Mac and Music News

Our partner Sweetwater has declared May "Portable Recorder Month," and to properly observe the occasion, they're holding a 12-day Recorder Giveaway.

Starting May 19, Sweetwater will give away one portable recorder each day for 12 days. Manufacturers include Boss, Edirol, HHB, Korg, Marantz, M-Audio, Roland, Sony, Sound Devices, TASCAM, Yamaha, and Zoom. One entry makes you eligible for all 12 prizes.

In response to user feedback EastWest announces RTAS support for Mac and PC versions of all PLAY products. The software updates (PLAY v1.0.056) are available for both Mac and PC platforms in both standalone and plug-in versions, with PC updates being offered for both 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.

Current PLAY-powered collections can be upgraded to include RTAS support through a free update posted on the company's website at :

CharterOak Acoustic Devices once again expands its product offerings, with the release of the SCL-1 all discreet stereo compressor/limiter. The SCL-1 will be shown for the first time at the Amsterdam AES Show this month.

The SCL-1 Solid State Compressor/Limiter employs all discreet electronics and is capable of providing a constant output level regardless of input level or frequency, without the familiar pumping inherent in most compressor/limiters. The unit delivers extremely fast attack times without overcompensation, and a release characteristic, which is a function of dynamic range and average program level. Designed to fit any standard 19" rack, the SCL-1 may be used as a stereo unit, or as two independent limiters in the dual mode.

The SCL-1 will begin shipping in June of 2008.

Zaxcom presents Fusion, a high resolution audio mixer and recorder for reality television, surround recording and ENG.

Features :

- 8 Analog mic/line inputs with 48V phantom power
- analog input limiter
- 4 AES input pairs with sample rate conversion, allowing each input to have a different sample rate
- mix 16 inputs to eight output busses and records up to eight tracks on the internal Compact Flash card
- record simultaneously to two Compact Flash cards creating a 100% solid-state recording with backup
- Intuitive integrated color touch screen interface
- etc...

For more information, please visit their website.

California microphone manufacturer Josephson Engineering has announced a special anniversary model in their Series Seven studio microphone line, the C720. To mark our 20th year the C720 is being made in a limited edition of only 20 units.

The C720 features a variant of the dual-diaphragm capsule used in the C700 series of microphones. Each side of the capsule has its own dedicated audio channel. The front and back signals are brought out to individual 3-pin XLR connectors. The two signals can be mixed in different ratios to produce any desired directional pattern from omni through wide cardioid to cardioid, hypercardioid and figure-8.

A unique and patent-pending feature of the C720 is that the grille surrounding the capsule is made not of the usual perforated metal sheet or woven wi ...

Analogue Solutions has recently released the Leipzig monosynth, a self contained TRUE analogue synthesiser. The voice circuitry is entirely analogue, using all discrete and op-amp components. There is no voice DSP. Leipzig has a similar sound and specification to the classic Moog Prodigy/Rogue synthesisers, but with many improvements such as MIDI and more modulation paths.

Features :

- Pure analogue voice circuitry.
- Fat Moog style filter.
- 2 VCOs with Glide and Sub-VCOs.
- Plenty of modulation routing possibilities.
- Extra tone controls and circuits for more sound variety e.g. LFO, CrossMod.
- Rugged steel construction and 'vintage' wood design.
- MIDI In for software sequencer control.

The Leipzig is priced at £549 (€700) excl. VAT and Delivery. Note that audio examples are available on their web site.

Lexicon finally started shipping their new PCM96 Stereo Reverb/Effects Processor. Featuring a wide array of rich, complex reverb algorithms with related delays and effects, the single rack-space PCM96 integrates seamlessly into the modern studio as a control-only DAW insert or FireWire streaming hardware plug-in.

Features :

• 28 legendary Lexicon® reverbs, modulation, and delay effects
• New mono reverbs and effects including Chamber, Hall, Plate
• "Hardware Plug-In" feature with Mac VST® and Audio Units software
• DAW automation through plug-in format
• FireWire streaming through plug-in format
• Two channels XLR balanced 24-bit I/O
• Two channels AES/EBU digital I/O
• Dual Ethernet and Firewire Connections
• MIDI IN, OU ...

Monkey Tools has released Library Monkey 3.0, Library Monkey Pro 1.0 and Sound Grinder Pro 1.0.

Library Monkey offers a solid set of tools for audio asset management where Library Monkey Pro provides managing, editing and processing all in a single application. Library Monkey and Library Monkey Pro offer Sets and Smart Sets for custom organization, recall of recent searches, and multiple Bins for temporary storage. Search your assets with symbols and Boolean commands, view detailed asset information, drag-n-drop directly into your DAW or other audio application. Use user-defined fields for custom organization, and create custom naming options for batch- processing. Use Droplets and Rapid Convert for instant processing using your favorite presets.

Library Monkey Pro adds many advanced features including a Waveform Editor. This new editor provides multi-channel editing, an enhanced overview for file navigation, auto-regioning, advanced actions, AU and VST plug-in processing all in a simple and yet powerful user-interface. Actions include Auto-Trim, Normalize, Auto-Gain, Change Sample Rate, Resample, Swap Channels and more.

As the "big brother" to the batch-processor Sound Grinder, Sound Grinder Pro adds many advanced

Apple has updated its all-in-one iMac line with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors and the most powerful graphics ever available in an iMac.

With prices starting at just $1,199, iMac includes faster processors with 6MB L2 cache and a faster 1066 MHz front-side bus across the entire line, and 2GB of memory standard in most models. The 24-inch iMac now offers a 3.06 GHz Intel processor and the high-performance NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS graphics as options, extending iMac's lead as the ultimate all-in-one desktop computer for both consumers and professionals.

iMac 20" - 2.4 GHz ($1,199)
- 20-inch widescreen LCD display;
- 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with a 1066 MHz front-side bus;
- 1GB of 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM expandable to 4GB;

IK Multimedia has just announced that its "Plug & Mix Madness" promotion has now been extended until May 31st. So customers can still purchase and register any of the qualifying IK Multimedia plug-in based music production software, hardware combinations or bundles and they will receive one FREE IK effect plug-in download of their choice.

For more information, please visit their web site.