Audio Damage ShinRonin, now free, is a throwback to 2003 plug-in design

You wake up. It’s the year 2003. Some upstart software developer called Audio Damage wants to let you patch a combo filter-delay however you like, including ways that will break your ears. Ronin is reborn as ShinRonin, from a time when software developers let you run with scissors and do strange things. This is one […]

Unfiltered Audio Battalion drum synth, FX in VCV Rack are a revelation

At attention! Unfiltered Audio has taken their deep drum synth and favorite effects and remade them as VCV Rack modules. This is instabuy territory ($10-20 a la carte or an intro pricing of $30 for the set, compatible with the free Rack).

Peter Kirn - June 9, 2026

Unreal Engine 5.8 is a major audio release, despite Epic staffing cuts

Epic layoffs in March cut deep into the audio and music teams. But there’s hope that their work will live on in Unreal Engine and MetaSounds, via what is arguably the most innovative sound work built into any game engine. Unreal Engine 5.8, now in preview, features a bunch of powerful tools for working with sound, one of the biggest sound releases yet. Here’s a look at what’s in that roadmap.

Peter Kirn - June 1, 2026

QuadTrack is a new groovebox for the Amiga (really), plus PC and Mac

Peter Kirn - May 6, 2026

Link Audio, now in Max, Pd, VCV Rack, TouchDesigner, oF, and plug-ins, free

Peter Kirn - May 3, 2026

Zebra 3 is here, a sprawling semi-modular plug-in that runs deep

Peter Kirn - April 21, 2026

Devious Pocket: standalone, simple digital vinyl from any turntable

Peter Kirn - April 16, 2026

Liquid and hypnotic, Sinevibes’ Duality is a different breed of vibrato

Peter Kirn - April 13, 2026

OpenShot 3.5: faster, more stable, more creative open-source video editor

Peter Kirn - April 3, 2026