The Audio Engineering Society Standards Committee (AESSC) calls for comment on reaffirmation and revision of AES10-1991 (Recommended Practice for Digital Audio Engineering - Serial Multichannel Audio Digital Interface -MADI-). They try to simplify connexions between digital audio and multi channels devices.

BIAS announced they are udapting:

- Peak goes 3.2.1: free update for 3.2 users, new for $499, available now. New features include a better opening of AIFC files without types and creators, a bug fix on the registration asked again after a network configuration change, and overall performance.

- Deck goes 3.52: free update for 3.5 users form and of March. $399 for new users. The update is fixing among a few things a bug about modem dial-up on launch and Peak being grayed out when selecting Launch External Editor (a bit annoying that ;).

- Vbox goes 1.2: this new version in now fully native OS X, and also compatible with Soundsoap (Hey, for a BIAS product, you can expect that :) Vbox is available now for $99. The upgrade is free to 1.0 users.

All three apps are Jaguar 10.2.3 fully compliant

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS presents the first major update of their award winning, semi modular software synthesizer.

ABSYNTH 2.0 is now a synthesizer and a sampler!!! The list of the new features is so gorgeous that you really have to go on their site to believe what you will read.

The MODELmaker software is available free to all Neuron purchaser (see previous news) in OS 9 version, PC and OSX to follow this spring. A new soundset of 150 items is available too.

Tascam in collaboration with Frontier Design Group developed the US-122, a USB MIDI/audio interface featuring:

- 16 midi channels I/O
- 2 XLR phantom powered mic inputs with analog inserts or
- 2 line inputs on balanced TRS 1/4" jacks, guitar level switchable
- dedicated headphone outpout.
- Zero latency monitoring, level control, can be switched to mono
- 2 line outputs unbalanced with level control
- 24 bit 44,1 and 48KHz
- USB powered
- OS 8.6 to 9 and OS X
- ASIO, Sound Manager, Core Audio, OMS, FreeMIDI
- free cubasis VST
- $269