NAMM: GigaStudio 3.0 Announced

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TASCAM has announced the long-awaited new version of GigaStudio -- GigaStudio 3.0. This new version, a from-the-ground-up rewrite of the original application, adds dozens of new features for composers, sound designers and music producers.

Available in three versions -- Orchestra, Ensemble and Solo -- it offers up to unlimited polyphony, 96kHz/24-bit sample support, ReWire support, VST FX, and GigaPiano 2, real-time convolution and a new look and feel.

GigaStudio 3 adds a list of new features designed to make music production easier while producing the most authentic sampled instruments ever created.

• Unlimited Polyphony -- in GigaStudio 3 Orchestra, dependant on hard drive speed. 160 voice polyphony in GS3 Ensemble, 96 voices in GS3 Solo
• VST Plug-In support -- use your favorite effects in GigaStudio
• Rewire support -- GigaStudio now provides virtual MIDI and audio connections between a sequencer and GS3
• 24-bit sample support -- a new dimension of detail, without affecting polyphony
• 96kHz sample support -- load 24-bit/96kHz instruments for increased realism
• Expanded mixer -- now supports 128 channels and 32 fader groups
• Quick Edit -- by popular demand, edit real time parameters on the fly
• New User Interface look and feel -- a modern overhaul to the look of GigaStudio for improved workflow and usability
• Intelligent MIDI -- Legato, Alternation, Random modes and more
• Sample Recording -- Now the premier sample player can record samples, not just play them back. New GSIF 2.0-compatible soundcards now support input as well as output for recording or processing directly into GigaStudio
• Kernel-level MIDI -- Our new MIDI input technology virtually eliminates latency and reduces jitter on the incoming MIDI data
• Convolution Surround placement -- using a native version of GigaPulse with extra channels for surround
• GigaPulse -- This processor models the resonance of a space, microphone or instrument body for the most realistic sampled instruments ever. A playback-only version, GigaPulse SP, is included with Orchestra, Ensemble and Solo. GigaPulse Pro is included with GigaStudio 3 Orchestra, and offers the ability to create your own reverb impulses and add them to instruments.

GigaStudio also retains the features of earlier versions:

• Streaming samples -- only GigaStudio allows you to load samples over 4GB, for the most realistic instruments possible
• Sound Libraries -- Some samplers attempt to convert and load GS instruments, but lose articulations, sound quality and big sample sizes
• Runs on inexpensive PC hardware
• Quicksound -- rapid instrument searching of your hard drive
• Articulations -- switch playing techniques by pressing a key, allows for highly authentic phrasing and performance
• Low latency -- kernel-level processing give GigaStudio low latency