The Synclavier Release 4.4 software was released on December 1st.

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From the Newsgroup.  My response is at the end.

>> Forum: alt.music.prince 
>> Thread: Digital Keyboards <a open discussion 
Subject:  Digital Keyboards <a open discussion
Date: 1999/07/14
Author: Whatdaumm <whatdaumm@aol.com>

Here it is people lets talk about why Digital Keyboards are one of the biggest rip off in the 90's  Who makes these sound cards??And why do they so many similar sounds that are not really worked or tweaked that much?? Is this a money scam to make you buy a soundcard for only a few worthy sounds?? Who thinks that Digital keyboards have no warmth to them?? Who thinks maybe prince is better off with analog synths and rhodes and maybe 1 or 2 digital keyboards??  Now we could have a opposing view. Does anybody want to rightfully admit they prefer Digital to analog keyboards?? Who else thinks the pitch shifter stick is one of the most retarded sounding things on a keyboard to date?? <Raise your hand if you think so> This has been on my mind for sometime but am I the only one who thinks when he hears somebody imitate a flute on a korg you just go <Oh lord that sound is so wack>  I was recently listening to Al di meola Live at the Palladium and I kept thinking theres this guy in the band playing a imitation electric piano on a digital keyboard. Does that make any sense at all?? I dont think so. Sometimes I wonder about the current rise of digital keyboards in Jazz fusion bands and wonder what a rhodes or moog or arp would sound like in "This song " or "that song" Im not blasting Digital keyboards I just think the imitation sounds are not worked on enough. Some sounds they have are pretty cool but the lot of em are truly wack and sterile. And they should invent a better pitch shifter then a little joystick you move to the left or right. When you use that it only makes it sound more retarded. Do I make any sense at all?? Am I  insane?? Are digital keyboards really the bombdiggi??      Thanx
for your time    also in closing Id like to say the Synclavier wasareally really good idea <Zappa and Junie seemed to think so>  Imlooking forward to responses.

(To which I responded)

Well, I can personally tell you that one of the biggest problems is the quality of samples (or the lack thereof).  Today's newest generation of digital gear has terrific specifications and very good sound for the dollar.  But these sound libraries are awful!  I bought 2 Synclaviers and a NED PostPro after dealing with MIDI and it's slow response times, lack of sample memory, and putrid sound libraries.

However, I am buying an Emu E6400 Ultra today...  I will be using it to TRANSFER EXISTING ULTRA HIGH-END Synclavier SOUND LIBRARIES over to the Emu.  I will be holding demonstrations at various 
composer's studios in Los Angeles.  These products will be out in a month or two.  NOW we can get to 
the root of the matter.  105 db Signal to Noise ratio 64/128 voices, 128 meg of RAM and 20-20,000 +
/- frequency response with 20 bit D/A's for a couple of $grand is too good NOT to recognize.

There will be Double-Blind tests to really determine if you can get 99% of the Synclavier's overall sound quality in an Emu EIV Ultra.  Not the same machines by any stretch of the imagination but the time has come.

I invite interested persons to call and attend. 
Let us REALLY find out once and for all.

Brandon Amison
Yaking Cat Music Studios
Synclavier Assistance
(661) 799 - 8830
http://home.earthlink.net/~yaking/
THE source of Synclavier information

Re:  S/Link

Hi Brandon,

S/Link is still the property of AirWorks. To purchase a copy ($99.00 US),
request replacement disks or additional authorizations, contact me via
e-mail (airworks@vermontel.com) or call the Edmonton office at 780-424-9922.

Feel free to post this information on your web site.

Sincerely,

Andy Pettit
Technical Support Engineer
AirWorks

Click here to download!!!

Re:  Release 4.30

Hey Everybody,

Release 4.30 is going to be here in a month or two (can you believe it?).
If you haven't upgraded for awhile, you should fork over some dough to DEMAS.  Every release includes enough fixes/enhancements to choke a horse!

Brandon

Click here for more info