The TMS320VC5502 digital signal processor (DSP) from Texas Instruments (TI) was selected by KORG for RADIAS, the company's latest 24-voices synthesizer which offers a variety of synthesis algorithms together with multiple effects, new comb filter and wave shaping features, modulation sequencing, as well as new formant-motion vocoding. The two RADIAS models will be available starting in May.

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"While developing RADIAS, we put great emphasis on the concurrent execution of multiple sound sources during play, including analog modeling and various sound effects. TI's VC5502 DSP, whose core is optimized for sound processing, was the best choice because it is able to easily implement these complex functions," said Kenichi Nakamura, head of KORG's product development department. "The high quality of sound sources is a key differentiator of the RADIAS synthesizer, and TI's extensive support and rich development tools allowed our development team to quickly accumulate expert knowledge of target design so that we could seamlessly develop indispensable software for our customers."

TI's TMS320VC5502 16 bit, fixed-point digital signal processor is based on the TMS320C55x DSP core, the latest generation of TI's TMS320C5000 DSP platform. The DSP features increased parallelism, a variable byte width instruction set for improved code density, and a set of multiple peripherals. KORG's RADIAS products incorporate TI's VC5502 DSP which enables RADIAS to offer features such as a 16-band vocoder, an oscillator and multi-mode filtering (low pass, high pass and band bass.) KORG leveraged more than 40 years of expertise to build the state-of-the art RADIAS synthesizer. Enhanced with KORG's cutting-edge MMT (Multi Modeling Technology) synthesis engine, RADIAS integrates a synthesizer, effecter and vocoder into one chassis of innovative design covered by a highly-rigid aluminum frame. RADIAS was exhibited at NAMM SHOW 2006, in Anaheim, California gaining notable attention of the visitors, which ranged from amateur musicians to professional music producers.