NAB 2004 - Solid State Logic announces a new recording and mixing system, the AWS 900 Analogue Workstation System. The system combines the dual benefits of SuperAnalogue processing and sophisticated digital control to provide a complete solution to the use of Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) in professional audio applications.

Solid State Logic mixing systems are the de facto standard in audio production, valued for their unrivalled audio quality and control ergonomics. SSL was the first company to integrate automation and machine control into the mixing console, and it pioneered surround mixing. The new AWS 900 delivers the same powerful integration benefits to DAW users, who face similar challenges with an array of equipment (Mic Amps, Effects, Controllers etc.) to produce professional results from a modern DAW.

Ever want to get a song off your iPod? AudioFinder can now help you with that. New in this release:

Added "Scan iPod" to the Scanner menu. AudioFinder can now find, play and copy sounds off your iPod.
Increased the range of "Show Guides" to 64 measures.
Added an Add ("+") to the Tools Palette.
In the Scanner changed the "Search Within Results" checkbox to a "Refine" button for ease of use.
Improved Scanner display by adding a "Folder" column.
Added "Add Sounds Manually" to the Scanner Menu, along with an Add ("+") to the Scanner to allow manual control over scan contents.
Added ID3 Tag display
Made Preferences, Tools Setup and Organizer Setup panels into sheets.

Trillium Lane Labs has announced TL Space, a new reverb plug-in for Pro Tools. The developer claims TL Space combines the best offerings of convolution reverb with the traditional controls of synthetic reverbs. It is the first Pro Tools plug-in to deliver a number of technical breakthroughs that unleash the full power of the Pro Tools HD platform and erase the difference that previously existed between high end reverb hardware units and software reverb processing. Finally, the promise of convolution reverb processing is available directly inside Pro Tools with no compromises.

Recent advances in reverb processing technology for digital audio have come with strings attached. Although convolution reverb offers excellent realism by sampling real reverb spaces, the downside of limited control of reverb parameters and heavy CPU overheads have slowed adoption. In addition, users of convolution reverbs have found library formats incompatible, restricting their ability to mix and match impulses between reverbs. Finally, the heavy CPU overhead of native convolution reverbs has made their use in live sessions difficult due to high latency.

Dave Lebolt announced that Digidesign is about to release a new Digital mixing console which would be dedicated to Live performances and, of course, Pro Tools based.

After the ICON console, Digidesign seems to lead towards new directions with these new product line which should be available around September at the PLASA conference. To follow....

At his usual keynote address to next month's WWDC developer conference, Steve Jobs will unveil the new OS X system version 10.4. Puma, Jaguar, and Panther will be followed by "Tiger." The beautiful silver "X" on a black background will soon become an oldie.

Ed: It'll be interesting to see what audio/music enhancements the new OS brings; we should get some details at WWDC. 10.3, 10.2, and 10.1 all brought major enhancements to music performance and functionality on OS X, including tools like Audio MIDI Setup. We'll keep you posted on how the new OS impacts music and audio -- and you can bet we'll have more compatibility issues to deal with, too. -PK