PC and Music News

G-Sonique Digital Instruments has released Alien303, a new VST instrument for Windows that is primarily aimed at creating "psytrance" basslines easily. Even though Alien 303 is based on the 303 concept it offers many more features. Its sound spectrum and possibilities are different from the other solutions. Alien 303 delivers sharp, digital and tough sounds.

Features :

- 10 digital and virtual analog oscillators (An.Saw, D.Saw, Saw HB, Saw DB, VNT Saw, An.Ramp, D.Ramp, D.Square, Square, Pulse).
- Vintage virtual analog filter with resonance, sharp and organic sound.
- Unison/chorus effect.
- Non-linear saturation unit.
- PingPong stereo delay.
- Amp/filter envelope.
- Portamento.

Alien303 costs €16 but is available for the introductory price of €9.90 for the first 100 customers. A demo version is available.

Nady Systems recently announced the introduction of their new condenser microphone, the USB-1C. Using the supplied USB cable, the mic connects directly to any computer with a USB 2.0 (or higher) input port for easy plug-and-play operation.

Features :

- large pressure-gradient condenser gold-sputtered diaphragm and FET preamplifiers
- full frequency response
- minimal self-noise, increased dynamic range, and maximum SPL capacity
- rugged compact construction with protective mesh grill and internal shock absorption
- basemount mic holder fits any standard mic stand
- 10' USB cable included

Nucleus SoundLab is proud to announce the release of DataBank Two. DataBank Two is the next installment in the popular line of Native Instruments Massive presets by Nucleus SoundLab.

Designed by Jeremy Janzen, DataBank Two was created over the course of 6 months—using the lessons and experience gained in the production of DataBank One. These presets take into account customer feedback to provide another unique, useable and flexible set of sounds. The resulting presets are unsurprisingly even better than the first product. Psychedelic leads, round sub-basses, future pads and of course mindbending multitrack sequences are all present and accounted for. Every one of the 100 included presets is fully Kore-ready with all 8 Macro Knobs mapped to appropriate, useful parameters. Often Knobs control multiple related parameters to trigger powerful morphs across many different sonic dimensions. Of course, the presets also fully conform to Kore categorization as well.

Not only that, but DataBank Two carries on its predecessor's utility as a sound design tutorial: DataBank Two is isn't just a patchset—but a Massive programming masterclass! Virtually all presets include valuable programming notes to help you better understand the presets and Massive itself.

DataBank Two is available now for electronic distribution at the low price of 29.95 EUR. A demo bank is available for free download.

AudioWarrior has released "The Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Organ" instrument collection for Kontakt. This 3 instrument collection includes the legendary Wurly Theatre Organ considered by some as the first live performance sampler instrument with built in sound effects like sleigh bells, drum roll, church chimes, and real traps [drums] inside the actual body along with tuned-pipe simulated violin, tuba, voices, oboe, cello, etc. "The Mighty Wurlitzer" theatre organ was designed, originally by Robert Hope-Jones, as a "one man orchestra" to accompany silent movies. In all, Wurlitzer built over 2,200 pipe organs.

The Music Hall instrument is actually a concert instrument, capable of playing classical as well as non-classical repertoire. It was the only Wurlitzer installation still in use that has dual identical, but independent consoles. Smaller instruments in the UK exist in their original installations, such as the Gaumont State Cinema, Kilburn and the Blackpool Tower Ballroom in the UK. These instruments are still being played several times a week. The B3 organ uses an AudioWarrior secret sampling/sweetening formula that "brings out the rich swirling harmonic resonance characteristics of this fantastic band instrument". The Church Organ uses the same formulas as above to bring out the huge cave-like reverb and pipe attack of a massive Notre Dame style Cathedral Pipe Organ.

Requires Kontakt 2 or higher. Mac OS X/Windows XP/Vista.
Price: $49

BTE Audio has extended its line of Equalization Algorithms with the AEQ3, a high performance digital equalization algorithm that simulates the sound and feel of the world-renowned American Mixing Consoles of the late 1960s. With its proprietary topology, the AEQ3 algorithm simultaneously achieves both absolute sonic accuracy and extremely high processing efficiency. Targeted at desktop and embedded professional audio applications, the AEQ3 algorithm will enable quality-conscious third-parties to incorporate the highly revered American EQ sound into their products.

The M-16DX is a breakthrough all-digital mixer and audio interface. Unlike analog mixers, the 24-bit/96kHz M-16DX offers powerful features such as high-resolution EQ, scene memories, and EDIROL's Room Acoustic Control. Roland has released version 2 software for the M-16DX.

The free v2 software includes Cakewalk SONAR and Apple Logic modes that enable these powerful DAWs to be controlled out of the box with the knobs on the hardware assigning to their equivalent software controllers, all at the touch of a button. In Logic, for example, the hardware M-16DX appears in the software's list of compatible controllers and the equivalent controls are tied together automatically once it's selected. The new v2 software can, of course, be used to control all other software that has a MIDI learn fac ...