Sonicware are currently running a Kickstarter campaign to fund the creation of Lofi-12 XT, an advanced version of their popular Lofi-12 groovebox and sampler instrument.
Since the launch of the original Lofi-12, the company say that have received a lot of feedback on the design of the instrument, along with requests for features that were not possible to achieve with the DSP resources of the LIVEN platform the unit was built on. As a result, they decided to design a new model based on the hardware used in their SmplTrek unit, which offers enough power to implement the most commonly requested features.
The new Lofi-12 XT retains the same fun, retro-inspired sampling engine that made the original popular but has undergone a redesign that Sonicware say makes it even more user-friendly. There’s a 12-bit mode that mimics the sound of older sampler designs, and each sample can now be up to 300 seconds long. Users are free to store as many samples as their SD card capacity allows, and a project is capable of loading up to 256 samples of file sizes up to 64MB.
A Pad mode allows all of the instrument’s 15 buttons to be used as a keyboard, allowing samples to be played chromatically, and it is also possible to chop samples and trigger individual slices of them within a single track. There’s an onboard eight-track sequencer that supports un-quantised and step recording, meaning users can record beats in real time by hitting the instrument’s buttons, whilst parameter locking makes it simple to record in parameter changes by pressing record and adjusting the instrument’s controls whilst a session plays back.
The XT will come loaded with over 1000 samples of legendary drum machines such as the TR-808 and 909, LM-1, Linndrum, Drumtraks and more, and users are able to import their own samples via USB or an SD card, as well as connecting a wide range of other audio gear or instruments and recording sounds directly onto the device. There are also 20 built-in effects, with any track able to utilise up to eight of them at a time.
There are now just four days left of the campaign, and the company have announced that all backers will now also receive a free case for the instrument, worth $79 in their online shop.
To find out more and back the campaign, take a look at the link below.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sonicware-inc/lofi-12xt
