Waves has begun shipping its new Vocal Bundle featuring recently released Tune and DeBreath plug-ins for pitch correction/transposition and breath sound removal. Tune - ReWire powered - contains everything needed for powerful pitch correction and melody transformation, and DeBreath offers users a unique process for separating and removing unwanted breath sounds from vocal tracks. Tune is available for $600, DeBreath is available for $350, and the Vocal Bundle is available for $1,000 (full bundle contains also Renaissance Channel, Renaissance DeEsser, and Doubler).

Registered users of the Waves Update Plan who own eligible bundles will receive Tune LT at no charge. An upgrade to the full version of Tune is offered for $300.

Native Instruments announces that a demo version of the Guitar Rig 2 software is now available. Guitar Rig 2 features 8 amps, 15 guitar and 6 bass cabinets, 4 rotary speakers, 9 microphones with adjustable positioning and over 40 effects. The Guitar Rig 2 demo version is now available as a free download on the NI website.

That's a VERY good news : Apple announces that a firmware update for the PowerMac G5 single-processor 1.8GHz (revB) is finally available. This firmware update fixes issues of this computer when running Tiger : freeze when performing certain video-intensive tasks, optical drive may not eject, internet Connect may become unresponsive or displays may not wake up properly. The Power Mac G5 System Firmware Update is ONLY for the 1.8 GHz, 600MHz bus single-processor Power Mac G5 (Rev B - Late 2004) computer and requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later.

If you are using an earlier version of Mac OS X 10.3 or Mac OS 10.4, please update the Mac operating system.

Digidesign and M-Audio announce that new Pro Tools M-powered version 7 is now available. Pro Tools M-Powered is designed to work with select M-Audio hardware peripherals. With Pro Tools M-Powered, M-Audio hardware enthusiasts have access to the recording industry's most popular audio/MIDI production software for recording, editing, and mixing music. Pro Tools M-Powered 7 is a free update for all registered Pro Tools M-Powered owners with the Pro Tools M-Powered 6.8 iLok authorization. To download your update, please go to the following page:

EASTWEST announces the availability of all three PRO XP (Expansion) versions of it's Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra series. The Professional Expansion packages, when added to the original versions (which are required), add up to 400 new instruments/articulations to the original library and approximately doubles the size of each version. Further, improvements have been made to the original library also using the PRO XP players. New expansion packs feature :

- EWQL SYMPHONIC ORCHESTRA PLATINUM & PLATINUM PRO XP
24-bit samples, recorded from 3 phase-locked mic positions, chromatic sampling, 138 gigabytes of samples, release trails, Qlegato, bonus Steinway B Grand Piano.

- EWQL SYMPHONIC ORCHESTRA GOLD & GOLD PRO XP
16-bit samples, one mic position, chromatic sampling, 36 gigabytes of samples, release trails, QLegato, includes all instruments and articulations that were not included in the original Gold Edition from the original Platinum Edition, bonus Steinway B Grand Piano.

- EWQL SYMPHONIC ORCHESTRA SILVER & SILVER PRO XP
16-bit samples, one mic position, 5.4 gigabytes of samples, QLegato

Details are available on East West web site.