MOTU has updated Digital Performer to version 4.51 . Quite a few changes: Dynamic CPU Management, Multi Bounce, performance enhancements, Enhanced Digidesign DirectMIDI support, Better previewing of effects plug-in region operations, Plug-in preset enhancements, Bypass automation for AUs and more.

WireTap Pro is the new version of WireTape by Ambrosia Softwares. It allows you to record any audio, saving it to a file for later listening or processing. Streaming Internet audio, sound snippets of a DVD movie, voice notations/narration, audio from a game, digitized audio from a line-in.

Wire Tape is now available only as a "Pro" version and costs $19,00.

VirSyn has announced an update to version 1.5 for Canto. This release is a major upgrade incorporating a completely revised vocal synthesis engine. The new engine makes it now much easier to produce intelligible vocal lines.  This was achieved with an improved filter model and a new kind of rule based phoneme sequencer which adapts the phoneme transitions according to the context inside a word. 

E-LAB has announced that a demo version of Foundation is now available. Foundation is a loop based virtual instrument which features more than 3.7 Gb of samples, 3000 drum loops, 5000 drum samples, 8 tracks of simultaneous drum loop playback with an interactive groove system, MIDI CC Learn, and flexible editing functions for each individual drumloop track.

The full version in VSTi, AudioUnits & RTAS for MacOSX is scheduled to be released in January/February 2005.

Pinnacle has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Germany-based Steinberg audio software business to Yamaha Corporation. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to be completed during Pinnacle's third fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2005. As part of the transaction, Steinberg and Pinnacle will cross-license certain intellectual property on a royalty-free basis and Pinnacle will continue to distribute Steinberg's WaveLab Lite audio editing product with Pinnacle Studio Media Suite.