TC Electronic

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TC Electronic is a Danish audio equipment manufacturer which produces guitar effects, bass amplification, computer audio interfaces, audio plug-in software, live sound equalisers, studio and post production equipment, studio effect processors and broadcast loudness processors and meters.

Company history

TC Electronic was founded by two musician brothers, Kim and John Rishøj. Their SCF, "Stereo Chorus + Pitch Modulator & Flanger", became a classic for its quality and technical advancement.[1] After the initial success of their guitar effect pedals development was started on 19" rack mounted processors including the TC2290 delay. Released in 1985, it was far ahead of the competition in sound quality, delay time (up to 32 sec) and modulation features and thus remained a studio, live sound and pro guitarist workhorse standard for decades.

TC Electronic formed the current TC Group in 2002 after acquiring TGI plc. TGI consisted of Tannoy, GLL Goodman, Lab.Gruppen and Martin Audio. Martin Audio was sold quickly after the merger and Goodman Loudspeakers was closed. TC Works based in Germany (software development) used to be part of the TC Group but was reintegrated with TC Electronic in 2005.

The current TC Group is a holding company of five individual brand companies consisting of Tannoy, (speakers and studio monitors), Lab.Gruppen (amplifiers), TC Electronic, TC-Helicon (harmonisers and vocal processors) and TC|Applied Technologies (digital-audio semiconductor development) and the sales-companies TC Group|International, TC Group|Americas, TC Group|Japan, TC Group|China, and TC Group|Middle East.

TC Electronic also co-develop products with Dynaudio Acoustics (studio monitors) and their European sales arm TC Group|International distributes Blue Microphones outside of the US.

Products

System 6000

System 6000 is an audio mastering system built around the Mainframe 6000, which houses the DSP chips, that perform the processing, and also houses audio inputs and outputs. The Mainframe 6000 is connected via Ethernet to either the Remote CPU 6000 and the TC ICON hardware controller or to a computer running TC ICON emulation software.

The System 6000 comes in two versions: Reverb 6000 and Mastering 6000. The difference between them lies in the included processing algorithms:

Reverb 6000 comes with reverb and delay effects for stereo and multi-channel purposes, while Mastering 6000 comes with algorithms suited for stereo and multi-channel audio mastering purposes, and includes pitch-shifting tools. Several other optional algorithms are not included with any of the two variants and need to be acquired separately. The System 6000 series was upgraded to MK2 in 2010.

Finalizer

The Finalizer is an audio mastering tool, which comes in two versions: Finalizer 96K and Finalizer Express. Both of the Finalizers have a compressor, limiter, equaliser and a "Gain Maximiser". The Finalizer Express is a less-functional version of the Finalizer 96K, and it is unable to perform 96 kHz processing.

Guitar products

Since the company started out manufacturing guitar effects the current line TC Electronic manufactures are considered an important aspect of the company's business. There are several categories of product:

  • Nova - Includes a line of pedals (Delay, Reverb, Modulator, Drive) and the Nova System Multi Effects processor.
  • G-Series - Includes the top of the range G System (floor processor and switching unit), the dedicated acoustic processor G Natural and rack processors G Major 2 and G-Force.
  • Tuners - PolyTune (introduced 2010) is the world's first polyphonic guitar tuner.
  • Compact Pedals - Includes the original SCF (Stereo Chorus Flanger), VPD1, MojoMojo Overdrive and Dark Matter Distortion.
  • TonePrint Pedals - Released at the NAMM'10 show these digital pedals have the ability to have TonePrints (custom tunings by famous guitar players) downloaded free from the TC website added and uploaded to the pedal via a mini USB socket.

Bass amplification products

In 2009 TC Electronic released a class D bass amplifier, RH450 (originally called RebelHead 450, but this name was cancelled later) along with the complementary RC 4 foot switch. In addition to this, TC Electronic developed a range of speaker cabinets for RH450 and other bass amplifiers: RS112(1x12" speakers) RS210(2x10" speakers), RS212(2 x 12" speakers) and RS410(4 x 10" speakers).

Also, shortly after the presentation of the RH450 at NAMM'09, TC Electronic engaged a special Test Pilot program,[2] selecting 24 bass-guitarists worldwide to test the amplifier on their concerts and rehearsals to then share their opinion with the world bass community.

PowerCore

PowerCore is a series of computer hardware and software, somewhat similar in concept to the DSP card in Digidesign's Pro Tools. At the base is a PowerCore unit, which allows the PowerCore VST or AU plug-ins to run and performs all the processing. The TC PowerCore line was discontinued in early 2011.[3]

Studio equipment

Studio equipment manufactured by TC Electronic includes equalizers, microphone preamplifiers, compressors, level maximizers and multi-effect units (such as FireworX).

FireworX

FireworX is a "multi-effects processor". Producers and DJs, such as Sasha, use or used Fireworx in conjunction with CD players for live performances. Fireworx won best Hardware Signal Processing Technology at the 1998 TEC Awards.

The unit itself incorporates effects such as distortion, compression, noise and curve generators, ring modulation, vocoding, parametric equalizers, tremolo, reverb and delay. The effects can be routed in a large variety of ways, and it is possible to modify different parameters.

PA, installation and broadcasting products

TC Electronic also produces equalizers for live use, gain maximizers, loudness controllers, and several products that reduce loudness variations during broadcasting. TC Electronic also has been a partner in developing loudness standardisation work with international standards bodies such as the ITU, ATSC and EBU.

Software

TC Electronic develops a range of plug-ins for its PowerCore system. They are all in the VST or AU formats, but cannot run without the PowerCore hardware. Some of these plug-ins are included with all of the PowerCore systems, except PowerCore Unplugged.

The plugins include equalizers, noise removal plugins, reverbs, analog filter banks emulators, compressors and psychoacoustic effects.

TC Electronic also manufactures plug-ins for the HD version of Digidesign's Pro Tools and Soundscape software. These plug-ins are also available in a PowerCore version (some of them are ported from the System 6000). They include vocal harmonisers, mastering plugins, reverbs and compressors.

Spark audio editor

Main article: TC Works Spark

TC Electronic also developed a two-track digital audio editor, which featured mastering tools and different effects.

Reviews

References

  1. ↑ Hunter, Dave (2004). Guitar Effects Pedals: The Practical Handbook. Hal Leonard. p. 125. ISBN 9780879308063. Retrieved 23 January 2013. 
  2. ↑ http://www.tcelectronic.com/testpilot.asp - Test Pilot section on TC Electronics's official web site
  3. ↑ Kirin, Peter. "TC PowrCore DSP Range is Dead, long live PowerCore; UAD-2 Crossgrade Offer". Create Digital Music. Retrieved 22 May 2012. 

External links

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