Week of December 11, 2005 Saturday, December 17 2005 | dmac digital black Releases Raven eDrum Software Instrument   Raven eDrum is a stand-alone software instrument, designed to serve as an addition, alternative, or replacement for an acoustic drum kit or percussion set. It enables you to connect a number of trigger devices to your PC (via an ASIO audio interface), and play back an almost unlimited variety of extremely high quality sounds, with the convenience of a quiet, compact, flexible and more portable instrument. Features Very fast, accurate, responsive triggering Up to 16 pads or trigger devices - each with up to 8 multi sample split layers Use any WAV sample files (8 to 32 bit, 8 to 192KHz) - a small library of 24 bit / 48KHz samples is included Hat Mode with MIDI Controller MIDI support - for use with other drum software and/or MIDI sequencers/DAWs Requirements PC running Windows XP or Windows 2000, 2 GHz + CPU, 256 MB + RAM An ASIO compatible audio interface, and as many channels and mic preamps as you have trigger devices Trigger devices (pads, bugs, rim mounted triggers, cymbal triggers, mesh heads) and cables Sample Formats : WAV Copy Protection : None Cost : £75 Current Version : v1.1 Availability : BRAND NEW RELEASE! Available as a download from digital black. For more information, visit their web site at digital-black.net. Saturday, December 17 2005 | dmac Audiofile Engineering Announces Major Update To Waveform Editor Audiofile Engineering has introduced Wave Editor version 1.1.0. This massive update includes numerous features and improvements to its document-based digital audio waveform editor. The update is free to registered users. Wave Editor is priced at $250. Wave Editor's new "Edit Blocks" feature allows engineers and producers to manipulate audio like never before, giving them the ability to arrange and crossfade "blocks" of audio with simple shortcuts or fine-tuned control. Also new is the "Edit List", a list of all Edit Blocks in a file and their properties. These truly innovative features make Wave Editor the most comprehensive audio document editor on any platform. New Features Edit Blocks are similar to regions, but are considerably smarter. Regions are simply two markers, start and end, and are not channel independent. Edit Blocks, on the other hand, can have names, colors, start and end times, fade in and out lengths and shapes, gain, phase inversion, and more. They are individual to each channel and can be dragged, shaped, and arranged individually or in groups. Coupled with Edit Blocks is the new "Edit List," a playlist-style representation of the audio in a file. It is a whole new approach to playlists in audio editors and can be used in ways no one has ever dreamed of. Wave Editor 1.1 packs a punch with significant improvements in speed and stability and a myriad of new features, including a grid, numerous time unit additions, a vastly improved pitch-shift and time-stretch processor, sample rate conversion quality control, portable document templates and keyboard shortcuts, new navigation and playback keyboard shortcuts, vastly improved waveform drawing, RMS waveform view, improved Location Bar, and much, much more. Pricing & Availability Wave Editor 1.1 is a free update for registered users. Wave Editor is available for purchase through Audiofile Engineering's online store for a retail price of $250 (US). Wave Editor requires Mac OS X Tiger (10.4). For more information, visit their web site at audiofile-engineering.com. Tuesday, December 13 2005 | dmac Sonic Assault has updated RndWave! to v1.1 Changes: Now Records Mono/Stereo 16/24-bit .wav files. New Automatic Generation and Recording Feature. Redesigned Random Modulation Generator. Added Modulation Depth Control. Improved Layout. A custom "High CPU Use" version is available on request. More info here. Monday, December 12 2005 | dmac PowerFX Releases Reason Season Winter Refills PowerFX, a producer and digital distributor of loops, samples and sound effects has just released the Reason Season Winter Refill. Now you can download a whole new set of sounds and atmospheres for Reason 3. Over 60MB of luxurious sounds expertly programmed by ex-Propellerhead support guru and synthesist extraordinaire, Patrick Fridh. Also included in this holiday offer is Fridh’s D-50 Refill! The Reason Season Winter refill includes: 35 new Combinator patches including backdrops & routings. 38 new Subtractor patches. Also patches for the ReDrum, NN19 and NNXT. Demo songs showing the how the patches can be used. D-50 Refill: 76 unique NN19 patches including samples and mapping thereof, literally giving the player the essential sound of Roland's ancient & classic D-50/550 synthesizer - their first digital synth from 1987. All in all this is an original, highly inspirational pack. Total download size: 63.9 MB. For more information, visit their web site at powerfx.com. Monday, December 12 2005 | dmac Big Fish Audio Unleashes Hybridizer 2 Sound Library Bunker 8 Digital Labs™ has taken the reigns off this 4.3 GB insane creation. With over 6,500 different pieces of sonic inspiration, Hybridizer 2™ transcends all musical genres, creating the chimerical soundtrack of the modern. Hybridizer 2™ includes an easy to use interface for rapid sound searching and auditioning capability. There are Rex Files, Hybrid Hits, Acidized™ Wav files, Bass Grids and Guitar Grids. There is no end to the sonic inspiration that this library will provide for your next video game score, feature film soundtrack, interactive media project or hard edged musical endeavor. You name it; this library will make it sonically possible. Retail price $99.95. Features: • 4.3GB library of over 6500 files! • 45 Construction kits • BPM's range from 65-145 Some of the Construction kits include: • Drums • Beats • Bass • Piano • Synth Some Extras • Easy to use Interface for auditioning/sampling of all Hybridizer 2 disc content • 8 Bass Grids • Reason Refills • Guitar Grids • Loops from 65- 161 BPM New features • Key and Tempo Information Provided for all construction kits, loops, guitar grids and guitar shop sounds. • Interactive Interface: find that loop-hit-refill file-guitar shop groove quickly and easily. • Guitar Grids: 24 Full multisampled guitar sounds using Native Instruments Kontakt • Bass Grids: 40 note for note multisampled bass sounds using Native Instruments Kontakt and Reason's NNXT Sampler • .rx2 compatible files provided for: Drums, Percussion, and Bass • A complete Reason Refill of all Hybridizer 2 construction kits, laid out in sample Reason songs for quick loading/auditioning/arrangement of the entire Hybridizer 2 library. NN19: • Sampler sets • ReDrum Kits • Reason Songs • FX Settings Hybrid Hits: One-off sample shots/hits of "key moments" of Hybridizer 2 material: • Drums • Percussion • Bass Stabs • Guitar Shots • Chord Keys • Whacked Distortions • Vocalized Hits Formats: • NNXT • Reason • Kontakt • REX • WAV • ACID For more information, visit their web site at bigfishaudio.com.