Week of February 26, 2006 Friday, March 3 2006 | dmac Syntheway Releases Organux 1.0 VST Plug-In   Syntheway has released Organux 1.0, a virtual organ VST plug-in for creating a wide range of classic and modern organ sounds. Features: Hybrid method that combines sampling and synthesis techniques Selector with 20 predefined types of organ sounds such as: Baroque Pipe Cathedral Farfisa Ethereal Chorus Church Percussive Gothic Detuned LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) with modulation depth, frequency, offset, waveforms (sine-triangle-square) add expressive effects such as "Tremolo" by using the simple GUI commands Multiple-Mode Filter that includes LP (Low pass), BP (Band pass), HP (High pass), notch, peak, low pass and high pass shelving filter with adjustable cutoff and bandwidth ADSR envelope generator with Attack, Sustain, Decay and Release parameters and several modulation targets 16 presets for effects ready to play Portamento/Glide control Reverb effect built-in: Customizable with user controls for: size room, width room and damping factor Delay effect built-in: Creates a delay (echo) effect on audio signals controlled by amount of feedback and modulation of delay time On-screen MIDI keyboard that can be played with the mouse or keyboard MIDI Automation: Added complete MIDI Continuous Controllers OS: Windows Formats: Instrument (VST) Cost: US $32 For more information, visit their web site at syntheway.net. Friday, March 3 2006 | dmac FabFilter Releases FabFilter Twin 1.10 Update With New Features   FabFilter has released FabFilter Twin version 1.10, which contains the following new features and bug fixes: Implemented new optimizations that especially work well with unison voices. CPU usage has now been reduced by more than 50% when using a high number of unison voices Added a floating parameter value display to the interface for all knobs Added an optional filter display view, in which the filter curves can be dragged separately or together. Using Ctrl-click or Shift-click, slope and responses can be set directly in the filter display. Use the small toggle button in the lower-left corner of the filter area to toggle between the filter display view and the normal knobs view Added three new filter characteristics, especially designed for FabFilter Twin Added the possibility to drag a modulation slot and move it to another place in the modulation matrix. This works even between slot banks and enables you to keep the modulation matrix organized Added support for viewing modulation connections for a specific target, in addition to the existing possibility to show the connections for a specific modulation source. Connections for a source or target can now be shown by double-clicking a source icon or a target knob Modulation source icons of sources that are currently in use, are now highlighted. This is very useful when browsing presets, for example. You can immediately see whether a preset uses the mod wheel, velocity, aftertouch, or other modulation sources Changed the slot bank select button into three separate A, B and C slot bank buttons, which makes switching banks easier and faster. The slot bank buttons will appear dimmed if a slot bank does not contain any active slots Added (vertical) Shift-drag fine-tune behavior to knobs, in addition to the current circular fine-tune mode Increased the maximum number of voices to 32 Increased the maximum unison frequency detune to 5 times the previous maximum, which makes unison sound much better when using a high number of unison voices Added a portamento mode switch for choosing either normal or fingered/legato portamento and increased the maximum portamento time to 5 seconds Added ASIO support to the Windows stand-alone version Slightly increased interface contrast Fixed some bugs concerning LFO sync, slots being marked as 'invalid' when this was not the case at all, license validation failing on the Receptor and problems with the 'next/previous preset' button when using the plug-in in Cubase This update is free for existing FabFilter Twin users. If you have not bought FabFilter Twin yet, version 1.10 grants you a new evaluation period to be able to try the new features. Originally released on December 21, 2005, FabFilter Twin is 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 a unique drag-and-drop modulation system that makes complex sounds very easy to design FabFilter Twin 1.10 is now available on fabfilter.com for $129 (US) as a Windows VST-plugin and as an Audio Units plugin and a VST plug-in for Mac OS X. Packages with FabFilter Volcano and One are also available. 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. Thursday, March 2 2006 | dmac Zero-G releases URBAN ELEMENTZ ZERO-G RELEASE Urban Elementz – The Sound of Modern Hiphop and R&B Multi-Format (ACIDized WAV, AIFF Apple Loops, EXS24, HALion, KONTAKT instruments, Reason Refill and Stylus RMX compatible REX2 Files) Zero-G and Xfonic present URBAN ELEMENTZ - over 1350 samples and 1.5Gb of the coolest, freshest hip hop and R&B in the business - direct from NYC. Urban Elementz is a brand new collection of East Coast Hip Hop and R&B loops and samples crammed full of earth-breaking beats, cool keys, great basses, slinky guitars, synths, strings, licks, fills, percussion, fx and much, much more! Top New York remixer and producer Robert LaRow and his production crew have put together this amazing collection of urban construction kits for your mixing pleasure. There are 35 full construction kits with BPMs ranging from 65-114, plus hundreds of scratches and a bonus section of drum hits making this the current definitive sound of R&B and HipHop. Fresh tracks, new sounds. Urban Elementz will take your mix to a higher plane. So mix it up and turn it out with world-class construction kits from the professionals. Here is everything you need to make bullet-proof Hip Hop and R&B. Don't be fooled by imitations, this is the real deal. URBAN ELEMENTZ is THE SOUND OF MODERN HIP HOP & R&B! Features:  1400 ACIDized WAV files  1400 AIFF Apple Loops  1000 Stylus RMX compatible REX2 files  1Gb Reason Refill  100 EXS24 instruments  100 HALion instruments  100 Kontakt instruments  100 NN-XT instruments. Beats, Scratches, Guitar Loops, Bass Loops, Percussion, Hornz, Piano Loops, String Loops, Flutes, Clav Loops, Synth FX, Misc FX and much more This multi-format sample collection gives you the ultimate in sampler and software compatibility: Acid-ready WAV files, AIFF Apple Loops. Emagic EXS24 sampler instruments, HALion sampler instruments, Kontakt sampler instruments, Reason Refill and Stylus RMX compatible REX2 Recycle files!   Product Code (SKU): ZG-135 Recommended Retail Price: UK£ 59.95 / US$ 99.95 / 89 Euro   Zero-G's Urban Elementz is in stock and shipping NOW! To read more product details, to listen to the demo songs and samples, and for details of your nearest distributor or local retailer, check out the website at zero-g.co.uk. Tuesday, February 28 2006 | dmac Steinberg Announces EuCon Version 3.2 Steinberg Media Technologies today announced an update to the EuCon adapter module for its Nuendo Media Production System to version 3.2. The new version further extends the Nuendo functionality that can be directly controlled by Euphonix's renowned MC and System 5-MC products and is available at no cost for registered owners of the Nuendo EuCon adapter. The Nuendo EuCon adapter interfaces between Nuendo, MC and System 5-MC, and now offers integrated hardware control of the next-generation Control Room feature set in Nuendo 3.2. This provides control over an array of highly flexible monitoring functions within the Nuendo software previously only available with more expensive and less flexible hardware mixing desks. Version 3.2 of the EuCon adapter also offers support for the optionally available Euphonix dual motorized automated panner joysticks hardware module. This can now be used with both Euphonix MC and System 5-MC to allow fully automated and motorized joystick control for single or dual source surround panning operations. In addition to the new functionality, a new substantial set of enhancements has also been included. These allow even faster plug-in handling, improved speed and convenience in automation control as well as optimized display of the Nuendo internal metering information on the channel meters of the Euphonix hardware. Euphonix VP Marketing, Andrew Wild, explains why the Euphonix-Steinberg partnership is so important: "We have been working with Steinberg for over three years to perfect high-speed EuCon connectivity between our System 5-MC and MC controllers and Nuendo. Nuendo is an extremely powerful DAW supporting hundreds of tracks and is packed full of features that can now be accessed and controlled from our consoles." What is Nuendo EuCon? Nuendo EuCon is the result of an ongoing cooperation between Euphonix and Steinberg. Euphonix, a leading manufacturer of large format digital consoles as well as integrated digital audio workstation control surfaces and Steinberg renowned provider of professional software products for audio production have combined their 37 years of experience to create what many professionals from the area of post production have long been waiting for: a perfect integration of professional hardware control surfaces with a software designed from the ground up to meet the demands of commercial audio production. The combination of Euphonix hardware with Steinberg's Nuendo EuCon offers two separate hardware/software solutions tailored for music production and audio post: one for editors seeking an intuitive and efficient Edit Controller and another for those in the need for a perfectly integrated Digital Audio Mixing System dedicated to recording, editing and mixing. Both systems come into their own with the Nuendo EuCon Module, which has been developed by Steinberg and is distributed exclusively by Euphonix. This EuCon Module is used in combination with a regular Nuendo 3.2 version to grant two-way communication between MC, System-5 MC and one or more regular Nuendo versions. The regular Nuendo version is distributed though the existing Nuendo distribution/dealer network. For more information, visit their web site at steinberg.de. Tuesday, February 28 2006 | dmac Kreativ Sounds Releases GNWeird Loops Pack Kreativ Sounds has released GNWeird Loops, the second bonus loops pack freely available for all their previous and future customers. GNWeird stands for GLITCH, NOIZE and WEIRD and that's exactly what this bonus contains: 8 bit and atari copycats, weird sounds, noisy drums, retro crazy bits and other 'carefully' destroyed loops. This loops pack feature: 50 original and royalty-free bass loops Each loop is a signature sound on its own, you'll not find processed variations of the same loops All loops are 44KHz/16bit RX2 and ACIDized WAV, these formats are compatible with all audio applications This loops pack is free with any order from Kreativ Sounds e-Shop. For more information, visit their web site at kreativsounds.com.