World's First Keyboard with VU Meters?

Summer NAMM-watcher Mark Vail just sent me a link to the gorgeous TonePort KB37 from guitar-processor manufacturer Line 6. In fact, it's a guitar processor with keys and a 24-bit USB audio interface.

In a world of square, gray MIDI controllers, this guy really stands out. And the audio I/O looks pretty flexible. You get two mic inputs with phantom power, a guitar input, stereo line inputs, a monitor input, balanced stereo outputs, S/PDIF digital output, and a headphone output with—hooray!—a dedicated volume knob. There are two footswitch jacks and a footpedal input as well, for sending MIDI commands to the computer.

Other thoughtful touches include the transport control buttons and octave-shift indicators. And bucking the trend of cramped two-octave keyboards is great news.

With synthesizer gurus like Marcus Ryle, Michel Doidic, and Rob Rampley at Line 6, it was only a matter of time before they put out a keyboard. I wonder if there's a way to make the effects DSP produce sound....