Applied Acoustics Systems announced the release of the Lounge Lizard EP-2 Electric Piano for Mac OS X. The Lounge Lizard EP-2 new features:

- Now includes key release model for even greater realism
- Choose between the Lounge Lizard's original pickup model
acclaimed for it's growl and bite, or a new secondary model
specifically designed for crystal clean tones
- All effects modulation and stereo delays sync to host tempo
- Support for MIDI program change for hands-free operation
- New browser interface makes finding presets quick and easy
- Optimized DSP engine for 3 times greater CPU performance
- Support for Digidesign's RTAS plug-in format for Pro Tools 6.x
- Support for OS X

Sound Keys, the French monthly magazine, mentions MacMusic in its July/August issue, under the "on the net" column: "...60 Euros... and to be sure it's not a lot, as MacMusic is surely one of the best web sites on computer assisted music.

Sound Keys is onto its 8th. This summer issue has, among others, an excellent review of virtual instruments (the commercial and freeware ones).

TC Electronic revolutionizes audio restoration with the new Restoration Suite for the PowerCore Platform. The Suite includes a very powerful DeScratcher, which is based on brand new research by Noveltech in Finland. The Restoration Suite offers three real-time Plug-ins for the most critical applications in audio restoration: Denoising, Declicking and Descratching.

BIAS Inc. announced that Peak 4, a major new version of the leading stereo waveform editing application for Macintosh, is now available. Peak 4 offers a wealth of new features and enhancements, including support for Audio Unit plug-ins, an innovative sample-based reverb technology called ImpulseVerb , Multi-processor support, Redbook CD burning from directly within the Peak application, a host of new DSP tools, a mastering-quality compressor/limiter called Sqweez , and many other enhancements. In addition, Peak 4's graphic user interface has been streamlined, and sports a new elegant brushed metal look that Macintosh enthusiasts will surely feel at home with. Finally, Peak 4 is now a Mac OS X-only application, enabling it to take full advantage of the OS X-only services within the OS (For ...

Microsoft has stolen a march on rival Apple by signing a deal with a digital music company backed by singer Peter Gabriel to launch the first internet download service in Europe to sell individual tracks.

The new venture will be accessed through Microsoft's Windows Media Player software and will allow users to download songs from a choice of more than 200,000 by major artists.