As we announced on August 10th, the new virtual synth "Blue" by Rob Papen is now available. Blue features FM Synthesis, Phase Distortion Synthesis, Wave Shaping Synthesis and Subtractive Synthesis, and contains six oscillators, two analogue style modelled stereo filters, ten LFOs, 32 step mono sequencer, nine envelopes AHDSFR type, and 16-voice polyphony. Blue is available in VST and Audio Units plug-in format.

Blue will be available August 26th and will cost $199. A demo version is coming soon.

Audio Ease announces an update to version 5.1 in Audio Units, RTAS and VST formats for its Altiverb reverb. This new release features : greatly improved stability, bugfixes in PT version, added load as aux functionality, added on/off switch for key trigger function of samples, fixed problems with SDII & Gain Correction, and IRI files can't be overwritten by Analyse IR.

This update is available as a free download.

DUY unveils its new MagicEQ TDM plugin for Mac OS X. MagicEQ is a mastering tool, based on a new equalization concept usin OFIR (Optimal Frequency Impulse Renderer) Technology. MagicEQ supports sampling rates up to 192 KHz.

DUY MagicEQ 1.0 Mac is available at €295.

Digidesign has posted two updated versions for Pro Tools TDM software. The 6.9.3cs1 version, and the 6.9.1cs2 version both fix : Key Command Sequence for Fine-Tuning Automation had changed, legacy Peripherals Attached to a 192 I/O or a 96 I/O (incorrect gain), Macine control and Core Audio problems, and ProControl fader could sometimes lose communication.

French composer Luc Ferrari is dead, monday August 22d, in Arezzo Italy. Luc Ferrari was born in 1929 in Paris. He studied with Arthur Honegger et Olivier Messiaen and at Darmstadt in Germany. As director of the Groupe de Recherche Musicale from 1959 to 1960, he worked closely with Pierre Schaeffer, who coined the term "musique concrète. Luc Ferrari also founded in 1981 "la muse en circuit" creation center.