Spectrasonics has announced the beginning of their 10-week contest for Spectrasonics users called "Omnisphere Preview Remix Contest".

Why such a name ? Well, Spectrasonics provides special loops created from the eagerly anticipated Omnisphere Power Synth in order for registered users of a Spectrasonics product to create a music for the contest. Three winners will be chosen in July to receive a free copy of Omnisphere when it is released on September 15, 2008.

At the same time, Spectrasonics has also announced that Omnisphere Preview Video #5 is online now.

Announced a year ago at the FrankFurt Musik Messe 2007, IK Multimedia has finally released SampleTron.

Done in cooperation with Sonic Reality, SampleTron includes over 2 GB of sounds, 640 presets and 260 multi-samples from 17 rare and vintage Mellotrons, Chamberlins, and their derivatives, together with a "Powered by SampleTank" engine.

Sound Features :

- Mellotron M400
- Mellotron MK5
- Mellotron MKII
- Mellotron Powerhouse (8 Track Rhythm Machine)
- Novatron
- Vako Orchestron
- Optigan
- Talentmaker
- Chamberlin Music Master 600
- Chamberlin Music Master 400
- Chamberlin Model 200
- Chamberlin M1
- Chamberlin M4
- Chamberlin Rhythmate
- 360 Systems "Digital Tron"
- Roland VP-330 (Choir)
- Stylophone

Software Features :

- 16 part multi-timbral ...

Cycling '74 has released version 5.0 of its Max/MSP media development tools. This new version aims to set a new era of Max programming, with a completely redesigned multi-processing kernel and a streamlined development environment built on a platform-independent foundation. With a new patcher interface, searchable database of objects and examples, integrated documentation and new tutorials, the new Max user will find a smoother learning curve while experienced users will see improved productivity.

Max 5 is available now for Mac OS X and Windows. Max/MSP costs $495, the Max/MSP/Jitter bundle is $699, and the Max 5 Upgrade is $199. Note that discounts for student and educational institutions are available. Last but not least, customers who purchased Max/MSP or Max/MSP/Jitter after October 1, 2007 are eligible for a free upgrade.

You have until the end of this month to enter the new audioMIDI.com contest and win a Furman M8DX Power Conditioner.

To participate, the only thing you have to do is to leave some informations (email address, etc...) and wait for the drawing. More info available at :

Mu Technologies has just released Mu Voice v1.1.2 and 1.2.

If you haven't heard of Mu Voice, it's a real-time low latency vocal processor for studio use and live performance. It does FX, tuning, harmonizing and much more with minimal effort. And best of all, it is fully native (no extra DSPs) and CPU-friendly. If you're tired spending time editing pitch curves for tuning, shifting and harmonizing, or need something that is genuinely real-time without off-line preprocessing to take on stage, you probably want to check this out.

Version 1.1.2 supports a wide range of sample rates: 44.1 kHz - 48 kHz - 88.2 kHz - 96 kHz - 176.4 kHz - 192 kHz

Version 1.2.0 is the MIDI-enabled version of Mu Voice. It gives you full control over Mu Voice from a MIDI keyboard, featuring: key selection, chord recognition, preset selection, chord scheme navigation and is configurable for any type of keyboard from 24 to 88 keys.

Note that Mu Technologies TV, the Mu Technologies YouTube channel is online now.