Joemeek opto compressor comes back in a half rack unit. There's balanced and unbalanced I/O, side chain, the usual suspects Input Gain (there's a peak led), Compress (threshold), Slope (ratio), Attack, Release and Make Up Gain. Two series of 8 and 9 LEDs provide gain reduction and level visual feedback. The special features are: Gain Reduction Hold parameter, to suppress noise hiss in quiet parts; Stereo Width, to move from mono to normal stereo.

Already shipping, $199 or £135 or €170.

At AES Paris, See'n'Sound will preview its new See'n'Sound LE application for Macintosh. See'n'Sound LE is a stand-alone version, still under development, based on OpenAL. The original idea here is "remixed" thinking at the way of mind of video games producer and sound designers. The approach to audio sources is not linear and a lot of interactive options are included to meet Augmented Reality application's needs.

Details on the See'n'Sound web site.

Apple today released Final Cut Express HD 3.5, a significant upgrade to its software solution for video enthusiasts, schools and small businesses that runs natively on both Intel-and PowerPC-based Macs. New in Final Cut Express HD 3.5 is Dynamic RT for real-time playback of multi-stream effects, Soundtrack 1.5 with a complete suite of audio production tools and LiveType 2.1 with even more exciting animated text and titles. New features in Soundtrack 1.5 include improved multitrack audio editing and recording tools with tracks, busses, outputs and real-time effects processing.

Final Cut Express HD 3.5 is available now for $299. Owners of previous versions of Final Cut Express can upgrade to Final Cut Express HD 3.5 for $99.

The 120th AES Pro Audio Expo & Convention in Paris will open its doors this Saturday morning. The Opening Ceremony at 12 noon traditionally features a prominent keynote speaker with an outsider's perspective on the pro-audio scene. This year, the AES is lucky enough to feature two prominent speakers: Emilie Simon, composer of the Oscar winning French film "March of the Penguins", and her sound engineer Cyrille Brissot. Emilie Simon, who rose to fame through her extraordinary sonic creations, will demonstrate the importance of recording technology to her music and present some samples of her work. Additionally, Ms. Simon will showcase an exciting new application of audio technology, kicking off the 120th AES Pro Audio Expo & Convention with a bang.

Teragon releases KickMaker, a synthesizer designed specifically to create good kick drum sounds. It uses four independent oscillators and a wide range of effects, allowing one to create perfectly customized beats. KickMaker is the perfect solution for producers who are tired of using factory samples or ordinary drum machines, and want an easy way to create a wide range kicks for their tracks.

KickMaker is available as Audio Units and VST versions.