Mac and Music News

Antares annouced that version 4 of its Autotune plugin is now available on TDM, RTAS, VST and MAS platforms for OS 9 & X. The Full TDM version costs $750 and the VST/MAS/RTAS versions cost $500.

More technical details are available on the Antares web site.

ReVibe is a powerful room-modeling TDM plug-in exclusively designed to take advantage of the supercharged processing capabilities of HD Accel PCI cards. The 96 kHz-optimized ReVibe provides nine reverb algorithms combined with hundreds of room reflection models. With its intuitive user interface and detailed controls, ReVibe handles nearly any reverberation task with ease.

ReVibe supports up to 5.x Pro Tools multi-channel formats, and includes independent reverb, early reflections, and level controls for the rear channels. Rear-channel reverb controls may also be used in mono or stereo instances, providing more presence and density to the reverb character.

Revibe works only on HD Accel systems and is not compatible with previous TDM system. Approximative price : $995

Just a few weeks after Pro Tools 6.4 LE, it's time for Pro Tools 6.4 TDM. This update is targeted at ownes of HD 1, HD 2, HD 3, HD 2 Accel, and HD 3 Accel hardware, on Power Mac G4 and G5, under Mac OS 10.3 Panther (officially only 10.3.2 is supported; 10.3.3 has not been fully tested).

This version features:
- support for ICON
- Command|8 and AVoption|V10
- automatic delay compensation
- TrackPunch and TrackInput functions,
- +12 dB gain on RecordLock faders
- Hierarchical plug-in menu
- numberings of tracks
- New Clip Meter Features
- 23.976 fps support
- improvement in the feet + frames display
- option of stopping Recording Monitoring on stop.

The update is listed at US$150 for registered Pro Tools|HD owners; the LE update is free for users of 6.x.

Audio Ease has released Altiverb 4.0, a major update to their convolution reverb plug-in. Altiverb Version 4 provides tail lengths of 15 seconds and more, multi-channel surround processing, ultra-low latency, and most importantly, a 3x increase in G5 processor efficiency, and a nearly 2X increase in G4 processor eficiency. In a 48 kHz session on a single processor G5, you can run 8 full stereo Altiverbs with 6-second reverb tails.

IR SRL has announced the release of DSP Quattro version 1.5.1. This audio editor offers effects, reverbs, delays, filters, parametric and graphic EQs but also real-time pitch shifting and time stretching features. The Mac OS X version allow CD burning and conforms to the Redbook standards.

This version 1.5.1 comes as a free update for registered users; the full version of DSP Quattro is available for sale at 99 Euros.

Ed: As I said, I'm a few days behind on some of the news, like this one, but DSP Quattro is a unique enough program that it deserves extra menu. -PK

'Andy's OSX Music Software' has released an enhanced version of GRBand Assistant. It now includes the GB DrumLoops package. GRBand Assistant is a collection of software utilities designed to enhance the functionality of Apple's GarageBand product. There are three software titles in this suite:

Filipe Barroso has released MacTermen version 1.5 for Mac OS X. This monophonic sound generator allows the user to control the sound's color and tone by simply moving the mouse. Version 1.5 adds MIDI handling, for control of the main parameters (stereo image, vibrato speed, etc.) by the Mac's keyboard or an external MIDI keyboard.

MacTermen 1.5 is US$10 shareware; a fully-functional demo version is available for download.

The latest from Europe: while Apple is still negotiating licensing to open their iTunes Music Store for Europe, Virgin yesterday launched their Windows-only "Virgin Music Online Store." 300,000 songs would be available at 0,99 or 1,1 Euros/song. The site requires Windows and Microsoft's WMA format, so means little for us Mac users, but it's a blow for Apple as Cupertino tries to fight the onslaught of inferior stores running proprietary Microsoft audio technology. We'll keep you posted regarding a Windows-compatible store.

Clouvel and pesji contributed to this report from MacMusic's ubiquitous Paris Bureau. -PK

The Vanguard ReFX plugin (previously VST-only) is a synth featuring 13 filters including dual mode filters, delay and reverb settings, an arpeggiator and a trancegate to build rythmic loops (16-position), plus 3 LFOs and 2 ADSR envelopes. ReFX is now available in AudioUnit format (a free update for registered users). By the end of this year the entire Vanguard line should be available as AU.

Ed: ReFX is a very cool plugin in terms of the whopping amount of stuff they've built into a compact little package.

Word of warning: I've run a bit behind editing news translated from the French side so we're not quite as close to "breaking news" as possible - my apologies. Stay tuned for more news from the densely-packed beginning of May! -PK

MOTU has released updates for MOTU Audio System (MAS) and MAS AudioUnit (AU) support for Digital Performer 4.12, its flagship Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) software. This downloadable upgrade improve MAS and AU support, disk I/O performance on single- and dual-processor G5 Power Macs, compatibility with the Tascam 1884 Firewire audio interface in 18-channel mode, and compatibility with Native Instruments Reaktor (version 4.1 and higher).

This upgrade requires an authorized and installed copy of DP 4.12 on your Mac.

Ed: Just to clarify, DP 4.12, some will remember, was released in January. This installer updates the audio system support in DP. If you haven't upgraded to 4.12, you need to do that first. We've included a direct download link below. -PK