Mabuse is a real-time Audiovisual Composition and Performance tool for all electronic music and video makers. Musicians, video artists, performers, VJ's who want to make music, and DJ's who want to make videos in real time. It is a real-time Audiovisual Composition and Performance tool based on Max/MSP/Jitter and extra coding. It is a fully functional AVJ tool - that's AUDIOVISUAL, not just Audio/Visual. You make music and video, all at once on the same machine in real time.

The forthcoming 1.5 version will add in the next 6 months:
• Automatic segmentation of Audio and Video files.
• Dual channel video with keying support.
• freeframe plugin compatibility.
In future releases:
• Ability to record whole Mix on instant record.
• MIDICLOCK external synchronisation
• Recall different movie clips via MIDI.
• Adding floating text to the video.

Mabuse runs on OS X 10.4 on both Intel and PPC, as on Windows XP and Vista. Recommended hardware: Mac Pro, MacBook Pro or MacBook Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GHz and 2 GB RAM or on PCs: anything faster than a Pentium 4 3GHz with 1GB RAM

Limited time introduction price £65, normal price will be £95.

MHC Synthesizers and Effects announce the release of Industrial Tones 1.5 for Windows (VST). The Mac OS X version will be released in the next 2 weeks. Version 1.5 includes the following changes:

• New graphical user interface.
• 13 of the samples/waveforms were either improved or replaced.

Main features are:
• 1024 presets (if all soundpacks are installed).
• Crossfading and layered effects which feature distortion, filter banks, a resonator, flanger, sub oscillation, amp modulation, pitch shift etc.
• All knobs can be mapped to MIDI controllers with a simple "learn" function.
• Ensemble with adjustable amount and mix. Stereo delays.
• Full polyphony. Only your CPU sets the limit or you may set a fixed voice limit.

Version 1.5 is available as a VSTi for Windows and will be as an AudioUnit for Mac OS X (Universal Binary). Meanwhile: Mac users may purchase and use version 1.0 and then receive a free update to version 1.5.

Price $139. Optional soundpacks are available for $39 (including all three soundpacks).

Apple asks some users of some Mac Pro et iMac Core 2 Duo to upgrade the firmware of their hard drive. Time to back up and update… If the automatic update doesn't ask you to, don't do it! You're not concerned (or precisely, your hard drive).

"The Hard Drive Update 1.0 includes bug fixes and important updates for the following systems:
• iMac Core 2 Duo (Mac OS X 10.4.7 or later)
• Mac Pro (Mac OS X 10.4.7 or later)

To complete the firmware update process, please follow the instructions in the updater application (/Applications/Utilities/Hard Drive Update 1.0.app). The updater will launch automatically when the Installer closes.'

Native Instruments update Kontakt to 3.01. The new stuff:
- New CPU management according to the instrument type.
- EDIT mode revised
- Distorsion, Saturation and synth filter revised.
- Faster search in the database.
- New patches.
- New manual
- New manual part: "script language".
- A start up guide and localized versions of the manual of Kontakt 3.

Fixed bugs:
- Some cosmetics
- No more freeze with Cubase 4 and Spectrasonics
- Various libraries fixes
- …

Ambrosia Software brings us its Wiretap Studio 1.0.1, an audio recording and management solution. This update goes into:
• Full Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 compatibility
• Finer-grained VU meters in Preferences->Source that better indicate average and peak values
• Export drop zone now includes iPhone, to drag your audio clips to your iPhone for use as custom ringtones
• Fixed a bug that could cause a freeze on Leopard if the OS was installed via an upgrade install
• Fixed an issue on Leopard when registering for all users immediately after installlation which could cause the registration to fail
• Numerous other fixes and enhancements

Wiretap requires OS X 10.4 or better. Ambrosia Wiretap Studio 1.0.1 costs $69, the upgrade for registered users is $30 (excluding OEM bundled versions). Competitive upgrades are available.