PC and Music News

In August, Toontrack has decided to offer great value savings on EZX expansion packs. We have two great offers. One for North America and one for Europe.

North American customers : Guitar Center 45th anniversary EZX saving !

To help celebrate their 45th anniversary, Guitar Center has partnered with Toontrack to bring you the biggest savings spectacular in drum software history ! For a limited time, go to any Guitar Center location and buy any EZX expansion pack for $45.00 !

Nomad Factory announces the release of the Blue Tubes Plug-Ins Suite, a suite of eighteen plug-ins processors that were until now only available as bundled version, the bundled plug-ins are now also available as individual processor for Mac and PC.

01 - BT BrickWall BW2S
02 - BT Compressor CP2S
03 - BT DeEsser DS2S
04 - BT Compressor FA770
05 - BT ExpanderGate GX622
06 - BT Limiter LM2S
07 - BT Analog Chorus CH2S
08 - BT Analog Phaser APH2S
09 - BT Oilcan Echo TLE2S
10 - BT Tempo Delay DL3D
11 - BT Stereo Imager ST2S
12 - BT ValveDriver ADR2S
13 - BT Equalizer BQ2S
14 - BT Equalizer BX2S
15 - BT Equalizer GEQ12
16 - BT Equalizer PEQ2B
17 - BT Equalizer PEQ5B
18 - BT Equalizer PEQ322

Blue Tubes Individual Plug-Ins lists for $89 each while Blue Tubes bundled versions are still available for purchase. More information can be found from the Nomad Factory web site :

Eloquence by Sugar Bytes is described as an extremely powerful and intuitive MIDI stepsequencer plug-in, giving you control over just about all aspects of your favorite MIDI devices. You can use Eloquence to create varied and organic bass lines, screaming leads, pulsating chords, and organic pad sounds in the studio or on stage.

For live musicians, Eloquence provides a versatile palette of performance options which can be triggered right from your MIDI keyboard: you can transpose, manipulate, twist up, mutate, and mangle your patterns without even getting near your computer.

Eloquence is a plugin which can be used with any major Windows or Mac VST or AU host.

Release Date: August 15, 2009. System Requirements: VST or AU compatible host software Win XP/Vista, MAC OS 10.5 and higher, 128 mb Ram, 1ghz CPU

Price: €99 / $129. Crossgrade Price for registered SonicBytes ERA users: €69 / $89.

Phazeform by Puremagnetik is a new Micropak for Ableton Live, Kontakt and Logic. It comes loaded with a captivating library of instruments and phrases based on Casio's classic Phase Distortion technology. Phazeform also contains a comprehensive sound set from the VL-Tone pocket synth/calculator guaranteed to pack your DAW with the sound of Casio synthesis.

Additionally, Phazeform includes a collection of looped phrases from the SK-1 and VL-Tone drum machines, giving Live, Logic and Kontakt users instant access to this unique collection of sounds.

Features :

• Complete palette of famous Casio Phase Distortion sounds
• Multi-sampled CZ library with advanced DAW integration
• A collection of expertly programmed clips
• Sound set of percussion menus
• Custom Kontakt KSP GUI and native Kontakt effects

Pricing : Basic Monthly Subscription: $5.75/Month Basic Yearly Subscription: $60/Year All Access Pass - $198/Year.

Antares has updated Auto-Tune Evo for Mac OS X to v6.0.8 and Windows to v6.0.9. These updates provide improved pitch detection accuracy of higher-pitched notes, as well as resolve a variety of issues in the various versions.

Changes :

• Improved pitch detection of higher-pitched notes.
• New installers and PACE software (version 5.8.10.3223) to fix installation and authorization issues, particularly in 64-bit Vista.
• Fixed a problem where Nudge Up or Down would sometimes result in horizontal movement as well.
• Fixed a problem with incorrect zoom range after tracking pitch in a long song.
• Fixed crashing bug occasionally seen when using drawing tools.
• Fixed crashing bug occasionally seen when using Undo button.
• Fixed problem of selection highlights vanishing when using the Scissor tool close to a line or curve endpoint.
• Added hours field to the clock display (when time passes the one-hour mark).
• Fixed a memory leak in the Scissor tool.

For the month of August, McDSP offers a great special, allowing all customers to purchase or upgrade to Chrome Tone HD/Native and Synthesizer One HD/Native at a discounted price.

Purchase Chrome Tone HD or Synthesizer One HD for $129 each, or purchase both for only $179. Purchase Chrome Tone Native or Synthesizer One Native for $79 each, or purchase both for only $129. All LE customers may upgrade Chrome Tone LE and Synthesizer One LE to Native for $49 each.

The McDSP HD product line supports TDM, RTAS and AudioSuite formats, and operates on Pro Tools HD, LE and M-Powered, and the McDSP Native product line supports RTAS and Audiosuite formats, and operate on Pro Tools HD, LE and M-Powered. Special available only via electronic delivery.