Built in Swift, now extensible with JavaScript plug-ins, IINA is the free media player that macOS needed. Hey, everybody: play with a fresh, minimalist player that handles local files, music, and streaming with aplomb. (Hey, old people: it’s like QuickTime Pro is back!)

Hey, kids, look, it’s the Easter Bunny! And listen to the way the beast helps your beautiful song to evolve! Okay, if the folks at Caelum Audio wanted to sell us on their new DynaBit plugin, this isn’t the worst way – especially as even this holiday freebie has some powerful features. They’ve got some other free downloads, too.

Who says modular has to be all about monosynths? Certainly not Knobula, who followed up their Poly Cinematic with this 8-voice polysynth in just 12HP, packed with multiple oscillator and filter modes, built-in reverb, and full MPE support.

Benn Jordan’s latest video proposes a way to fight back when generative AI music services rip off music for their data sets. It’s not ready for prime time yet, but it does offer a window into the wild, wonderful world of adversarial noise poisoning attacks.

Vela, a new reverb from Sonic Academy’s Sonic Sounds line, is now in open beta. And yes, I’m here to tempt your RAS – Reverb Acquisition Syndrome again. The range of reverberation emulations here, combined with node-based editing, might mean you do need another reverb. (Sorry/not sorry.)

It’s about time for a new granular dream module, and the Intellijel Multigrain could be a real contender. Available now, it packs stereo morphing granular powers into 20HP and US$479. (And yes, USA, you can import this from Canada!) I’ve had an advance look at the manual and I’m ready to wrap my granular brain around this one.

Live Mac visual app VDMX6 is now shipping some of the new hotness the developers promised with the transition to Metal for rendering. Apple’s frameworks unlock a ton of visual tricks, from tracking video to color scopes to background removal.

The Georgian pro-democracy, anti-corruption movement is still in the streets, month after month. Music remains a way to connect those demonstrations with supporters at home and abroad. Tbilisi/Berlin artist Mess)Montage joins as we put together sounds from Georgia (and I write this from soundcheck for a fundraiser tonight).

Ardour, the criminally underrated free and open source DAW for Mac, Windows, and Linux, has been a little quiet lately. Over the weekend, we learned what’s coming in Ardour 9.0/9+, and why the devs have been busy. Not sure where to start? Check out how-to videos, including voice-activated recording(!)

Baby Audio’s Smooth Operator Pro is a new, expanded version of the resonance suppression/spectral dynamics processing tool. Four years in the making, this version has a new UI and workflow, upgraded engine with per-node controls, stereo and mid/side processing, sidechaining, and more. Here’s a detailed guide to approaching this not just for correction tasks, but some creative use and abuse – as a spectral addition to your typical EQ and dynamics tools.