The newly founded company Vital Arts has just released its first product, Plectrum. This virtual instrument library features 185 original acoustic instruments, powered by Tascam's GVI streaming sample playback engine. Designed by Geoffrey Gee (pianist, composer, and former Senior Soundware Engineer at Kurzweil Music Systems), Plectrum's ultra-friendly interface presents these instruments in nine categories based on these sound sources: Strummed Strings, Struck Strings, Plucked Strings, and String Harmonics; Glass, Ceramics, Metals, and Found Objects, and Habitats. Each instrument features a round robin playback that enhances the organic feel and texture of an acoustic instrument. The instruments in Habitats use this feature to offer ever-evolving sound environments with names such as August Morning, Afternoon Rain, Forest Stream, and Crickets.

Plectrum is available at a retail price of $299 for PC in VST, RTAS and stand-alone versions, with Mac support expected in September '07.

Cue 5 with Binary Drive by Hosa Technology is an affordable, all-digital monitor system featuring true class-D amplification. The Cue 5 system accepts 24-bit/96 kHz signals directly via optical or coaxial S/PDIF inputs. Bundled control software for Macintosh and PC enables users to tailor the unique sound stage of the Cue 5 system for critical listening in any environment. This lightweight, cool-running monitoring system is the ideal choice for desktop recordists, mobile DJs, and digital music enthusiasts.

Features :

• True-to-life sound stage for "visual" mixing
• Zero intermodulation distortion
• Zero noise in Toslink and S/PDIF modes
• Expansive analog and digital connectivity options enhance portability
• Source digital signals up to 96kHz directly vi ...

Audeon announces the availability of the long awaited Mac OS X version of their flagship software synthesizer UFO (Unique Filters and Oscillators). UFO is built upon Audeon's proprietary TransModal Synthesis technology, which makes sound programming particularly flexible and intuitive :

- The sound is defined by various perceptual attributes such as Periodicity, Brightness, Noisiness, Chaos, etc. These sound characteristics are mapped to two-dimensional (XY) control surfaces. Programming a sound comes down to placing dots on these controllers for getting the desired balance between these characteristics.

- The timbre of the sound can be modulated graphically: you simply draw arrows on the control surfaces indicating the way the sound is altered by the various modulations. UFO's synt ...

Db audioware has just released two new dynamics processing plug-ins , Sidechain Compressor and Sidechain Gate. Created to satisfy a long-standing demand for side-chain capability missing in many audio software packages, both plug-ins feature db audioware's Universal Sidechains. This proven technology gives the plug-ins true multi track side-chaining operation in most audio programs running on Mac OS X and PC Windows, independent of the native routing offered by the host software itself.

Multi track side-chaining allows one track to control the dynamics of another. Traditional applications range from broadcast voice ducking to intelligent gating of drum tracks to remove crosstalk. Sidechain Compressor and Sidechain Gate are also aimed at more creative applications such as synchronised g ...

Motu has just announced the long awaited MachFive 2. The second version of this famous virtual sampler comes up with a lot of new features :

- Unique, unified design provides instruments, loops, phrases and synthesis in one simple window
- Second generation 32-bit UVI Engine, superb sound quality up to 24-bit/192kHz
- Unlimited parts (unlimited multi-timbral operation)
- Unlimited polyphony and ultra low software latency
- Unlimited sample keygroups and keygroup layers
- Up to 200 discrete audio outputs (depending on host)
- Up to 256 MIDI channels (depending on host)
- Three-dimensional layered keygroup mapping with unlimited layers and dynamic, programmable-rule-based layer switching
- Built-in graphic mixer with faders, FX inserts, metering and unlimited channels
- Disk stre ...