | lemondrop

Features:

• Adjust and tweak parameters quickly with an intuitive touchscreen interface
• Perform with 4 voice polyphony, 2 granulators, and an oscillator
• Sculpt your sound with 2 filters, 2 envelopes, 2 LFOs, and 1 modulation sequencer
• Use your favorite MIDI controller for real time, hands-on sound manipulation
• Choose from 6 onboard effects: flanger, distortion, chorus, phaser, delay and reverb
• Morph and shape sounds using touchscreen X/Y control
• Choose from hundreds of professionally developed presets and wav files
• Load your own wav files via micro-SD
• Make music anywhere thanks to a compact and nearly indestructible design
• Flexible power options include USB C connection or USB battery pack
• Mini TRS connections for MIDI in and out, clock in, line in and line out
• 2″ touch screen, 2 knobs and 4 buttons in a 3.75″ x 3″ x 1.5″ package

nanobox / fireball

The fireball looks rather similar – notwithstanding the fact that it is red but has two wavetables (plus an oscillator) rather than granulators. You get the same line-up of filters, envelopes, LFOs, modulation sequencer and effects, and you can expect punchy leads and atmospheric pads out of it.

Both nanoboxes are powered by USB-C, giving you plenty of options, and include Mini TRS connections for MIDI I/O, clock in, and line I/O. As well as the two-inch touchscreen, in each case you also get two knobs and four buttons.

Features:

• Adjust and tweak parameters quickly with an intuitive touchscreen interface
• Perform with 8 voice polyphony, 2 wavetables, and an oscillator
• Sculpt your sound with 2 filters, 2 envelopes, 2 LFOs, and 1 modulation sequencer
• Use your favorite MIDI controller for real time, hands-on sound manipulation
• Choose from 6 onboard effects: flanger, distortion, chorus, phaser, delay and reverb
• Morph and shape sounds using touchscreen X/Y control
• Choose from hundreds of professionally developed presets and wav files
• Load your own wavetables via micro-SD
• Make music anywhere thanks to a compact and nearly indestructible design
• Flexible power options include USB C connection or USB battery pack
• Mini TRS connections for MIDI in and out, clock in, line in and line out
• 2″ touch screen, 2 knobs and 4 buttons in a 3.75″ x 3″ x 1.5″ package

nanobox lemondrop and fireball are available now priced at $399/€449 each. You can place orders and find out more on the 1010music website.

Sinevibes has introduced Hollow, a “vast space reverb” effect, for Mac & Windows.

At its core is a massive delay network, made up of 24 delay lines, 32 filters, and a feedback matrix with as many as 256 connections. With all settings maxed out, this engine is capable of producing tail times that exceed 15 minutes, while still having a very natural exponential decay.

Hollow includes a variable diffusion stage and a unique bi-directional pre-delay: in addition to normal operation, it can also make the reverb tail precede the dry input signal, opening interesting new creative possibilities. Additionally, the plugin has unison modulation via four phase-shifted sine oscillators – for adding deep, chorus-like vibrance and richness.

Features:

• Reverb engine based on a feedback delay network with a 16×16 matrix
• Unique two-way pre-delay stage
• Variable diffusion stage
• Stereo width adjustable from mono to full expansive stereo
• Unison-style modulation via four mutually phase-shifted oscillators
• Variable low-pass or high-pass damping filters
• Lag filters on all continuous parameters for smooth, click-free adjustment
• Supports mono › mono, mono › stereo, and stereo › stereo channel configuration

Sinevibes Hollow is available now for $39.

Tascam has released the Portacapture X8, a high-spec multitrack recorder that fits in your pocket: – 8-track, 192kHz recording and a touchscreen interface.

Having been announced last year, it is now available. The new Portcapture X8 includes 192kHz multitrack recording and a multitude of features that make it suitable for capturing everything from music to podcasts, vlogs and interviews.

There are six setup modes, each of which optimises the X8 for a specific recording situation. And settings are on the 3.5-inch colour touchscreen, which make operation a breeze.

Several 14.6mm diameter condenser microphones are built into the X8, supported by Tascam’s HDDA preamps. The detachable mic mechanism will make it easy to set the available A-B and X-Y mic patterns. In addition, there are four XLR and 1/4-inch inputs that can capture mic and line-level signals, along with aux in, line out and camera in/out connections.

Other feature includes the built-in DSP – you also get a Compressor, Limiter, Low-Cut Filter, Noise Gate, Reverb and Auto Gain Control. 8 Multitrack recording: – six tracks plus two mix and, as well as operating standalone. The Portacapture X8 can also function as an 8-in/2-out USB Type C audio interface. You can record on SD cards up to 512GB in capacity.

The Tascam Portacapture X8 is available now priced at $399. Find out more on the Tascam website.