PC and Music News

Cartec is a new British company that has stepped up to fight in the 'clone wars' with their version of the classic Pultec EQ. After a conversation at Olympic studios in London regarding their Pultecs and the noise/maintenance issues Liam Carter set out to build a no compromise alternative.

The Cartec EQP-1A features :

• All valve gain stage and valve power rectification
• Transformer balanced input and output (authentic hand-wound British Sowter models)
• Point-to-point wiring (no circuit boards inside) and hand assembled in England
• Sealed switches and control pots (military grade Grayhill and PEC models respectively)
• JJ ECC83s, ECC82 and United Electronic CV4005 rectifier valves
• 150mm deep aluminium chassis/engraved aluminium faceplate
• Custom made knobs by Davies molding (Manufacturer of the original Pultec knobs)

The Cartec EQP-1A is priced at £1955.

Sennheiser is closing down Klein + Hummel.

According to a dutch website (cf. link below) most employes will be kept and their famous Studio Monitors will be released under the Neumann brand which is also own by Sennheiser.

SPL announces a plug-in version of its Stereo Vitalizer MK2-T hardware unit.

The Stereo Vitalizer MK2-T is an equaliser concept which makes use of scientific psychoacoustic technology to process audio signals. The Vitalizer-technology has been constantly improved over the past nine years since its invention by SPL's Wolfgang Neumann and Hermann Gier. The plug-in version is modeled after Hermann's (SPL CEO), original privately owned hardware unit.

The Vitalizer MK2-T plug-in will be available on December 7, 2009 for Windows and Mac OS X in VST, AU, RTAS and TDM plug-in formats. The native version will cost €239 Net (€285 incl. VAT where applicable). The TDM version will cost €385 Net (€459 incl. VAT where applicable). An introductory discount of 25% will be offered for the first month of release.

More details will soon be available at :

Square State Solid State launches the Equalizer model one b, an affordable hardware EQ. Here is what they say about it :

"Combining inductor-based topology with a modern, high-speed op amp design, the Equalizer model one b is unrivaled at its price. Boasting an intuitive, logical layout and the ability to connect to most any line level source (balanced, unbalanced, mixer inserts, etc.), the model one b promises great sounds and tones in any application — making it a valuable tool for tracking, mixing or live sound.

The Equalizer model one b's low, mid, and high bands offer a substantial amount of cut/boost (nearly 20 dB) at useful frequencies (six per band), while still behaving musically when pushed to extremes — a revered characteristic of classic inductor-based equalizers. Furthermore, the switchable low and high frequency bands offer bell and shelf shapes for maximum versatility. And all of this functionality is wrapped up in a sturdy, all-metal rack-mountable chassis with a simple, yet elegant appearance."

The Equalizer model one b is available now at a price of $499.

For more details, please visit :

Best Service has announced the release of Gladiator 2 Complete.

Gladiator 2 Complete is a boxed-version of Tone2's Gladiator 2 synth which includes the Electronic Expansion. For the record, Gladiator 2 is a virtual synthesizer based on the concept of Advanced Harmonic Content Morphing (HCM) Synthesis. It supports an extensive list of synthesis types : Harmonic Content Morphing (HCM3), Frequency Modulation (FM), Amplitude Modulation (AM), Phase Distortion (PD), Pulse Width Modulation (PWM), Phase Modulation (PM), oscillator sync, wave shaping, supersaw, resynthesis sounds, vocoding, additive and sample playback modes.

Available as VST and AU instrument plug-ins on Windows and Mac OS X, Gladiator 2 Complete costs €198. Note that audio demos are available at :

Celemony is proud to announce that Melodyne editor will be on sale in stores worldwide from Monday November 16th, 2009 . Melodyne editor is the first Celemony product to feature the company's pioneering DNA Direct Note Access technology allowing access to individual notes in polyphonic audio material.

The recommended resale price of Melodyne editor is $349/€349. Coincident with the launch of Melodyne editor, Celemony is presenting its new product line, comprising Melodyne studio bundle, Melodyne editor, Melodyne assistant and Melodyne essential RTAS.