Roland is pleased to announce a new patch download for its flagship synthesizer, the V-Synth GT.

"This new download contains hundreds of the most in-demand, classic analog sounds," says Vince LaDuca, Product Manager. "The download has been assembled as a GT project, so it's easy to load, and the patches are mapped to the V-Synth GT's real-time controls, including the signature time-trip pad. Users can add these patches to their existing GT projects with the GT's librarian software. We've also added new filter banks, so users can stream audio via the GT's analog, digital or USB audio inputs, and then use its array of COSM filters and effects to tweak and mangle sound."

The download adds a synth museum's worth of sounds to the V-Synth GT, with over 450 recreations of classic analog synthesizers from the '70s, '80s, and '90s plus a host of classic Juno, Jupiter, SH, 303 and D-50 sounds. There are also new filter bank patches specifically designed to control external audio sources.

All patches were designed using the V-Synth GT's powerful analog modeling technology.

Found on Trident website :

"After long negotiations, PMI Audio has announced its acquisition of the original Trident Audio Developments Company. PMI has purchased all of the trademark rights, intellectual property rights, goodwill and assets of Trident Audio Developments from David Stocks. David Stocks acquired the company from Relyon after Malcolm Toft sold it to Relyon."

Funny thing is that PMI Audio also owns Toft Audio Designs, the new company of Malcolm Toft. It seems that the circle is now complete.

Ultimate Sound Bank has released the USB Producer Pack, a massive library which features more than 26 GB of sounds, instruments and loops, containing more than 50 000 samples, and covering every aspect of music and sound production. So much for figures, here are the sounds that don't have to be introduced anymore, in full version :

- Plugsound Pro : the award-winning global library
- Xtreme FX : the most famous sound design tool
- Synth Anthology : 30 years of synthesis history
- Mayhem of Loops: thousands of useful loops

"These magic collections are the secret weapon for a lot of producers around the world. Now united in one single and easy package." said Alain Etchart, Founder and Director of Marketing at Univers Sons / Ultimate Sound Bank.

Available now for $299, the USB Producer Pack also includes the full version of UVI Workstation.

Thermionic Culture has finally announced the availability of its long-awaited Fat Bustard Valve Mixer.

This beautiful unit has a total of 12 inputs arranged as 4x stereo pairs and 4x mono with pan controls, all with toggle mute switches. The simple but amazing Bass and Treble EQ has 0.5dB stepped Lift controls while there are 6 way stepped Bass & Treble Cut controls. This unit also includes a really sweet and effective stereo width control, a little reminiscent of some vinyl lathe cutting EQ's. Four valves are used on the master buss, a pair of 5965 double triodes, the first half of which is pre-amp/eq, the second half is gain makeup in conjunction with the dedicated 'Attitude' feedback control which determines the amount of THD. The Attitude control can yield a clean signal or add gain and some "valvy" 2nd harmonic distortion. The other pair of valves is the larger 6SN7 double triode connected in parallel to give massive headroom cleanly (approaching +30 dBm).

Additional pair of AUX inputs is also provided for future channel expansion by adding the optional Little Bustard 16 channel expander, which will be due later this year.

Retail is approximately £2800.00 ex VAT.

"Within the last decade, computer-based plug-in synths have gradually overtaken hardware as the primary weapon in keyboardists' arsenal. The flexibility, convenience and low cost of plug-ins certainly cannot be argued. But what if you're a live-gigging musician? You could take a laptop to the gig, but laptops are delicate and generally require external audio hardware for high-quality audio. What if there was a compact, affordable synth module that allowed you to play a range of high-quality plug-ins without the need for a laptop? Enter Use Audio's Plugiator !"