beat extractor???

[supernova777]

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb98/articles/redbeat.html
anyone heard of this? i just found one for sale
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Redsound-Voyager-1-Beat-Extractor-Chrome-Edition-/201127660352?pt=US_Other_Pro_Audio&hash=item2ed4248b40


wtf does it do?
 

a product which claims to be able to accurately analyse and calculate the tempo of any audio input from a turntable, CD or tape source

so.. u im wondering if u are to use this thing to output a midi timing... to lock your other software to? mtc sync? i still dont understand its actual application.. or purpose

CHROME SWEET CHROME

Despite its relatively small size (180 x 132mm) the Voyager 1 is a visually striking piece of kit. The review model is part of the limited edition Cool Chrome range, and in a world of black lettering on a dark grey background, it's refreshing to see a device that, instead of lurking innocuously in a corner of the studio, looks great and has genuine feel appeal. The unit is powered by a familiar 9V DC external power supply (supplied) and its rear panel features an on/off switch, a single MIDI Out socket and two sets of input and output phono sockets for connecting up to two different stereo audio sources. These are switchable between CD/line and Phono inputs, and the output sockets allow your audio signals to go through the unit and onto your mixing desk.

Moving onto the front panel, there are two smallish LED displays on either side of the unit, and these provide (in a somewhat limited way) information that has been calculated about the tempo of the incoming signal on each of the input channels. I say "limited" because although the manual claims that the unit can track tempos to a resolution of 0.01 of a bpm, the 3-character displays only show you the calculated tempo to the nearest beat per minute. In their own way, though, and despite their meagre size, the screens manage to squeeze a fair bit of data in. Three flashing decimal dots, for instance, mean that the Voyager 1 is having trouble picking out a discernible beat and has entered what it calls free-wheeling mode. In this state it keeps spitting out MIDI clock messages at the most recent tempo while it searches for more up-to-date beat information -- useful if there's a 2-bar pause or instrumental break in a track.