PC and Music News

The latest addition to Roland's KC-Series keyboard amplifier lineup, the KC-110 Stereo Keyboard Amplifier is now shipping. It combines two industry firsts for a portable keyboard amp—AA battery-powered operation and true stereo sound—with a host of additional features that make it flexible for a variety of performance applications.

The KC-110 features 30 watts of stereo power driving two 6.5" woofers and two tweeters. Most modern keyboards feature stereo sound output, and the KC-110 enables musicians to experience the full, rich stereo sound of their instruments while using a small amp. Power can be supplied with eight AA batteries (including NiMH rechargeable types) or AC power, and there's even a removable battery case for quick and easy battery replacement.

Featuring a multi-channel mixer with a Mic/Line input, two stereo inputs, and two AUX inputs for connecting devices such as MP3 or CD players, this versatile amplifier is suitable for compact PA applications as well as keyboards. High-quality stereo digital effects are also built in, allowing performers to sweeten their sound with reverb, chorus, or a special "wide" chorus effect.

The KC-110 is now shipping with a suggested retail price of $469.00.

Synapse Audio has released a major upgrade to its virtual synth Poly-850, now named X-Poly.

Features / Changes:

• Full Stereo engine.
• Panorama knob for both oscillators.
• Dual Voice mode for thicker patches.
• Enhanced interface.
• Stereo Noise generator, providing more spacious sounds.
• Release stages are now semi-log as opposed to linear (sounds better).
• Zero CPU usage when idle.
• Chorus section now provides feedback and modulation depth controls.
• Maximum polyphony upgraded to 20 voices.
• Semi-transparent readouts for all knobs.
• Additional presets added.
• LFO Rate range extended.
• Amplitude responds to velocity.
• Bug fixes - Multiple instances on multiple cores now work properly.
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MXL Microphones is about to unveil the new Revelation Variable Pattern Tube Microphone at Musikmesse in Frankfurt, Germany March 24-27, booth B47, hall 5.1.

The Revelation is a studio mic weighing in at over two pounds. An EF86 tube is designed to deliver "warm, transparent sound while its tuned grill cavity reduces standing waves and harmonic distortion".

Polar pattern selection is virtually limitless thanks to the variable knob located on the Revelation power supply that allows users to alter the polar pickup pattern from omni-directional to figure 8, and everything in between.

Other features include a -10 dB pad for high SPL sources and a bass roll-off switch to help reduce proximity effect.

The Revelation includes an aluminum flight case, 15ft 7-pin Mogami cable, 15ft XLR Mogami microphone cable, Revelation power supply, shockmount, and micro-fiber cleaning cloth.

Pricing: $1,495

112dB has updated its near-field monitor simulation for headphones, Redline Monitor, to version 1.0.4. This maintenance release applies to both the retail and the trial version.

Changes :

• Dim attenuation selectable from -3dB to -12dB to prevent clipping.
• Dim attenuation disabled when the plug-in is bypassed.
• Fixed - Option to disable tooltips wasn't remembered after closing the plug-in.
• Fixed - The plug-in caused a +6dB level increase on OS X.
• Fixed - The installer mistakenly warned about Windows 7 not being supported.

This update is free for all registered users.

SPAN is a freeware real-time "fast Fourier transform" audio spectrum analyzer plug-in. For the most part it was derived from Voxengo GlissEQ dynamic parametric equalizer and reproduces its spectrum analysis functionality.

New features :

• Multi-channel analysis
• Mid/side analysis
• Correlation meter
• Multi-platform support
• Undo/redo
• Preset manager
• User interface coloration
• User interface re-scaling
• Plug-in instance naming

SPAN v2.0 is available now for Mac (AU, VST) and Windows (VST).

Starlight is Applied Acoustics Systems' third sound bank title for Ultra Analog VA-1 and lands with sounds "collected at the confine of the galaxy". Its 149 presets scatter across ambient, arpeggiator, arpeggiator bass, chime, effect, keys, lead, rhythm, and synthesizer categories, and breach into outer space for an impregnable intergalactic landscape. Whether you want to teleport your music into another dimension or simply leave for an orbital spaceflight, Starlight is your ideal shuttle.

The Starlight sound bank for Ultra Analog VA-1 is available now at $39.

Additionnally, until April 1st, 2010, Ultra Analog VA-1 is at $179 instead of $229 and includes the Starlight sound bank.

Ultra Analog VA-1 runs on both Mac OS X and Windows as a standalone application as well as in host sequencers supporting the VST, Audio Unit, and RTAS plug-in formats.