Getting professional bass guitar tracks on computer audio workstations has never been simpler. Virtual Bass Amp is easily configured to model its wide range of bass tones through the setting of virtual knobs and switches just like on a real bass amp. The tones modeled by Virtual Bass Amp were selected to cover the broadest range of playing styles, so there’s something in there for everyone. Combined with its power amp, limiter, speaker cabinet, and graphic equalizer models, Studio Devil VBA provides virtually limitless tonal possibilities.

All you need is to plug your bass guitar into your sound interface, put Studio Devil VBA on your track, and turn a few virtual knobs to get the natural compression, punch, and sparkle you expect from real tube amps quickly and effortlessly. And because Virtual Bass Amp is available for all platforms, you can get your bottom end pumping whether you’re on ProTools, Garage Band, Logic, SONAR, Cubase, Live, or any other application that supports VST, Audio Units, or RTAS…Windows or Mac!

Studio Devil Virtual Bass Amp features:

• Classic 12AX7A vacuum tube bass preamplifier emulation with GAIN control.
• BOOST switch that “hot rods” the bass amp for natural overdrive and distortion.
• BASS, MIDS, and TREBLE tone controls based on classic bass amp designs.
• Parametric MIDS control with FREQ knob for customized amplifier tone.
• Push-pull tube power amplifier model with DRIVE control.
• Continuously variable SOFT / HARD clipping limiter control.
• DEEP and BRIGHT switches to boost the ultra low end and brighten presence.
• Built-in “4×10″ and “1×15″ Cabinet Simulation FIR Filters.
• “Direct Box” (D.I.) Mode for compatibility with your favorite cabinet impulse modeling plug-ins.
• 7-Band GRAPHIC EQ tuned specifically for bass guitar with LEVEL and ENABLE controls.
• 4X Up-Sampling Engine with 64-bit Internal Floating-Point Precision.
• 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, and 196kHz sampling rate support.
• Compatible with VST, Audio Units, and RTAS audio hosts for Windows and Mac OS X.

Studio Devil Virtual Bass Amp is priced at $69 and is available now. Download your evaluation copy and test drive it today!

For more information, visit their web site at Studiodevil.com.

Today’s announcement furthers Cakewalk’s commitment to support our instrument customers with new sounds after their initial purchase. Along with Piscis, the company also released earlier this year a Minimoog Tribute Expansion Pack, designed by Craig Anderton for Rapture and Rapture LE, which gave customers exciting new sounds derived from classic Minimoog samples and enhanced with Rapture’s modern synthesis features.

A third Galbanum Expansion Pack for Rapture and Rapture LE is currently in development.

Second Coming Expansion Pack for Rapture highlights:

• 600 MB of new content, 1,393 files in all
• 80 custom, 64-bit, 65,536 point LFO Waveforms
• 40 velocity cross-faded multi-waveform SFZ instruments
• 16 special new “Spectrum Sample” SFZ instruments that span eight octaves
• Stereo waveforms that produce sounds with huge, 3-D-like spatial images
• Modulation Matrix and MIDI Controller assignments which enable complex sound morphing and eliminate static or lifeless presets

Perfect for creating Dance, House, Trance, Techno, Progressive, Downtempo and other electronic music styles

About Rapture
The 2008 MIPA winner for Best Software Instrument, Rapture lets users produce rich, hypnotic, and rhythmic basses, leads, and pads, and is perfect for performing and designing the modern synthesized sounds igniting today’s pop, dance, and electronic music.Pricing and Availability
The Second Coming Expansion Pack is available to registered Rapture and Rapture LE customers for $59.95 and can be downloaded via cakewalk.com/products/SecondComing.

For more information, visit their web site at cakewalk.com.

From Deep and Funky Grooves, Jackin Beats, Chunky Basslines and Smooth Filtered Synths — House Improvements vol 1 is a brand new collection of samples for house producers worldwide looking for the right sonic ingredients to compliment and create many types of current house music genres including Funky, Deep, Jackin, Fidget, Glitch and Minimal.

House Improvements includes over 480 House samples and is over 500Mb in size, including 100 brand new House Drumloops(with tops and breakdowns), 69 Floor shaking Bass Loops, 28 Filtered loops, 78 Music Loops (including Synth and Smooth Key progressions), 38 FX Filtered Vox Loops, 42 Vox FX, 8 Long Swooshes, 70+ club ready Drum Hits, 40+ Key Stabs and 7 Bleep Loops.

Tech Specs: 520Mb download, 486 Wav House Samples, 326 Rex2 Loops, 6 Ready to play patches for Halion, Kontakt, EXS, NNXT, and Cakewalk SFZ Soft Samplers. Apple Loops version also available.

For more information on Justin and the Sound Diggers visitmyspace.com/thesounddiggers.

For more information, visit their web site at loopmasters.com.

TRUE STRIKE TENSION is built on unique studio-quality sample material that has been carefully selected from ProjectSAM’s acclaimed “True Strike 2″ library. It draws upon various charismatic percussion instruments from Africa, Japan and the Middle East, including the Kenkeni, Darabuka, Bendir, Okedo-Daiko and others. All sounds in TRUE STRIKE TENSION are designed to add genuine suspense, tension and emphasis to any kind of dramatic music, with a special focus on Hollywood-style film scoring.

The advanced sound shaping and preset morphing features in KORE 2 and KORE PLAYER allow producers to intuitively adjust and animate all sounds in TRUE STRIKE TENSION, and make them better fit the dramatic requirements of any given scene. The included metadata also makes TRUE STRIKE TENSION integrate seamlessly with any individual collection of KORE SOUNDPACKS and other KORE-based sounds.

TRUE STRIKE TENSION is available for download purchase in the NI Online Shop for a suggested retail price of $79 / 69 EUR.

Additional information on TRUE STRIKE TENSION including audio demos is available at native-instruments.com.

T-RackS 3 offers a full suite of classic tube-toned and transparent digital mixing and mastering tools for every step in the recording process. It combines new processors modelled after highly sought-after tube and analog gear, cutting-edge digital processors, and upgraded versions of the original T-RackS models. A new modular processing chain provides fast navigation and A-B-C-D compare options, and a new complete metering section makes it easy to view every aspect of the final mix. The standalone version offers professional editing features such as the ability to write fades, automation and batch processing. Included in the box are both plug-in and standalone versions, offering users unprecedented value.

T-RackS 3 provides a truly professional mastering and mixing solution that will put a polish on your tracks you may have never thought possible. No other plug-in offers the amount of control over the final mix, and nothing sounds like T-RackS 3.
Beyond Mastering.

T-RackS 3 Features:

1. 9 processors in the Deluxe version, comprised of 3 new analog and vintage emulations (including models based* on the Fairchild 670 and the Pultec EQP-1A), 2 new digital processors as well as the 4 classic, award-winning T-RackS processors. 4 Processors in Standard Version.
2. New configurable mastering/mixing chain – run up to 12 parallel/series processors
3. New complete built-in metering section with Peak, Perceived Loudness, Phase, and RMS meters, plus a Spectrum analyzer with Peak, RMS and Averaging indicators
4. New standalone and plug-in versions available in the same package for use in all the most popular native DAWs
5. New high-fidelity oversampling with crystal clear transparency, for high quality audio processing throughout the entire signal path
6. New SCC™ technology coupled with IK’s unique DSM™ technology provides the most realistic software emulation of vintage gear to date
7. Extremely easy to use, with style-based presets, full chain visualization, one-click single module or chain bypass, A-B-C-D compare function, multiple audio processing in standalone mode, and much more.
   

A separate conversion utility will also be made available to allow users who have created their own presets in earlier versions to use in the new release.

T-RackS 3 is now available from IK’s online store and international network of authorized dealers and resellers for only €379.99 ex VAT for the Deluxe version, and just €229.99 ex VAT for a reduced price crossgrade version (available to all registered users of any IK product).

Also available is T-RackS 3 Standard, which includes the 4 Classic T-RackS processors, at a price of €149.99 ex VAT.

Purchasers of the earlier T-RackS plug-in who registered their product after October 15, 2008 will receive the new T-RackS 3 Standard for free as a download in their IK User Area.

For more information on T-RackS 3, video and audio demos and more please visit: t-racks.com

The purpose of this product is to move focus away from the sometimes intricate and difficult process of sound synthesis and instead let you develop sounds by simply using your ears.

You will find that creating synth patches with Synplant will be as easy as listening and deciding what you like and then having the sounds evolve in the directions you desire. Although Synplant is exceedingly easy to use, whatever you do, do not let its relative simplicity fool you. Beneath its straightforward and playful interface you will find a versatile synthesizer of the utmost quality with lots of character. Also, once you are ready to get your hands dirty and dig deeper into the anatomy of Synplant you will have the option to crack open your sound seeds and modify their underlying genetic code.

For more information, visit their web site at Soniccharge.com.

In addition to numerous small gains and improvements of detail, the following problems have been resolved:

• Ableton Live: We have fixed a bug that in the VST variant sometimes led to a crash.
• Digital Performer: Melodyne plugin 1.0.4 is compatible with DP 6.01.
• Pro Tools (under Vista): A bug has been fixed that sometimes caused crashes when Melodyne plugin was removed from a channel strip.
• Pro Tools (OS X): The deactivation and reactivation of Melodyne plugin or of the entire channel strip now functions as expected.
• Sonar: A bug has been fixed that resulted in playback errors when a transferred file was played back for the first time.
• All hosts in conjunction with iLok: The transfer of a license to an iLok can now also be undertaken without problems using the License Assistant.

More @ Celemony.com.

VOX Amplification announces that its first-ever software product, JamVOX, is now shipping. In addition to providing drag-and-drop access to virtually any combination of sought-after amp and effects models, JamVOX allows users to import their MP3/iTunes library or their favorite CD tracks. Using new proprietary GXT Guitar XTracktion™ technology by Korg, guitarists can extract or “solo” guitar parts or reduce and essentially “mute” guitar parts from any prerecorded track. Using JamVOX’s recording capabilities, guitarists can then record their own guitar performances over their favorite tracks.

JamVOX’s GXT technology can also extract or reduce vocal tracks, making the software/hardware product an incredibly powerful practice, jamming and recording tool. Guitars and microphones can be directly plugged into the USB-powered hardware component for a complete practice solution. WAV/AIFF recording capabilities enable the player to overdub vocals as well as guitar.

The Mac®- and PC-compatible JamVOX delivers precise models of 19 of the most sought-after guitar amplifiers, 12 popular cabinets, 54 vintage and modern effects and a choice of guitar pickup simulations. Each of the unit’s over 100 preset programs features one amp/cabinet combination and a chain of up to five effects, plus noise reduction. User programs may be saved, and shared online.

High-quality time stretching and pitch shifting enable guitarists or vocalists to slow down or speed up tempos and adjust pitch. Loop record and playback captures a phrase and repeats it. A chromatic tuner by Korg has also been included, as well as an array of drum tracks.

The USB-powered amp/speaker hardware interface is equipped with two 3-inch full-range speakers and two bass reflex ports. The front panel includes a 1/4″ Guitar Input, XLR Microphone Input and Input Level Control, a Line Output Level Control, a 1/4″ Headphone Output and a Monitor/Headphone Level Control. The back panel provides L/R Line Inputs (2 x 1/4″), L/R Line Outputs (2 x 1/4″), a Footswitch port (1/4″), an Expression Pedal port (1/4″) and a USB port for connection of the JamVOX guitar/vocal interface to a computer. The compact 9.45″ W x 6.3″ D x 4.82″ H JamVOX head, featuring a matte-black finish and metal grill with the “VOX” logo emblazoned on it, pays homage to the brand’s timeless style and forward-looking engineering. Plus, it can perform double duty as an audio interface for popular software programs and for listening to music downloads on a computer.

The JamVOX is now available with an MSRP of $340.00.

For more information, visit their web site at Voxamps.co.uk.

Highlights in MU.LAB 2.0:

• New integrated high quality sampler, also featuring key & velocity mapping.
• New integrated synth ‘Synthia’ : Quick results, fantastic sound!
• Track Targets allow you to set a target plugin per track. You can still use free tracks where each part can have it’s own target.
• Drag and drop support e.g. Drop an audio or midi file on the composer, or a bunch of samples onto the multisample editor, etc…
• Reworked audio part system using an unlimited number of locators per audio file.
• Rack Desk can now be used in docked mode or in windowed mode.
• Enhanced plugin editor windowing.
• Improved multi-monitor support.
• Improved workflow in many aspects.
• Enhanced modular plugin system.
• Enriched MuSynth oscillator can produce really fat sounds.
• New fully customizable metronome sound.
• Extended patch library.
• Optimized VST plugin support.
• Smart plugin bypass system avoids unnecessary cpu load.
• Enhanced MIDI controller mapping.
• Extended Mixdown functionalities e.g. Mixdown to 32bit floats, Mixdown directly into sampler.
• And many other improvements!

Watch the MU.LAB 2 Demo Slide Show here.

Check out the MU.LAB 2.0 product page : www.mutools.com/products.html

Download MU.LAB 2.0 : www.mutools.com/downloads.html

A super versatile Rom-Synthesizer with Performance Sequencer for grooving Chord/Arpeggio Sounds.

CONSEQUENCE is the new member of our product family and it will make your tracks get a move on.
Consequence is a chord groovebox, with a surprising depth of possibilities while being easy to use, due to an intuitive workflow.

Chords are alternated, split up to custom arpeggios and turned into leg-driving basslines, amazing melodies or dreamy sound textures.
The internal audio recorder keeps your ideas when they come or records loops or even full tracks. The allround soundlibrary contains
all possible kinds of instruments, from thick basslines to gentle violines. Combine these with individual triggering options for unheard sequences full of joy and groove! Combine sound-presets and sequencer-presets, an unlimited source of inspiration.

CONSEQUENCE is a composition tool which can create chordlines or whole songs on the fly, but also chords which are played via MIDI can be supersized using the innovative sequencing engine.

System: Mac/PC, VST/AU
Price: 149,

More @ Sugar-byte.