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Miselu Neiro synth at Google I/O: exclusive first look at apps from Korg and Yamaha (video)
Remember Miselu's Neiro -- that prototype app-based Android-powered synth we last played with at SXSW? Not only is it being showcased at Google I/O 2012 here in San Francisco, but we got an exclusive first look at some of the apps being developed for the new platform ahead of the event. The company's been on a roll since our meeting in Austin, gaining (ex-OQO CEO) Jory Bell as CTO and building relationships with partners like Korg and Yamaha. Now on its second iteration, the laptop-like synth has evolved from the hand-built prototype we saw at SXSW to a more polished reference design -- complete with breakout board for SD card and Ethernet support. As before, the device runs Gingerbread on a dual-core TI OMAP processor and features a two octave velocity and pressure-sensitive keyboard, a capacitive multitouch widescreen, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, audio and MIDI I/O, plus USB and HDMI ports. This version even adds XLR and quarter-inch audio jacks -- just keep in mind that those specs have not been finalized. What's really exciting about the synth is the apps. The company's ongoing partnership with Retronyms to create a suite of touch-controlled, cloud-enabled musical apps has evolved beyond the drum-machine demo we covered at SXSW. Called nStudio, the suite now also includes a pad-based sampler / sequencer and a mixer. Plasma Sound is a touch-based musical instrument that's part theremin, part keyboard / sequencer. It's already available for other devices on Google Play, but was easily tweaked to run on the Neiro -- sight unseen -- thanks to Miselu's musicSDK and OS X-based emulator. Miselu will be showcasing two more apps on its synth here at Google I/O: Korg's Polysix and Yamaha's Vocaloid. The Polysix app faithfully recreates Korg's legendary 1981 synth -- known for its rich, thick analog sound. A real, mint-condition Polysix was even available for comparison during our brief time with the app (see our gallery). Vocaloid takes full advantage of the NSX-1 DSP chip that's built-into the Neiro. It's a singing synth app produced by Yamaha that "uses concatenative synthesis to splice and process vocal fragments extracted from human voice samples." We'll be spending some time with the Vocaloid app and its creator -- video game designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi (of Sega and Lumines fame) -- later today. In the meantime, check out the gallery below and watch our hands-on video with the other apps after the break.%Gallery-159214%
Miselu Neiro Android-powered synth hands-on at SXSW (video)
This is the Miselu Neiro, a "portable, net-enabled social music device" which was announced this weekend at SXSW. We were able see and handle the first-ever prototype fresh off the lab bench at the SoundCloud Open House in Austin. The app-based, Android-powered synth features a two octave velocity and pressure-sensitive keyboard, a capacitive multitouch widescreen, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity and even a webcam. Battery life is expected to be in the five to six hour range. The laptop-sized instrument features audio I/O, MIDI I/O, two USB ports, an HDMI port and an SD card slot. It currently runs Gingerbread on a dual-core TI OMAP processor -- although those aren't the final specs. While the silicon valley startup is mum on pricing and availability, it's teamed up with Yamaha to outfit the device with an NSX-1 DSP chip (for high-quality synthesis and effects) and with Retronyms to create a powerful suite of touch-controlled, cloud-enabled musical apps in time for launch. The instrument also includes a dock area for accessories (such as a speaker bar) and the company plans to license the interface to third-party manufacturers. Beyond the Neiro prototype, Miselu also showcased its older, larger, proof-of-concept device (controlling Ableton Live via MIDI / OSC over WiFi) and a USB-powered digital speaker cabinet built in partnership with Onkyo that integrates Trigence's Dnote technology for high-quality audio reproduction using only 500mA of power. Check out the pictures in our gallery below, then hit the break for our hands-on video -- complete with a walkthrough by CEO Yoshinari Yoshikawa and a drum-machine demo.
