Week of August 20, 2006 Tuesday, August 22 2006 | dmac Music Unfolding Releases ModVibe Audio Unit Plug-In Effect Music Unfolding announces the release of ModVibe, the sixth of the Twister Series, a new line of Audio Unit effects. ModVibe is a delay vibrato with a couple of features to mix things up. There are two delay units. The first is a forward delay and the second is a feedback delay. In between these two is a modulation unit to scramble, shake, sift and swirl the contents. The vibrato oscillators are independently set and can be shaped using frequency modulation. The vibrato units are fairly straight forward, except that the delay can range from a few milliseconds to 4500.0 ms. Between the two, that's a bit of delay. In addition, the vibrato can be up to 500.0 ms in depth. These two combined provide effects ranging from phasor/flanger and chorus to wild, extreme doppler shifts. The sweeps can be tailored to a high degree giving a lot of flexibility. Please note that the interface has been changed from previous Twister Audio Units to give users more control over the interface. The parameter display and label colors can now be set by the user. We have also added new options for setting the parameter values. Users can still set the parameters with the big knob, but they may also set the parameters by clicking and dragging over the parameter readout or hovering and using their mouse scroll wheels. Vertical scrolling or dragging moves the parameter values faster in bigger increments and horizontal dragging or scrolling moves the parameter values slower in finer increments. All of the other Audio Units previously released in the Twister Series have been updated with these changes. ModVibe is $19.99 and is available for OS X as a Universal Binary. A demo is available here. For more information, visit their web site at MusicUnfolding.com. Tuesday, August 22 2006 | dmac Native Instruments Announces Audio Kontrol 1 USB 2.0 Audio Interface Native Instruments is excited to announce AUDIO KONTROL 1, a compact high-performance USB 2.0 audio interface that addresses the typical needs of many musicians, producers and DJs in a highly portable and affordable package. Combining professional sound quality with high versatility, and equipped with a comprehensive software package, AUDIO KONTROL 1 was designed to meet a specific "sweet spot" in terms of performance, functionality and price. AUDIO KONTROL 1 is equipped with studio-grade 24-bit/192 kHz Cirrus Logic converters that guarantee pristine audio quality, while Native Instruments' third-generation USB 2.0 audio driver technology ensures low-latency operation down to 4 milliseconds both on Windows and Macintosh systems. With its 2-in/4-out configuration, and equipped with microphone preamp, "Hi-Z" instrument input and headphone amp, AUDIO KONTROL 1 is suitable for a wide range of studio, live and DJ applications. Four freely assignable control elements on the top side of the unit also make it possible to adjust any software parameter directly from the interface, enabling AUDIO KONTROL 1 to double as a basic controller device. With its small footprint and solid aluminium enclosure, the completely bus-powered audio interface provides a robust and highly portable solution for many typical recording and performance situations. AUDIO KONTROL 1 also comes with an additional creativity booster in the form of a comprehensive software bundle. Included are XPRESS KEYBOARDS, three software synthesizers based on the acclaimed PRO-53, B4 and FM7, as well as GUITAR COMBOS, three professional amp emulations taken from Native Instruments' award-winning GUITAR RIG. AUDIO KONTROL 1 also comes with TRAKTOR 3 LE, a new DJ software based on Native Instruments' groundbreaking TRAKTOR DJ Studio. Offering two decks with high-quality time-stretching, an integrated mixer, performance effects, loop and cueing functions, a powerful track database and seamless Beatport shop integration, TRAKTOR 3 LE is a serious creative tool, and an ideal way to enter the world of digital DJing. AUDIO KONTROL 1 will be available in October 2006 for a suggested retail price of $299 / 279 Euro from authorized dealers and in the NI Online Shop. For more information, visit their web site at native-instruments.com. Tuesday, August 22 2006 | dmac Audio Damage Releases Reverence Digital Plate Reverb Simulator Plug-In Audio Damage, Inc. is pleased to announce the release of Reverence, a digital plate reverb simulator, as a plugin effect for VST and AudioUnits hosts. Reverence is heavily inspired by vintage digital hardware, and faithfully recreates the thick sonic character and easy-to-use interface of those early units, while providing the low noise floor and big headroom inherent in modern software-based reverb. Perfect for synths, vocals, and guitar, Reverence is also capable of creating the unusual effects that are typical of vintage hardware units. Featuring a sophisticated and well-tuned reverb algorithm, Reverence has a much lower CPU load than convolution reverbs, and can be used as either a send or insert effect. Features: Simple-to-use reverb settings, with pre-delay, time, and size, plus an extensive filtering section to shape the reverb tail Fluid and logical vintage-style user interface Optimized reverb algorithm for low CPU load MIDI Learn feature for full hardware control of all parameters (VST only; handled by host in AudioUnits version) Reverence is available as a VST effect for Windows, and as an AudioUnit / VST effect bundle for OSX Universal Binary, and is US$39.00 for instant download from the Audio Damage store. For more information, visit their web site at audiodamage.com. Tuesday, August 22 2006 | dmac MHC Ambient Keys (AU) Universal Binary The Mac OS X and Audio Unit version of Ambient Keys is now available as a Universal Binary (= Mac Intel compatible). Price is still $99, including the 3 soundpacks (waveform- and preset expansions). The plugin is also available for Windows. A demo version can be downloaded at mhc.se