ReFX has just released Nexus² which comes with over 70 new features and improvements. Here are most important ones :

- Expansion Dance Vol.2 already included! - 128 new presets, 500 MB of new samples
- Three skins (Black 'evil', Black 'good' and Cobalt) included for free
- New FX: analog phaser from Arts Acoustic - up to 16 stages. Smooth as silk
- New FX: stereo enhancer - widen or narrow the stereo field
- Feature Matrix: layers can be switched on/off separately
- New section: oscillator mix level
- Oscillators can be switched on/off separately
- Volume- and pan-control for each oscillator

Nexus² is available now for Windows and Mac OS X in VST, AU and RTAS formats at a price of €299.99 / $349.99. Upgrades are available. Note that a Syncrosoft eLicenser (dongle) is now required and can be purchased from reFX if you don't already have one.

Behringer unveils the new U-CONTROL UMA25S, a super-slim controller keyboard with a fully fledged USB audio interface.

Features :

- Ultra-slim design
- 25 velocity-sensitive keys
- 8 assignable rotary controllers, pitch bend, mod wheel and transport controls
- Stereo USB audio interface with mic and line level inputs
- Headphone with boom mic included
- Gig bag and strap included
- DC, battery or USB powered
- Ships with energy/XT2 Compact BEHRINGER Edition DAW software and 100 plug-ins
- Mac and Windows (XT and Vista) compatible

US MSRP - $189.99

Tone2 has just released a Mac version for Warmverb Multi-FX, its modular multi effect plug-in with routable modules and 35 types of effects.

Do you want to flange a feedbacked reverb tail and pass it through a vocoder ? Warmverb is a multi effect unit which gives you the flexibility to create unique custom effects in high-end sound quality.

Features :

- High-end quality reverb algorithms.
- 150 professional factory sounds.
- 35 different effect modules (reverbs, delays, vocoder. phaser, flanger, pitch shifter, chorus, etc...)
- Modular design.
- Feedback module.
- Real stereo architecture.
- Smart sleep: Low CPU mode.
- 8x oversampling.
- Anti-aliasing.
- 64 bit processing.
- 22-192 kHz sample rate supported.

Warmverb Multi-FX is available now for Mac OS X in VST and AU formats at a price of $79.

Puremagnetik has released Big Bertha for Ableton Live, Kontakt and Logic. Big Bertha is a custom built 6-string Maillet electric bass with a classic, deep and funky tone. Recorded through both a Jensen transformer and an original tube buffered AMB DI, Big Bertha includes detailed multilayer velocity sampling of every note across 3 octaves and a collection of over 60 looped clips played in various styles and tempos. The loop library includes funk, rock, RnB, fusion and many other stylings.

Pricing : Basic Monthly Subscription: $5.75/Month Basic Yearly Subscription: $60/Year All Access Pass - $198/Year

Propellerhead has announced the release of three new software bundles : Reason Premium Edition, Studio Combo, and Rhythm Combo.

The Reason Premium Edition ($599/€499) includes a full version of Reason, bundled together with the four complete Hypersampled ReFills (Reason Drum Kits, Reason Pianos, Abbey Road Keyboards and Reason Electric Bass sound libraries).

The Propellerhead Studio Combo ($299/€249) bundles the four Hypersampled Reason sound libraries — Reason Drum Kits, Reason Pianos, Abbey Road Keyboards and Reason Electric Bass ReFills — in one package.

The Propellerhead Rhythm Combo ($149/€149) bundles the Reason Drum Kits and Reason Electric Bass ReFills into one package.

All three packages will be available in Europe and Asia on August 5, 2008 and in North America on August 25, 2008.