Hughes & Kettner Announces Zentera Digital Modeling Amp
 March 3, 1999At the International MusikMesse in Frankfurt, Germany, Hughes & Kettner,
in collaboration with Spectral Design, introduced ZENTERA, the world's first
digital guitar amplifier to incorporate Dynamic Sector Modeling™ technology.
Unlike some digital amps, which are the result of modeling only the final stage
of sound generation, Dynamic Sector Modeling™ recreates the individual
sound-generating stages (or "sectors") and their reciprocal interaction
with one another. The result is a much more dynamically responsive amp.
Only
Now Possible
Modeling all aspects of a superb-sounding classic guitar amp requires massive
DSP horsepower, and the needed hardware was not even available until now. ZENTERA
uses the latest generation of advanced SHARC® floating-point DSPs, which
are extremely fast, but still not fast enough, so we gave the ZENTERA two! Only
this combination of new technology and hardware gives the player this extraordinary
new level of dynamic expressiveness and tonal versatility.
Tonal Palette
In the ZENTERA, the sonic identities of seven classic amps drawn from the history
of guitar amplification are stored as starting points, each of which can be
called up at the press of a button. All of the great clean, blues, and overdrive
sounds are available here; even the Volume and EQ controls respond as they do
on the originals.
At the final stage, a digital output controller matches the sonic character
of the original speakers and cabinet to the enclosure and speakers of this new
amplifier.
Features
The ZENTERA is a stereo guitar combo with two 100-watt current-feedback power
amps and two Celestion® Vintage 30 guitar loudspeakers. Controls in the
Preamp section include Amp Type selector, Gain, Bass, Mid and Treble. Controls
in the Master section include Presence, which exactly mimics the tone-shaping
effect of the control it models on each original, and Volume.
The Effects section offers high-end versions of Delay, Reverb, and Modulation
Effects. All three types of effect can be accessed and edited with their own
controls: Type, Parameter 1 and Parameter 2. A convenient Tap button makes it
easy to set the speed of delay times.
Availability: Summer, 1999.
Price: to be announced.
For more information, visit their web site at www.hughes-and-kettner.com. | 
