Eventide today announced that its popular Anthology II plug-in bundle will be available as a Universal Binary and is optimized for the new Intel-powered Mac computers. This new Mactel upgrade will allow users to take full advantage of Apple’s newest computers, including the Mac Pro with quad-core architecture, for faster processing speeds when operating Eventide’s powerful and comprehensive set of digital plug-ins.

Available in October of 2006, the Mactel upgrade will be free to current Anthology II customers and will be available via Eventide’s website, through authorized Eventide dealers, and outside North America through authorized Pro Tools dealers.

Anthology II adds six new plug-ins to the Anthology bundle: two 48-bit double precision vintage equalizers; EQ65 Filter Set and EQ45 Parametric Equalizer, both 48-bit double precision; two new configurable channel strips, Ultra-Channel, featuring Eventide’s signature micropitch shifting effect for thickening, and E-Channel, optimized for maximum instances; Precision Time Align, provides the ability to bring individual tracks into phase; and Quadravox, a four-voice diatonic pitch shifter with delays.

Anthology II also includes the latest versions of the nine plug-ins that comprised the original best-selling Anthology bundle: H910, H949, Instant Phaser, Instant Flanger, Omnipressor®, Eventide Reverb, Octavox, H3000 Band Delays, and H3000 Factory. Like Anthology, Anthology II is fully compliant with ICON, D-Control, D-Command, Venue, Pro Tools 7.2, and is Mac and PC compatible.

For more information, visit their web site at www.eventide.com.

Posted in Apple Mac, Plug-Ins

FabFilter has released updates to FabFilter Twin and FabFilter Volcano. The new versions contain bug fixes as well as improvements and new features.

•Added MIDI program change handling. Any preset can now be loaded by sending bank select and program change MIDI messages.

•Added optional interactive help. When this feature is activated, help texts will appear when the user moves the mouse over any control in the plug-in interface.

•Fixed a bug that could cause Twin or Volcano to freeze on Apple G5 Quad systems when changing presets.

•Added a ‘polarity’ option to the LFO’s in Twin, which can be used to produce either waveforms between -1 and 1 (original behaviour) or positive-only waveforms between 0 and 1.

•Reduced memory usage of Twin by 50%.

•Slightly reduced memory usage of FabFilter Volcano and improved filters to use less CPU.

•Other minor bug fixes.

The new versions are fully backwards-compatible with earlier versions and should load songs and presets written by the older version without any problems. These updates are free for existing users and grants others a new evaluation period.

For more information, visit their web site at www.fabfilter.com.

Posted in Plug-Ins, Software, Technology, VST

Ueberschall is now shipping The Voice Vol. 2. Liquid Instrument for Mac and PC worldwide.

The Voice Vol. 2 consists of vocal phrases of a choir with independently editable voices in a plug-In for VST, Audio Units and RTAS.

For the first time ever it is possible to change a single voice within a choir - independently from the other lines - and to adjust it to the individual producer’s needs. You can create basically every vocal harmony and every chord progression possible. Only Liquid Instrument “The Voice” offers total control over each single voice and melody within a choir. It is possible to take a chord, change a line and create a new feeling in an instant. The unique Liquid Engine helps to create everything from simple adlibs to complex harmonic structures.

Every vocal phrase is dubbed eight times by two (male and female) singers. That makes a total of eight different tracks per vocal phrase for absolutely realistic sounding choirs.

The Voice vol.2 (non-verbal) contains melodic vocal lines from simple to sophisticated not just the usual “Ah”, “Oh” and “Uh”. Beautifully sung lines with appealing melody and rhythm offer a great range of different tunes for that extra spice in songs.

Ueberschall “The Voice” Vol. 2 was recorded in 24 bit, acoustically dry without additional effects and filters. Each Volume contains 300 vocal phrases = 2400 vocal loops, requires 3GB of hard disc space and retails for US $199.

For more information, visit their web site at www.ueberschall.com.

Posted in Effects, Plug-Ins, VST

Roger Nichols Digital’s range of five DAW plug-ins is now available in Universal Binary versions for Intel-based Apple Macintosh Core Duo systems, in VST, RTAS and AU formats for leading species of Digital Audio Workstations.

“We have been working for several months porting our plug-ins to work with the new Apple Core-Duo Mac platform,” offers company CEO Roger Nichols. “These new versions will allow DAW users to take full advantage of the enhanced processing speeds and native DSP capabilities of latest-generation Macintosh computers.” All plug-ins are also Window XP-compatible.

RND has also announced that all DAW plug-ins are now available for a Free 14-day Evaluation Period from its company website; no iLok is required. Also, purchase can be made either against an iLok account, or a conventional challenge/response verification processing and an email sequence.

“We wanted to make sure that our prospective customers can access whatever buying option suits their needs,” says COO Reinhold Probst. “While iLok offers a more secure way of preventing unauthorized use of a customer’s plug-is, there are times when other techniques are more useful, hence our recent change of policy.”

The current collection of RND Plug-Ins comprises:

Dynam-izer™ - Get Those Levels Under Control
This plug-in lets users break audio levels up into zones so they can be controlled exactly as required.
Pro-user price: $249.00

Uniquel-izer™ - The Swiss Army Knife of Equalizers
The unlimited Equalizer. This plug-in lets users determine their ideal EQ. And if you ever need more bands or filters, these are just a click away.
Pro-user price: $249.00

Frequal-izer™ - Surgically Accurate Mastering EQ
This plug-in lets users build a complex FIR (Finite Impulse Response) filter to their own specifications. EQ curves can also be drawn and edited.
Pro-user price: $249.00

Finis™ - Peak Limiter That Controls Dynamics
This plug-in employs the most advanced psycho-acoustic limiting algorithms we know of. There’s nothing else to do after Finis.
Pro-user price: $249.00

Inspector XL™ - Collection of Powerful Analysis Tools
This is a collection of six powerful audio analysis tools designed to fulfill a number of familiar analysis tasks with professionalism, style and finesse.
Pro-user price: $299.00

For more information, visit their web site at www.rogernicholsdigital.com.

Posted in Computer, Effects, Plug-Ins

The Musicrow Group releases Crow Mix Pack, 23 processor ensembles for Native Instruments Reaktor-5.

Crow Gold Pack offers the NI Reaktor-5 user a massive collection of high quality ensembles for mixing, sound designing, and music making. The pack contains a variety of classic processor emulations along with fresh 21th century effects.

The following ensembles are available with Crow Mix Pack:

• Plate Reverb - Plate reverb emulator
• Drive - Multi-band distortion
• Tape Echo - Tape delay emulator
• Osmosis - Advanced filter
• Green Tape - Analog tape-recorder emulator
• Magician - Multi-tap delay
• Tube Compressor - Analog compressor emulator
• Vintage Chorus - Vintage chorus emulator
• White FX - Special granular effect
• Mood Filter - Analog filer emulator
• Ultra Chorus - Chorus effect
• Ultraverb - High-end reverb
• GrainD Lay - Granular-delay effect
• Space-Boy - Space-locating effect
• Electroverb - Sci-fi reverb
• Preamp - Preamp emulator
• Vocal Modeler - Extreme vocal effect
• Ultra Phaser - Analog phaser emulator
• Crow DX3 - Delay effect
• Tape Flanger - Tape flanger emulator
• Gold Delay - Special multi-delay
• Graphic Equalizer - Equalizer
• Crow Tremolo - Tremolo & auto gate

Crow Mix Pack is now available for $89.

For more information, visit their web site at www.mcrow.net.

Posted in Effects, Plug-Ins, Recording, Technology

Previously released as a VST Plug-In for 32 & 64-bit (x64) Windows, Surge is now available to Mac OS X users as well. Delivered as a Universal Binary for both the Audio Units and VST Plug-In architectures, the software synthesizer is compatible with the majority of host applications on both Intel and PowerPC-powered Macs (1GHz G4 or faster).

Combining analog-style & wavetable oscillators, configurable dual filters with a feedback-loop and massive modulation capabilities, Surge goes far beyond the capabilities of most fixed-architecture synths but still retain the directness of one. Along with a powerful effect section and the high sound quality Vember Audio is known to deliver make Surge an obvious candidate to fulfill you synthesis and sound-design needs.

Key updates in v1.2.0:

• Improved filter algorithms. Carefully crafted to provide dependable self-oscillation at high resonance settings and a musical sound
• Updated Graphical User Interface with a fresh new look
• A wider selection of preset patches (914)
• Mac OS X compatible (AU & VST, Universal Binary)

Available immediately, Surge v1.2.0 can be bought in the Vember Audio on-line shop for 120€ (+VAT for EU residents). The v1.2.0 update is free for registered users.

For more information, visit their web site at www.vemberaudio.com.

Posted in Audio, Computer, Plug-Ins, Recording, Software, Technology, VST

Blue Cat Audio has released a new version of the Digital Peak Meter Pro, a unique plug-in able to transform the audio signal to various types of controls.

New in V2.0:

• The plug-in is now 100% real time thanks to the MIDI output capability: generated envelopes can be used to control any MIDI hardware or software plug-in
• Advanced MIDI control with customizable parameters curve response and MIDI learn
• Skinnable user interface with Blue Cat’s Skinning language V1.2.1 support
• RMS envelope support
• new parameters for total control of the peak envelope detection
• Real time envelopes display
• All parameters can now be fine tuned thanks to a text-edit popup window that appears when double clicking on user interface widgets

A step by step tutorial is available to learn how to use the new advanced MIDI control features.

Pricing:
A special introductory price lets you get the Digital Peak Meter Pro for 27.3 EUR (USD $32.76) instead of 39 EUR (USD 46.80).
Upgrade from version 1.x is 12 EUR only (USD 14.40).

For more information, visit their web site at www.bluecataudio.com.

Posted in Computer, Plug-Ins, Recording, Technology, VST

otiumFX has updated their compressor, Compadre Beatpuncher VST, to version 1.1.

This is a free upgrade for registered users.

Changes in version 1.1:

• Improved CPU performance
• Faster attack time (now goes down to 0.1 ms)
• Changed response for gain reduction meter & clip indicator
• Fix: registration glitch causing the plug-in to sometimes appear unregistered
• Fix: Weird panning behaviour in some hosts with certain material

Unfortunately it has not been possible to maintain preset/song compatibility with the previous version, so it is recommended that you keep version 1.0 on your system while making the transition. The trial version will also soon be updated.

For more information, visit their web site at www.otiumfx.com.

Posted in Computer, Plug-Ins, Software, Technology

Stylin Basslines: Electric & Synth Edition is the first bass collection designed with Stylus RMX users in mind. With over 550 loops, this collection covers a wide range of styles and grooves using vintage, modern, fretless and electric upright basses, and vintage analog, modern analog and computer based synths.

As part of the BPM Flex Series™, any loop in the collection can be used at virtually any tempo without artificial stretching or unwanted audio artifacts!

Stylin Basslines also includes 150 new and original bass infused RMX multis to get you going when inspiration is coming slow.

Whether using Stylus RMX, Reason or any other REX2 player, Stylin Basslines is said to add “bump” to any track.

Specifications:

• Contains the Stylus RMX format with 130 suites and 566 bass grooves
• Contains 150 Stylus RMX multis, utilizing the Stylin Bassline loops and other Nine Volt Audio bonus guitar loops
• Contains a bonus section of 85 guitar loops from previous Nine Volt Audio releases.
• Contains a Reason Refill and a separate folder with the REX2 files. This allows the loops to be used in other programs that support the REX2 format
• As part of the BPM Flex Series™ loops in the REX2, Refill and Stylus RMX formats can be used at virtually any tempo without artificial stretching or unwanted audio artifacts. The tempo listed with each loop is more of a suggestion to the user, than a hard-and-fast rule
• All loop file names identify the musical key
• All loops were recorded at 24/96 resolution. As bass frequencies benefit little from high resolution recordings, we opted to dither them to 16/44.1 for the disc, which benefits the user by requiring less RAM per suite and faster load times while using Stylus RMX

Pricing and Availablity:

Stylin Basslines: Electric & Synth Edition is now available on DVD-ROM or as a download for $69.99 at www.NineVoltAudio.com.

For more information, visit their web site at www.NineVoltAudio.com.

Posted in Plug-Ins, Synth, Technology, VST

Blue Cat Audio has released a new version of its freeware Chorus and Stereo Chorus directX and VST plug-ins.

Main changes:

• Advanced MIDI control with customizable parameters, curve response, and MIDI learn
• Blue Cat’s Skinning Language V1.2.1 support
• Now supports one skin per preset and a global default skin: customize each instance of the plug-in in the same session
• All parameters can now be fine tuned thanks to a text-edit popup window that appears when double clicking on user interface widgets

Blue Cat also has a step by step tutorial available to learn how to use the new advanced MIDI control features.

For more information, visit their web site at www.bluecataudio.com.

Posted in Audio, Effects, Plug-Ins, Technology, VST