Just over a year has passed since the introduction of Speakerphone, Audio Ease's end-all speaker simulator that comes with ambience sounds, reverbs, and many dsp modules to tweak the most lifelike sounding scenarios that involve speakers.

Speakerphone has quickly become a standard in many thousands of post production and music studios. Upstairs tv sets while cooking in the kitchen is going on, street megaphones with helicopters and sirens approaching, rockabilly guitar at the stage of a prom, a call from the K2 summit to base camp with wind crushing the microphone, all from a single plug-in.

Speakerphone version 2, previewed at NAMM, features many newly sampled guitar amp cabinets, antique phones, toys, answering machines and megaphones. Added is a microphone simulation module that hosts microphones ranging from Royers to toy mics.

Among the new modules in Speakerphone 2 is one that's called 'coverup'. Coverup can place any sound inside tin cans, cardboard boxes, under blankets or in the closed trunk of a car. Come listen and be amazed in the Audio Ease booth 6508.

Release date and pricing are yet to be announced.

SPL expands its "Analog Code" plug-in line with the release of TwinTube. All Analog Code plug-ins are modeled after analog hardware processors, and in this case the TwinTube processor of SPL's RackPack modular system has been the paragon.

Employing two separate, independent tube stages, the TwinTube combines the two main tube artifacts: harmonics and saturation effects. TwinTube's harmonic processing can be applied to four different fundamental tone frequency bands to improve presence and clarity without raising signal levels significantly. The saturation control can be compared to the sound effects of tape saturation to add warmth and achieve more density with virtually any kind of sound source.

"Our programmers did a great job in creating a very good sounding tube simulation", says SPL's CEO Hermann Gier. "The special qualities of the analog TwinTube are in enhancing in fact nearly any signal with the classic analog sound attributes. Now we can fully transfer those amazing results to the digital domain. And where could the warm, transparent and smooth sound of analog tube and coil filtering make more sense than in DAW productions?"

The TwinTube is available as native and TDM version. The native version supports RTAS, VST and AU formats, the TDM license also includes all native formats.

Waves has just released The Tony Maserati Collection, a collection of six application-specific audio plug-ins, created in collaboration with multi-Platinum mixing engineer Tony Maserati.

This collection includes :

- Maserati GTi Guitar Toner : The gigantic guitars of The Rapture, Rob Thomas, and Bowie.
- Maserati VX1 Vocal Enhancer : The smooth vocal sound of Alicia Keys, Beyoncé, and beyond.
- Maserati DRM Drum Slammer : The slamming drums of Black Eyed Peas, Usher, and Christina Aguilera.
- Maserati HMX Harmonics Generator : The high energy sparkle of The Pussycat Dolls, Britney, and Mariah.
- Maserati B72 Bass Phattener : The massive bass of Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, and Mary J.
- Maserati ACG Acoustic Guitar Designer : The crisp, clean acoustic guitar sound of Jason Mraz and k.d. lang.

Priced at $800, The Tony Maserati Collection is available separately and in Waves Mercury. The Tony Maserati Collection is Native only (Windows / Mac OS X - VST, AU & RTAS), and requires iLok authorization.

Universal Audio today also announced the addition of Manley Labs and Antares Audio to Universal Audio's growing list of premium plug-in partners.

Universal Audio will have access to EveAnna Manley's arsenal of coveted analog studio and mastering designs from which highly tempting plug-in additions will be created that further diversify the UAD DSP Platform.

The partnership with Antares marks the first collaboration for Universal Audio with a 3rd party software technology developer. User demand influenced the move, as well as Universal Audio's recognition of Antares' worldwide reputation as the industry leader in innovative vocal processing technology. Universal Audio's customer base made their voices heard in emails, calls and surveys that Antares was squarely their top-pick for user-requested 3rd party developers.

Akai Professional unveils the APC40, a control surface developed specifically for Ableton Live software.

Key Features :

- Designed in partnership with Ableton
- Unique clip matrix with multicolor lighting displays current clip status
- No mapping required for use with Ableton Live
- Exclusive bidirectional communication between the APC40 and Ableton Live
- Professional feel with rugged, metal chassis and premium controls
- Comes with Akai APC40 edition of Ableton Live Lite, free upgrade patch for full versions of Live
- USB plug-and-play connection for Mac and PC
- Premium controller with rugged, metal chassis
Pricing & availability have not yet been announced.