Pro Tools users, already switching to the latest-and-greatest Mac or Windows operating system? Avid has added compatibility with Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and Windows 7 in the company’s 8.0.3 upgrade to Pro Tools. Oddly, some of the Windows support is still listed as “beta,” while the Mac support is “official.” Nonetheless, I’ve heard […]

Windows 7 running on a MacBook. Photo by Esparta Palma . Windows 7’s buzz has been overwhelmingly positive, in stark contrast to the rough ride upgrading to Windows Vista. The scene is of particular interest to visualists. The Windows OS, for better or for worse, is still the best OS out there as far as […]

Windows 7 running on a laptop, as photographed by / (CC) Luke Roberts. Windows 7 makes far subtler changes than Vista did, which gives it an opportunity to refine features by the ship date. And it’s been tested unusually widely, by testers like Luke. Windows matters. It’s what roughly half of CDM readers use, and […]

SONAR’s AudioSnap now has cleaner markers, and an understandable interface – and does quite a few things Logic 9’s new Flex Time does not. SONAR 8.5, I’m sure at some point, was to be SONAR 9. There’s an enormous amount of functionality in this release. But I think the surprise is some of the stuff […]

Pro Tools got an update at the end of August. A number of readers have pointed out that this is a milestone for what it includes, what it doesn’t include, and what it represents. What’s in 8.0.1 If you’re an existing Pro Tools 8 owner, you’ll want 8.0.1: Improved interface performance (“snappiness”!) Improved selection drawing […]

Whoo! That’s three cat/leopard/dog photos in a roll! And now… I’ll stop. Photo (CC) csullens, who I hope doesn’t object – do you need model clearance for felines? What counts as really big news in my special technology world is, I’ll admit, a little different than everyone else. But it’s tough to really convey the […]

Photo (CC) Jay Vidheecharoen. The KORG nanoSERIES has a rabid following among many Ableton Live users, and with good reason. The nanoPAD and nanoKONTROL street for about US$60, provide basic knobs + faders + transport (KONTROL) and pads and X/Y control (PAD), plus a fully-featured, cross-platform editor, but still fit in a backpack. They’re small […]

A handsome shot of the Korg nanoSERIES pad and controller makes them look pricier than they are. Photo (CC) Jay Vidheecharoen. When software has “Live” as its name, you know control will be everything. So it’s great that many control surfaces will behave intelligently out of the box with Ableton Live, including devices like the […]