PC and Music News

Intel has announced at the l'IDF the consititution of a working group to work on the new USB 3.0. The bandwith should be around 5 Gbps instead of the actual 480 Mbps... so it would give a transfert rate of 625 Mo per second, not less than that ! Planned to allow energy savings, USB 3.0 will be compatible with USB 2.0 ports and should support an optical version .

First draft due to first semester 2008... FireWire is already shaking ;-)

Expert Sleepers has released the Windows version of Meringue (v2.0.2) which is a delay effect. Unlike most delays, the delay runs alternately forwards and backwards, rather than continually forwards, and the time between a note and its echo varies, depending on the location of the note in the delay buffer (unlike a normal delay, where the time between a note and its echo is constant). Meringue has a filter/saturation section for creatively treating the sound. The delay time and the filter LFO can be synced to the host application's tempo. The phase of the delay and the LFO can also be reset manually.

Meringue is available now as a VST plug-in for Windows and costs $19. Note that a demo version is also available.

SONiVOX announced the release of their Sonic Implants Symphonic Harp sample library for the Kontakt platform. Recorded in the same space as SONiVOX's Symphonic Collection, this sample library is a collection of sampled harp tones and glissandi that aims to capture this instrument's full depth of nuance, finesse, and lyrical expressiveness while providing serious performance flexibility and control. With gigabytes of sample data and a variety of programming features, Symphonic Harp affords users an expansive palette of color and texture while Kontakt2 scripting features make glissandi creation as simple as selecting a scale type and loading it for fast, easy, and effective sequencing.

The Sonic Implants Symphonic Harp sample library is available now and costs $259.

Korg Germany has announced the new pocketsize Kaoss called the Kaossilator (dynamic phrase synthesizer). It comes packed with 100 sound programs that combine Korg's modelling synthesizer engine with effects from the KAOSS Pad series. Its horizontal axis is assigned to note/pitch, while the vertical axis is assigned to parameters such as: cut-off, feedback, or modulation depth, giving you a wide range of performance possibilities. In addition to classic synthesizer sounds, there are faithfully simulated piano, guitar and trumpet sounds as well as looped and one-shot drum sounds.

The KAOSSILATOR offers you a choice of 31 different scales, including chromatic and diminished, as well as major and minor blues and pentatonic scales – by using the key setting function, you can play them in any ...

Audio Damage has announced the release of Liquid, an analog-style through-zero flanger. Unlike traditional flangers, which are just short delays with a bit of feedback, Liquid models the original flanging method, where two tape machines were used to create artificial double-tracking effects. Perfect for "stereo-izing" monophonic signals like voice and vintage analog synths, Liquid also provides more mind-bending flanging at higher feedback settings.

Features :

- True through-zero flanging.
- Perfect for "stereo-izing" analog synths, electric pianos, and other mono sources.
- Capable of extreme vintage-style flanging effects.
- Full MIDI learn on every parameter for hardware control (VST version only).

Liquid is now available for purchase in the Audio Damage store priced at $29.00 for Mac OS X Audio Units and VST, and Windows VST.

Cakewalk has announced the release of Sonar 7 Producer Edition and Sonar 7 Studio Edition.

Sonar 7 Producer Edition includes user customization for MIDI with Smart MIDI Tools, the introduction of a powerful Step Sequencer, true Linear Phase Mastering Plug-ins, internal sidechaining, delay compensation for external hardware through an External Insert plug-in, pitch to MIDI functionality with Roland V-Vocal 1.5, integrated CD burning, and numerous workflow and delivery enhancements throughout the application.

New Features for SONAR 7 Producer Edition :

* Integrated Step Sequencer view provides an innovative step sequencer feature set.
* Smart MIDI Tools—intuitively use one tool for multiple editing tasks; completely customizable.
* Real-time Drag-Quantize allows selected ...