News and Updates

XR-Spectra: Tech Info

21st Century Pickups for the Modern Guitar Player. The XR2 may well be the most versatile monophonic pickup ever. Active or passive configuration. Medium impedance

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Right-angle Jack

In the previous Nexus production batch, we started offering this right-angle jack for the instrument-side of our Multichannel Cable. It seems to be gaining popularity,

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The Nu Coil

Have you ever wondered what the actual coil inside the Nu capsule looks like? Here’s a close-up. There’s 1300turns, gauge 46AWG, in that miniature, bobbin-less

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Nu-Nexus-GK Sets

The Nexus-GK… From the start, we only do limited production runs based on demand. This time, however, we intentionally produced a bit more, with the

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Jinmo’s Nu-XR2 Combo

Jinmo is an artist who actively engages in expression activities in various fields such as auditory arts and visual arts, transcending the differentiation of expression

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XR2: Coming in May

Here’s something to look forward to, come May 2021.  Allow me to introduce the XR2: Active or passive configuration. Can be configured with or without

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April Sale

Production time! We only do limited production runs based on demand. Having sold out on all Nu and Nexus items, it’s time for a new

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Onset Detection: DSP Adventures

Before I jumped into this rabbit hole, I wouldn’t have thought that onset detection would be so deviously tricky! I just wanted to generate ADSR envelopes from the multichannel guitar signal. It looked easy, until I actually tried to implement it. But now I think I have something that works really well.

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Ascend VPU v1.1.1

Ascend VPU v1.1.1 is released. This is still an extension of the evaluation period to March 31, 2021 and probably through April. Why the long gestation period? This will be the first of a series of plugins dedicated to the multichannel guitar. I want to be sure everything is working flawlessly. Ascend-VPU will pave the way to more Ascend plugins, all dedicated to the multichannel guitar.

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Rethinking Open Source

An apology. I am an advocate of Open Source. But after having shared open-source projects for over 20 years now, starting with my contributions to the Boost libraries, it pains me to say that I am closing some of my source code for pragmatic concerns. The first to be closed are the technologies that are in very active development — that would be pitch detection and onset detection.

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Rick Toone Meets Cycfi Part 2

Here are some close-up pictures of the guitar after installing the full Nu-XR system. It was a joy installing the electronics for this guitar. This non-traditional guitar has no cavities at all. It’s just a full wide open space for the components and wiring. I think this is the easiest installation I’ve ever done. Every inch of this guitar is a RADICAL declaration.

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Rick Toone Meets Cycfi

Pictures paint a thousand words. Watch this space…

Stealth radical ergonomic acoustic guitar designed by Rick Toone and Fabio Mittino. Carbon fiber, aircraft aluminum. Element™ extended range single billet machined aircraft aluminum neck. Patented Intonation Cantilever™ individual string bridges. Cycfi Research™ Nu-Multi and XR pickups.

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Ascend VPU: Noise Reduction

A nice little secret with virtual pickups is that each virtual coil reduces random noise due to its inherent averaging effect. Comb filters have that very welcome effect! The more virtual coils you use, the better the noise reduction.

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Onset Detection

Onset detection is concerned with finding the start of a musical note immediately preceding the attack. Onset detection in conjunction with pitch detection are utilized

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Ascend VPU v1.0

I’m very glad to announce the availability of Ascend VPU for evaluation. Ascend VPU is an audio plugin that virtualizes the sonic characteristics of guitar

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Virtual Pickups Part 5

Recap Last week, I presented the 4th part of the Virtual Pickups series. The article continues the series with the introduction of the preprocessor and

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Thanksgiving 2020

Production time! We only do limited production runs based on demand. Having sold out on all Nu and Nexus items, it’s time for a new

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