Mac and Music News

Apple today announced that music fans have purchased and downloaded more than 200 million songs from the iTunes Music Store. The 200 millionth song was part of "The Complete U2" and was purchased by Ryan Alekman from Belchertown, MA ! "iTunes has now sold over 200 million songs, making it the world's number one online music store by far," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO.

The iTunes Music Store features a holiday genre page with thousands of holiday favorites, including classics such as Ella Fitzgerald's "Sleigh Ride" and contemporary favorites like Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas" and others..

Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH today announced the availability of the first update to its Cubase SX3 music production system. Cubase SX3 0.1 includes new features and a new RoomWorks reverb virtual effect processor.

Cubase SX3.0.1 is now available for download to all Cubase SX3 customers from the Steinberg website.

Absynth 3 by Native Instruments is in the starting blocks ! This software sampling instrument and synthesizer now features an optimized user-interface, surround sound, 256 new presets, a new stereo input, a unison mode, oscillator waveforms can be fractalized in real-time, a Free-Run oscillator mode, 2 new effects (Echo, Effect Resonator), and more...

Absynth 3.0 costs 289 € or $339,00.

Spectrasonics today has announced the release of an update to version 1.1 for Stylus RMX, its realtime groove-based virtual instrument plug-in. This release fixes effects bug (Flanger and EZ-Phaser), graphics problem with edit group add/remove button and problem with filter envelope release. The RTAS update also features : support for multiple outputs in Pro Tools version 6.7, support for automation of RMX parameters in Pro Tools, permits MIDI input when the editor window is closed, and fixes crashing problem with multiple instances.

Native Instruments announced that Battery 2 is updated to version 2.1. Battery 2 takes drum sampling to the next level with a powerful new sampling engine, enhanced sound shaping and modulation capabilities, sophisticated sample control and a revised user interface. The Battery 2.1 update features many additions and enhancements plus 13 new "All" kits, each of which is built from samples of a particular instrument type.

More info on Native instruments web site.

The ARP 2600 V by Arturia is an emulation of one of the last famous analog synthetiser: the ARP 2600 . This emulation of this semi-modular synth is now available as a standalone version and in AU, VST, RTAS and HTDM formats for Mac OSX.

Arturia ARP 2600 V costs $310 and a demo version is available.

Steinberg has announced the availability of its "pro" audio system Nuendo in version 3. Nuendo 3 is designed to serve the needs for everyone producing sound for film, television, video or game. The new version of Steinberg's media production system offers more features for post production than ever before and also sets new standards in surround production.

More info in the MM softwares section.

Apple has just posted an update to version 10.3.7 for Mac OS X Panther. This 10.3.7 Update delivers enhanced functionality and improved reliability for Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther" and is recommended for all users. This update features : improved AFP support for saving documents with long file names, improved OpenGL technology and updated ATI and NVIDIA graphics drivers, improved FireWire device compatibility, updated Preview application, improved compatibility for third party applications and previous standalone security updates.

Released in March for VST hosts, the Mayhem effects bundle is now available in RTAS format for Mac OS X. The Mayhem RTAS plug-in suite by Audiodamage is a collection of four different effects designed to provide new tools for aggressive contemporary musical styles. Included in this package are Filterpod (a low-pass filter with LFO), Crush (the World's Most Dangerous Compressor...), MasterDestrukto (a plug-in featuring four different distortion algorithms for massive audio manipulation), and TimeFnk (a rhythmic delay).

Mayhem RTAS bundle costs $119.00.

Digidesign announced an update to version 6.7cs4 for Pro Tools TDM and LE systems. This new release fixes: Attack and Release controls on Smack! plug-in would respond slowly when adjusted by control surfaces (TDL & LE versions), lunching a session with/or creating a session with over 16 mono bus or output paths may result in a crash (TDM version only).

TimeToyPro is a Mac OSX application for adding neat time-stretching effects to your audio files. It's fun and easy to use, and best of all really cheap, note that the basic version is absolutely free. In TimeToyPro you can draw a graph to plot out crazy time variations which are executed in real-time. Registered users can even drag the mouse across a sound's waveform to perform fixed-pitch audio scrubbing and freeze effects.

All info about this new version and download available in the MM softs section.

KarmaLab released an update to version 1.3 for both Karma MW and Karma Triton softwares. Karma Triton 1.3 now features full support for the Korg Triton Extreme and now works with all Korg Triton models (Classic 61, Pro 76, ProX 88, Studio 61/76/88, Extreme 61/76/88, LE 61/76/88, and Triton Rack).

Karma MW costs $149 and Karma Triton $199. Updates are free for registered users.

Musitek has updated SmartScore Pro to version 3.3.0 for both mac OS 9 and Mac OS X. This new release of this music scanning software features a new PDF printer driver, adds PDF file recognition, BMP files recognition, a new "Hand Tool" controls page movement with click and drag, new arpeggio properties, and much more !

Info and download in the MacMusic softwares section.

AudioEase updated again the AudioUnit version of Altiverb to version 4.2.1. This new update fixes : does not fail if an empty Impulse Responses folder is found, and fixes random audio spikes on insert.

Info & download on AudioEase web site.

SpinAudio has announced the release of RoomVerb for PowerCore. RoomVerb is an acoustic modeling reverb plug-in designed to simulate various acoustic spaces. New features are : separately controlled room dimensions can vary from 1 to 50 meters, plate reverb mode support, stereo width control for simulation of irregular room shapes, separate control of Early and Late reflections, new tone control system that includes separate 2-band parametric equalizers, two-band frequency-dependant decay filters and more...

RoomVerb AudioUnits costs 199 euros. More info on SpinAudio web site.

Crossfade Loop Synth by Expert sleepers is a sample playback synth Audio Units plug-in. This new version 2.0 features a new GUI, a new 'reverse' and 'alternate' loop modes, amplitude and filter envelopes now ADSR with adjustable shape, a new saturation section, an increased range of filter cutoff and the volume control now has a different response curve.

More info in the MacMusic softwares section.