Week of August 7, 2005 Thursday, August 11 2005 | dmac Steinberg Intros Studio Case 2 Bundle Cubase SE 3 Virtual Bassist SE Steinberg Media Technologies has announced Studio Case 2, the successor to its highly Studio Case product. Featuring a brand new version of Steinberg's Cubase SE budget sequencer and special versions of six Steinberg VST instruments, Studio Case II will be available for Mac and PC from September 2005. Cubase SE3 is the latest version of Steinberg's music production software. Using technologies from Steinberg's Cubase SX3, Cubase SE3 offers the same 32-bit floating point audio engine, automatic latency compensation and advanced user interface as its larger siblings. A full range of audio and MIDI effects is also included, further adding to the creative potential of Cubase SE3. Studio Case II also offers entry-level versions of some of Steinberg's most successful VST instruments. Almost all conceivable aspects of modern music production are covered by the special SE versions of Groove Agent, HALion, The Grand, Virtual Guitarist and D'cota. A brand new Virtual Bassist SE version of Steinberg's new bass player VSTi provides bass grooves for a huge range of musical styles. Price and Availability Studio Case II will be available for $299 in September 2005. For more information, visit their web site at steinberg.net. Monday, August 8 2005 | dmac NWMaxx VST Maximizer from WWAYM WWAYM has released NWMaxx, a cross-platform VST plug-in feauring a single knob for ease of use. NWMaxx is a maximizer that also functions as bass booster. Unlike a limiter, NWMaxx keeps transients natural and it is is best used for mastering according to the company. An additional prepare feature allows for reduced distortion. Features: Power knob Common bass boost 30 Hz cut Prepare Input and Output gain control Input and Output VU meters with peak display WWAYM NWMaxx costs 25 EUR, and is availabe for both Windows and Mac OS X. For more information, visit their web site at wwaym.com. Monday, August 8 2005 | dmac Version 6 of Orion Platinum Released Main View Impulse Response Processor Synapse Audio has released Version 6 of its music production suite for the Windows platform, Orion Platinum. Orion Platinum is a complete virtual studio, including multitrack audio recording, a mixing desk with sub busses and effect returns, as well as powerful sequencers, generators and effects. All common interfaces, ReWire2, VST and DirectX are supported. With this release, Orion Platinum gains a realtime impulse response processor, allowing to apply the acoustic fingerfrints of excellent sounding rooms on any track. Other improvements and new features since Version 5.8: 192 kHz / 32-Bit Playback and Mixdown rates supported New Effect: Dynamics Shaper New Effect: Analog 3-Band-EQ New Effect: Bass Compressor Multiple MIDI In devices supported Sampler editor extended with Keymap Volume, Pan, Finetune, Duplicate and Slice functions Automatic Plugin Delay Compensation for effects DrumRack generator supports playing 24- and 32-Bit WAV/AIFF files Orion Platinum 6 is available now and is priced at $298. The Orion Platinum 6 update is free for all registered owners of Orion Platinum 5.8. A free demo is available for download. For more information, visit their web site at synapse-audio.com.