Post-Holiday Musings (Jan 2009)
On behalf of everyone here at Muse Research, we would like to begin by wishing every one of you and your family, and your pets, and your Receptor, a (belated) joyous Holiday Season. And just so that we aren't accused of being PC (after all, we are Linux-based), we hope you had a Merry / Happy Christmas, Joyous Noel, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanza, Joyous Winter Solstice, or at least enjoyed a day off making some music.
We've managed to add a little more joy to this season, and give everyone a better reason to stay inside on a cold day by releasing the first major upgrade to Receptor since it was initially released. Yes, that's right, we are proud to announce the availability of:
And its bigger and stronger brother:
Yeah, sure, it looks a lot like the old Receptor, but take a closer look: notice the sexy new blue LCD display? And the milled aluminum knobs with new encoders? And check out that sparkling blue LED? But looks are only the beginning as the RECEPTOR 2 PRO and RECEPTOR 2 PRO MAX represent a HUGE leap forward in pure performance muscle, letting you run MORE plugins and get HIGHER polyphony with LOWER latency than ever before! Check out the specs:
- Dual-Core processors with tons of L2 Cache… 2.53Ghz in the PRO, 3.0Ghz in the PRO MAX.
- Massive, ultra-fast SATA –2 Hard Drives – 500GB in the Pro and 1TB in the PRO MAX.
- Gigabit Ethernet port for file transfers that are 10X faster as well as improved UniWire performance.
- Certified, high performance 800Mhz RAM – a whopping 4 GB!
- Quiet and efficient power supply, new cooling solution, and an E-SATA port for drive expansion!
- Hundreds of presets drawing from the USB Plugsound BOX collection of six plugins… and the possibility of creating thousands more quickly and easily!
- And… an ENTIRELY UPDATED version of Muse Machine software foundation that promises better compatibility and efficiency than every before!
The new RECEPTOR 2 PRO and PRO MAX are true next-generation machines that offer a considerable increase in performance while retaining the features that Receptor is famous for: great sound, ultra-reliable, remarkably portable performance.
The RECEPTOR 2 PRO has a street price of $2,599. The PRO MAX runs you $3,199. Either model can be configured with NI KOMPLETE 5 or the IK TOTAL WORKSTATION BUNDLE, or both, for $500 extra per unit.
Upgrade Your Receptor!
Of course, if you are reading this newsletter, you probably already have a Receptor. And in keeping with our desire to maximize your investment while being responsible with our earth's resources (What can we say? We're from California and take this reduce/reuse/recycle thing pretty dang seriously!) we are finalizing the details of the RECEPTOR TO RECEPTOR 2 UPGRADE PROGRAM. Please stay tuned for a further announcement on how you can upgrade your current Receptor to the RECEPTOR 2 platform.
RECEPTOUR News
Of course the prime touring season is coming to a close, but there are plenty of bands in rehearsal to support new albums and new artist joining the family of Receptor users every day… here are some of the latest new artists and tour news:
Finishing up their summer tour and moving into a winter of fly dates is perennial rockers FOREIGNER, who blew away the house at Saratoga's Mountain Winery not too long ago. Manning the keyboard chair is Michael Bluestein with John Pelligrenelli teching the rig. Congrats out to Michael for his recent nuptials as well…
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Greek sensation Yanni has moved his massive Gigasampler library off of their PCs and onto Receptor… almost a dozen of them, in fact. Leading the charge into Receptor-land is keyboardist / composer Ming Freeman, seen here »»»
Drums and Bass phenomenon PENDULUM swung through San Francisco recently, playing at the legendary Fillmore, bringing their new and exciting music to an incredibly enthusiastic audience. Tech extraordinaire THAT GUY showed us the MONSTER rig of Receptors, with basically each member of the band getting one or more units for their music-making pleasure!
 Tech Ben Adams & the rig of Receptors |
 Rob Swire tears it up at the Fillmore show |
 Keyboardist Ollie Marland leans on Receptors during Tina's new tour |
The world of Country music has discovered Receptor in a big way, with Toby Keith's keyboardist Rex Mauney picking up a Receptor, and lovin' it, as is their FOH engineer, commenting how much better his rig sounds now that he is using his Receptor with Komplete Inside…
 Rex Mauney shows off his new toy |
 Toby does his thing below Rex's big hands |
The Reba and Kelly Tour using Receptors for keyboards and guitars for both Reba and Kelly. We're talking a veritable Receptor-fest in the racks back stage. Jason Halbert and Doug Sizemore are covering keyboards and guitars for Kelly respectively, and the lovely Katherine Marx is handling keys duties for Reba. Chris Halaby caught the tour on their swing through Reno… be sure to ask him about his motorcycle ride through the Sierras during a cold snap when you see him!
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| « Jason Halbert, Doug Sizemore and Katherine Marx backstage |
Alicia Keys is on the road and has enlisted Receptor to cover synth duties using Komplete as well as covering piano parts with Synthogy's Ivory. Tech Ian Kelly manages the impressive rig for Ms. Keys.
Receptor user Paul Mirkovich is just wrapping up Star Seeker, a new collaboration with Mark Burnett Productions (of Survivor fame) and Puff Daddy's Pdiddy productions. The show will air on MTV in late January, and according to Paul "Receptor is all over the show".
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What would winter be with out the seasonal favorites Trans-Siberian Orchestra ushering in the Holidays with a bang? Founder Bob Kinkel continues to warm hearts and blow minds with his Receptors, adding yet another one to their already substantial rig. TSO's tour continues on both coasts as well as in Canada through the early part of January. | |
Long time band members and Receptor owners Frank Strauss (keyboards) and Brian Monroney (guitars) are out touring in support of the album, and recently made the rounds of all the US talk shows. Check out the latest TJ offering and hear that cool blue box do its thing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPRqi2EnhrU |
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COME SEE US AT NAMM!
The winter NAMM show is from January 15th through the 18th in Anaheim, California. The Muse Crew will be there in force, showing the RECEPTOR 2 PRO, RECEPTOR 2 PRO MAX, and debuting the little brother to the "PRO" line in the form of the RECEPTOR 2. Yes, friends, you are the FIRST people to hear about our new affordable Receptor, based on a single-core processor with a 250GB drive and its beautiful new deep blue livery.
Receptor users JORDAN RUDESS and RICHARD DEVINE are going to do battle again at the show, as Muse Research proudly presents RUDESS vs. DEVINE - ROUND 2 at the Hilton on Saturday night. As you know, Jordan and Richard showed what Receptor could do when it first launched, so it's only appropriate they have a rematch, showing what the 2nd generation is capable of! Should be fairly mind-blowing! If all works out, we'll also have a special guest star at the event, so you aren't going to want to miss what we have in store for you!
Come see the new RECEPTOR 2 plus other VERY SPECIAL SURPRISES in booth 6729 at NAMM!
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Happy 2009 Everyone!
Muse Research
