PC 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 :

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 ...

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 ...

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.

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.