Clavia DMI Press release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Fredrik Hylvander
Int +46 8 442 73 60
Stockholm, Sweden, June 19 2003

Nord Rack 2X - the rebirth of a classic

Clavia is pleased to announce the release of the rack mountable table top version of the Nord Lead 2X - the Nord Rack 2X! The original Nord Lead/Rack and Nord Lead 2/Rack 2 are among the most popular synthesizers ever built. Used extensively in studios, on stage and on records by the world's greatest artists, the Nords have contributed with their characteristic sound on hit song after hit song. And of course, that's how we want to keep it!

So why change a winning concept, you may ask. Well, we didn't change the concept - or the sound, for that matter. We simply improved the concept and upgraded the hardware to make it possible for the Virtual Analog sound to live on for many more years to come! The Nord Lead 2X and Rack 2X has the same characteristic sound and functions as the Nord Lead 2/Rack 2, except for some very nice improvements:

X-tra polyphony: The Nord Rack 2X comes with 20 voices polyphony - very useful when creating layered sounds, "power pads", awesome leads and booming basses. 20 voices are also very beneficial in sequencing situations when you use more than one sound at a time.

X-tra memory: The Nord Rack 2X comes with a large internal memory holding 4 x 99 user Programs, 100 user Performances and 4 x 10 user Percussion Kits plus 6 x 99 factory Programs and 3 x 100 factory Performances! The Nord Rack 2X is 100% patch compatible with the Nord Lead 2 and Nord Rack 2 which means that you can transfer sounds directly between the models via MIDI.

X-tra high resolution: The awesome sound in the Nord Rack 2X is refined even further thanks to the brand new, crystal clear 24-bit DACs running at 96kHz.

Technical specifications

Polyphony
20 voices. 4 part multi-timbral.

Special features
Velocity programming: Each function that is controlled by a knob, can be programmed to be controlled by velocity.
Morphing: Each function that is controlled by a knob can also be controlled by the modulation wheel/pedal to continuously fade between two sets of values.

Performance controllers
Octave Shift buttons (+/-2 oct.)
1 pedal input for sustain and 1 for expression pedal.

User interface
3 digit LED display, 26 knobs and 27 buttons for program editing.

Oscillator section
Oscillator 1 generating sine, triangle, sawtooth or pulse wave with adjustable width. Oscillator 2 generating triangle, sawtooth or pulse (with adjustable width) and can also generate noise with a color control. Oscillator 2 can be hard synched to oscillator 1. Linear deep frequency modulation of osc 1 from osc 2. A wide range of new waveforms with a strong formant character is achieved with the synchable noise, where noise can be synched to Osc. 1.

Filter section
12 dB "2 pole" lowpass, 24 dB "4 pole" lowpass, bandpass or highpass, Notch + Lowpass. Cut off, resonance, envelope amount, envelope amount controlled by velocity. ADSR envelope. Filter keyboard tracking can be set to full, 2/3, 1/3 or off. Filter distortion.

Amplifier section
ADSR envelope, gain control.

Modulation section
Lfo 1 generating triangle, saw, pulse, LF filtered noise and random staircase routed to Osc 1+2, Osc 2, filter, pulse-width and FM amount. Lfo 2 produces a triangle waveform, routed to Osc 1 and 2 or amplifier. It also controls the rate for the arpeggiator. Arpeggiator: Range: 1 - 4 octave. Modes: up, down, up/down, random. Echo can be set between 1 and 8 repeats. Modulation envelope (attack, decay) for Osc 2 pitch, FM amount and pulse width.

Performance section
Play mode: Poly, legato, mono, unison mono, unison poly. Manual mode. Four program slots for layering possibilities. Portamento/Auto portamento.

Percussion kits
40 user "analog" percussion kits. Each percussion kit holds 8 independent sounds, configured in 8 zones across the keyboard.

Internal memory
Programs (single sounds): 990 (396 (4 x 99) user, 594 (6 x 99) factory).
Performances (multi sounds): 400 (100 user, 300 (3 x 100) factory).
Percussion kits (multi zone sounds): 40 (4 x 10) user.

Audio Out
4 outputs. Each slot can have its own output. Modes: Stereo, mono and multitimbral mode. Headphones output. High resolution, low noise 24-bit DACs running at 96kHz.

MIDI features
All control knobs and switches for program editing transmit and receive Control Change messages. System exclusive bulk dumps. One Program/Performance or all Programs/Performances in a bank. MIDI clock synchronizing LFO 1 and LFO 2/arpeggiator restart. Triggering of the filter and amplifier envelopes and velocity control from separate programmable MIDI channel and note numbers. Fully patch compatible with Nord Lead 2/Nord Rack 2.

Dimensions
Width: 19", Height: 4U, Depth: 115 mm.

NEW PRODUCT: Nord Rack 2X - Virtual Analog synthesizer
PRICE: Approximately USD/Euro: 999.-
SHIP DATE: NOW!

(Specifications subject to change without notice)