If you're a digital musician who's got hordes of sound sample files scattered all over your hard drive, this handy app will help you locate and audition them to find the ones you want to use in a project. It works kind of like an audio file browser, culling through your hard disk to find sound files (AIFF, AIFC, SDII, REX, and WAV formats supported), and then allowing you to play each file from within its easy-to-use interface. From there, you can flag all the desired files in the favorites directory and then simply import them from the directory to your audio sequencer of choice. It also has a BPM feature that will either guess the beats-per-minute in a drum loop or song sample for you, or let you tap out the beats of the rhythm on its BPM Tap Pad to manually determine the tempo.

Ableton announced the upcoming release of Live 3, a new upgrade of their award-winning sequencing instrument for Mac OS 9, Mac OS X, and Windows. Live 3 is scheduled for release in October of this year and will be available for public beta testing from www.ableton.com this weekend. Live 3 is the first integrated audio sequencing tool that gives users control "inside" of the sample. Live 3 now offers sound designers and musicians a whole new world in which they can easily and flexibly animate their samples.
Some of Live 3 new features : MIDI Key mapping, velocity sensitivity, clip envelopes, new legato mode, new effects, new quantization values, VST plug-in improvements...
Live 3 for Mac OS 9, Mac OS X : EUR/US$ 399 (MSRP) in October. Upgrades from previous Live versions will be availabl ...

The Digital Performer 4.1 update is now on the MOTU site! This a free update for Version 4.0 users that supports the Digidesign Audio Engine (DAE) and runs Audio Units plug-ins and virtual instruments. The update also include numerous other enhancements such as new virtual instrument tracks.

LinPlug announced the Mac OS X version of the RM IV. Built using LinPlug's enhanced high-quality audio engine, the RM IV features 18 velocity sensitive Drum Pads that can be used to trigger any of 11 different Audio Generator Modules.

The instrument features a modular design that currently includes 10 percussion synthesis algorithms, as well as a fully featured percussion sampler.
The Sampler module provides single-sample, multi-sample, velocity-layer and velocity-crossfade support, at up to 32-bit resolution.
The instrument also includes an AHDSR-controlled multi-mode filter, a fully-featured compressor designed specifically for percussion sounds, a flexible "Humanizer" and a 6 x 6 Modulation Matrix.

The RM IV comes with the renowned Manytone Acoustic Drums series, a set of 8 mult ...

The famous « Reason Adapted, Live Digidesign Edition, SampleTank SE, AmpliTube LE, et T-RackS EQ» bundle that is now being shipped with all the Pro Tools systems continues to stir jealousy amongst the other customers. Rumor has it, that Digidesign is considering offering the bundle to the already registered users either for free or, as someone has been informed by the American Digidesign support, for a fee of 99-144$.

It is worth pointing out that a free version will be shipped to all new Pro Tools customers, as well as those who are in the "002-002r" exchange program. One thing's for certain, and that is the Digidesign Forum administrator message saying, "Specifics of this offer and ordering info will be posted there within the next 48 hours". In clear language, that means – KEEP AN EYE ON THE DIGIDESIGN SITE!