PC and Music News

Roland has just released SonicCell, another avatar of the Phantom Line in tabletop form. It is both a sound module, expandable with SRX expansion boards and a USB audio interface.

Main features :

- 128-voice sound module
- USB audio interface
- SMF and audio data (WAV, AIFF, MP3) playback
- Plays MIDI files
- USB port can host USB memory sticks
- 2 SRX slots
- PC/Mac Editor

SonicCell is available now at a retail price of $899. For more information, please visit the link below :

Platinum Samples is proud to announce the release of Joe Barresi's Evil Drums, the second BFD Expansion Pack in their Master Engineer series of drum samples featuring multi-platinum award producing recording engineers. Featuring an ominous 6 full drum kits, 6 kick drums and 6 snares recorded to analog tape at two legendary rock studios using compression and EQ, Joe Barresi (Tool, Queens Of The Stone Age, Bad Religion , The Melvins, Weezer, etc...) has captured a diverse ensemble of drum sounds with as many as 250 velocity levels to create a unique and exquisitely evil expansion pack. Evil Drums also includes MIDI grooves performed by Pat Wilson (Weezer, The Special Goodness).

Delivered on 6 DVD's, the Evil Drums expansion pack has 4 installation options to best suit your needs, with the 74 GB SuperSize installation having as many 250 velocity levels for ultimate realism. Evil Drums is available now for $249.95

Maize Sampler, a full-fledged VST sampler, has been updated to V1.3 with some substantial enhancement.

New features :

- LPF ADSR envelope section
- VST parameter automation
- Supports drag'n drop from the sample list
- Editable layer names
- more detailed control of the reverb

The Sound Guy, Inc. has announced the release of ReSpatializer, an advanced panning, surround sound and spatialization plug-in. ReSpatializer supports up to eight input channels, each of which can be individually positioned. The panning is presented in an easy-to-use heads-up display with access to positioning, channel gain, mute/solo selection, and spreading. Other special processing includes variable-rate source rotation that can synchronize to the host tempo, low-frequency effect (LFE) tools for monitoring or bouncing to disk, and a large variety of output speaker formats (up to eight channels, DTS, Dolby, ITU, Film and others). It also offers simulated surround sound through headphones. After mixing your tracks for various surround formats, you can create a binaural headphone mix. This ...

Time + Space has released Bollywood Grooves, a sample library on DVD-ROM, inspired by the sound of Bollywood, using the same instruments and styles typically featured in films of the genre. Produced by Bollywood composer duo Salim-Sulaiman it features instruments such as Dhol, Tabla, Dholak, Duff, Ghunghroo, etc...

Features :

- Over 700 Loops in each format (WAV / REX2 / APPLE LOOPS) with tempos ranging from 74bpm to 135bpm
- 4/4, 6/8 and 7/8 patterns
- Carefully recorded, edited and mastered - using state-of-the-art equipment, by experienced sound engineers and musicians
- Loops are in Bollywood song style format, including intros, fills and ends
- Around 2 Gb of data with recordings @ 24 Bit / 48 KHz quality

Bollywood Grooves is available now at a price of £69.95 / €105. For more information, please visit their website.

MXL Microphones has announced the new MXL 990 USB stereo condenser microphone. With electronics based upon the MXL 990, the 990 USB features two gold diaphragm capsules in an X/Y stereo configuration and delivers "a big, rich sound with excellent spatial imaging". Unlike most condenser microphones, however, the MXL 990 USB is a Universal Serial Bus instrument that connects directly to a computer without the need for external mic preamps. Featuring support for USB 1.1 and 2.0, it even includes gain adjustment settings via the built-in three position attenuation switch.

The MXL 990 USB stereo condenser microphone comes with a travel case, a mic stand adapter, a shock mount, a 10-foot USB cable, an owner's manual, and an applications guide. Scheduled to ship Q3 of 2007, it will carry an MSRP of $199.95.