Native Instruments announces that a User Library for Kontakt 2 users is now online. This convenient database allows registered users to freely exchange their own Kontakt 2 creations on the NI website - similiar to what users of Reaktor, Guitar Rig and Absynth have been enjoying for some time now. Users can share their scripts, license-free samples and impulse responses as well as instruments and effects.

The M-Audio iControl will start shipping in June at 179 euros. The iControl is a controler for GarageBand. USB powered, it packs transport controls, a jog wheel, 8 encoders assignable (control volume, pan, aux bus sends or effects), 7 mode assign buttons, 8 sets of buttons for Mute, Solo, and Record-enable… The icontrol include also a MIDI In for a keyboard.

Tinysoft has become tinytool ! A new name, and new updates for Outi 2 and Chachacha 1.6...Outi is a real-time loops player which allows you to record, loop, use VST plug-ins. It includes a cut-up feature, and is tempo-synchronised. Chachacha is a audio video live mixing tool which helps you mix four videos depending on the mix of their sounds.

Both are donationwares you will find on our site.

Applied Acoustics Systems announces String Studio VS 1.0., a new string modeling synthesizer for Mac OS X, available as a standalone application and supports VST, Audio Units and RTAS formats. At the core of String Studio lies a whole new cutting edge string model interacting with picks, bows, hammers, fingers, frets, dampers, and soundboards. With String Studio play stunning guitars, basses, harps, clavinets, bowed instruments, ethereal pads and wild textures. Check out the extensive preset library or use String Studio's innovative tools to craft earthy, organic timbres or other-worldly instruments simply not possible with other synthesizers.

String Studio is available at US$249.

The demo of Kontakt 2 is now availble as download on the Native Instruments web site. The demo version comes with a special demo library that contains nine instruments and showcases the new KSP and convolution features. Kontakt 2 is a powerful new sampling engine that offers virtually unlimited polyphony as well as 64-part multi-timbrality. Multiprocessor support delivers up to 100% performance increase on dual processors systems, while Altivec optimization gives a further performance boost on Macintosh computers equipped with G4 and G5 processors. This new version also features support for multi-channel formats ranging from 3.0 up to 16.0, including industry standards like 5.1 and 7.1, a new Kontakt Script Processor (KSP) a fully programmable processing engine that transforms and generates MIDI and control events on the basis of a versatile yet easy-to-learn script language, a new Ram purge function, and a new convolution effect unit.