Mac and Music News

TC Electronic introduces the limited PowerCore X8 Sonnox Edition, a PowerCore X8 bundled with the highly acclaimed Sonnox Oxford EQ and Sonnox Oxford Dynamics plug-ins.

PowerCore Sonnox Edition will be available at authorized TC Electronic dealers in March 2008 at a suggested retail price of €1599.

USA-based Lauten Audio will make its European debut at Musikmesse Frankfurt at Hall 5.1, Walkway D, Stand 50. On display will be the company's studio microphone line including their flagship Horizon tube microphone and three new models.

Lauten Audio's studio microphone line includes :

Horizon (List: $799.00)
The Horizon tube microphone is Lauten Audio's first commercially available product. Designed as a work-horse, the microphone features a solid build quality, NOS military grade tube, custom wound output transformer and premium high-resolution electronics. This microphone has found its home on everything from vocals and voice-overs to drums, electric guitar amplifiers, acoustic guitar, piano and fiddle. It is also known to be used for live sound micing.

ST-221 (st ...

TC Electronic announces the release of the long awaited G-System Editor for Mac and PC, which allows for intuitive and real-time control of all functions in G-System, creation of new presets, and sharing presets with other G-System users. The Editor is compatible with Windows XP as well as OSX 10.4 (Tiger) and 10.5 (Leopard).

G-System Software 3.0 enables use of the Editor and includes modulated delay, a new feature resulting from numerous customer requests. Users will also experience faster reacting expression pedals, faster attack at the compressor, the ability to assign a specific preset to a switch, improved MIDI clock and faster level shift between right and left channel.

The Editor and Software 3.0 are relevant for all G-System users, and are downloadable free of charge at :

Zplane.development unveils version 2 of the time stretching and pitch shifting engines Elastique Pro and Elastique efficient. Elastique stretching can be found as an integral part of numerous digital audio workstations and DJ applications such as Ableton Live or überschall Elastik loop player.

The new version offers many audio quality enhancements, including better transient preservation, increased bass resolution and improved high tonal frequency processing. Many optimizations and new interface functionality improve the performance, integration and handling of Elastique significantly.

For more information, please visit :

Oli Larkin has just released pMix (short for preset mixer), a really cool free software for Mac.

pMix is a new composition and performance tool that facilitates the control of multiple plugin parameters using an intuitive graphical interface. pMix hosts four VST plugins and lets you interpolate between presets by navigating a 2D visual environment. Presets are represented by coloured balls that are positioned on a plane. The size of each ball and its proximity to the cursor affects the weight of the associated preset in the interpolation. pMix is easy to use and has some fun features such as automation, real time visual feedback and randomisation.

pMix is a donationware and it is available now for Mac OS X. For more explanation I suggest you to watch the video on its web site.

With this version the simple-to-use, powerful drum machine from iZotope is now Windows XP and Vista ready. iDrum adds a full-featured beat box to your Windows- or Mac-based studio. Start with hundreds of professional drum samples, or load your own WAV or AIFF files to build your own kits.

Already own iDrum for Mac OS X? Just download the update to get the PC version at no charge. iDrum 1.61 also adds numerous improvements including OS X Leopard support.

This month we are pleased to invited you into the fantastic world of sonic restoration with the review of iZotope RX.

As says sleepless, our reviewer : "The editor has created its own algorithms, in order to offer an alternative to the reknowned algorithms from Algorithmix or Noveltech licenced to other soft editors ..."

Wanna find out if this software is the ultimate solution in the so-called noise war ? Then follow the link below...

NuSofting has announced the release of the Mac OS X version of Broken Drum Machine (BDM) in VST and AU plug-in formats.

Inspired by a combination of several old school beat boxes and the circuit-bending culture that revolves around cheap, and old, hardware musical instruments (such as the "toy" Casio and Yamaha keyboards of the 80s), Broken Drum Machine brings the lively, "ever changing",
circuit-bent drum machine sounds to your DAW.

BDM is a plugin instrument designed for the musicians who love chaos and usually find the unpredictable behaviour of an uncontrollable sound machine stimulating and inspiring. It offers four drum pads in the style of an old beat box- one each for Bass Drum, Snare, Hi-Hat and Stick. Each pad features the usual suspects for shaping the synthesized sound, including tone, decay, pitch, pan and gain.

On top of the standard controls comes the broken factor - each pad features its own sliders for chaos and chance. Chaos sets the amount of variations to the original sound, and chance is the probability algorithm for the chaos to occur. By varying and automating the chaos and chance sliders, you can achieve an infinite range of wild and unpredictable sounds, similar to creating glitches and bleeps by manipulating an analog circuit.

Main Features :

- Addictive ever changing sound.
- Blend of acoustic and electronic sound, PCM + VCO generation.
- Seven "Chaos" Modulations of various parameters.
- Controllable random crackles generation.
- 4 Mono + 1 Stereo out.
- MIDI Learn for each parameter.
- Customizable default PCM sound bank and skin using the Modpacks.

BDM is now available for Mac OS X (UB) in VST and AU formats for €35.90 / $51.90.

PreSonus is pleased to announce that the DigiMax D8 8-channel preamplifier with 24-bit ADAT digital output is now shipping.

The DigiMax D8 is an 8 channel preamplifier featuring 8 class A XMAX mic preamps with 24-bit ADAT digital output. All eight preamps include variable trim control, 48V phantom power, ultra-fast acting LED metering and 20 dB pad. In addition, 2 instrument inputs are located on the front panel for direct Hi-Z instrument input. Balanced TRS direct analog outputs are located on the rear panel for routing and flexibility. The DigiMax D8 also includes word clock sync input for ultra-low jitter and robust synchronization.

The DigiMax D8 is available now at a list price of $499.95.

Drawmer has announced not less than three new products for 2008 : A2D2, M-Clock Plus and M-Clock Lite.

A2D2 : a stereo A/D converter giving simultaneous dual stereo outputs at different selectable sample rates from 44.1kHz to 192kHz - so it is possible to have a main output at, say 192kHz with another at 44.1kHz as a low resolution copy.

M-Clock Plus : a high stability master clock generator offering clock rates from 44.1 to 192kHz, coupled to two sample rate converters, which allow material to be re-sampled and syncronised to the selected high precision clock. In addition to the internal clocks, M-Clock Plus can sync to either external word clock or clocks from AES/EBU signals. Precision clock frequency measurement and display indicates the exact frequency of the selected clock, whether internal or external, to an accuracy of 2ppm.

M-Clock Lite : the aim of M-Clock Lite is to provide a simple, high quality clock generator, which is forward compatible with high speed clocks predicted for the future. M-Clock Lite features an AES Grade 1 master clock generator, meaning that the generated clock has a long term frequency accuracy of +/- 1ppm.

JZ Microphones launches Black Hole SE, a "simple" cardioid version of their well-known Black Hole condenser microphone.

This new toy is a cardioid condenser microphone with one large, true electrostatic capsule inside the compact head made by new golden drops technology. The new special capsule has single, less centre tap diaphragm and patterned variable sputtering, using specially mixed alloy for coating. It also has new generation integrated shockmounting which is very easy and comfortable to use.

Characteristics :

- Cardioid condenser microphone.
- Class A discrete amplifier circuit.
- One large, true electrostatic capsule inside the compact head.
- New special capsule with single, less centre tap diaphragm and adjustable backplate.
- Patterned variable sputtering of diaphragm, using specially mixed alloy for coating.
- Integrated capsule shockmount.

The Black Hole SE has five year warranty and is made in Latvia by handcrafted and tested approach. The retail price of BH-SE is USD 1895, 00 (EURO 1299, 00) and it will be presented at Prolight+Sound show in Frankfurt (hall 4.1, booth F 80).

Fatar/StudioLogic will introduce a brand new product called NUMA at the upcoming MusikMesse. Basically it's a professional keyboard/controller but the company claims that it will set "a new standard in musical control"... let's take a look at the spec.

- Easy Control System. A new user interface panel has been developed using touch sensititve technology. Graphic LCD display will allow clear and efficient programming. Gloss metacrilato surface for tactile grace.
- Progressive Grand Hammer Action. Sophisticated touch action. Increased throw distance simulates a full concert grand.
- Intelligent Dynamic System. With the unique YouPlay feature the instrument will guide you into the spacial function to set up your best dynamic touch, the most advanced, customizable velocity response system ever developed.
- Elegant Design Cabinet. Semi-translucent polished ABS cabinet and alumnium cover.

Well, it sounds good but not really revolutionary... For more information, please visit their web site.

Antelope Audio unveils Trinity, a new master clock based on the same Oven Controlled Crystal technology as in their well-known OCX and OCX-V master clocks.

Specifications :

- 3 Independant Audio Generators up to 384 kHz, with Varispeed Control
- 3 Independant SD Generators, simultaneously offering PAL and NTSC
- 3 Independant HD Generators, presenting a choice of 16 Formats
- Intuitive Menu-Free User Interface with Triple Display
- 4th Generation of Acoustically Focused Clocking, now employing 64 bit DSP
- Dual Redundant Power Supply for added reliability
- Oven Controlled Crystal Oscillator or Atomic Input for Supremely Low Jitter
- Factory calibrated to better than +/
- 0.02PPM accuracy via Atomic Clock
- Field recalibration to Atomic for better than +/
- 0.02PPM accuracy ...

Here's a new ProTools Corner issue by our VIP Moderator Brian White from audioMIDI.com. Protools corner is a cool column for tips, tricks, and other fun stuff related to ProTools. This month, Brian takes a close look at two specific timeline/transport features that often go unnoticed; dynamic transport mode and timeline/edit linking.

If you have a Pro Tools related question that you would like Brian to take a shot at answering or have any feedback, please post-it in our Mac ProTools Forum or Pc ProTools Forum. Brian will do his best to select the questions that seem to stump the most people.