SampleSwap.org has officially launched a public website featuring 4.6GB of free loops and audio samples. This 4.6GB collection of handpicked 16-bit 44khz professional-quality samples now resides on a dedicated server with ultra-high speed Internet access. An innovative "basket" based sound browser allows members to quickly audition and download 20 to 100 MB of samples as well-organized ZIP-compressed archives instead of individual sound files.

For more information, visit their web site.

The 2007 edition of the NAMM Oddities is now online. It's an annual roundup of the weird and wonderful items found at the NAMM show made by a sound engineer called Barry Wood... just enjoy !!

Audix has expanded its line of DP-Series mic packages. The latest pack, the DP-7, is perfect for miking a 5-piece kit for both live and studio applications. As the name implies, the DP-7 contains 7 microphones. At the heart of the mic system is the D6 dynamic microphone for kick drum. For snare drum, the i-5 is provided; for rack toms there are two D2 mics, for floor tom there is a D4, and for overheads there are two ADX51 condenser microphones with pad and roll-off. Additionally there are 4 D-Vice rim mounting clips which eliminate the need for mic stands for snare and toms. The entire miking kit is packaged in a convenient aluminum carrying case.

The DP-7 carries an MSRP of $1,747. For more info, please visit their web site.

Soundcraft has announced a new processing card for their digital console Vi6. The card uses eight custom Lexicon DSP engines to provide eight mono or stereo effects units, which may be patched to aux bus outputs and then back into a channel input, or inserted into input or output channels. The real flexibility, however, comes from being able to control these effects via the desk's Vistonics II screens, which give the engineer a highly-intuitive and comfortable graphical user interface.

For more info, visit Soundcraft's web site.

Eliosound has released a time unlimited, limited features, demo version of ELS Vocoder. This demo version features the same sound and the same characteristics than the full version, but has some limitations :

- The access to the options panels is deactivated.
- Modification of the Formant Matrix/Filter Bank Patching is not available.
- No preset creation, edition or save.
- Parameters are not saved in host, that's mean that the parameters are reset on each launch.
- No automation support.
- No A/B Comparison.
- Render is deactivated.
- A sine wave is regularly added to the output sound.

The full-featured dongled demo version will be available in a few days, as the full retail version in Eliosound's online shop.