This NAMM was undoubtedly the NAMM of Mac OS X. While there are certainly some Mac users who happily run along in OS 9, it's clear that OS X is the mainstream standard for the majority of music users and, thankfully, without the tradeoffs that OS X used to require. Native Instrument's entire product line now is on OS X, with full support for Core Audio, Core MIDI, and Audio Units, and the company has announced it will only support OS X in future versions (with ongoing customer support for its OS 9 products). One detail that has gone mostly unmentioned in the Mac press is that Native isn't just making this decision for Mac users: it's also going Windows XP-only on the PC side, where users face a confusing array of OS versions with widely varying support for music. So both platforms are havi ...

Abstract: There isn't much information available, since they don't even have an ETA yet, but the rumor is that it will be more affordable than other firewire interfaces. Basically, the specs look like a better done M-Audio 410. The determining factor will be the drivers (as usual). Ed: Well, quality seems an issue, too, and I prefer the fidelity of the M-Audio eqipment to Edirol, but read on!

Want proof that we're still digging our way out of NAMM news? We haven't had a chance to mention anything about Stylus Realtime Grove Module (RMX), previewed by Spectrasonic in Anaheim. This is a brand new virtual instrument plug-in to be released later this year, expanding on the company's Stylus virtual instrument and being developed by Spectrasonics new in-house software development team, and is the first product to use S.A.G.E. Sounds to me like an acronym for some evil congolomerate that Bond had to fight, but I'll go with them on this. The core of Stylus is a new core library of thousands of grooves and sounds, with a focus on real-time manipulation. There are lots of new genres, expanding on the original Stylus, plus hundreds of kits and customized groove libraries which can be save ...

Spectrasonics has used Winter NAMM 2004 to debut its new software technology called S.A.G.E. — "Spectrasonics Advanced Groove Engine." S.A.G.E. is an underlying core technology that allows extensive real-time control, creation and manipulation of grooves while retaining sound quality. Spectrasonics, previously known only for licensing its technology for other company's virtual instruments, is now stepping into the arena as a developer in its own right (though readers will likely recall the company's excellent Atmosphere plug-in). S.A.G.E. technology will be used in many new products from Spectrasonics in the future, starting with the new "Stylus RMX " vinyl groove virtual instrument being previewed at NAMM. Building on the company's previous Groove Control technology, S.A.G.E. will support that format as well as REX1, and REX2.

AudioFinder (US$49.95 shareware) now has 32 Bit Floating Point DSP Effects:

Normalize
Normalize -3db
Invert
Swap Channels
Fade In To Transport
Fade Out From Transport
Reverse
Reverse Mix
Mirror Forward/Backward
Mirror Backward/Forward
Phat (A totally new kind of distortion effect)
Change Pitch/Speed

Ed: Hallelujah. This was already a must-have utility. These additions make it the single most important utility on my hard drive. Bravo. Stay tuned for a full review with details for more. -PK