Twenty-five years after the introduction of the first Portastudio, Tascam unveils the new DP-01 and DP-01FX 8-track Digital Portastudios. They feature 8-track recording at CD quality 44.1kHz/16-bit, 2-track simultaneous recording, dedicated stereo mixdown track, controls on each channel for volume, pan, effect send, EQ high and EQ low, two 1/4" TRS mic/line inputs, two phantom powered XLR microphone inputs (DP-01FX only), guitar level input, built-in reverb and multieffects processor (DP-01FX only), effects send and stereo return, RCA line outputs, S/PDIF Digital Optical output, USB 2.0 port and Built-in 40GB hard drive.

Tascam Portastudio is priced at under $400.

Ozone by Izotope is a mastering tool. Ozone is a system of 64-bit DSP algorithms, complemented with enhanced visual meter displays, and integrated in a single interface which features : Multiband Dynamics, Paragraphic EQ, Multiband Harmonic Exciter, Multiband Stereo Imaging, Mastering Reverb, Loudness Maximizer and Dither.

More info in the macMusic Softwares section.

We announced it yesterday : Bias unveiled SoundSoap version 2, its audio cleaning software. We were waiting for the prices and we've got them now : the suggested retail price of SoundSoap full version is $99. Customers who purchased SoundSoap on or after October 1st, 2004, are entitled to a free upgrade to version 2 at no additional charge by faxing BIAS a request along with a copy of their original dated sales receipt. For customers who purchased SoundSoap before October 1st, 2004, the upgrade to SoundSoap 2 is $49.

SoundSoap Pro remains available at $599.

At AES, Presonus unveils the FireBox, a compact FireWire audio interface which can record and playback six inputs and ten outputs simultaneously at a 24-bit/96k resolution. The FireBox includes two PreSonus microphone/instrument preamplifiers, two analog line inputs, six balanced analog line outputs, headphone output as well as S/PDIF and MIDI input/output.

More info on Presonus web site.

Native Instruments launched Traktor Beatport Player, a free audio player software for users of the Beatport online music store. The Traktor Beatport Player is a versatile and easy-to-use audio player that can even be used to tear up a party thanks to its set of basic DJ functions.The Traktor Beatport Player is based on TRAKTOR DJ STUDIO and features two decks with waveform displays, pitch faders and a crossfader.

More info on NI web site.