Mac and Music News

Digidesign announces Pro Tools 7 software (shipping soon). The new software will be available for Pro Tools|HD, Pro Tools LE , and Pro Tools M-Powered systems. Pro Tools 7 software is also a cross-platform release, supporting Mac OS10.4 ("Tiger"). New Pro Tools features new music creation tools such as Instrument Tracks for simple and straightforward integration of virtual instruments, non-destructive real-time MIDI processing, and the ability to work with industry-standard REX and ACID files. It also includes new optimizations for our host processing engine that boosts RTAS plug-in counts by as much as 150% on multi-processor computers.

Anyone who purchased a new Pro Tools|HD, Pro Tools LE, or an upgrade to Pro Tools TDM 6.9.x or Pro Tools LE 6.9x software on or after September 1, 2005, is automatically eligible for a free upgrade to the corresponding version of Pro Tools 7 software.

PreSonus debuts now the new INSPIRE 1394 software controlled FireWire Recording Interface. The INSPIRE 1394 features four analog inputs and two analog outputs at 24-bit/96KHz A/D/A conversion rate. Inputs on the INSPIRE 1394 include two custom-designed PreSonus microphone preamplifiers with +48V phantom power and two instrument Hi-Z inputs on the front panel. Dual mono or stereo selectable line level or phono (with RIAA filter) inputs are also available on the rear panel. Outputs on the INSPIRE 1394 include RCA unbalanced and mini TRS on the rear panel as well as headphone output on the front panel. Four INSPIRE 1394's can be connected together. The interface comes with an easy-to-use software mixer control panel, Mac compatible.

Apogee Electronics announces its 20th anniversary :"For Two Decades, Apogee has been the professional's choice in digital audio hardware, by offering innovative technology and sonically high products year after year. From the original analog filters back in 1985 to the AD-8000 in 1997 and now the AD-16X and DA-16X, Apogee has led the way in making digital audio Sound Amazing".

To celebrate this 20th anniversary, Apogee wants to give one lucky person a Rosetta 200 and a Mini-MP..follow the link !

A free stuff makes always happy. Thanks to Solid State Logic for offering a free version of a VST - Audio Unis clone of their famous LMC-1 listen-mic compressor. This download is available after registration on the Solid State Logic web site.

Blue Microphones is now shipping the Snowball USB Microphone, designed for desktop recording applications such as podcasting. The new Snowball USB features : USB connectivity, dual capsule design with 3 position switch (cardioid, cardioid pad, omni), capable of handling a wide variety of instruments and vocals, rugged ABS construction.

The Snowball retails for $155.

At the AES SoundToys (formerly Wave Mechanics) is announcing the new SoundToys TDM Effects Bundle for ProTools TDM on Mac OSX. The new comprehensive effects bundle includes nine effects plug-ins for professional audio, sound design, post production, and audio for gaming : EchoBoy, SoundBlender, FilterFreak, PhaseMistress, PurePitch, PitchDoctor, Tremolator, SPEED and Crystallizer.

SoundToys TDM Effects Bundle will be available in early Q4 2005 for $1,195.00.

Cakewalk has announced Dimension Pro, a new Mac virtual a synthesizer that combines real instruments with advanced synthesis. It offers an abundance of sounds that range from pristine realistic acoustic instruments, thumping basses, cutting leads, to complex, evolving atmospheres, along with sound-sculpting engine with analog sound generation.

It will be available in VST, DX and AU plug-in formats from early November 2005 at $359.

Cycling '74 announced the development of UpMix, a surround processing and mixing software package. UpMix has been developed and tested by a team of surround sound professionals and utilizes proprietary algorithms to convert stereo audio into an immersive 6-channel mix suitable for Film, DVD, HD Broadcast and Music surround formats.

UpMix will be available in first quarter 2006.

At AES, Mackie has introduced the new Onyx 1200F, a 30-by-34 channel, 24-bit/192kHz-capable FireWire audio/MIDI interface that features 12 of Mackie Onyx preamps, on-board DSP matrix mixing, an advanced monitoring/headphone control section with four user-assignable headphone outputs, two stereo control room outputs, built-in talkback mic input, and remote switching capability. The rear panel will include 12 combo mic/line inputs, balanced TRS sends and returns for the first two mic inputs, eight balanced line outputs, dual stereo control room outputs, Word Clock I/O, 2 x 2 MIDI I/O, dual ADAT I/O, SPDIF I/O, AES/EBU I/O, and two FireWire ports.

The Onyx 1200F will be available in 2006 at $1,999.00.

At last ! Cycling'74 announced that Hipno plugin suite is now available in VST, Audio Units and RTAS versions at $199,00. Designed by ElectroTap, this package features a mix of granular, spectral, and filter/delay-based plug-ins featuring the unique Hipnoscope user interface. Also included in the package is an amazing set of processors that utilize live video input as a control source, and a new set of modulator plug-ins sure to captivate both the novice and long-time users of Cycling '74's Pluggo and Mode plug-in collections. Some highlights of the Hipno collection include:

- Morphulescence:  a cascaded bank of LFO-modulated morphing filters ready for eruption.
- Vsynth:  a plug-in that uses a live video feed as the spectral source for synth inspirations.
- Deluge:  a quartet of granular processing engines wrapped into one glittering package.
- Shypht:  a pitch-shifting effects system enlivened by pitch quantization, filtering, and feedback looping.
- VcolorTrack and Modulator Vmotion:  a pair of modulator plug-ins to morph and control Hipno, Mode, or Pluggo plug-ins using video color or motion tracking.

Cycling '74, today announced that Octirama, a Surround Dynamics Processor for Digidesign ProTools TDM Systems will be available November 1st at $495. Octirama is a multi-band dynamics processor for 5.1 surround mastering for the Digidesign TDM environment. Octirama incorporates four and five band processing for each of five channels plus advanced bass management.

Steinberg today unveild the latest update- version 3.2 - to its Nuendo software. Nuendo 3.2 features a full Control Room section that provides up to four separate Studio outputs, extra Mix, Headphone and Control Room busses as well as configurable Input Returns and user definable Monitor Setups.

Nuendo 3.2 will be available as an update for registered Nuendo 3 customers from the end of 2005.

TC Electronic today announced a new version of a PCI card for the PowerCore platform. PowerCore Unplugged is the same piece of hardware as PowerCore PCI mkII but without the included plug-ins. This allows the user to compile an entirely individual package of optional high-end plug-ins for any mixing, mastering or production situation. PowerCore Unplugged is also the ideal solution for users, who need further processing power for their existing setup in order to run even more plug-ins simultaneously.

PowerCore Unplugged will ship in October, 2005 at 570 euros (excl.VAT).

URS announced the release of its new Classic Console Compressor Bundle. This pack offers software recreations of the the buss compressor/limiter of two famous british mixing consoles and includes the 1970 Compressor and the 1980 Compressor with two versions each. URS Classic Console Compressor Bundle is available as Native-RTAS-Audiosuite (Mac OS X & Mac OS 9) versions and costs $450. Audio Units and VST versions will be released soon.

Current owners of Everything Bundle 4.0 can purchase URS Classic Console Compressor Bundle for $699.99 (TDM) and $349.99 (Native), until October 31, 2005.

Synthogy announced that the new version 1.5 of virtual piano plug-in Ivory will be available at the end of october. This upcoming release will feature a new and revised library with arround 40 Gb of samples, with proprietary noise reduction for even greater fidelity.

Here's a good news about the new Digidesign MBox USB 2 : the Mbox 2 is a native Core Audio device, so it does not need the Core Audio Manager Application. So you can run Pro Tools LE and other CoreAudio applications simultaneously. The Mbox 2 will always work this way.

But please remember that the Original Mbox, Digi 002, and HD will never work this way and will always require the CoreAudio Manager...

Because AES will open today, IK Multimedia launches a new "super modeling" ad campain about AmpliTube 2. This release adds a completely redesigned interface and enhanced DSP engine, 5 separate modules, the ability to build your own custom Amp with more than 20,000 possible amp combinations, 21 stomp effects, 11 rack effects, 2 simultaneous guitar-rigs, more flexible routing, and advanced preset management.

It's also a pleasure to introduce you Natasha, the nice looking guitar girl on the official AmpliTube ad.

Apple sent Tuesday to media and industry members an invitation to a special event, which will take place at the California Theatre in San Jose on October 12 at 09:00 AM. The invitation simply reads: "One more thing...", a phrase used by iPod maker Steve Jobs to indicate a surprise product at keynote presentations. According to several sources, Apple may be preparing to introduce a new version - again - of its iPod with video capabilities, or/and more probably new PowerBook or PowerMac G5 systems.

M-Audio announces for the end of October the new Project Mix I/O, a FireWire audio interface and motorized mixing surface. This new product with a "Digi 002 face" will feature 8 powered micro/line inputs (1/4, XLR, peak led), 8 ADAT inputs and outputs, one S/PDIF in/out, one high level instrument input, 4 outputs (1/4), MIDI In/Out, 2 headphones outputs with level control, Word Clock In/Out, 8 motorized faders, 8 assignable encoders, 1 master fader, a Jog Wheel, LED screen, locators, support for Mackie Control-Logic Control-HUI protocols.

The M-Audio Project Mix I/O will be available at the end of October for 1199 euros.

Classik Studio Reverb is an upcoming suite of 4 hi-quality reverbs by IK Multimedia. CSR will offer a suite of 4 high quality reverbs, HALL, ROOM, AMBIENCE and INVERSE that are modeled after popular classic reverbs found in sought-after outboard gear.

All details on IK Multimedia web site.

IK Multimedia announces that SampleTank 2.1 will start shipping by the end of October 2005. New sound set will now come on 2 DVDs with expanded 6.5GB sound library in every instruments' category. SampleTank 2.1 offers more than 2,000 patches.

IK Multimedia unveils details of its first hardware product: AmpliTube StompIO, a new kind of USB foot controller designed to be fully integrated with the soon to be released version of AmpliTube 2, guitar and FX modeling plug-in. The combination of AmpliTube 2 software and the AmpliTube StompIO USB hardware controller represents a huge step forward in guitar amp modeling processors

Spectrasonics announces that its Stylus RMX has been updated to version 1.5. This new release adds 750 new patches and several new features including an "Help System" with a new Reference Guide, a Chaos Designer stutter-remix tool called "Buzz," browsing via genres/categories, a new version of the SAGE Converter with drag and drop batch conversion of REX file libraries and conversion support for additional Groove Control libraries, new MIDI Learn and hardware control capabilities.

This update is free for registered users, and a DVD update is also available for $15.

The Logic Pro 7.1.1 Update addresses isolated reliability issues. It also improves compatibility with Mac OS X version 10.4 (Tiger). The most significant areas addressed are:
- MP3 and AAC import in Mac OS X Tiger
- Use of Scandinavian keyboard layout in Mac OS X Tiger
- Delay compensation of QuickTime movies
- OMF, AAF and XML compatibility
- DAE/TDM: Bounces with the Wave recording file type
- AudioSuite plug-in compatibility
- Automation of Ultrabeat parameters, Sculpture parameters and two state buttons

FabFilter has updated its polyphonic-monophonic synthesizer One to version 3.0.3 VST and Audio Units, in order to fix a display problem in Logic (AU version only) and to improve graphics performance with some VST hosts. FabFilter Volcano is growing to version 1.12 VST-AU. This updated version fixes a small AU validation problem in Logic, and also improves graphics performance in some VST hosts.