Mac and Music News

Whoa: 16-in, 12-out, 24-bit 96KHz audio plus MIDI over FireWire for PC and Mac, US$599? At least on paper, Hercules' new interface, due to ship in December, is impressive to say the least. The new interface also features 2 mic/instrument pre-amps, no latency monitoring, and OS X drivers, plus bundled copies of special editions of Storm and Live. If the hardware name is familiar, Hercules is best known as the major "high-resolution" graphics board for the PC in 1982 -- anyone remember selecting Hercules drivers on your IBM XT? This is the company's first entry into the Mac audio market; it'll be interesting to see what the reception is to the new interface. At that price, people are likely to at least look -- and from the screenshot, the interface looks quite portable, too!

USB Virtual Instruments' Plugsound plug-ins, including Plugsound Free, are now in beta on OS X at version 1.87, the first OS X release of this previously OS 9 and Windows-only sample playback synth. MAS, VST, RTAS, and AU are supported on OS X. The software is a Keyboard Key Buy recipient so quite welcome on OS X (and the only software I've seen to advertise the Keyboard award in the interface!).

IK Multimedia says it has started shipping pre-orders for SampleTank 2 this week, its highly anticipated sample playback workstation for RTAS, VST (OS 9, X), MAS (OS 9) and AU (OS X) as well as Windows RTAS, VST, DXi. Upgrades are available for SampleTank 1 users starting at USD/EUR 249. With 8 CDs, SampleTank is shipping with some 4.5GB of samples and the technology was even featured in the Matrix Videogame score by Chris Vrenna. Now the wait for version 2 is finally over, it appears.

The latest update to Emagic Logic features Digidesign HD Accel compatibility on OS X, smart snap option, a fix to hanging MIDI notes and TDM errors, and a demo of Space Designer.

The good folks at EM411 have run across a Java applet for mobile phones that lets different users "jam" and create their own tunes with other users on the mobile network. Daisyphone is designed for creating looping music with samples of instruments with modifiable pitches, all represented by a literal daisy with flower petals. The creators were impressed by non-musicians' instant ability to create experimentally. Check out the discussion on EM411 for more interesting issues this raises -- and if you're handy in Java, perhaps create your own "pro" app. I have learned from a contact at Steinberg that the German development team has ported a specific version of Cubase to limited Siemens mobile phones, so music is likely to make more of a splash on your mobile in the near future. Have you found a way to turn your phone into an instrument for sampling, jamming, or collaboration? Hit the comment link and let us know.

Extreme Tech has an extensive article on a prototype technology called RangeScan from circuitry manufacturer Infinite Range, which could be implemented in numerous consumer devices once licensed. XtremeMac, the author writes, is already planning on releasing an iPod enhancement that will stream the iPod's audio (or anything else with a minijack out) to portable speakers, headphones, a home stereo, or car speakers. The best news: it works. It's not hard to imagine even pro laptop musicians finding a way to employ this in performance -- which could justify the anticipated $180 cost for use with our iPods.

"Apple has identified an issue with external FireWire hard drives using the Oxford 922 bridge chip-set with firmware version 1.02 that can result in the loss of data stored on the disk drive," the company tells MacCentral. FireWire 800 drives affected by the problem appear as unrecognized volumes, and, in a nasty twist, cease to work with other versions of OS X, as well, following the issue. Apple is suggesting not using the drives, and ejecting them immediately if users encounter the problem.

Native Instruments has put together another comprehensive software solution. Nine software synthesizers, samplers and effects are united in this "komplete" bundle. This package includes the full versions of REAKTOR SESSION, KONTAKT, BATTERY, ABSYNTH 2, VOKATOR, NI-SPEKTRAL DELAY, FM7, and B4.

Working on Mac OS 9.2 or 10.2.6, G4 733 MHz, 256 MB RAM, "Komplete" is available on Native Web Shop or dealers for a suggested retail price of US$1499.

This release includes the excellent Crossfade Loop Synth AU from Expert Sleepers. Two more excellent AU plugins, a Ping Pong Delay, and a Phaser, can be downloaded directly from the expert sleepers website. And, of course, version 1.2.3 includes the usual sorts of minor fixes and updates, see the readme file for details

3.2.3 drivers for Panther (OS 10.3) compatibility are now available for Tascam's US-series of audio/MIDI interfaces (US-122, US-224 and US-428). According to a text note posted on each of the downloads pages, there is apparently a problem with Digital Performer where the MIDI outputs don't work correctly under Panther. This problem is DP-specific and was not found with Cubase SX or Logic...

The drivers can be found by following the link below, visiting the homepage of the specific interface and then going to the "Downloads & Documentation" page.

Users of the M-Audio MobilePre USB audio interface have discovered that the unit is not recognized under Mac OS 10.3 (Panther). M-Audio have not offered updated drivers, and in fact, they have not even mentioned Panther at all on their site. Hopefully a solution will appear soon.

Ed: I haven't yet verified this information, so I'm posting it to find out what users' experience is. What has your experience been with M-Audio USB and FireWire devices? Hit the comment button and let us know. Now that I don't have any gigs to worry about for a few days, I'm going to brave the waters and try installing Panther myself and report on what hardware and software I can break! -PK

Edirol Corporation released new Panther-ready drivers for all current OS X compatible products. Edirol released Panther support for 26 products including a number of earlier devices no longer in production, such as the PC-300 USB MIDI Keyboard controller & the UM-4 (aka S/MPU-64) USB MIDI interface. Updates are available on download, and the complete list of these new drivers is posted on

The Dave Smith Evolver just reached V 2.0 of its software, adding a 4th bank (512 programs in all now), new modulations, synchronous program changing with the sequencer running, tap tempo, longer envelopes, new glide and new trigger modes, new clock mode for the sequencer, and much much more… and an easter egg (bank 4, patch 16)