This was bound to happen. Even so, the i-Tab is a great idea, and Audiotechnews can’t wait to try one!

The insanely cool looking i-tab offers guitarists a pocket sized unit that scrolls chords and lyrics in perfect time. The unit allows users to download backing tracks and video cover lessons from a massive library of fully legal tabs, tracks and lessons from the official website.

Once downloaded, the i-tab sits conveniently at the end of your guitar and acts as the ultimate prompt giving you a seamless clear display of chords and lyrics at the tempo of your choice. Now you can take your tab library with you wherever you go and this really will be your best friend on your guitar.

Ideal for players of every level, the i-tab will help you learn songs, remember lyrics whilst storing 100’s of tabs, backing tracks and reels of video. A 4GB memory gives you plenty of room to organise your songs into handy playlists and build your own song library. If you are learning to play you can also download i-tabs free tuition video modules to help you along. Funky video cover lessons will help build your portfolio of cool songs for gigs and parties.

The i-tab unit has a 5” touch screen, in-built speaker and comes with headphones, stylus, USB connector, power charger, soft carry pouch and weighs in at only 0.14kg. The i-tab comes with 30 free song tabs including U2 (Beautiful Day), Oasis (Wonderwall) and The Rolling Stones (Jumping Jack Flash). It also includes TV out leads so you can play synchronized chords, lyrics and backing tracks through the player or through your TV and everyone can sing along!

The unit is available to purchase now for £129 (EU€149, US$199). The first units are shipping mid-March and will hit the streets worldwide from early April 2010. The backing tracks and songs (including the chords and lyrics) can be purchased from the website at a price of 25 pence for the tabs and 50 pence for backing tracks.

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The Focusrite OctoPre MkII Dynamic features eight channels of Focusrite’s legendary mic preamplification, with new, single-dial, VCA-based compressors derived from the classic Focusrite Red 3 on every channel.

Each channel has a VCA-based compressor which has been tuned by ear to model the sound of the legendary Focusrite Red 3. When designing the circuitry, Focusrite accurately matched the shape of the Red 3’s knee, to ensure the characteristics of the studio classic were captured. You can use the compressor to provide a clean, controlled sound, or, using the ‘more’ switch, it’s possible to transform the behavior of the VCA, doubling the ratio to deliver and invigorated effect compressor.

The preamp circuits are the same as those found in the Saffire PRO range of high-quality audio interfaces. As expected from all Focusrite preamps, these have an especially fast transient response and tolerance for high SPLs, as well as an unsurpassed, transparent sound.

On-board digital converters, with state-of-the-art clocking and jitter-elimination technology, enable you to stream eight channels of 24-bit/96kHz digital audio to and from an ADAT-equipped computer workstation or hard disk recorder. This makes it the perfect addition to your project studio setup or live recording rig, including those running Pro Tools M-Powered, LE and HD, as well as the likes of Logic, Cubase, Sonar and Digital Performer.

The A-D and D-A converters can operate at common sample rates of up to 96kHz, with dual TOSlink ports carrying the SMUX-compliant ADAT signal to and from your audio interface, mixing console or hard disk recorder. When running at 44.1kHz or 48kHz, the twin outputs are mirrored, so you can feed two ADAT-equipped devices — a computer audio interface and a backup recorder, for example — with the same signal.

In short, the OctoPre MkII Dynamic is the best-equipped, most comprehensive eight-channel mic pre on the market: Eight signature Focusrite mic preamps; Eight Red 3-derived compressors; World-class digital I/O: All in one box and within the project studio budget.

A massive upgrade of the Amplitubes guitar and bass tone gear modeling software; AmpliTube 3 packs a new punch for sound variety, realism and creative power.

Features:
- 160 guitar and bass gear models now included (nearly 100 more than version 2): 51 stomps, 31 amp heads, 47 cabinets, 15 microphones and 17 rack effects
- 30 brand new models never previously released with a new line of creative effects
- 70 superior sounding gear models from the award winning AmpliTube Jimi Hendrix and Amplitube Metal for a complete vintage to modern gear suite
- Completely new Cabinet module with two freely movable microphones and impulse based ambience
- Incredible new rotary speaker emulation
- New Drag & Drop feature for Stomp and Rack effects
- New full stereo path allows also stereo processing of drums, vocals, keyboards and more
- New standalone with 4 track recorder/player
- New advanced preset browser system with new single gear presets
- New one-click MIDI learn for compatibility with any MIDI controller
- New easy to use best quality/performance settings accessible with a single button
- Improved performance and re-mastered models
- New built-in expandability with products like AmpliTube FenderTM or Ampeg SVXTM directly within AmpliTube 3