Applied Acoustics Systems unveils the Sound Banks Series, a new line of products that expands the sonic possibilities of their current and future crop of software instrument plug-ins. The Sound Bank Series will propose new preset collections on a regular basis covering various genres and themes.

The first release of this series is Analog Essentials for the Ultra Analog VA-1 synthesizer. This 148-preset add-on offers a selection of high quality arpegios, basses, pads, percussions, sound effects, and various synth sounds.

The Analog Essentials sound bank is available now from the AAS Store for $39. For more information and a preview of Analog Essentials, visit the address below.

Our friends from SonicState.com have started streaming a new IPTV video show called The Top 20 Greatest Synths. The show is based around interviews with synth users and collectors like Will Gregory (Goldfrapp), Roger O'Donnell (The Cure), Ade Utley (Portishead) and Howard Jones (Howard Jones!) and features footage, photos and facts about the greatest electronic instruments ever made.

"We've based the chart on the votes that have been coming in plus a bit of poetic license to include some outsiders, underdogs and a few surprises!" Sonic founder Nick Batt and former BBC producer Simon Power have been pleased with the response to previews of the show already available to watch at Sonic.

"It's basically an excuse to rant about all-things-synth in a show that's shamelessly nostalgic abou ...

FLux has released its first series of plug-ins in VST and RTAS formats. Solera offers four primary dynamics functions: Compressor, De-compressor, Expander and De-expander, which can be independently switched on or off as required. For each you can set the threshold, the ratio and a knee. The Pure series takes up exclusive technologies of Solera with specialized plug-ins featuring only one particular dynamic section. The Pure series includes a compressor, a de-compressor, an expander and a de-expander. And last but not least, Epure is a 5-band equalizer that uses a "State-Space" implementation to produce the best possible signal to noise ratio whatever the settings are.

All of them are available for Mac OS X (UB). Solera, the Pure series and Epure carry an MSRP of €470 each. Note that these plug-ins use a dongle as copy protection; demo versions can be obtained by purchasing a "Demo Pack", which includes a dongle, for €70.

Eliosound has announced that it has changed its company name to Eiosis... don't ask why, it's done that's all !

... by the way, the ELS Vocoder v1.0 is out.

Tech 21 brings a fresh perspective to the standard delay pedal. By incorporating a clean Boost function, up to 9dB, your solos will jump out with greater dimension. The Boost D.L.A. is designed with user-tweakable, "lo-fi" analog technology. By manipulating the controls, you can infuse degrees of warmth and life characteristic of vintage delays. The circuitry intentionally injects the inherent imperfections of vintage units, which is what makes them so seductive and nostalgic. A single, continuously-variable Time control provides a full sweep, up to 1000 milliseconds, of delay. The Boost D.L.A. parameters are engineered so that you can explore and custom tailor such delay styles as digital, vintage tape and bucket brigade.

• Uniquely combines delay and clean boost, up to 9dB, in on ...