Sonicstop annouces a special offer for Christmas. The Megapack 1 is a new 12 CD package today, featuring a large collection of loops and multisamples : Drum Necessities, Chameleon Drums, Chameleon Drums 2, Atomic Beats, Atomic Synths, Groundscapes 1, Groundscapes 2, Icebox, Table Manners, Remix Essentials, Hotbox 1, Hotbox 2 and Studio Drum Kits - "A" Multi-Pak.

Megapack Volume 1 can be purchased for a limited time through January
4th, 2004 for $349.99 as part of a holiday special offering significant
discounts. Megapack Volume 1 carries an MSRP of $411.75.

Elemental Audio Systems announces the availability of version 2.0 of its unlimited band EQ tool box, Eqium. This new version adds adds automation support, a completely redesigned user interface, and Digidesign Pro Tools RTAS compatibility for Mac OS X. This new version presents also a flexible mechanism for automating EQ changes through a host. Eqium is available on VST, RTAS and AudioUnit, and costs 129 euros.

A version 1.0.1 update of Amplitube Live from IK Multimedia is now available. This update makes Amplitube Live compatible with MacOS 10.3 Panther. The bug (crash at startup) on OS 10.2.8 is now fixed. Previous version of AmpliTube Live 1.0.0 was not able to work with some Audio Interfaces : Emagic USB models, MOTU all models, Digidesign Core audio drivers for all systems and iMic by Griffin Technology.

TC Electronics annouces that version 3.1 of Native Bundle is now available. Native Bundle includes a series of processing tools for VST and Apple's Audio Units and covers all your needs : equalization, dynamic processing (incl. de-essing), reverberation, limiting and maximizing, and now also filters and lo-fi effects, with the new Sonic Destructors, wich allows you to add textures to your "poor" files or to "vinylize" your tracks.

Native Bundle 3.1 costs 260 euros (excl. VAT), updates from Native Bundle 3.0 is available on free download, updates from Native Bundle, earlier versions costs 33 euros (excl.) and at last, upgrades from Native Reverb/Essentials costs 120 euros (excl).

Native Instruments has just posted a much needed free update for Battery. The details (from NI) are as follows:

Problems fixed:
- Interference between tracks in Logic
- High CPU load
- Crash while dragging
- Missing notes

Known issues:
- RTAS/OSX : After choosing a new kit in the open dialog the kit cannot be opened with the open button, without prior selection of a sample folder. Open kits using double click.
- BATTERY is likely to crash if you close the plug-in battery window while BATTERY is loading a kit.
- The OSX version of BATTERY will not load kits that contain umlauts or special characters (ascii table above 128).
- Sometimes there is a GUI offset in LOGIC.
- Under RTAS OSX it is not possible to enter values for controls manually by keyboard.

It remains to be seen whether this update will fix the GUI problems involving Battery and Digital Performer under OSX. Native Instruments also note that they expect more bug fixes to come in the next update but give no exact date.