Frontier Design Group is now shipping the new AlphaTrack controller which combines a set of intuitive tactile controls in an attractive package that fits easily on your desktop for DAW mixing and editing. AlphaTrack has a 100mm, touch-sensitive, motorized fader (10-bit resolution), three touch-sensitive encoders, touch-sensitive jog and shuttle strip, and of course transport controls, a set of user-definable buttons* and a footswitch jack for easy punch-in recording. AlphaTrack supports a lot of applications including ProTools, SONAR, Reason, Cubase SX/SL, Digital Performer, Nuendo, Apple's Final Cut Pro and Soundtrack Pro.

AlphaTrack (MSRP $249) works on Mac OS X (including Intel Macs), and connects to the computer using just a single USB cable. For more information, please visit their web site.

Flux audio is releasing their serie of audio plugins in a demo mode without ilok but with some limitations like no saving of users settings, limited number of channels etc....

The demo is available in VST, RTAS and UB formats. There's also another demo fully functional available but with a specific iLok.

Freeverse has released Sound Studio v3.5, a major update to the sound recording and editing tool for Mac OS X.

Most important features :

- New ID3 tag / iTunes metadata editor.
- Apple Lossless, ADTS AAC, NeXT/Sun Audio, and Ogg Vorbis file formats added.
- Chapters in AAC and Apple Lossless formats supported.
- Playback scrolling preferences added.
- MP3 bit rates now support 8, 16, and 24 kbps.
- Loop option for filter previews.
- AppleScript support added for referencing individual tracks in a document, and for changing the pan (left-center-right) and volume of each track.
- BPM grid and a "Tap for BPM" button that lets you determine the tempo by clicking in rhythm with the beat.

Sound Studio v3.5 is available now for $79.95. Note that registered users will get this update for free.

Waves has just posted a news on their website to inform Mac users that OS 10.4.9 is not supported and causes Waves plug-ins to malfunction...

So if you are in this case, do not install Mac OS 10.4.9 until further notice.

KResearch has released version 1.1 of KR-Space which also sees the release of the Mac OS X version of the modular multi-effect plug-in.
This plug-in can produce a multitude of different types of effects, from traditional echoes and reverbs, to very complex soundscapes, modulation and filtering effects, resonating echoes and reflections, saturation effects and other types of unusual effects. To achieve this wide range of effect creation KR-Space uses a proprietary design and a flexible modular architecture where the different available modules can be switched on and off or routed in various combinations allowing more flexibility in effect design. The modular architecture also allows more efficient CPU utilization since only the modules that are switched on contribute to the CPU overhead.

KR-Space is available now for Mac OS X (UB) in VST and Audio Units formats and costs $89. Demo versions are available.