via Failed Muso who spotted this note from Peter Vogel on the Fairlight Yahoo Group:"here have been discussions from time to time about replicating the CMI using a software emulation. These efforts will have limited success because the "Fairlight sound" relies on the peculiarities of the hardware used in the original design.
In the days when I was the designing CMI hardware, my greatest challenge was to minimise the distortions and artifacts that were inherent aspects of the hardware available at that time. In effect, we struggled to make the Fairlight sound less "Fairlight". So the intimate details of what makes a Fairlight sound like a Fairlight are indelibly etched in my brain.
When Fairlight brought out the Crystal Core Engine last year, my imagination ran wild. Here was a tiny board with enormous capabilities that could be configured to faithfully reproduce the CMI hardware in its FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). Every bit of the 1980's CMI hardware, the essence of its sound, could be reconstructed faithfully in digital hardware form.
To fully appreciate the astounding potential of the CC-1, download the brochure here:
CC-1 Brochure
I also recently discovered that ALL the IP relating to the original Fairlight CMI including all of the hardware and filter designs, sample libraries etc are still retained by Fairlight.au in Sydney.
So I have been wondering if it would be worthwhile to develop a faithful reproduction of the CMI on the "Virtual Hardware" of the CC-1?
This would perform identically to the original CMI series II or III, but run on a PC fitted with the Crystal Core card. The MIDI input would come directly into the CC-1 so there would be no problem of latency introduced by the PC.
At this stage I'd like to "feel out" the market to assess the level of interest in this project and whether the significant investment in R&D will be worthwhile.
The Fairlight Series IV (CC-1, I/O box and software) might be sold for approximately $US5,000.00.
So my question is, what do you think of this idea? How would a Fairlight CMI at this sort of price be received by the market? Who would the buyers be and how would I tap into them?
What do you think?
Peter Vogel"
You'll find some more notes on Failed Muso.
$5,000? Waaay to expensive. And don't at least half of musicians these days use macs? I got VERY excited while reading this article, but the price and the apparen't PC-only platform killed it for me.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I loved using them in their heyday - and still using the sample library on other samplers, I cannot see anyone shelling out $5k for this. For this amount of money, you could buy an actual refurbished system.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to support something like this, but it would have to go WELL above and beyond the real deal - whilst keeping the sound of the originals in order for me to entertain the thought of paying that much.
The fact that it would be PC only is the final nail in my coffin of interest for this product. I'm a Mac user through and through.
Sorry Peter.
$5K??? LOL! Only if it includes Jupiter 8 and Elka Synthex modules, indistinguishable from "real deal".
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you'll sell few boards to some fad-obsessed moneybags, just so they can sound cool when interviewed by music rags... mere mortals have so much more available nowdays at that pricepoint.
Though if you sell 100 units at your asking price, still not a bad payday, even if you're at a 50% profit margin.
I'd pay no more than $1K for something like that....
I concur with the previous commenters. $5,000 is way too expensive. Do not totemize it - this time keep it at everyone's reach. $1,000 is fair price so that everyone can finally have access to a true Fairlight. I would support and buy it if the price is $1,000 (max $1,500).
ReplyDeleteLook what Moog is doing with the Taurus 3. They're pricing it correctly at $1,500/$1,900 to kill the hype and the opportunists.