New Apple Boot Camp with Vista Support

And we thought we’d have to wait for 10.5 to get Boot Camp improvements. Apple today released Boot Camp 1.2. Still beta, but lots of improvements including 32-bit Vista support and Apple Remote support in iTunes and Windows Media Player. (Wonder if you could hack in other Windows apps?) We’ll have more on Vista for […]

Cakewalk Z3TA+ 1.5 Soft Synth Update, with Arpeggiator Import, More

We usually skip over minor version upgrades, but Z3TA+ from Cakewalk is a very special synth, and 1.5 is a very nice (free) update. New in the version bump: x64 and Vista support, a low-CPU arpeggiator (assuming it’s handling voicing/oscillator resource allocation more efficiently?), different CPU-optimized quality modes (also added to rival NI Massive recently), […]

Gameboy Models Sound Quality Compared [Fixed Link]

Chiptune musicians rejoice! Though the original, grey Game Boy has long been a favorite, Herbert Weixelbaum has recently posted what may be the most thorough sonic comparison of Gameboy models. In his comparison he uses LSDJ to analyze the sonic qualities, as well as list the pros, cons and quirks of each model with and […]

Cycling ’74 Founder Talks Ableton Collaboration, Max 5

“Collaboration” I think is the key word in the upcoming, unknown Ableton-Cycling ’74 product. It’s difficult to avoid confusion when talking about a product you can’t talk about, but Cycling ’74 founder David Zicarelli does that today. The highlight for me is this passage on the next version of Max/MSP/Jitter, which is independent from the […]

Messe: Ecler EVO5 Launches with Italian Looks, Password-Guarded Limiter

It’s a 12 x 12 FireWire audio interface. It’s a customizable mixer, with curves, filter styles, and ranges editable via a color LCD screen. It’s a MIDI controller. It’s an Italian sports car, molded by design house Giugiaro Italdesign. And it has password-protected audio output limiting, so those sleazeball DJs don’t blow your club’s speakers. […]

Burning Gear Update: Firey Casio Keyboards Recalled

Okay, safety first. Casio says: Due to a manufacturing defect, certain CTK-710 keyboards may present a smoke and/or fire hazard, which could result in serious injury or property damage. No reports of injuries have been received by Casio to date. Casio is aware of five incidents of overheating, including two incidents that resulted in a […]

NI KORE2: Could Take Two be a Perfect Sound Design and Management Platform?

KORE2’s new face reveals its second generation is already looking much closer to our original desire for the tool: give us a powerful, accessible environment for treating plug-ins like modular building blocks. The first KORE may be hanging out in my closet at the moment. But the new KORE2 makes it look like someone got […]

Messe: IK Samples Everything Moog, from Modulars to Taurus Pedals

Moog keys as your best band made: a (non-sampled) instrument, as photographed by A. Mart (via Flickr). Just in from the Messe trade show in Frankfurt: a massive Moog sample library with 22 of “Moog’s Greatest Hits” of yesterday and today, plus sampler and guitar processing updates from IK. But will it all be a […]

Messe Synths: Arturia Origin with Keyboard, Software Jupiter-8V Shipping

Ribbons are back! Arturia already announced it was making hardware instead of just software, and only two months later it’s added a ribbon and keyboard in this bad-ass form factor. No room for hardware? Their Jupiter-8V continues their soft synth tradition. After conquering the world of software emulations, Arturia is finally thinking inside the box […]