PC and Music News

Circuit bending is a creative medium that combines technology, sonic artistry and creativity. By altering the internal circuitry of electronic devices such as keyboards, drum machines, and children's toys, circuit benders are able to produce new sounds not intended in the original design.

In celebration of this creative curiosity that fueled a young Bob Moog and all of those that follow in his footsteps, Moog is sponsoring its 4th annual circuit bending contest.

This year, Moog’s circuit bending contest is challenging entrants to take a battery powered device and circuit bend it into an instrument capable of creating new and unique sounds for a total budget of $70 or less.

Entrants will create and post videos on YouTube featuring their completed instruments and documenting the process of their creation. Moog will select three finalists and invite them to showcase their creations at Moogfest in April of 2014 where Moog’s judges and the general public will decide a winner of the contest.

Grand Prize: Moog Sub Phatty & Two Passes to Moogfest 2014
2nd Place: Moog Slim Phatty & Two Passes to Moogfest 2014
3rd Place: Moog Minitaur & Two Passes to Moogfest 2014.

But the MicroBrute Analog Synthesizer is actually anything but basic. For starters, just like its big brother, the OSCILLATOR that beats at its musical heart features SAW, TRIANGLE, and SQUARE waveforms that are all mixable to help shape the resulting sound without the limitations imposed by comparable contemporary and vintage synths alike. Additionally, the new Overtone oscillator generates additional harmonic content, ranging from one octave down to a fifth above the base OSCILLATOR pitch, while the Sub > Fifth control can continuously sweep spectrum. Moreover, Metalizer adds complex harmonics to the TRIANGLE waveform for creating harsh, harmonically-rich sounds, while Ultrasaw adds a lively and bright ensemble effect to the SAWTOOTH waveform — perfect for crafting sounds suited to dance anthems. And let’s not forget the all-important Pulse Width control for creating nasal-thin tones or rich square sounds. Simply speaking, never before has such a small, single-oscillator synth sounded so big!

Of course, filtering helps shape any analogue synth’s sound — be it big or small, and here the MicroBrute does not disappoint. Indeed, its distinctive-sounding Steiner-Parker FILTER plays a big part in helping give the MicroBrute a unique sound — again, just like its big brother. This filter design dates back to the Steiner-Parker Synthacon, an analogue monosynth built by the namesake Salt Lake City-based synth manufacturer between 1975 and 1979. Its HP (high-pass), BP (bandpass), and LP (lowpass) modes make for far more filtering flexibility than that found in synths many times the price! €329.00 EUR/$349.00 USD

The new Mac Pro features the latest Intel Xeon E5 processor, with up to 12 core processing power and a four channel memory controller providing up to 60GB/s of memory bandwidth, all on a single die.
And with 40 lanes of PCI Express gen 3 throughput, up to 30MB of L3 cache, and over 500 gigaflops at peak performance, you?'ll never be at a loss for speed.
Dual workstation class GPUs.

Every new Mac Pro comes standard with dual AMD FirePro workstation class GPUs, each with up to 6GB of dedicated VRAM and 2048 stream processors, providing up to 264GB/s of memory bandwidth and up to 3.5 teraflops. That?'s enough power to edit full resolution 4K video while simultaneously rendering effects in the background and still connect up to three 4K displays.
Price: $2,999.00 or$3,999.00

The ROBEN-3 is available in three model configurations that include Thunderbolt™ and native PCI Express host computer connection options.

It has the potential to house three-full length, full-height Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) cards. Additionally, three different ROBEN-3 models offer unique features for full customization. The ROBEN-3 basic model offers the potential of (2) 5.25-in drive bays, while the ROBEN-3 storage model offers (8) 2.5-inch hot swappable bays, and finally the ROBEN-3 Mac Mini version allows for a direct integration of an Apple Mac Mini, making it the most versatile Thunderbolt™ product ever offered by Magma.

Avid redefines mixing once again with the all-new S6 control surface.

Leveraging the best of the industry-leading ICON and System 5 product families in a revolutionary new modular design, S6 delivers superior ergonomics and intelligent studio control, providing an intuitive, immersive experience for the modern sound engineer.

And because it's built on proven technology, trusted by top audio professionals in the most demanding production environments, S6 delivers the performance you need to complete projects faster and deliver the best sounding mixes possible.

S6 is built to grow with you at every stage of your business—now and in the future. With a first-of-its-kind modular design, you can customize the surface with the modules you need to match your current workflow for the greatest cost efficiency, and scale the surface—horizontally and vertically—as your business grows. Choose a pre-configured S6 M10 or S6 M40 surface with the options you need or, with S6 M40, customize the surface even further with different channel control combinations.

Cloud Microphones resurrects the spirit of the classic RCA Type 44 ribbon mic with the Cloud 44-A active ribbon microphone ($1899 MAP).

Within the mic, the ribbon remains true to the original 44, handcrafted to the exact specifications first prescribed in the 1930s by RCA; however, everything else has been upgraded using state of the art materials, manufacturing processes and technology. Powered by Cloud’s award-winning ultra-clean Cloudlifter circuitry, the 44-A is an active ribbon mic with personality from the past plus all the robustness and clarity required for even the most demanding recording tasks.