Apogee Electronics Corporation have announced that its Mini-Me, Mini-DAC and Mini-MP will now be available for sale at $795.00 retail through authorized dealers and distributors worldwide. Here's Apogee's own brief list of features for each unit...

Mini-Me:

* Two channels of Apogee 24-bit, 96 kHz A/D conversion, top-quality mic/instrument preamps and line-level inputs
* Headphone outputs
* AES/EBU, S/PDIF digital outputs
* Low-current, low-voltage-Ideal for location/ENG
* Optional USB Card available, $195.00 retail

Mini-MP:

* Superb two-channel microphone preamplifier with 75 dB of gain, phantom power and Hi-Z instrument inputs.
* Mid Side matrix processing

Mini-DAC:

* Two channels of Apogee 24-bit 192kHz D/A conversion
* High current headphone output
* I ...

VSL has announced the release of two brand new Vienna Instruments Collections, Saxophones and Elements. These two new products are the first of many upcoming releases to complement the existing 10 Collections of the Symphonic Cube.
The Vienna Instruments Saxophones Collection includes five instruments: Soprano, alto, tenor, baritone and bass saxophone, with a total of over 35 GB of samples in 24bit/44.1kHz.
Vienna Instruments Elements is a showcase for water, metal, glass, and stone, Elements is a major expansion (18 GB) on the well-known Horizon Series Glass & Stones edition. It offers new instruments such as the bass waterphone, an unusual, evocative instrument with a diameter of 14 inches.

The Saxophones Collection retails for €395/$475 (Standard Library) and €345/$415 (Extended Li ...

Roland Corporation US is proud to announce they are now offering the vintage Roland CR-78 sound set for a limited time, exclusive for MV users. One of Roland's first COMPURHYTHM drum machines, the CR-78 featured 34 different preset rhythms and unique analog drum sounds that are second to none. This MV-8000 download package joins the TR-808 sound set and the TR-527 sound set, which are also available for free on their web site.

MOTU has just updated Digital Performer to version 5.1.1. This maintenance release includes numerous program enhancements and optimizations. The 5.11 update also includes hundreds of new presets for DP5's six included virtual instrument plug-ins. Of course this is a free update for all DP 5.x owners.

Best Service is now shipping Chris Hein - Guitars which is a Kontakt Player 2 based virtual guitar library offering thousands of samples, many articulations and dynamics all in one preset per instrument. It includes 40,000 samples and 18 GB of sample content.

Main Features:

* Kontakt player 2 included.
* ~40,000 Samples, 18 GB content.
* 3,000 - 6,000 samples per instrument.
* Over 30 articulations in one preset.
* Up to 13 velocities.
* 70 intelligent MIDI controllers.

Instruments:

* E-Guitar Clean
* E-Guitar Blues
* E-Guitar Chorus
* Jazz Guitar Plectrum
* Jazz Guitar Finger
* Steel Guitar Plectrum
* Nylon Guitar Finger
* Banjo
* Mandolin

Chris Hein - Guitars has an MSRP of €399 / $499 and is available for Windows and Mac OS X in VST, AU, DX, RTAS and stand-alone formats. Videos and audio demos are available on this web site :