Beer, sausages, plugins and synthetizers ! All these products - that MacMusic is fond of - deal with Frankfurt. This 600,000-inhabitant charming town, in Hesse, is not only famous for Goethe's birthplace, its Cathedral and its lovely gothic houses, but it also welcomes the Musik Messe that starts today and closes on Saturday. Of course MacMusic is busy keeping you informed, in this report and in the news, with all the gems that will be presented in Frankfurt.

On April 20, Arturia will release version 1.5 of the minimoog V. Version 1.5 includes improvements to the audio engine and strives to be even closer to the original Minimoog's behavior :

- An improved filter (that is even more stable, closer to the original, and more reactive towards the envelopes. It is also improved in the FM mode).
- Improved envelopes, perfectly reproducing the Minimoog original envelopes
- Reshaped Saw-Ramp and Triangle wave forms.

This update will be free to all registered users and will be downloadable from www.arturia.com

Digidesign just announced Pro Tools M-Powered software. This new version of Pro Tools music mastering software is designed to be used with compatible peripherals made by M-Audio. Pro Tools M-Powered uses Pro Tools LE's core technology and ships with more than 30 plug-ins for creative signal processing and effects, according to Digidesign. It works with software plug-ins designed for Pro Tools by third parties, as well. It will also include Ableton Live Lite 4.0, an audio and MIDI sequencing and virtual instrument application. Sessions created using Pro Tools M-Powered can be opened by Digidesign Pro Tools TDM and LE systems.

The new software will run on Mac OS X and is expected to ship in early April for US$349.

SonicBirth is now available as Preview version 4 , which adds the ability to export as a VST plug-in, and features three new elements : XY pad, Audio file, and Audio player. SonicBirth is an Audio Units plugins designing application which allows you to build your own AudioUnit plug-ins.

Chris Randall announces in his portal Analog Industries that Audio Damage we're eginning to port his products to AU. His already known Mayhen FX suite, Ratshack, Digitalis (Deverb and Discord) will be necessary to add its flaming Ronin. This is the good news for the logic's users that they will solve more of a problem of compatibility of these plug with Fx VS TAU configure.