Mac and Music News

It's been in the air for a while. Rumors have thrived but the real thing is here at last. The very latest, greatest version of Macmusic has just unfolded before your eyes! Its new features, super fluid navigation, its new forums and its brand new engine will give you a close-to-perfect web experience. After many months of hard work it's everything but premature. Nevertheless, it may exhibit some quirks and strange behaviour in the next few weeks of your navigation through the new features....

Welcome everyone to this new version of MacMusic, presented to you with great pride and joy by the whole team.

WWaym announces the release of the Mac OS X version of NWBass v1.1. This classic mono bassline synth features : analogue modelled high quality oscillators with 2 waveforms (saw and square), unique filtersound with 3 selectable characteristics, filter envelope, velocity sensitive accent, note slide and full MIDI controll with MIDI learn function.

This free NWBass v1.1 update features : 'click' bug on noteoff events fixed and uninstaller registry cleanup bug fix.

Universal Audio today announced the imminent web launch of v4.3 software for the UAD-1 DSP Card & Powered Plug-Ins systems. Version 4.3 will ship immediately following AES and include a 14-day fully functional demo of the Neve 1073 and 1073SE.

Full authorizations of the Neve plug-ins will be available to registered UAD-1 customers for US$249 (includes both plugs).

Eliosound has released a pre-release demo version of their first product, the upcoming AirEQ plug-in. This is a new musical equalizer created to meet every single expectation of musicians, mixing engineers and producers. It's been conceived to be the high quality equalizer you need in most situations. Mixing, mastering, tracking, whatever your sampling frequency is, AirEQ always brings you the same quality of equalization in the whole audio range. And you can use it on every track, without overloading your CPU.

The full version will be soon available in VST, Audio Units and RTAS formats., for $269 or 219€. A Syncrosoft dongle is required to try the AirEQ demo.

MXL Microphones announced the M3 (standard) and M3-P (female voice) mics. They are featuring a 25 mm gold splattered capsule condenser and a unique FET design with transformer-coupled output (very british inspired…). The polar pattern is cardioid, the s/n ratio is of 76 dB, the dynamic range of 124 dBA SPL and the frequency range from 20 Hz to 23 KHz.

Available now, M3 $349.95, M3-P $369.95.

Today is a good day for all Reason users : Propellerhead announces that Reason is now available as version 3.0.5 Universal Binary for both Intel and PowerPC Macs. This new Intel Mac compatible version that also packs some serious ReWire performance gains for owners of older macs.

This free update is available in the MacMusic software section.

Joemeek opto compressor comes back in a half rack unit. There's balanced and unbalanced I/O, side chain, the usual suspects Input Gain (there's a peak led), Compress (threshold), Slope (ratio), Attack, Release and Make Up Gain. Two series of 8 and 9 LEDs provide gain reduction and level visual feedback. The special features are: Gain Reduction Hold parameter, to suppress noise hiss in quiet parts; Stereo Width, to move from mono to normal stereo.

Already shipping, $199 or £135 or €170.

At AES Paris, See'n'Sound will preview its new See'n'Sound LE application for Macintosh. See'n'Sound LE is a stand-alone version, still under development, based on OpenAL. The original idea here is "remixed" thinking at the way of mind of video games producer and sound designers. The approach to audio sources is not linear and a lot of interactive options are included to meet Augmented Reality application's needs.

Details on the See'n'Sound web site.

Apple today released Final Cut Express HD 3.5, a significant upgrade to its software solution for video enthusiasts, schools and small businesses that runs natively on both Intel-and PowerPC-based Macs. New in Final Cut Express HD 3.5 is Dynamic RT for real-time playback of multi-stream effects, Soundtrack 1.5 with a complete suite of audio production tools and LiveType 2.1 with even more exciting animated text and titles. New features in Soundtrack 1.5 include improved multitrack audio editing and recording tools with tracks, busses, outputs and real-time effects processing.

Final Cut Express HD 3.5 is available now for $299. Owners of previous versions of Final Cut Express can upgrade to Final Cut Express HD 3.5 for $99.

The 120th AES Pro Audio Expo & Convention in Paris will open its doors this Saturday morning. The Opening Ceremony at 12 noon traditionally features a prominent keynote speaker with an outsider's perspective on the pro-audio scene. This year, the AES is lucky enough to feature two prominent speakers: Emilie Simon, composer of the Oscar winning French film "March of the Penguins", and her sound engineer Cyrille Brissot. Emilie Simon, who rose to fame through her extraordinary sonic creations, will demonstrate the importance of recording technology to her music and present some samples of her work. Additionally, Ms. Simon will showcase an exciting new application of audio technology, kicking off the 120th AES Pro Audio Expo & Convention with a bang.

Teragon releases KickMaker, a synthesizer designed specifically to create good kick drum sounds. It uses four independent oscillators and a wide range of effects, allowing one to create perfectly customized beats. KickMaker is the perfect solution for producers who are tired of using factory samples or ordinary drum machines, and want an easy way to create a wide range kicks for their tracks.

KickMaker is available as Audio Units and VST versions.