No Fritz Lang, city-state, workers and thinkers but just Hip-Hop here : Metropolis is a hip-hop virtual instrument featuring a 8 part multi-timbral Groove Activating Virtual Instrument. Each part comprising one loop channel, additional edit channel and 32 step-time parts so up to 272 fully programmable. It loads Propellerhead Recycle REX and REX2 files & ACIDized loops plus WAV and Aif files. it features a step Sequencer with 32 slots, resonnant filter, MIDI control, VST and Audio Units compatibility, standalone version, and comes with 4GB of hio hop beats.

Metropolis will ship soon for $200 and manual plus demo version are available now.

Arturia released Universal Binary versions for Analog Factory, Prophet V and Brass virtual instruments, and today announces that MacIntel compatible versions of others virtual instruments minimoog V, Moog Modular V, CS-80 V and Arp 2600 V will be available at the end of summer.

These upcoming versions will be available for free.

Native Instruments just released Akoustik Piano, a free update for its piano software instrument. The new version offers significant improvements and additional features in almost every area, further extending its recognized strengths in sonic realism, playability, functionality and ease of use. Furthermore, Akoustik Piano 1.1 offers an enhanced user interface, an improved Recorder section with MIDI song import, MIDI automation for a wide range of sound parameters including volume and pan, an adjustable "bass boost" function, and an easy-to-use output limiter. The update also increases the number of maximum voices to 150, providing sufficient polyphony headroom for even the most demanding piano arrangements.

The 1.1 update is now available as a free download for all registered users. Mac Intel compatibility for Akoustik Piano will be introduced with a separate update, which will be released within the third quarter of 2006.

AudioEase has updated Altiverb to version 5.4.5 in order to fix several bugs : latency compensation problem in MAS, occassional crash with Digital Performer 5.1, better buffer size detector in Pro Tools, and buffer size checking also looks for M-Powered systems. Altiverb is a sampled acoustics processor that offers realistic one-, two- and four-channel sampled acoustics of real halls, cathedrals, bathrooms — and virtually any acoustic environment. Included in the release are dozens of presets ranging from the Amsterdam Concertgebouw to the back of a Ford Transit van.

This update is available for free.

Sonoma Wire Works, developers of RiffWorks recording software, have released RiffWorks Standard (version 2) offering increased compatibility, more features, integrated RiffCaster instant podcasting, and access to RiffLink online collaboration. RiffWorks Standard allows users to spontaneously record their musical ideas, create songs complete with drums and effects, jam online, and broadcast to an enthusiastic community. RiffWorks Standard installs easily on Mac OS Universal with any CoreAudio device

RiffWorks Standard is available for $129.99, which includes a 60-day free subscription to RiffLink.