Week of December 25, 2005 Friday, December 30 2005 | dmac IK Multimedia Ships SampleTank 2.1 IK Multimedia is proud to announce that SampleTank 2.1 is now shipping! This highly anticipated upgrade for the industry-standard sample workstation plug-in comes complete with enhanced application features and an enlarged 2 DVD sound set. The new SampleTank 2.1 software and sound features: SampleTank 2.1 offers a re-mastered and enlarged sound set now on 2 DVDs with an expanded 6.5GB sound library Offering 2GB of additional new material, more than 1,700 sounds and a total of 6.5GB of samples on 2 DVDs, the new SampleTank 2.1 is more extensive and diverse than ever before! SampleTank 2.1 features more multi-sampled instruments, loops, phrases, percussion, traditional instruments, world percussion loops and a wider range of electronic and acoustic instruments in every category and style. Enhanced STRETCH engine with separate algorithms for multi- sampled note and phrase sounds with additional timbral control features Improved Pitch-Shift/Time-Stretch now includes grain control for better compatibility with a wider range of sounds Now available as a stand-alone application, for immediate playing, so you don't have to launch a host application to use the program The ability to create complex 16 part splits and layers with new Range controls New synth engine features with Syncable LFOs, 16 assignable stereo outputs and more SampleTank 2.1 Features: 16 part multi-timbral sound module with layering capability Re-mastered and enlarged sound set with 6.5GB Library on 2 DVDs, over 1700 sounds Works both as a standalone application and as a plug-in Newly expanded 16 stereo outputs Mix view and full mix parameters control 3 synth engines: Newly enhanced STRETCH, Pitch-shift/Time-stretch and traditional Resampling New Range Controls for creating complex splits and layers Total sound editing features with full access to 50 Synth-Sampler engine controls BPM Syncable LFOs and Portamento feature Loop Sync feature for precision and flexibility Zone feature for single sample accurate editing 32 built-in DSP effects, up to 5 per channel Full MIDI controllable, responding to MIDI Program change Imports WAV, AIFF, SDII, AKAI S-1000/3000 and SAMPLECELL formats User preset and module save features, also a convenient back up function Customizable keywords and sound search function with integrated sounds database 256 notes polyphony Customizable display colors Available as VST, RTAS, DXi, AU For Mac OS X, Windows XP Price, availability, upgrades SampleTank 2.1 XL has an MSRP of $499 US/419 Euro and SampleTank 2.1 L has an MSRP of $299 US/249 Euro. Both are currently available in the IK dealer/distributor network worldwide. All SampleTank LE/SE and previous SampleTank 1.0 customers can upgrade to the new SampleTank 2.1XL for $299 US/249 Euro or the new SampleTank 2.1 L for $199 US/169 Euro. All SampleTank 2.0 L/XL customers will receive a free downloadable update to SampleTank 2.1's application. Also, SampleTank 2.0 XL customers who registered after January 20th, 2005 are eligible for a free upgrade to the new DVDs of sounds by simply filling out the online form here. SampleTank 2.0 XL customers who purchased before January 20th, 2005 can upgrade to the new plug-in for free and take advantage of a limited time offer to get the new sound set (available on 2 DVDs) for $99 US/79 Euro. SampleTank L customers who purchased before January 20th, 2005 can upgrade to the new plug-in for free and take advantage of a limited time offer to get the new sound set for $199 US/169 Euro. For detailed Sample Tank 2.1 information please visit sampletank.com/ST21Overview. For more information, visit their web site at ikmultimedia.com. Thursday, December 29 2005 | dmac VirSyn Debuts TERA 3 Synthesis Workstation VirSyn's TERA 3 is released and the shipment starts this week. Many new features including a multi sampling module makes TERA the most comprehensive and versatile synthesis workstation you can dream of. The new presets made by Howard Scarr show you how responsive and playable TERA can be! Many new features are part of this release, the most notable are: Multi sampling module opens the power of TERA's modules to sample files. 16 pole Terrain filter allows for complex filter morphs. Spectrum oscillator with stereo output and many additional features. Stereo routing allows for programming "Space" into your sounds before applying FX. Easy and flexible Arpeggiator at preset level TERA 3 is available in these formats: stand-alone version for WinXP und Mac OS X VST 2 version for Win XP und Mac OS X RTAS version for WinXP und Mac OS X AudioUnit version for Mac OS X Registered users can click here for upgrade information. For more information, visit their web site at virsyn.com. Thursday, December 29 2005 | dmac Yellow Tools update Independence to v1.0.2 Yellow Tools has released version 1.0.2 of Independence, which includes many enhancements to the audio engine and the "Modules" area plus the addition of the brand-new "Audio Files Browser". Also available for public download is the Independence 1.0.2 manual. The Audio Files Browser offers easy and fast access to all your 3rd party libraries, your own instruments, audio files and loops directly in Independence. But this feature does not only work as a simple browser, it also includes powerful options to automatically create the mapping of your files when you import them. Furthermore you can use the "pre-listen" function to listen to your audio files before you import them. In related news, Yellow Tools Candy and Culture Modular Virtual Instruments have been updated to provide compatibility with Independence. All registered Independence users who also own Candy or Culture can download the compatibility patches in the yellow tools User Area. The Independence compatible patches for the third MVI - Majestic - will follow very soon. More info's @ yellowtools.com. Thursday, December 29 2005 | dmac digital black Releases Raven dRT VST Plugin Raven dRT is a VST plugin, designed to allow replacement of drum tracks in a DAW with high quality samples. It enables rescuing a good take where the drum sound is not suitable for the track. Features: Very fast, accurate, responsive triggering 8 velocity splits and variable response curves for realistic performance Use any WAV sample files (8 to 32 bit, 8 to 192KHz) -- some 24 bit / 48KHz samples are included MIDI output for triggering other software drum instruments Requirements: A PC running Windows XP or Windows 2000, 1 GHz + CPU, 256 MB + RAM A suitable VST host DAW (Audio Sequencer) supporting VST plugins (eg Cubase, Nuendo, Sonar, Tracktion etc) Classification : Instrument / Drum Sampler OS : Windows Formats : VST Sample Formats : WAV Copy Protection : None Cost : £35 Current Version : v1.1 Availability : BRAND NEW RELEASE! For more information, visit their web site at digital-black.net. Wednesday, December 28 2005 | dmac FabFilter Releases FabFilter Twin Synth Plug-In FabFilter has released FabFilter Twin, a versatile and powerful synthesizer plug-in for Windows and Mac OS X. FabFilter Twin stands out with high-quality oscillators, extremely smooth and analog-sounding filters, and unique drag-and-drop modulation slots that make complex sounds very easy to design. FabFilter Twin contains two pure and solid-sounding oscillators with triangle, sawtooth, and square wave forms. Hard sync, pulse width, phase sync, and stereo panning are provided, together with smooth and evocative polyphonic portamento. The two independent multimode filters in FabFilter Twin are based on FabFilter's unique digital filter technology with three different filter characteristics, ranging from smooth with moderate overdrive to extremely raw and self-oscillating. Of course, the famous FabFilter One filter is also included. Low-pass, high-pass, band-pass responses and 12/24 dB/octave slopes are available, and each filter can be panned to create stereo effects without phase problems. Different oscillator-filter routings are possible. FabFilter Twin's 24 modulation slots provide very flexible modulation possibilities. Setting up modulation connections has never been easier: just drag a modulation source to any knob that can be modulated to fill a modulation slot. Modulation slots can be inverted and bypassed, and it's also possible to modulate the level knobs of other slots. There is no shortage of modulation sources with three LFOs, three envelope generators, and velocity, aftertouch, keyboard track, pitch bend, and mod wheel sources. Each LFO has triangle, square, sine, random triangle, and sample-and-hold wave forms, tempo sync in either straight, triplets or dotted mode, note-on sync, and a wave balance setting. The envelope generators have extra delay and hold parameters. All EG parameters and the LFO frequencies can be modulated. FabFilter Twin comes with a huge library of more than 500 factory presets. Whether you like designing your own presets from scratch or prefer to browse through the factory patches to get that perfect sound, FabFilter Twin fits your needs! Other FabFilter Twin features are: 24-voice polyphony with unison, stereo processing of oscillators and filters, sample-accurate MIDI handling, and smart parameter interpolation that ensures responsive yet smooth parameter changes. MIDI Learn lets you control FabFilter Volcano with any MIDI keyboard or controller within minutes, simply by turning knobs in FabFilter Twin's user interface and on the controller. FabFilter Twin is now available for the introductory price of $99 (US) as an Audio Units plug-in and a VST plug-in for Mac OS X and as a VST plug-in for Windows. This is a limited offer until January 31, 2006, after which FabFilter Twin will cost $129 (US). Until January 31, FabFilter One and FabFilter Volcano owners can purchase FabFilter Twin for just $69 (US). Packages with FabFilter Volcano and One are also available, with special introduction pricing for packages containing FabFilter Twin. System requirements for FabFilter Twin are either Windows XP, 2000, 98, Me, or 2003, SSE-capable processor, and a VST 2 host, or Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) or higher, G4 or better with AltiVec, and an Audio Units or VST 2 host. For more information, visit their web site at fabfilter.com.