The anticipated VCV Rack 2 is here and out of beta. What will it support? What does the release mean for compatibility with modules? What will it cost if you opt for the ‘Pro’ version? All the details here – but yeah, you can finally run VCV Rack inside your DAW.

Sure, you might not want more samples of drum machines, vintage synths, modular, and guitars. But Spitfire Audio are betting you might want them through 56 guitar amps, 4 subs, 4 levels of rigging, and one of the world’s largest recording rooms. Aperture is too ridiculous not to notice – and it’s free if you buy enough stuff this week (plus there’s a free demo).

“Never have I ever…” mashed video game buttons in a fighter to win? Randomly tried a delay on a track with some arbitrary settings to try to make it better? Yeah, okay – take a drink. And take a free plug-in, BABY Audio’s new Magic Dice.

It’s not the bpm. It’s not the style. It’s the soul of the humans making the music that matters – and that might be what you’re missing. So grab this Indonesian-Chinese collaboration for an urgent cause, to heal a sick world, figuratively and literally.

It’s heard in drips, in flows of water. It’s counted in numbers, echoes in poetry, called into the air in plaintive cries, sighing instruments, and the decay of piano notes. When a crisis reaches us somewhere that even words fail, maybe we need sounds and music to tell the story alongside science.

Hey, that other engine starting with the letter ‘U’ is looking pretty amazing, too. Unity 2021.2 Tech Stream is here, with loads of artist-friendly features. And you were worried what to do with your winter (southern hemisphere summer).

If Apple and PC makers aren’t inspiring you, there’s always teenage engineering. The Swedish maker of synths, sound gear, and electronics are now offering up their own custom PC case – orange, aluminum, with carry-handle, for mini-ITX and dual-slot GPU. It could be the start of someone’s killer portable music/gaming/VJ rig.

The current generation TR drum machines have been nearly perfect – well, nearly. Now they have the editor/librarian they were missing – well, almost. It’s brilliant, and it’s a first step, but it’s missing some stuff. Why we need an editor It’s just the fact that the TR-6S/8S are so balanced that makes them appealing. […]

The buzz online makes it clear – plenty of people still want the immediacy of the Roland SP-404 sampler. An MKII has been long anticipated – not to mention leaked – so let’s get directly into what’s new, and find out what else you want to know.

If you love software, if you love the imaginative and compositional choices it affords, at last hardware is embodying that same freedom. Few devices do that more elegantly than the MOD Dwarf. MOD’s place in the sound galaxy You know the story as far as need. You like having all those choices of different effects […]