Ueberschall has released Groove Shadow Elastik, an Elastik Player based sound library that provides 400 "Groove Shadows" split in to 4 frequency parts (1,600 FX Loops) developed to help add uniqueness and body to standard grooves and motifs. The elements are derived from incidental sounds which occur in nature, electrical components, musical instruments and phrases, audio manipulation, machines and a variety of other sources. Stylized, compiled and sequenced for ease of insertion within a musical context.

The Groove Shadow Elastik library includes :

- Over 3.5 Gb of brand new content.
- Over 400 Groove Shadows split in 4 frequency parts = 1.600 totally new FX loops.
- Over 4,000 single sound FX .
- Elastik Audio Engine.

Groove Shadow Elastik has an MSRP of $119 / €99 and is available for Mac OS X (UB) in VST, AU, RTAS and stand-alone formats.

Apple has recently discovered that some batteries used in its MacBook and MacBook Pro notebooks may have battery performance issues. Apple is offering a software update that is designed to improve battery performance. This battery update should be run on all MacBook and MacBook Pro computers and extra batteries that were purchased between February 2006 and April 2007. For more information, please visit the link below.

Note: The factors causing the performance issues do not present a safety risk. You may continue to use your current battery.

Steinberg has announced Universal Binary updates to VSTis based on HALion sampling technology. The updates are now available for HALion, HALion Player, HALion Player OEM, HALion Symphonic Orchestra and The Grand 2.

The update adds compatibility with Apple's Intel-powered Macintosh computers and is available for download now to all registered owners of these instruments. The updates also offer the following enhancements (where applicable) :

- Support for Intel-based Macs.
- Kontakt 2 and GIGAstudio 3 file import support
- Performance improvements when using Waldorf filters
- Disk-streaming LED improvements and new peak function allows for better streaming analysis and User feedback
- Overlap Mode enhancements
- New Hybrid Rewire mode in standalone allows receiving MIDI from selected port instead of from Rewire connection
- Several smaller enhancements and fixes

Mstislav Rostropovich, cellist and conductor, human rights activist, has died today at 80 in Moscow from a long illness.

Audio-Technica introduces two stereo shotgun microphones aimed at the high-end broadcast and production environment. The new BP4027 and BP4029 Stereo Shotgun models are based on models that A-T originally developed for the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Designed for broadcasters, sound recordists and videographers, these phantom-powered models feature independent line-cardioid and figure-of-eight elements configured in an M-S (Mid-Side) arrangement. Each provides a switch-selectable internal matrixing system offering a selection of wide and narrow stereo (L/R) output or M-S output. A switchable low frequency roll-off filter helps minimize the pickup of unwanted low frequency noise. The models differ from one another primarily in length (BP4027 15" long and BP4029 9" long); they both feature a li ...