Alesis has announced the upcoming release of a new compact MIDI USB Keyboard, the Q25.

Features :

• 25-note keyboard controller for melodic control of virtually all MIDI hardware and software
• Velocity sensitive keys for expressive, musical performance
• USB MIDI and traditional MIDI for use with Mac and PC, as well as MIDI hardware
• Pitch and Modulation wheels for capturing musical expression
• Backlit Octave Up and Down buttons expand your range
• Assignable volume/data-entry slider enables you to control your most-used parameter
• Sustain pedal input for complete performance (pedal sold separately)
• Comes with Ableton Live Lite Alesis Edition for recording, sequencing, and performing
• Bus powered via USB, so you won't need a power cable
• Includes: Q25 keyboard, USB cable, Software DVD, Quick start guide

The Q25 will be available from musical instrument and pro audio retailers in early Fall 2010 with a U.S. estimated street price of $79.00.

Here is a picture of the soon to be released Tonelux 1628 Mixing Board. It will have 16 Channels of the famous Tonelux Mic Pres. The EQs and Summing are arranged into a plug and play console format, ready to use, including a professional 192 point patchbay.

Features :

• 16 MX2 Mix Modules
• 16 EQ4P Equalizers
• 16 TR8 Bus Assign Modules
• 16 MP1a Mic Preamps with TILT
• 4 FX2+ Send Master/FX Returns
• 1 SM2 Stereo Master Module
• 1 CR2 Control Room Module
• 1 TB1 TalkBack Module
• 16 P&G Custom Manual Faders, the dB scale matches ShadowMix and ProTools fader scale
• 16 VU Meters in a Removable Bridge, all meters have Peak and VU modes
• 2 Large Stereo VU Meters, with Peak/VU modes
• Custom Designed Wood Sides/Top, made with Bamboo, a sustainable wood
• Leather Bolster
• Complete real TT Patch-bay/Dsub I/O Panel, removable and can swing around the side to mount
• Optional ShadowMix Automation

As shown above: $42,999.99, with ShadowMix Moving Fader Automation, $49,999.99. 8 or 16 channel expanders will be available.

Imperfect Samples has released its own sample player :the Imperfect Samples Player. It's a universal VST / AU player for all Imperfect Samples libraries. Users are no longer restricted to EXS24 or Kontakt, and can now use Imperfect Samples libraries on Mac OS X and Windows, in any VST or AU host, such as Cubase, Logic or Renoise.

Features :

• Supports all new Imperfect Samples products.
• 32-bit floating point audio fidelity.

The Imperfect Samples Player is available as a direct download.

Support for older Imperfect Samples products will be made available in the future.

BigTick has released version 1.0 of Zen, a free universal VSTi presets manager, initially for Windows but we hope that a Mac version is on the road.

Zen is a Universal Presets Manager: It loads in any host as a VST instrument, and acts as a loader for other VSTis. So with Zen, you can search for "Rhodes piano" and get a list of all matching presets – regardless of the final VSTi (Rhino, Zebra, Absynth... whatever). When you select one of the presets in Zen, the corresponding VSTi is automatically loaded to play the requested preset.

Many popular VSTis are supported, and new ones are added daily. Eventually Zen aims to categorize all available presets, for all VSTis.

Zen is online - It constantly synchronizes its own local database of presets with a master online database hosted at www.bigtickaudio.com – users get new presets daily, delivered right into their sequencer, already categorized.

Zen for commercial presets designers - Commercial presets designers can use Zen to send demo versions of their presets to all potential customers. Users can preview the presets in Zen, directly in the context of their track, and buy the presets they like with just one click. Presets can be bought individually, as opposed to purchasing a full bank of presets.

Sound Devices unveils a new audio interface called the USBPre 2.

Features :

• Extended bandwidth, low-noise microphone preamplifiers with 48 V phantom, limiters, high-pass filters, and 15 dB pad.
• Dynamic range greater than 114 dB (in 24-bit operation).
• Flat 10 Hz to 40 kHz (@96 kHz SR) audio bandwidth with very low distortion characteristics.
• Each input individually selectable between microphone, line, and aux level signals (both channels selected simultaneously for S/PDIF connections).
• Precision, 23-segment, multicolor LED peak/VU meter, selectable between input and output sources.
• High-output headphone amplifier can drive a wide range of headphones.
• Balanced outputs on XLR connectors with dedicated level control can be used to drive line- or mic-level inputs.
• Mix control enables zero-delay monitoring of source audio, computer audio, or a mix of both source and computer audio for multitrack recording or computer telephony.
• Phono (RCA) jacks connect Aux Output to external loudspeakers or preamplifiers.
• Bus powering via USB for convenient, single-cable connection to the computer.
• In Stand-Alone mode the USBPre 2 operates as a microphone preamplifier and analog-to-digital converter.
• Hardware loop-through for test & measurement to send computer audio directly back to an input.
• High-strength extruded aluminum chassis.
• Mac® OS X 10.4+, Windows®XP/Vista/7, and Linux, class-compliant audio device.
• Additional features controlled by hardware DIP switches on the back panel; no software-only features and no control panel.
• Available October 2010, pricing TBA