PC and Music News

Following their ongoing Edition Beurmann, German sample manufacturer realsamples brings another piano of the renowned collection of Professor Andreas E. Beurmann, offering 32 velocity layers.

The Early Pianoforte library offers the unique sound of a historical pianoforte by Johann Andreas Stein built in Augsburg in 1793. Clearly showing influences of harpsichords of that time, the instrument sports an uncommon piano sound: Svelte, present and with courtly elegance.

For great dynamics and feel, realsamples captured 32 velocity layers of each note. Furthermore, 8 varitions of each key release sound were recorded to complete the experience of this instrument. The sample library contains more than 2500 single samples. For the challenging task of recording the historical pianoforte, vintage Neumann TLM-170®microphones were used in conjunction with Crane Song Flamingo® preamps and Universal Audio 2192® digital converters.

The virtual Stein Pianoforte is available in 44.1/48 khz, 96 khz and 192 khz resolution, starting at $159.95, and can be used with samplers like HAlion®, Kontakt®, EXS24®, Independence®, MachFive®, VSampler3® and GigaStudio®, amongst others. Note that audio examples are available on the following web page :

Native Instruments has launched "Komplete Your DAW", a time-limited special offer that allows owners of selected professional music sequencers to purchase the Komplete 5 bundle with a discount of 30% from June 2nd to July 31st, 2008.

Komplete 5 includes the following softwares : KONTAKT 3, GUITAR RIG 3 Software Edition, MASSIVE, REAKTOR 5, ABSYNTH 4, BATTERY 3, AKOUSTIK PIANO, ELEKTRIK PIANO, B4 II, FM8, PRO-53.

Products that qualify for the "Komplete Your DAW" special offer include Ableton Live, Apple Logic Pro, Cakewalk Sonar Producer, Digidesign Pro Tools LE/HD, Magix Samplitude Pro, MOTU Digital Performer as well as Steinberg Cubase and Nuendo.

The "Komplete Your DAW" offer will be available from authorized dealers and in the NI Online Shop for a suggested retail price of $779/€699 from June 2nd to July 31st.

In commemoration of its 20th anniversary, M-Audio releases the Midiman MIDISPORT 4x4 Anniversary Edition and the Midiman MIDISPORT 2x2 Anniversary Edition.

The Midiman MIDISPORT 4x4 Anniversary Edition gives the popular multi-port USB MIDI interface an updated new look. MIDISPORT 4x4 Anniversary Edition addresses a total of 64x64 discrete channels of MIDI I/O via USB, allowing you to simultaneously connect a variety of MIDI devices. Bus-powered architecture provides the option of totally mobile operation.

The Midiman MIDISPORT 2x2 Anniversary Edition multi-port USB MIDI interface delivers a new look and enhanced functionality. The compact interface addresses 32 x 32 discrete channels of MIDI I/O via USB, making it ideal for simultaneously connecting multiple MIDI devices to your computer, as well as eliminating delays associated with long MIDI THRU chains. Standalone functionality also gives you MIDI throughput and merge capabilities. Bus-powered architecture provides the option of totally mobile operation.

Pricing :

- Midiman MIDISPORT 4x4 Anniversary Edition : $199.95
- Midiman MIDISPORT 2x2 Anniversary Edition : $89.95

Jeroen Breebaart has announced Barricade Pro - a multi-factor limiter operating in four domains simultaneously. It allows waveform limiting, envelope limiting, loudness limiting, and cross-correlation limiting. Barricade Pro builds upon the free Barricade limiter plugin. It extends the freeware version with new functionality, and full control of all its parameters.

Features :

- each section for waveform, envelope, loudness and correlation limiting is fully customizable in terms of time constants, amount of processing, and alike.
- professional signal level meters according to the Katz metering system. Metering includes digital peak, peak hold, RMS and correlation levels. Meters can be switched between K12, K14 and K20 scales.
- supports processing of 64 bits audio data.
- output bit-depth can be reduced using dithering and perceptual noise shaping.
- sample rates are supported of up to 196 kHz

A pre-release demo version of Barricade Pro is available now as a VST effect plug-in for Windows. The final release is planned for this summer.

Audio Damage has just released Kombinat which is a new multi-band distortion plugin.

Kombinat's signal structure allows for a broad palette of sounds, as each segment of the overall effect is a versatile tool in its own right. The Isolator is a full "DJ-style" band-killer EQ; this leads to the three distortion engines, which may be used in multi-band mode for subtle surgery, or in series mode for complete signal destruction. The engines go in to a four-pole lowpass filter of Audio Damage's own design, and then in to a compressor which Audio Damage has configured for one-knob operation. With seven different algorithms in each of the three distortion engines (plus pass-through), Kombinat is capable of sophisticated and unique sounds.

Features :

- "DJ" style three-band isolator EQ for band-killing effects.
- Three distortion engines, consisting of seven algorithms each (plus pass-through) that can operate per-band or in series. The included algorithms are Fuzz, Distortion, Saturation, Warp, Clip, Bit/Sample-Rate Reduction, and Ring Mod.
- Self-Resonating Four-pole lowpass filter.
- Compressor, configured for one-knob operation for ease of use.
- Full MIDI learn (VST version only) for hardware control of all parameters.

Kombinat is available now for Mac OS X and Windows in VST and AU formats for a fee of $49. Note that audio examples are also available.

PreSonus has announced that its new FireWire recording system : the FireStudio Tube.

Features :

- 24-bit/96K firewire (IEEE1394)
- 16 inputs/10 outputs simultaneous record/playback channels
- 2 SuperChannels (tube microphone/instrument preamplifier with analog limiter)
- 8 XMAX microphone preamplifiers
- 8 balanced TRS outputs
- MIDI Input/Output
- 16x10 FireControl DSP mixer/router
- JetPLL Sync for improved imaging and clarity
- High performance A/D/A converters (114 dynamic range)
- ProPak software suite included

The FireStudio Tube is available now for both Mac and PC at a list price of $899.95.