Mac and Music News

Synthax Audio AG have announced that their new RME Micstasy high-end preamp is now shipping worldwide. Micstasy can be used as an 8-channel 'state of the art' mic preamp (Mic/Line In to Line Out) and a digital preamp/converter (Mic/Line In to Digital Out), with both signal paths operating simultaneously. Just passing on the amplified signals replaces the need for a splitter box on stage.

Features Overview:

* 8 high-end mic preamps with digitally controlled gain of 85dB in steps of 0.5dB allow connection of all conventional analog studio signals. Micstasy reaches full scale level at -55dBu, but can also handle a maximum input level of +30dBu!
* 8-channel high-end line amplifier, XLR and TRS input, with digital gain control (0.5dB steps).
* 8-channel AD-converter with lowest late ...

Devine Machine has just released vMinion, an advanced successor to the free "Minion" VST plug-in for both PC and Mac OS X (PPC and Intel). Basically vMinion is an advanced tempo-based filter/delay multi-effect VST plug-in.

Features:

* (4) Stereo 64-bit effect modules, configurable in series or parallel.
* Over 100 effect types to choose from for each module.
* Internally-modulated effect parameters from tempo-based LFOs/Step Sequencer/Envelope Follower.
* Step Sequencer can snap to a variety of scales and can be remotely automated (MIDI/VSTParams).
* MIDI out ability - generate MIDI CCs or Monophonic Notes from any ball/axis.
* MIDI in ability - retrigger LFOs and/or set Filter Frequency from MIDI notes. (Jam on a flanger).
* Dedicated delays for each module with 4 delay ...

VirSyn has just announced that their vocal synthesis software Cantor 2 is in the last steps of development. To give you a first impression how the revolution continues have a first "look and ear" what you can expect from Cantor 2 on this web page :

Eventide announced that its Anthology II plug-in bundle is now available as a Universal Binary and optimized for Intel powered Mac computers. The upgrade is free to current Anthology II customers. Note that Anthology II is fully compliant with ICON, D-Control, D-Command, VENUE and Pro Tools 7.2, and is Mac and PC compatible.

McDSP has begun shipping boxed copy of the ML4000 plug-in, their high-resolution brick-wall look-ahead limiter and multi-band dynamics processor designed for music, mastering, post, and live sound. In fact the ML4000 consists in two plug-ins :
- The ML1 mastering limiter which uses a flexible brick wall look-ahead design coupled with multiple stages of limiting for superior peak processing. The unique Knee and Mode controls allow the ML1 to handle any kind of material with a variety of responses ranging from transparent to aggressive.
- The ML4 multi-band dynamics processor which includes a 4-band Gate, Expander (upwards or downwards), and Compressor fed into the same limiter algorithm found in the ML1. Each band's Gate, Expander, and Compressor can be configured separately or linked tog ...

Apple unveiled its new line of MacBook consumer notebooks that now include Intel Core 2 Duo processors. The new MacBook line is available immediately and features:

The 1.83 GHz, 13-inch white MacBook - $1,099
- 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
- 512MB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
- 60GB Serial ATA hard drive
- Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) optical drive

The 2.0 GHz, 13-inch white MacBook - $1,299
- 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
- 1GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
- 80GB Serial ATA hard drive
- 6x SuperDrive with double-layer support

The 2.0 GHz, 13-inch black MacBook - $1,499
- 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
- 1GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
- 120GB Serial ATA hard drive
- 6x SuperDrive with double-layer support

The new MacBook line

Zicos.com has joined our networked sites, "440Network", that from now on include : MacMusic - 440forums - AudioLexic and... Zicos. Zicos is a news aggregator site that allows to browse daily news published by over 200 very specialized sites in a wink avoiding fastidious web surfing. Zicos's clean interface allow users to easily filter the sites they don't wish to consult on daily basis. Zicos covers the following targeted domains : Pro Audio - Mac - Tech/PC and the latest software Downloads.

Our "Around the web" pages should soon benefit from the Zicos technology.

Langevin (part of Manley Labs) has announced the future coming out of the Mini-Massive Stereo Equalizer. This 1U rack is the little brother to Manley's Massive Passive EQ. This new EQ is based on the same passive EQ sections as the Massive Passive's Low Band and High Band and shares most of the same components and circuit layout. The Mini-Massive is smaller at only 1U high and about half the price and includes some new features, refinements and a new level of clarity fit for mastering at its best.
For more details see this web page.

MusicLab has released RealGuitar ToolBox, an add-on product for RealGuitar 2 that lets you use it in a "new and creative way in live performance".

RealGuitar ToolBox features:

* RG Accompanist - split MIDI input with left key range pre-defined for RealGuitar2, and right key range for playing solo part with any third party VSTi/DXi/Dls/AU instrument loaded directly to RG ToolBox.
* RG Dozen - automatically loads 12 default RealGuitars to 12 Pads that you can remotely select by MIDI note or by Program Change command.
* RG Duet - split MIDI input with two RealGuitars pre-loaded: RealGuitar A (right key range for solo part) and RealGuitar B (left key range for accompaniment part).

RealGuitar ToolBox costs $40 and operates as a virtual instrument plug-in in all major hosts or as a Standalone module on Windows and Mac OS X (PPC and Intel); RealGuitar 2.0 or later must be installed.