PC and Music News

Lexicon introduces its PCM96 Surround Reverb/Effects Processor. The Surround version delivers 50 new and legendary Lexicon reverbs, delays and modulation effects, while at the same time offering more presets, configuration options and additional inputs and outputs. Designed for the modern studio, the PCM96 Surround can function as a control-only insert or FireWire streaming audio plug-in inside any Mac VST or Audio Units software.

Features :

• New Parallel Stereo and Surround configurations 

• Lexicon's new Surround Room algorithm, used to generate a vast array of room-related effects for music and post

• New pitch algorithms 

• 50 legendary Lexicon® reverbs, modulation, and delay effects

• Two models available :


. 6 XLR Stereo AES inputs and outputs

. Two DB25 6-channel analog I/O and one DB25 6-channel digital I/O 


• "Hardware Plug-In" feature with Mac VST® or Audio Units software

• Seamless automation and control via Ethernet or FireWire

• Over 2200 factory presets, including recognizable classics from Lexicon's immense library of sounds 

• External BNC Wordclock input

• Multiple sample rates: 44.1, 48, 88.2, and 96 kHz

• 32-bit floating point processing

• MIDI in, out, and thru

• 768 user presets

• Large front panel OLED display

• Compact Flash preset storage

• HiQnet compatible

Pettinhouse has released DirecBass 2.0 FREE, one of the 4 patches included in DirectBass 2.0 full for Kontakt 2 or 3.

DirecBass 2.0 FREE is a reduced version of the Mid+Neck Patch 16Bit 44Khz with one articulation ( Hammer-ons ). It has the same features of the full version .

Key Features :

• Low notes B-C-D
• 24bit 96Khz,
• Direct recorded for amp simulators,
• Full sustain,
• Natural decay (no loops),
• 5 velocity layers,
• Round robin for alternate picking

DirectBass 2.0 FREE is available now as a free download.

Prosoniq has just published a FAQ page with more information about their upcoming new product sonicWORX Pro.

sonicWORX Pro seems to be a quite amazing tools. It uses the latest advances in Digital Signal Processing to access your audio material in a totally new way allowing you to view and edit audio at an unprecedented resolution. Working in tandem with intelligent pattern detection used for signal separation and realtime mouse-over preview Prosonic's time-frequency transform technology helps to quickly identify, select and isolate interesting features in a mix, such as individual notes, instruments and voice. This versatile tool allows both micro-editing as well as easy suppressing, extracting or processing instruments within a mix for remixing, mastering or restoration.

sonicWORX Pro will be available in July 2009 with a price of $1849 / €1690.

FabFilter has just released updates for the FabFilter One synthesizer (v3.10) and the Simplon filter (v1.10) plug-ins, bringing them up to date with VST 3 support and various improvements.

On top of that FabFilter has also announced a special FabFilter One
anniversary sale because it was first released five years ago. Until Friday you can pick up a copy of FabFilter One for the special celebration price of just €5 !

For more information, please visit their website.

Audio Ease has just released the second version of their end-all speaker simulator Speakerphone.

In the 17 months after Speakerphone's release it has quickly become a household name in audio post production and also in many music studios. Speakerphone version 2 has a new cleaner look, new features, many newly sampled guitar amp cabinets, antique phones, toys, answering machines and megaphones.

Speakerphone will give you all the walkie-talkies, distant transistor radios, upstairs TV sets, bullhorns, cell phones and guitar cabinets you'll ever need, plus 5 gigabyte of ambiences and sound FX to provide some context.

Added is a microphone simulation module that hosts microphones ranging from Royers to toy mics. And also among the new modules in Speakerphone 2 is one that's called 'Coverup'. Coverup can place any sound inside tin cans, cardboard boxes, under blankets or in the closed trunk of a car. Speakerphone 2 adds presets that switch via automation, an extensive LFO and envelope following section for controlling virtually all parameters of Speakerphone, and a Leslie speaker module.

So if you want to see and hear for yourself what's new (or if you just want to hear Arjen lock Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor in the trunk of a Volvo parked on a moonlit business park) do check out the what's new movie or take the complete guided tour.

Available for both Mac and PC in VST, RTAS, AU and Mas formats, Speakerphone 2's upgrade costs $149 / €119, but free upgrades are available to anyone that purchased Speakerphone or the All In Bundle in 2009. New customers can buy Speakerphone 2 at a price of $609 / €470.

Nexus by reFX is now available in 2.1 version.

Changes in v2.1 :

• New insert FX: Ringmod.
• All Delay-FX now follow the tempo without artifacts.
• Chorus-, Flanger- and Ensemble-FX parameter changes don't introduce artifacts.
• The FFT display is now more precise.
• Memory optimizations. Nexus now uses less memory than before.
• Added new internal features for the new expansions.
• OSX: Made Nexus more compatible with Time Machine.

reFX has also announced the release of two new expansions :

• Vocoder Expansion [€69.99 / $79.99]
128 vocoder / choir / vocal sounds for Nexus2. Typical Daft Punk basses, Kanye West Vocoder, Loveparade Vocoder Beats, Hollywood choirs of high quality and many funky vocals.

• NuElectro Expansion [€69.99 / $79.99]
Kraftwerk goes 2009... The NuElectro artist 'Rauschwerk' presents 160 presets that show you what is needed for true Electro music: warm basses, deep 808-like eDrumkits, spheric pads and textures, beeeps & boongs. Sampled from cult-synths of the Electro-era, this is an all-in-one package for the NuElectro style.