Generalmusic Intros Top-Of-The-Line Equinox Pro

July 23, 1999 -- Expanding on the design of Generalmusic's Equinox 61 and 76 introduced last year, the new Equinox Pro boasts a comprehensive feature set that firmly establishes it as the manufacturer's flagship keyboard.

The 88-key Equinox Pro features a fully weighted, hammer action keyboard for incredibly realistic piano action. An internal hard disk (minimum 1 Gig) is available for storing everything from patches and samples to grooves and songs, and comes preloaded with Generalmusic's virtual PRO2 piano, which brings world-renowned Rhodes, Wurlitzer and Electric Grand samples to the Equinox Pro. The product also features the highly-acclaimed FFT Merge Piano Sample, complete with the manufacturer's patented Damper Physical Model and 'Natural String Resonance' technologies

Like Generalmusic's WK8 Megastation, the Equinox Pro comes equipped with 8 MB of battery-backed sample RAM (as opposed to the 2 MB of the Equinox 61 and 76). Full SCSI implementation enables the Equinox Pro to load and save direct from/to floppy disk, CD-ROM, SyQuest, Zip, Jaz and others, and read samples in the following formats: Kurzweil™, Akai™, WAV (PC), AIFF (Mac), SMP and SND. With future operating systems, other formats will also be compatible, such as Roland™, Ensoniq™ and E-mu™. Once imported, samples can be fully edited using the powerful synth engine. User RAM, for samples, is expandable up to 40 MB (up to 32 MB of SIMMs, in addition to the 8 MB of battery-backed RAM).

The Equinox Pro features velocity and aftertouch, as well as generous 64-voice polyphony. Equipped with 16 MB of ROM, the synth offer over 1000 sounds as standard. Available in a stunning array, from the most traditional to the most unique and original, these sounds were created entirely in the USA by the industry's top programmers.

An on-board "Groove Machine" provides over 1000 fully-editable, pre-programmed rhythms for creating dance loops and grooves. Rhythmic ideas can be brought to life in seconds, while a "Random Groove Generator" feature can create unusual and original patterns to inspire new song ideas.

The Equinox Pro synth engine boasts 128 digital filters with resonance (4-pole/24 dB). A single patch can contain as many as six waveforms (a combination of ROM or imported samples) with up to 21 independent 10-segment envelopes and three LFOs. Furthermore, the keyboardist may layer/split up to 16 patches at once using up to 64 waveforms.

The term "multi-timbrality" takes on a new meaning thanks to the Equinox Pro. The allocation of its 32 available parts takes place distinctly between real-time sounds and the independent sequencer, allowing the simultaneous use of highly complex sounds with the 16 parts of the sequencer. By not allowing the sequencer to steal tracks from the synth, the Equinox Pro guarantees the availability of sounds even in the most critical of multi-timbral situations.

The powerful on-board sequencer also allows for 16-track recordings with a capacity of 250,000 events/16 songs, resolution of 1/192 ppq, groove quantize and advanced microscope editing.

A drawbar organ mode, with eight physical sliders, can provide all the nuances of the classic organs of the '60s, including Leslie simulation, key click, overdrive and percussion. A user-programmable local/MIDI arpeggiator also brings back a popular sound from the '70s.

Extremely versatile, the Equinox Pro synth includes 32 MIDI channels and 16 programmable MIDI zones with eight programmable sliders, eight assignable buttons, two wheels and three assignable pedals.

For owners of the Equinox 61 and 76, all of the previous features can be purchased in an "Equinox Pro Upgrade" package (aside from the 88-key fully weighted, hammer action keyboard). The hardware upgrade kit includes a new hard disk drive, fitting kit, SCSI upgrade kit and 8 MB of battery-backed RAM, transforming the two original synth models into the Equinox 61 Pro and 76 Pro.

And, if an Equinox 61 or 76 owner doesn't wish to upgrade his or her synth, but wants the ability to interface with CD-ROM or Zip to import sounds from other manufacturers, a separate SCSI kit is also sold by itself.

Suggested U.S. retail pricing is as follows: