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MIDI Keyboard/Computer: Neko64

Posted by michael on from the meow dept.

An anonymous reader gushes "Just got back from NAMM, and saw the coolest thing for music geeks - it's a MIDI keyboard with a dual Opterons and a 15 inch touchscreen. While other vendors crow about 5 inch screens (Now With Color!) these guys have a beautiful UI on a live performance instrument that is also awesome studio gear. 4 interchangable control surfaces, and battery backup to boot! If the power cord gets yanked out in the middle of a performance, there's plenty of time to bitch out the roadie and get it plugged in without missing a beat. These guys truly Get It."

9 of 348 comments (clear)

  1. Hmm looks pretty nice by CrypticSpawn · · Score: 5, Funny

    I am getting a casio keyboard on monday, but this keyboard looks really nice, wouldn't mind giving it a shot. What is the price?

  2. awesome! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The first time I ever played with Reaktor I thought to myself "damn when is somebody just going to put a PC in a synth with a lightweight real-time customizable OS (open source if possible), a big screen, lots of programmable control surfaces, and a something flexible and powerful like Reaktor?"

    And here it is .. except for the OS. Still this is pretty damn cool!

    PS: Anybody else get a chuckle out of this:

    NEKO 64? frees you from all of the frustrating limitations imposed by closed, proprietary systems, while still maintaining the virtues of an all-in-one keyboard instrument. ..later..

    NEKO 64? is so versatile it can virtually run any plugin or application designed for the Windows XP operating system including products from Steinberg, Native Instruments, Synapse Audio, IK Multimedia and many others!

    I guess their definition of "proprietary" is different than mine!

    It's probably not so important for the average musician but I hope all the interfaces are MIDI or otherwise accessible by the programmer.

  3. Mediastation open source alternative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Some linux developers have developed a similar keyboard that is based on opensource software. I haven't compared specs in detail but I'm guessing the hardware is similar based on voice count.

    http://www.lionstracs.com/

    I'm totally linux-centric (unlike most slashdotters) so I wanted to make reference to those musicians who'd like to support *true* opensource development.

    -ry

    1. Re:Mediastation open source alternative by Colonel+Cholling · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'm totally linux-centric (unlike most slashdotters)

      I'm rich and white, unlike most Congressmen...

      --

      I am Sartre of the Borg. Existence is futile.
  4. OpenSynth NEKO 64(tm) as in 64-bit? *hum* by danalien · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I read the '64' *green'ish* as they mean it uses 64-bit computing (if you check their other products, one would see 'a simple brand' and a 'simple + 64 added to it barnd)...and they go on to say "64 bit Processing"

    *anyway* what I wanted to say

    is how could it be 64-bit computing, if they run 'Microsoft Windows XP Professional' ?

    Am I missing something? do they run something specially licensed from M$? *something in those lines?, like 'they're running a beta of their upcomming 64-bit XP..'?*

    --
    I don't claim I know more than I know, and if you know you know more than I know, then by all means, let me know.
  5. Re:The one thing missing on all those pages... by R3 · · Score: 5, Informative

    $8500 for the top of the line (Dual 2GHz Opteron, 2GB RAM)

    http://store.openlabs.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects.exe /E CommStoreFront.woa/6/wa/DSCDirectAction/descriptio n?part=neKo64762T&wosid=eq7K146htvRy2So6qmj1yq5N29 B&pageName=ECSFStoreHome&store=Openlabs&currentBat ch=0&sortBy=1

  6. Re:Doom? by Valar · · Score: 5, Funny

    Not only can you play Doom on it, but you can also play the doom soundtrack on it. So THERE.

    --

    ====
    Crudely Drawn Games
  7. Re:Already dieing by Basehart · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Tying a keyboard to the computer isn't such a good idea for a number of reasons, the most obvious being the inability to move up to a bigger, or better, keyboard.

    In the days of the Prophet V, Emulator, Juno 106 Etc. the keyboard was a part of the whole instrument, tied in via several cables. So if you really wanted the Prophet V sound, but didn't like the keyboard, you were screwed.

    Today there are few compelling reason to having the all in one thing going on, unless you really must have an all in one unit. Just stick a couple of modules into a rack and control them using a keyboard that has the feature set, and the type of key action, that really suits you.

    Better still, just run all those synths and samplers in soft mode within a G4 PowerBook.

  8. Re:high by Phs2501 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Well,

    a) Windows is where the pro audio software is in Intel land. People probably want to install out-of-the-box performance software on this thing, otherwise there's really no point.
    b) It looks like the computer hardware is standard. Nothing is stopping you fom installing another OS on it. The site even says, "NEKO 64(TM) utilizes industry standard micro-ATX motherboards and processors that allow you to run standard operating systems." (Emphesis mine)

    Of course, you may not be able to talk to the sound hardware once you replace the OS. Start reverse enigneering! :)