Steinberg has announced that all European customers who have bought Cubase 4 or Cubase studio 4 between December 1, 2008, and March 31, 2009, (GB/DE version) or April 30, 2009, (FR/IT/ES version) are eligible to obtain a Grace Period Update to Cubase 5 at a special price.

You are eligible for the Grace Period Update if you have purchased one of the following products within the eligibility period above :

- Cubase 4
- Cubase 4 Updates (all variations)
- Cubase 4 Upgrades (all variations)
- Cubase 4 Competitive Crossgrade
- Plus Education Versions of these products

- Cubase Studio 4
- Cubase Studio 4 Updates (all variations)
- Cubase Studio 4 Upgrades (all variations)
- Cubase Studio 4 Competitive Crossgrade
- Plus Education Versions of these products

Not eligible are Cub ...

Primacoustic is pleased to announce the latest Recoil Stabilizer: the RX5 UF up-fire; a nearfield monitor isolation platform designed for post production facilities where the playback monitor is often on a desk and needs to be angled upwards and aimed at the listener's ears.

The Recoil Stabilizer is a unique device (patent pending) that at once isolates the nearfield monitor from the desk or shelf to eliminate resonance while providing a solid isolation platform to eliminate sway from the back & forth piston movement of the loudspeaker. Once installed, one immediately notices clearer more defined bass, improved transient response and a wider soundscape with more detailed imaging. Because the Recoils eliminate resonance; irregularities between rooms is reduced and therefore mixes immediately translate better between studios.

The RX5-UF Recoil Stabilizer is the newest arrival in the family and features a 10� up-fire angle designed to allow the engineer to aim the tweeter at his ears and achieve the proper listening angle when used on a table-top surface. Priced at $99 US each.

M-Audio unveils an updated version of its DMP3 preamp. It features a 20Hz to 80kHz frequency response, 67dB of gain plus a redesigned new look.

Features :

- 2-channel preamp with XLR microphone inputs and 1/4"� instrument inputs
- balanced outputs on TRS jacks deliver hum-free professional audio
- low harmonic distortion (THD+N: .0005% @ 20Hz-20kHz) for ultra-clean sound
- exceptional dynamic range to capture all the nuances of your music
- 20Hz to 80kHz frequency response (+/- 0.5dB) ideal for high-resolution recording
- high and low gain range controls offer up to 67dB of gain
- phantom power to accommodate all types of microphones

JoeCo presents the Blackbox Recorder, a high performance multi-track capturing device designed for the 21st century.

Aimed primarily at the live music market, it records 24 channels of hi-res audio directly to a USB2 drive. It can be plugged directly into the insert points on any console and can also provide Virtual Sound Checking facilities. Recording to standard external USB2 disks formatted with FAT32 in Broadcast WAV file format (BWAV), any material can be instantly used in a studio Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) without any need for time-consuming file conversions or transfers.

Features :

- 24 track audio recorder
- Virtual Sound Check Facility
- 24bit/96kHz conversion
- Simple User interface
- Keyboard input for naming tracks and songs
- Data entry wheel for navigating menus and making adjustments
- Scrub function for finding loop points
- AES / SPDIF word clock
- Linear time code (LTC) & MIDI time code
- SONY PII (9-pin) control
- Records to standard USB2 drive in BWF format - Instant import into DAW
- Multiple Blackbox Recorder units can be chained for really large multi-track recordings
- Applications as standalone multichannel recorder for use in studios, conferences, conventions, logging and monitoring

The Blackbox Recorder will be available from April 09.

It's not official for now but it seems that after the little MPK 25, Akai will soon unveil its big brother : the MPK 88.

As we can see on the picture the MPK 88 will be a fully weighted 88 note keyboard with all the features of the MPK49 plus the full quota of 16 MPC pads, as opposed to the 12 on the MPK 49 & 25.