Specifications

(Subject to change as software development is finalised)

The new CMI is unique in that it produces the classic “Fairlight sound” that defined music of the eighties as well as the modern Fairlight sound — that of uncompromising signal purity.

Both these extremes are made possible by the extraordinary processing power of the Crystal Core engine which lies at the heart of the system.

The Crystal Core media processor(CC-1) was developed by Fairlight.AU as the engine for its range of top-end digital audio workstations. The CC-1 uses FPGA (field-programmable gate array) to achieve performance far in excess of what can be achieved using even the fastest digital signal processor of conventional design.

We have yet to discover the limits of the Crystal Core as a musical instrument, but thanks to its massively parallel architecture, it can deliver hundreds of tracks of sample playback without any degradation of audio quality and latency from receipt of midi input to start of sound of less than 0.1ms.  To get some inkling of what might be possible, download this Crystal Core brochure or if you’re really interested in the nuts and bolts, the Crystal Core whitepaper.

The original CMIs owe their unique, organic sound to the peculiarities and limitations of the digital and analogue hardware of the time. The Fairlight 30A uses the Crystal Core engine to faithfully reproduce all these acoustic quirks. Thanks to this use of programmable “virtual hardware”, each channel has its own “randomness” which gives the combined output the rich analogue CMI sound.

See the CMI-30A in Action

Video 1: First peekVideo 2: SamplingVideo 3: Real-time effects

CMI-30A Hardware Specifications

(as at 19 February 2011)

	- Click here to download 2 page PDF flyer -
Mainframe	Free-standing unit, 500GB SATA hard drive, DVD R/W drive, USB ports. Audio Outputs: 6 channels analogue, balanced XLR 2 channels analogue monitor mix, balanced TRS (front panel access) Dynamic range > 100 dB (unweighted) THD < 0.002% @ 1kHz, -1dBFS Frequency response +0.05 / -0.15 dB, 20 Hz – 20kHz Digital output: 64 channel BNC MADI Audio Inputs: 2 balanced mic/line inputs XLR, phantom power 48V option Sample rate: 44.1, 48, 96kHz THD < 0.002% @ 1kHz, -1dBFS Frequency response +0.05 / -0.15 dB, 20 Hz – 20kHz SPDIF Other I/O: MIDI input and output 5 pin DIN LTC (Linear time code) input and output Word clock (for synchronisation to external sources) Physical: Width 58cm Depth 50cm Height 30cm, 32kg (blame it on heavy metal)
Monitor	Display: LCD 17” 1280 x 1024 pixels.Lightpen: Pointer with left/right click button. Precision machined stainless steel for superior feel. Option: Left handed (lightpen to left of screen). No cost option. Power: 100-240V AC  50W. Physical: Width 51cm Depth 28cm Height 38cm, 12kg
QWERTY keyboard	85 clicky keys, USB output Physical: Welded aluminium enclosure. Width 34cm Depth 19cm Height 5.6cm, 1.1kg
Music keyboard	Action: Fatar 76 key TP40GH with weighted keys and hammer action for a real piano feel, velocity and aftertouch. Option: Lighter touch TP40L action. No cost option. Outputs: MIDI x 2 USB Controls: Pedal inputs (6.5mm) x 3, pitch wheel, mod wheel, 3 assignable rotary controls, 2 assignable switches, assignable multitouch colour screen Power: 100-240V AC 9W Physical: Width 130cm Depth 44cm Height 9.5cm, 25kg

Custom Flight Cases
Optional: An exceptional set of custom flight cases designed and manufactured for the CMI-30A by A&S Case Company.

These use carbon fibre walls for ultimate protection at minimum weight. The system fits into three cases as shown here:

Functional Specification
The original Fairlight CMIs were renowned not only for their superb sound quality, but also their elegant and intuitive software.

The CMI-30A combines the very best features of the Fairlight series IIX and the III, with significant new developments.

Sound quality is continuously variable using the unique “goodness” control which spans from Series I, II, or III quality to “best possible” 36-bit floating point.

The base 30A system offers 24 tracks and channels,which will be optionally expandable to 200 (details to be confirmed). Software upgrades will also be available to provide full post-production, mixing and recording functionality.

Software functionality is being finalised at the time of publication. Please refer to this site for updates as development continues towards the release version, but here is a general outline.

Many existing CMI users have requested modulation and live performance controls be given particular consideration. Accordingly, there is provision to patch many sources to a variety of functions. Sources include hand-drawable ADSR generators, sample and holds, LFOs, noise and keyboard following are patchable to any parameter, such as pitch, filter frequency, filter resonance and many more. Of course, external MIDI control of these parameters is also available.

Waveform drawing and FFT sound generation are available, with the ease of use of the earlier systems. There is also the ever popular “Page D” display page, expanded to vary the viewpoint (such as rotation) of a sample in three dimensions.

The classic “Page R” sequencer is retained, plus some valuable upgrades such as dramatically increasing the number of tracks.

Fairlight Forum

Users provided significant input to the features of the original Fairlight CMI. This is also the case with CMI-30A. Just think, you could have a hand in shaping this classic instrument! Click on the “Forum” link in the navigation bar above.

Pricing

For system and option pricing, please click on the “BUY” link in the navigation bar above. Oh ok… click here.