Producer Loops Releases Future Pop Vol 3

5 construction kits created by Simon Rudd of The Fliptones

Producer Loops' Future Pop Vol 3 is the third volume in the series of construction kits created and produced exclusively for Producer Loops by Simon Rudd of The Fliptones.

A spokesperson told us, "Within each of the five Construction Kits you'll find deep basslines, pounding drums and breathtaking sidechained pads all topped off with scatterings of dizzying FX, euphoric keys and powerful leads. Future Pop Vol 3 combines all of this with accessible radio & dancefloor-ready progressions designed to inspire and fuel your creativity."

Technical Specifications:

• 24-Bit/44.1kHz Audio
• 5 Distinct Construction Kits
• 400 MB of uncompressed content
• One-Shot, FX Tail, Dry loops
• MIDI included
• ACID WAV, Apple Loops, REX and ReFill formats

Pricing and Availability:
Future Pop Vol 3 is available for instant download for £24.95 / 29,05 EUR / $32.81 USD.

More information:
www.producerloops.com

8 Guitar Drive Pedals In One Plug-In Package

Audiffex introduces Multi Drive Pedal

Audiffex has announced the first product of its new plug-in series, the Guitar Line. Multi Drive Pedalfeatures a selection of eight well-known drive pedals. The company tells us that, unlike the original Audiffex Pedals, all new algorithms exactly model real hardware and take every part of the original schematic into consideration.

Multi Drive Pedal includes versions of all common plug-in formats, both for 32 and 64-bit systems.

Pricing and Availability:
Multi Drive Pedal is available for $19
Customers who purchased or will purchase Audiffex ampLion or Audiffex GK Amplification Pro from 1 March 2012 until 1 March 2013 will receive the Multi Drive Pedal for free.

More information:
www.audiffex.com/EN/guitar-line.html

WNAMM13: M-Audio Axiom Air and Ignite

Interesting DAW concept integrates with new M-Audio keyboards

Winter NAMM 2013 - M-Audio

M-Audio Ignite is an interesting new DAW concept, designed for working with snippets of ideas and developing them in a sketchpad like manner. Here it is demonstrated with the new Axiom Air 61 controller.

Here's the way they describe it
New musician-centric workflow > Quickly capture, combine, and arrange musical ideas
Included software provides 275+ AIR Instrument sounds > Superior sounds offer professional results
M-Audio® keyboard integration > Instant parameter mapping with onscreen display
Enhance your ideas easily > Add chord patterns, drum grooves, and melodic phrases
Simple sharing via online social sites > Collaborate, share, and post your latest works

M-Audio Ignite is a free download for owners of M-Audio Keystation, Axiom, Oxygen and Venom.

More Information
Download Ignite

28 Loop Libraries Bundled

Nine Volt Audio announces The Ultimate REX & RMX 30,000

Nine Volt Audio has announced The Ultimate REX & RMX 30,000, a collection of 28 loop libraries covering pop, hard rock, cinematic, electronic, world, heavy metal, funk, soul and blues music. They say that, with over 30,000 loops at a $2400 value, The Ultimate REX & RMX 30,000 combines award-winning libraries with a deeply discounted price.

Nine Volt Audio told us, "Nine Volt Audio loops have been featured in major motion pictures, top-charting hits, video games and can be heard regularly on countless television shows and ad campaigns. Nine Volt Audio sounds have also been licensed for inclusion in several top-flight music software programs.
The libraries are musically and sonically compelling, flexible and well organized. Whether leading a track with rhythmic or melodic direction or taking a supporting role in an existing piece, hobbyists and professionals alike find the libraries inspiring, practical and easy-to-use. And with every library a part of the BPM Flex Series™, all loops can be used at an unusually wide range of tempos."

Nine Volt Audio is currently holding a drawing for a free copy of the The Ultimate REX & RMX 30,000 at www.facebook.com/ninevoltaudio. All entrants will also receive early purchase notifications and limited-time guaranteed purchase options.

The Ultimate REX & RMX 30,000 includes the following titles: Beat Bandit ($79.99), Stylin Basslines ($79.99), Best of Electronic Guitars ($29.99), Textural Rex ($79.99), Action Drums Breakbeat Edition ($99.99), Action Drums 100 ($14.99), Funky Rex Guitars ($79.99), Big Bad Guitars ($99.99), Big Bad Guitars Direct ($99.99), Melodic Rex ($99.99), Chroma Rex: Electronic Edition, Action Drums: Taiko Edition ($99.99), Textured Guitars ($99.99), Chroma Rex: Textured Guitar Edition ($19.99), Action Drums Cinematic Edition ($99.99), Big Bad Bass Guitar ($99.99), Pop Rock Guitars ($99.99), Pop Rock Guitars Direct ($99.99), Metal Guitar: Amped & Distorted ($109.99), Metal Guitar: Clean & Direct ($109.99), Organ Explosion ($99.99), Shimmer & Shake ($69.99), The Beat Aesthetic ($99.99), The Beat Aesthetic: Taiko Edition ($99.99), Big Bad Guitars V2 ($99.99), Big Bad Guitars V2 Direct ($99.99), Big Bad Bass Guitar V2 ($99.99) and Big Bad Bass Guitar V2 Direct ($99.99).

Pricing and Availability:
The Ultimate REX & RMX 30,000 will be available in February. Price: TBD.

More information:
www.NineVoltAudio.com

New Amp For Your Passive Monitors

Lindell Audio introduces the AMPX

Studios all around the world still rely on classical passive monitors like NS-10, Proac, ATC and PMC where the power amplifier is crucial to get a clean uncolored and precise sound. Lindell Audio tells us that they have developed the AMPX to be the new studio workhorse where you get a high resolution, high headroom, accurate, easy to mix sound at on affordable price.

Highlights:

• Dual Mono Design With Completely Seperated Power Supplies
• SANKEN 2SA1695/2SC4468 High-Power Transistors
• Frequency Response 10Hz-100KHz (±1.5dB)
• S/N Ratio >100dB
• 40 Watts Class
• Balanced Input and Thru
• Dual Output Power VU Meters
• 2 m.m Thick Gold Plated Pc Boards

Pricing and Availability:
$1599
In Stores- April

More information:
AMPX

Guitars For Kronos

Kid Nepro releases Volume 6

Kid Nepro has announced the release of Volume 6 "Electric Guitars" for Korg Kronos. He told us, "An amazing assortment of fully KARMA-fied Guitar Programs & Combis that will rock your Kronos like it's 2099!"Here's the details in his own words...

• 32 New Programs
• 24 New Combis
• 16 New Guitar Loops
• 120 Megs
• New Samples

The new sound library includes a wide assortment of the best Electric Guitar samples from Kid Nepro programmer and guitar player John Mcshane. Everything from John's 1957 vintage guitar to his brand new custom electric, these new sounds will have you jamming all day and night. Sounds include clean guitars and harmonics for that light rock or funk track that you've been working on, or full blown distorted or overdrive power leads and feedback that are perfect for hard rock or metal tracks.

Also included are 16 ultra cool guitar loops that Kid Nepro has time sliced and set up in the Kronos drum track as new "user patterns". The loops are then synced to the KARMA drum and bass parts along with more guitars to give you a typical rock band set up. As far as we know, Kid Nepro is the first sound company to do anything like this for Kronos. Check out the audio demos and hear for yourself. This set rocks!

Pricing and Availability:
$69 USD.

More information:
Volume 6 "Electric Guitars"

Native Instruments Savings

KOMPLETELY IRRESISTIBLE sales special launched

Native Instruments today launched a time-limited sales special, offering customers the chance to pick upKOMPLETE 8 and KOMPLETE 8 ULTIMATE at considerable savings for the next two months. Here's the details that they have sent...

Customers choosing the KOMPLETE 8 package, which features 27 KOMPLETE Instruments and Effects, will save $160 / 100 EUR on the standard price – down to $399 / 399 EUR from $559 / 499 EUR. The KOMPLETE 8 ULTIMATE bundle, which comes with 50 Instruments and Effects, will be available for $699 / 699 EUR instead of $1099 / 999 EUR – a saving of $400 / 300 EUR.

The KOMPLETELY IRRESISTIBLE sales special will run until midnight (CET) on March 26, 2013, with the deal available at participating retailers and the NI Online Shop – while stocks last.

KOMPLETE 8 ULTIMATE contains 50 products and over 240 GB of sound – the entire range of KOMPLETE Instruments and Effects (at the time of release) on an external hard drive. In addition to the products in KOMPLETE 8, it also contains RAZOR, SESSION STRINGS PRO, SCARBEE FUNK GUITARIST, VINTAGE COMPRESSORS and many more.

Pricing and Availability:
KOMPLETE 8 will be available for $399 / 399 EUR. KOMPLETE 8 ULTIMATE will be available for $699 / 699 EUR.
Offer is valid at retailers and via the NI Online Shop until March 26, 2013, and while stocks last.

More information:
www.native-instruments.com/kompletelyirresistible

Cubasis Updated

Version 1.1 adds Audiobus compatibility to iOS sequencer app

Steinberg has announced the release of the first free update for their Cubasis sequencer app for iOS.

Carlos Mendoza Rohde, product marketing manager at Steinberg, told Sonic State, "Cubasis 1.1 takes full advantage of the many music apps supporting Audiobus, resulting in a flexible and more powerful DAW for your iPad than before."

Audiobus allows multiple iOS apps to integrate seamlessly with Cubasis for audio input and processing in a single project.

Sebastian Dittmann from Audiobus, said, "Cubasis now boasts one of the best implementations of Audiobus known to me."

Cubasis is compatible with iPad 2 (48 voices), iPad 3 (64 voices), iPad 4 (64 voices) and iPad mini (48 voices) running iOS 6. Cubase versions compatible with Cubasis are Cubase 7, Cubase 6.5, Cubase Artist 7, Cubase Artist 6.5, Cubase Elements 6, Cubase LE 6 and Cubase AI 6. Installing the Cubase project import extension is a requirement.

Features at a glance

• Unlimited audio and MIDI tracks (depending on the device used)
• Over 70 virtual instrument sounds based on HALion Sonic
• Mixer with over 10 effect processors (insert and send effects)
• Over 300 MIDI and audio loops
• Virtual keyboard and virtual drum pads
• Sample Editor and Key Editor
• Export to Cubase, Dropbox, SoundCloud, AudioCopy and email
• Core Audio and Core MIDI compatible hardware supported
• Sequence other Core MIDI apps (MIDI recording only) and run Cubasis simultaneously via background audio
• Import audio from your iTunes music library or using iTunes file sharing, use AudioPaste or set up a Wi-Fi server in Cubasis 
• Audio mixdown and MIDI export 
• Audiobus support

Pricing and Availability:
Cubasis is available as download through the App Store. The price is 44.99 euros including German VAT.

More information:
Steinberg

WNAMM13: RME Update Firmware For UCX and Babyface

iPad Class Compliant means 18 IO on iOS 6 31/01/13

Winter NAMM 2013 - RME

RME have announced new firmware for their UCX interface which means it can deliver 18 IO for iPad under iOS6.

Also announced was new Firmware for the Babyface, again allowing iOS compatibility which will be of interest to DJs who can run master and cue outputs from the Babyface. They also showed a nifty USB splitter which allows you to power the Babyface - the ipad doesn't have the juice to run it bus powered.

More Information
RME-Audio.de

WNAMM13: Intellijel Modules

Korgasmatron and more

Winter NAMM 2013 - Intellijel

Intellijel are a relatively new Eurorack synth module manufacturer. They showed us a few of their latest modules:

Korgasmatron II - Filter module

Azimuth II - Panning module

Planar - Vector Mixer/Quad Panner

More Information
Intellijell.com

WNAMM13: DSP Quattro V4.0 Audio Editor

Advanced 2 track editor and mastering

Winter NAMM 2013 - DSP Quattro

DSP Quattro is a Mac based 2 track editor and mastering software package. Version 4 has now added audio restoration for declicking and de-noising your audio.

It is also possible to apply multiple plugin processing on a per track or per session basis. There's also a powerful batch processing engine, which makes it ideal for repetitive tasks such as sample preparation.

Available now at $99 or if you are a Bias Peak user - you can crossgrade for $50

More Information
dsp-quattro.com

WNAMM13: iZotope Insight Metering

Fully featured metering package

Winter NAMM 2013 - iZotope Insight

Lots of cool features for monitoring level and frequencies, with a particularly neat feature called meter taps - you can build a spectra-graph one channel at a time - very useful for identifying a problematic channel or instrument

Key Features

• Immediately detect potential mix problems through real-time visual monitoring and color-coded alerts.
• Ensure audio is fully compliant with current loudness standards with forward-thinking tools that adhere to standards like BS.1770-1/2/3, then document adherence with an exportable log or graph.
• Perform deep and flexible analysis with zoomable meters and the ability to route audio from any tracks or buses to Insight.
• Design your ideal metering view by choosing the meters you want to see, customizing them, and resizing the Insight window to fit your current workflow.
• Get an extensive suite of metering tools in a single plug-in, including True Peak Meters, Loudness Meters, Loudness History Graph, Stereo Vectorscope, Surround Scope, 2D/3D Spectrogram, and Spectrum Analyzer.

Pricing and Availability
Insight is available for a special price of $399 through November 29, 2012 (Regular MSRP: $499 USD, €449 EUR) or for free to Ozone 5 Advanced Customers. Ozone 5 Standard customers can upgrade to Ozone 5 Advanced for a special price of $399 through November 29, 2012 and receive Insight for free. Customers who already own Ozone 5 Advanced will be notified via email with details to install Insight for free.

More information:
Insight

Tracktion Back on Track With V4.0

Mackie sells to original developer

Mackie's Tracktion DAW was seen by many as a perfect DAW - our friends over at Musotalk.de reckon it has the best sounding mix engine of all the DAWs. But Mackie have let Tracktion wallow in the doldrums, with very few updates and little or no ongoing development.

I bumped into a former Mackie employee at NAMM who told us that together with original developer Julian 'Jules' Storer and another former Mackoid - Dave Christenson as Tracktion Software Corporation he'd just purchased Tracktion from Mackie and are ramping up to get it back on course independently.

Version 4.0 has been released, which is a cleaned up and optimised version of the last version of Tracktion. I was also told that a Linux version is planned for the future.

According to the Mackie's press release:

"We are proud to announce not only the acquisition of Tracktion Music Production Software, but that Tracktion 4 is available immediately," remarked James Woodburn of Tracktion Software Corporation. "New and existing users can download the powerful new software today and start working on their next project."

Tracktion 4 will be made available via the Tracktion website (www.tracktion.com) during the 2013 NAMM show. This latest version builds on the popular features of Tracktion 3, however, with a significant upgrade. The Tracktion engine has been completely re-written such that it is now fully optimized for the very latest operating systems – both Mac and PC – along with 64-bit processing, WMA, AU and WASAPI support. This allows Tracktion to run extremely efficiently on a wide range of computers – allowing the user to get the very best performance from their system – a big plus given that Tracktion is a completely unlimited application.

More Information
Tracktion.com

WNAMM13: Waves Introduces IR-Live Convolution Reverb

Convolution reverb for live sound

Waves has introduced the new IR-Live Convolution Reverb, customized for live sound use. A spokesperson told us, "With IR-Live, FOH/live sound engineers now have virtual access to the magic of convolution-based reverb."

Here's the rest of what Waves has to say...

Like its predecessor, the acclaimed IR1, the IR-Live is convolution-based, using sound samples called "impulse responses" (or IRs for short.) Featuring a simple and intuitive interface, IR-Live is compatible with Waves MultiRack Native and SoundGrid® platforms, as well as all of IR1's acclaimed impulse responses, including those of world famous venues such as Wembley Stadium, CBGB's and the Grand Ole Opry. In addition, IR-Live includes samples of the world's best-sounding hardware reverb units.

Pricing and Availability:
Waves' IR-Live Convolution Reverb is now available with a U.S. MSRP of $250.00 and a special introductory price of $99.00

More information:
Waves

WNAMM13: A Solution For Standing Waves And Flutter Echo

Auralex introduces Studiofoam T Acoustic Absorption Panels

Auralex Acoustics has introduced its new Studiofoam T. Here's what they have to say about it...

Auralex's latest Studiofoam profile, Studiofoam T provides the absorption performance that Studiofoam is famous for with a more contemporary look. Studiofoam T eliminates standing waves and flutter echo while reducing unwanted reflections. The unique 2" profile is available in a 2' x 2' or 2' x 4' format and can be mixed with other Auralex Studiofoam profiles, making possible a wide variety of aesthetic designs.

The new panels' unique design features a repeating T profile pattern, making them appropriate for a variety of professional and residential applications. The panels are available in three popular colors and are made from Auralex's long-lasting, melamine-free formula, which won't crumble with age. The Auralex Studiofoam T was developed out of Auralex's clients' desire to have a price-conscious Studiofoam solution with a completely unique and modern aesthetic. This upscale design offers increased low-frequency absorption and a tasteful, seamless appearance.

Features:

• Eliminates standing waves and flutter echo
• Reduces unwanted reflections
• Decreases slap-back and room ring
• Tames full-frequency bandwidth
• Available colors: charcoal, burgundy & purple
• Unique aesthetic at home in residential settings
• Easy installation using Foamtak™ spray adhesive, Tubetak Pro™ liquid adhesive or E-Z Stick Pro™ Tabs
• Proprietary Auralex formula that lasts and lasts

Pricing and Availability:
TBC

More information:
www.auralex.com

WNAMM13: Sonuus New Products

Flame Tuner, Buzznut and iRock

Winter NAMM 2013 - Sonuus

We reviewed the Sonuus Wahoo pedal last year - its an innovative multi-filter wah pedal with a lot of extras, but Sonuus have been busy creating a bunch of other neat products.

Products

Wahoo filter pedal

iPhone App

Buzznut string dampener

iRock - guitar interface