Mac and Music News

Digidesign has announced that its SampleCell-to-SampleTank 2 XL crossgrade program is extended to March 31, 2004. This promotion applies to owners of all versions of SampleCell: SampleCell I, Nubus SampleCell II, SampleCell II PC, SampleCell II PCI, SampleCell II Plus, and Soft SampleCell. The offer allows SampleCell users to move up to IK Multimedia's full-featured SampleTank 2 XL at a discounted price of EUR349. Ed: Also good for North American customers. Brings back some SampleCell memories, huh? (Sniff.) -PK

BuzZer, one of our favorite freeware synths, has just been updated. This simple synth emulates an analog VCO VCF VCA Synthesizer. New in this version: added linear to cubic curve control switch, added 2nd filter control panel, added a global octave switch, improved cpu performance. Make some noiZe. (Warning: not preset compatibile with previous releases, if you have some saved presets.)

OUTI, a realtime tool for live loops reording and manipulation, is now available in version 1.31. The new version fixes bugs and introduces a manual sync option. It also includes a manual in English. OUTI is a freeware so help yourselves.

Ed: Makes me want to switch my TiBook 400 to OS 9 to run this and Cosmo live, side by side with my 17" PB on OS X. -PK

WormHole 1.1 by Apulsoft is an Audio Unit that can transmit audio via TCP/IP between applications or to send audio between multiple computers. The new version 1.1 is AudioUnit and VST Mac OS X compatible and works with Ethernet, Firewire or Airport / Wi-Fi. A demo version of WormHole 1.1 is available on dowload and the full version costs 25 euros.

Ed: We'll give this a test. Granted Software's iMIDI had a similar mission but hasn't so far gotten beyond prerelease testing stages, because of the difficulty of developing this sort of software. Let's see how both work. -PK

Akai has (finally) announced the OS X version of ak.sys. ak.Sys for OSX allows you to completely control your Akai Z4/8 or MPC4000 from any OS X Mac computer via USB. Even the S5/6000 are supported in this new release. More informations and screenshots on the Akai website.

Ed: What's in the water this week? It's like all our OS X wishes are suddenly coming true -- perhaps because Panther convinced developers to push their efforts? Enjoy! -PK

Athena CL is interactive command-line environment for music analysis and algorithmic composition in Csound. Athena is modular and object-oriented. Scores are created in Csound as well as standard MIDI files. This software goes to version 1.2.0 for Mac OS X and is available for free download.

M-Audio has announced new Mac OS X drivers for its USB audio interfaces are now available: the USB Omnistudio, Mobile Pre USB, and USB Duo drivers. Drivers are available for download from the support section of the M-Audio web site. Ed: users of these interfaces will be much relieved. I continue to have good luck with my M-Audio 410; these guys have some great, inexpensive audio interfaces out there. -PK

Metric Halo has announced that ChannelStrip TDM 2.0 for OS X is now available. This upgrade allows you to run ChannelStrip with Pro Tools 6 on OS X, and is fully compatible with your existing Pro Tools sessions. The Upgrade includes TDM, RTAS and RTAS/AS versions of the plugin. The upgrade is available from Metric Halo and costs EUR149.

Ed: The arrival of this plugin is a really big deal. If you're a TDM user and aren't already familiar with ChannelStrip, you'll want to check it out immediately: an essential DSP tool. But most likely if you are on TDM you've been waiting for this announcement with bated breath anyway. -PK

SRS Labs has announced the availability of the SRS Circle Surround VST 6.1. This utility allows VST users to decode/encode up to 6.1 channels of surround sound into stereo delivery formats, for transmission or storage media.

A 7-day demo is available for download; EUR500 for the full version.

Owners of the Novation's master keyboard Remote 25 can at last use their favorite keyboard with their favorite OS: you can now download Mac OS X drivers for the Remote 25 and Remote Audio on the ArbiterFrance website.

Digidesign has announced Pro Tools 6.2.3 TDM, a long-awaited update adding compatibility with the G5, G4 and PowerBook G4 under Mac OS X 10.3.2 (Panther) with Pro Tools|HD and HD Accel sytems. This version greatly improves the handling of FirWwire drives, the performance of AVoption|XL, and finally supports the QuickSilver Mac G4 733mHz and above.

Free for registered users; an LE version of PT 6.2.3 is scheduled for a February 17th release.