Audio Damage has just released Kombinat which is a new multi-band distortion plugin.

Kombinat's signal structure allows for a broad palette of sounds, as each segment of the overall effect is a versatile tool in its own right. The Isolator is a full "DJ-style" band-killer EQ; this leads to the three distortion engines, which may be used in multi-band mode for subtle surgery, or in series mode for complete signal destruction. The engines go in to a four-pole lowpass filter of Audio Damage's own design, and then in to a compressor which Audio Damage has configured for one-knob operation. With seven different algorithms in each of the three distortion engines (plus pass-through), Kombinat is capable of sophisticated and unique sounds.

Features :

- "DJ" style three-band isolator EQ for band-killing effects.
- Three distortion engines, consisting of seven algorithms each (plus pass-through) that can operate per-band or in series. The included algorithms are Fuzz, Distortion, Saturation, Warp, Clip, Bit/Sample-Rate Reduction, and Ring Mod.
- Self-Resonating Four-pole lowpass filter.
- Compressor, configured for one-knob operation for ease of use.
- Full MIDI learn (VST version only) for hardware control of all parameters.

Kombinat is available now for Mac OS X and Windows in VST and AU formats for a fee of $49. Note that audio examples are also available.

Ueberschall has just released a new sample library called Balkan Lines. It combines a touch of pure Balkan traditions (Gypsy, Turkish, Serbian, Greek, Romanian, Slavic and other Southeastern European influence) with contemporary and progressive rhythms from Dance, Club, RnB and Marching Band.

Balkan Lines features high quality samples and phrases from a large variety of instruments such as Accordion, Acoustic and Electric Guitar, Bouzouki, Oud, Kanun, Darbucka, Organs, Gypsy style Vocals and Claps, Power Bass lines, etc... As usual all this material is supported by the elastik audio instrument.

Balkan Lines is available now for Mac OS X and Windows in VST, AU and RTAS formats at a retail price of $119/€99/£69. For more information, please visit the link below :

PreSonus has announced that its new FireWire recording system : the FireStudio Tube.

Features :

- 24-bit/96K firewire (IEEE1394)
- 16 inputs/10 outputs simultaneous record/playback channels
- 2 SuperChannels (tube microphone/instrument preamplifier with analog limiter)
- 8 XMAX microphone preamplifiers
- 8 balanced TRS outputs
- MIDI Input/Output
- 16x10 FireControl DSP mixer/router
- JetPLL Sync for improved imaging and clarity
- High performance A/D/A converters (114 dynamic range)
- ProPak software suite included

The FireStudio Tube is available now for both Mac and PC at a list price of $899.95.

Over the last several months, Digidesign has been working closely with Apple on fine tuning Pro Tools for OS X Leopard 10.5.3. Now that Apple has released version 10.5.3 they can enter the final stages of performance testing and quality assurance before making fully qualified versions of Pro Tools HD, LE and M-Powered software available to their customers.

Pro Tools 7.4.2pr software is provided as a convenience for Mac-based Pro Tools 7.4 users who may wish to begin their transition to Leopard before a fully tested and qualified version of Pro Tools becomes available.

Pro Tools 7.4.2pr software is available as a download only, and requires Mac OS X 10.5.3. Pro Tools 7.4.2pr is not compatible with earlier versions of Leopard.

More information...

Apple has updated Logic Express to v8.0.2. This update addresses specific customer and compatibility issues of Logic Express 8.0. Note that Logic Pro has also been updated to v8.0.2 last week.