Native Instruments has announced that its Reaktor Session and Reaktor 4 products are now shipping. The completely new Library, with over 30 synthesizers, samplers, drum machines, live tools and effects, delivers a high-quality collection of instruments. The Reaktor family is now compatible with Mac OS X and has been radically expanded, boasting countless new features and a fresh new look. While Reaktor Session can load any Reaktor instrument, Reaktor 4 also lets users construct their own sound machines. Reaktor 3 users can order the update with library and manual now or download the online update without the instruments in just a few days.

Spark XL, TC Works' flagship audio processing application, has been updated to version 2.8. The update is Mac OS X only; support for Mac OS 9 has been dropped.

The ProTools 6.0.1cs1 update is available for download on the Digidesign website. This update is intended for Digi001 users. It fixes some MIDI problems (MIDI quantization bugs, bad "All notes off" behaviour and so on...) and comes with a newer installer software.

This ongoing series at The Mac Night Owl LIVE on "Music and the Mac" continues today with singer Jodi Light and musician/producer Mario Mendivil. The discussions will range from using Digital Performer to make music on a Mac to the ongoing issue of music downloading.

Swissonic, well known for its high quality preamps and converters, provides a very compact audio recording solution for portable computers or laptops. The AD-8 converter will be sold very soon with mLAN format (format created by Yamaha and supported by Mac OS X) and will allow connection via FireWire to Apple computers without the need for a third party PCI card.
After Yamaha, Motu, Tascam, Presonus, here is a new audio interface via FireWire for our computers!