Digital guitar software/hardware combos? It’s on. Just days after IK Multimedia shows its new version of AmpliTube with new effects and a new hardware stompbox / audio interface / DI box, rival Native Instruments unveils its own upgraded computer guitar rack with new effects and a new hardware stompbox / audio interface / DI box. […]

AES: Finally, a guitar you can plug directly into your computer — no strings attached. You may never have heard of BridgeCo, but if you’ve got a FireWire audio interface, odds are their guts are inside. (They make the firmware / hardware platform.) Now they’ve gone and crossed your FireWire interface with a boutique electric […]

Windows stalwart Cakewalk has in fact gone cross-platform (Windows VSTi/DirectX and Mac AU/VSTi). So, why’d they do it? Apparently, they wanted to unleash this serious synth monster on two platforms: think two DVDs, 1500+ sound programs, major layering and easy editing and morphing. More details from Cakewalk after the jump, and I’ll have more after […]

AES used to be an insider’s show for audio engineers and academics, but that’s not the case any more. Now, with the audio industry pumping out new products, it’s a show to watch for new gear. (For the uninitiated, that’s AES as in Audio Engineering Society, the folks who gave us, among other things, the […]

[Updated: Had the wrong record label — it’s not Muti, it’s Pretension. Though Pretension is also cool.] I asked readers to brag about their work, and, wow, does Cynthia Bruyns have amazing things to brag about: She’s a DJ — check out her mixes She’s working part-time with Apple’s Interactive Media group She’s involved with […]

By architectural music, I don’t mean some sort of funky digital installation. David Byrne’s new installation uses the pipes, metal beams, and girders of the Färgfabriken space in Stockholm as a musical instrument. It is definitely an installation (though the curator tries to say it’s not): there are automatic blowers forcing air through pipes, motors […]

Don’t want to say too much about the new AmpliTube 2 as I’ll be meeting with IK this Friday at AES, but here’s the quick story: AmpliTube 2 is hot. AmpliTube’s new ad campaign (“Super Modeling”) is hott– no, actually, kind of insulting and sexist. (Cue Spinal Tap quote: “Sexy? What’s wrong with being sexy?”) […]

When I see a product like the new Aurora LT-ADAT LSlot Expansion Card, I think hot. Yet, sadly, the folks at Lynx Studios just send out a bland press release and product photo. In the spirit of selling AmpliTube with Swedish models, I humbly submit my own mascot. And to avoid allegations of being sexist, […]

This Friday, it’s a blowout of audio tech here in New York for the Audio Engineering Society convention. I’ll be doing my rounds on Friday; if you’re going to be around, drop me a line. You’ll want to stay tuned in this weekend, as we’re expecting new announcements from Native Instruments as well as plenty […]

The XP10 is a controller for digital DJs, with a “high precision” wheel for cueing and scratching similar to those found on many scratchable DJ CD players. Coupled with the included Bison software for your computer, it can act as a DJ mixer for MP3s, with OGG support in the works. (Currently, the software only […]