PC and Music News

For the latest open beta release of MusicBeam, more beta testers are needed.

MusicBeam is an AU/VST plugin for online music collaboration. By using MusicBeam users can automatically exchange what they recorded in their sequencer and hear everyone elses tracks in sync to their own sequencer. No more bouncing, compressing and emailing your tracks to your bandmates ! MusicBeam does it all for you, in near-real-time.

Register as beta tester, download the latest version and help improving the software at :

Sound Technology, UK distributors of Propellerhead's Reason software, are offering a free laptop bag (worth £49) to anyone who buys Reason Premium Edition between the 1st and 31st March 2009.

How it works :

1. buy Reason Premium Edition from a retailer in the UK or Eire
2. print out a claim form and return to Sound Technology with a dated copy of your receipt
3. sit back and wait for your bag to arrive !

Solid State Logic unveils 2 new DAW profiles for their Matrix console. The Ableton Live and Propellerheads Reason Profiles are available now at :

Waves Audio announces the latest in its series of educational events, a tour featuring appearances by Tony Maserati, a GRAMMY® Award-winning, multi-platinum producer/engineer/mix engineer for countless R&B, hip-hop and pop hits. The tour, entitled "In the Multi-Platinum Mix with Tony Maserati," will offer an intimate face-to-face with Maserati, where he'll be sharing his studio techniques and approach to mixing. Throughout the spring, the tour will take Maserati and the Waves crew to several cities across North America, including an appearance at L.A.'s historic Village Recording Studios.

Over the course of his career, Tony Maserati has been behind the board for some of the biggest names in pop, hip-hop and R&B. With over 250 releases under his belt, he is widely regarded as a primary architect of the sounds associated with New York R&B production since the mid-90s. His resume is extensive: Beyoncé, Black Eyed Peas, Jason Mraz, Mary J. Blige, David Bowie, 2Pac, Britney Spears, John Legend and many more have all turned to Maserati for his magic touch. With the "In the Multi-Platinum Mix" tour and The Tony Maserati Collection of Waves plug-ins, users and attendees are given a fast track to Maserati's hit sound.

Together with Waves Product Specialists, Tony will demonstrate his use of Waves plug-ins, including The Tony Maserati Collection

Trinnov Audio has introduced Optimizer ST, a stereo loudspeaker processor featuring exclusive Trinnov digital room correction technology. This new loudspeaker processor can be used to optimize the monitor's behaviour in any room in order to achieve accurate sound reproduction, and consistent mixes from one room to another. Optimizer ST will be showcased at this year's Musikmesse in hall 5.1 stand D58.

Optimizer ST uses exactly the same "digital acoustics engine" that has established Trinnov's reputation as helping sound engineers to achieve translatable mixes in 5.1 control rooms and post-production theatres around europe. It combines automatic and manual room equalization with impulse response acoustic measurements and cutting-edge time-frequency analysis.

The Optimizer ST not only offers unique room EQ features such as target curves and automatic phase optimization. It includes all the functionality that you expect from a loudspeaker processor, such as delays, gains, crossovers and manual EQs (graphic and parametric)

For 2-way and 3-way systems the Optimizer's automatic crossover alignement functionality ensures unmatched sound performance while dramatically reducing the effort required to setup gains and delays on each way. The integrated Bass Management automatically adjusts delays on each satellite to ensure optimal overlapping with the subwoofer. Last but not least, a best-of-breed monitor controller can be built by connecting third party volume knobs and/or touch-screens to the Optimizer ST.

Technical specifications in brief :

- 2 balanced analog in/out via XLR + optional 4 balanced analog out via TRS jacks
- 2 AES/EBU in/out via XLR
- 2 ADAT in/out via toslink
- 2 SPDIF in/out via coaxial or optical
- 2 processing channels
- 96kHz, 64-bit floating point processing
- supports 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz and 96kHz sampling frequencies
- user interface is fully accessible from a connected monitor or from a VNC client (PC or Mac) through the network.
- silent 1.2U frame with external power supply.

Optimizer ST will start shipping on April 3, 2009 with a MRSP of €2950 ex VAT.

QuikQuak has updated all its plug-ins to fix VST-RTAS wrapper compatibility.

The updates include :

- Frozen interface fix for all six plug-ins (Mac & Win).
- Rayspace: Mono to stereo crash fix in Logic AU.
- Pitchwheel: Pointer reset on sequencer play.