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Home Blog Page 22

Sonarworks Referencer

By
Bryan
-

Crazy enough, we have another software company venturing into hardware. This one doesn’t require elective surgery. Sonarworks Referencer is a guitar pedal that promises a little more than just good tone…

Sonarworks’ First Hardware Device Automatically Increases Social Media Like Counts via Dedicated Footswitch

Riga, Latvia, April 1, 2019 – Innovative European audio software developer Sonarworks unveiled its first hardware device: the Sonarworks Referencer.  The new guitar pedal — which comes in a sturdy metal housing with a big blue light, a switch and four shiny black knobs — leverages an electric guitar’s built-in pickups as microphones, then using advanced AF (augmented feedback) technology, automatically calibrates the guitarist’s amplifier to their current position. It also features digitization technology to help users take their social media status to the next level.

“For many of our customers, the challenge has been accurate monitoring outside of the box, and after much research and deliberation it is clear that there is demand for Sonarworks to produce a hardware solution,” commented Lee Chapman, Chief Innovation Officer, Sonarworks. “It took our team seven months to come up with a prototype as it was vitally important that this wasn’t just as intelligent as Reference 4, but far easier to use too.”

In creating Referencer, Sonarworks took into consideration what it believes is the most important challenge in the studio: the relationship the engineer and the guitarist. With such a full feature set and intuitive calibration technology that features the next level of DSP engineering, Sonarworks has leveled the playing field for guitarists — essentially making personalized tone crafting skills redundant.

“Throughout the R&D process of creating this product, we ran focus groups with our target audience – the so-called guitarists – and found a distinct correlation between having no say in the tonal diversity to having increased confidence,” said Chapman. “Our DSP technology has leveled the playing field so the tone you have meticulously created becomes irrelevant.”

By placing the Sonarworks Referencer at the end of any pedal chain, guitarists can dial in their tone from wherever they are using a combination of four knobs: Gain, Bass Boost, Dry/Wet, Tilt and Calibration. Further, as home studios become more of a focus for Sonarworks customers, the pedal also integrates a switch that makes sure tones are accurately translated from listener to listener — thereby increasing their social media like counts.

 


About Sonarworks
Sonarworks was founded in 2012 when two music lovers met a scientist and embarked on a mission to deliver the ultimate sound experience for anyone creating or listening to music. The company’s headquarters are based in Riga, Latvia and its customers consist of Grammy Award winning audio and music industry professionals, audiophiles and music lovers around the world. For more information on Sonarworks, please visit www.sonarworks.com.

 

 

(…..April fools….)

Auto-Tune Everywhere

By
Bryan
-

Antares have moved into hardware. Consult your local surgeon. 🤣

At Antares, we are continually innovating new ways to help you take your music to the next level. That’s why we’re thrilled to introduce a groundbreaking new product: Auto-Tune Arm Implant.

Auto-Tune is the sound of our generation. We know that whether you’re in the studio or onstage, whether you’re repairing a pitch or creating special effects, you need your Auto-Tune on hand, and you need it now.

What if we told you that you could keep Auto-Tune within reach… forever?

With Auto-Tune Arm Implant, we’ve combined two decades of software innovations with space-age nanotechnologies to engineer a portable, hands-on solution for all of your vocal production needs. It’s so simple: A powerful “smart path” taps right into your neural networks for lightning-fast processing, while an intuitive tactile interface makes one-handed operation a breeze. (Lefties: Right-arm options are available for a fee.) The sleek unit is road-rugged, TSA friendly, and makes expensive studio equipment a thing of the past. Latency? Forget it! Auto- Tune Arm Implant detects the pitch you’ll sing before you even attempt it.

So, go for those big ballads, secure in the knowledge that that you’re armed with Auto-Tune anytime, anywhere. Mariah Carey Karaoke Night? No problem. A cappella National Anthem at the Superbowl? You got this.

This revolutionary technology must be seen (or more accurately, heard) to believe, so to learn more, please watch the demonstration here.

Coming soon to retailers and surgeons near you! (Thanks to rapper Nessly for the video!)

Review: Sonarworks True-Fi

By
Bryan
-
True-Fi Rundown
5 / 5 Reviewer
Buy Now: $75
Pros
- Easy to use interface
- Transforms stock earbuds where nuances not possible before can be heard
- Custom Tailored settings to account for age and listening preferences
Cons
- Needs profile for stock laptop speakers
- Mobile version needs more support (still in beta)
Summary
Whether you are in the business or just a fan of hearing music in its truest form, True-Fi has your back. Immediately turn average headphones into audiophile quality with a click of a mouse or tap of a screen.
Rating

In our last review of Reference 4 Studio, we dove into the technical, mixing side of Sonarworks. This was only half of the groundbreaking company’s business strategy. The other half is in the business of bridging the gap between the professional and the consumer.

It never ceases to amaze me that so much care is put into mixing a song perfectly, only to literally fall on deaf ears. I don’t mean deaf in the sense that people aren’t listening – I mean deaf as in listening on a pair of earbuds that came with your phone. It’s the audio equivalent to looking at a Rembrandt through a dirty broken window. You’re going to miss a lot.

True-Fi removes the blinders from your ears. Just like photographers use software to make pictures appear beyond life like, True-Fi does the same to audio. The software re-routes audio from your computer’s sound card and supercharges your existing headphones, breathing new life into tracks. The installer comes in Windows and Mac versions with an open beta for iOS and Android released.

The result is headphones that immediately sound immensely better. Operation is simple – in the desktop version, install True-Fi, select your model of headphones or earbuds, age, and start listening to anything. The program handles the output of your sound card to apply the enhanced profile of your headphones. It even compensates for natural loss in frequencies due to age. The option to dial in these enhancements is done with a slider – just slide until to sounds like you want it. Bass can be tailored to taste as well.

The mobile version operates slightly different due to how audio is routed on mobile operating systems. This routing makes options more limited than the desktop version. With the desktop app, any application within the operating system can utilize True-Fi. The mobile version has to run exclusively through the app. As it stands, only audio stored on your phone or through Spotify is supported. The operation of the software is exactly like the desktop version. That’s seriously all there is to it. So how does it sound?

It is impossible to truly express how much better True-Fi makes headphones sound. For the review, I used a few pairs of headphones and the results were the same for each. The most impressive feat was with a stock pair of EarPods. True-Fi took an overall cheap, generic earbud and made it sound like a pair of high-end headphones. The highs are crisper, the bass is deeper and tighter and all is right with the world. It honestly has to be heard to be believed.

I could hear nuances of music that even my stock pair of Beyerdynamic DT770s didn’t pick up. Then I added the profile to those and was even more blown away. I’ve used different EQ curves on headphones using the settings on the iTunes app, but this is a whole different monster. Switching back to the stock profile feels like you’ve been listening through a tin can tied to a string. You can’t go back… which brings me to my gripes.

The only improvement on the desktop app I’d like to see is a profile for my stock speakers. The newer MacBook Pro speakers don’t sound too bad but I’d love to see what Sonarworks can do to them.

Since the mobile app is in beta, I’m sure the app will evolve over time. My wish list for this app would either be a way to tap into the master output or at least support your standard audio apps like Apple Music, SiriusXM, Pandora, Podcast Apps, and Youtube. Other than the compatibility, the mobile app works great.

In conclusion, I know this review is short but that is a testament to two things: the interface is extremely straight-forward and easy to use, and also, I’m finding it hard to explain just how much better music sounds through this program. It truly has to be heard to be believed. If Sonarworks offered this as an upgrade for my actual ears, I’d be first in line. Until then, the app will do, but I will say, as long as there are headphones in my ears, True-Fi will be running with them.

Spitfire Audio Releases Angular, Fragile, and Woodwind Evolutions

By
Bryan
-

Spitfire continues their streak of releasing evolved versions of their Evo Grid series with three new “Evolutions”.

LONDON, UK: Spitfire Audio is proud to roll out ANGULAR STRING EVOLUTIONS, FRAGILE STRING EVOLUTIONS, and WOODWIND EVOLUTIONS — respectively representing reimagined versions of EVO GRID 1, EVO GRID 2, and EVO GRID 4, three of the British music technology company’s classic sample libraries that introduced its ingenious ‘evo’ (evolution) concept to a rapidly receptive audience as long, evolving chamber strings and woodwind performances, providing them with infinitely-inspiring micro-movements, realistic textures, and shimmers, now available as dedicated plug-ins with specially curated presets — as of March 19…

Who better to introduce that revolutionary — and now evolutionary — concept than Spitfire Audio co-founder Christian Henson? “Evos are short for evolutions, and the concept came to me whilst eating a sandwich — or, rather, not being able to, but, as it turns out, this sandwich changed composing for many of us,” the ever-creative music-to-picture composer begins, before expanding on his tasty theme thus: “I was commissioned to write the music for a major, 13-part TV series — each part an hour long, with wall-to-wall, epic orchestral music. There was a catch, though. They gave me, like, no time to write it. So I found myself composing, arranging, orchestrating, and programming 25 minutes of music… a day! So I decided to make my own kind of mini sample library; I got a group of musicians to play really long notes that changed — sometimes subtly, sometimes radically — over time, so I could sustain a chord and eat my sandwich, but the chord would continue evolving and changing. It worked — really worked! So we decided to make a thing, which is what we like doing at Spitfire Audio; we went into a studio and recorded a whole bunch of different evolutions.”

Evolutionary, dear Henson! However, the revolutionary backstory does not simply stop there, inspired in no small part by the British-built EMS VCS3, which made musical history upon its introduction in 1969 by being the first commercially portable synthesiser available anywhere in the world, thanks to its innovative modular matrix-based patchboard dispensing with the telephone exchange-like cabling of other (much larger) modular systems in favour of making space- saving connections with (removable) coloured pegs. Picking up the telltale thread, Christian Henson has this to say: “To organise these evolutions, we took inspiration from an old vintage ‘Putney’ synth; we put them on a grid — an Evo Grid, and we also thought it would be fun to include a RANDOMISE function to increase the unexpected. And, since releasing these inspiring textures, movements, swells, and surprises, we’ve gone on to make Evo Grids with our friend Ólafur Arnalds; I’ve made one featuring shruti boxes and harmoniums for …TUNDRA — even Eric Whitacre made us an Evo Grid with his amazing choir, because it turns out that this sandwich-based inspiration made a difference. It’s become a welcome — if not essential — addition to composers around the world. And the next chapter? Well, we’ve put it into our own sophisticated plug-in. Welcome to our new, even more gorgeous grid!”

Get this, though: that “…gorgeous grid…” positions ‘pegs’ via an onscreen 12 x 48 modular matrix-like arrangement, allowing users of that reimagined remarkable trio of Evo Grid-based libraries let loose by Spitfire Audio as dedicated plug-ins to access their respective recordings across 12 intervals, organised in a grid with an almost infinite number of possible configurations. Instantly select which evo (evolution) sits on each of those 12 key ranges, toggle pegs, or hit FEELING LUCKY? to generate randomised evos. Replay the MIDI, and no cue will ever sound the same twice!

That apart, ANGULAR STRING EVOLUTIONS really represents an extraordinary collection of long, evolving chamber strings, providing composers with a unique palette of inspirational tools with which to create ultra-minimal, realistic textures, shimmers, and micro-movements — from tense and spine-tingling to beautiful and moving, making holding listeners spellbound easier than ever. Easy as eating a sandwich! Easier said than done, Spitfire Audio had handpicked a chamber ensemble of the UK’s most progressive string players (4,3,3,3,1) back in 2015. Then they were tasked with performing a range of very long, subtly evolving notes, employing a diverse set of techniques and articulations ably captured to tape — via the finest vintage mics, Neve preamps, and the last Cadac studio console ever built — by engineer extraordinaire Nick Taylor in the dry, vintage craft acoustic of London’s legendary Air-Edel Recording Studios. Spitfire Audio’s 2019 update transforms those evos by migrating them to the easy-to-use dedicated plug-in that is ANGULAR STRING EVOLUTIONS. In doing so, Spitfire Audio Head of Product Stanley Gabriel has also created 12 new presets to add to the existing 10. The presets highlight the range of possibilities that can be achieved through Evo Grid technology — from simple tutti patches containing all 48 evos spread evenly across the keyboard to specially curated patterns. Pushing onwards and upwards, users can choose between a whole range of signals, and — in the updated version — these can be used in any combination or all at once in any patch, providing even more control.

Continuing Spitfire Audio’s tasty — and tasteful — evolutionary journey, FRAGILE STRING EVOLUTIONS dates back to those same Air-Edel Recording Studios- hosted sessions with Nick Taylor, this time focussing on the more beautiful, tender, and moving tonal range of each instrument involved, resulting in 48 instinctive, lengthy evolutions, with an abundance of possible combinations. Christian Henson — having spent 18 long months working on the BAFTA-winning Alien: Isolation survival horror game based on the Alien horror film series — had felt the need for a straight note that just did ‘something’ every once in a while at random intervals to bring a sense of life and movement to any scene, so these ‘episodic’ evolutions are the jewel in the library’s crown. Again, another makeover makes these evos fit for 2019 by migrating them to the easy-to-use dedicated plug-in that is FRAGILE STRING EVOLUTIONS — this time with 13 new presets created by Stanley Gabriel above and beyond the original 10.

During those revolutionary recording breakthroughs at Air-Edel Recording Studios back in 2015, Spitfire Audio also tasked the notable Nick Taylor with creatively capturing some of the UK’s finest, most progressive woodwind players to perform beautifully orchestrated long notes that evolve with subtle increases in intensity and expression, while employing a diverse set of techniques and articulations, to create sounds from another world. With two different lineups of players providing a nuanced selection of sounds — some more ‘reedy’, some more ‘flutey’, users of today’s easy-to-use WOODWIND EVOLUTIONS plug-in can choose from WOODS — made up of a range of flutes and clarinets — and REEDS — made up of oboe, cor anglais, bass clarinet, baritone sax, and bassoons — which can be used separately or together. Try selecting from no fewer than 19 new Stanley Gabriel-created presets to get the creative juices flowing.

Fortunately for all, WOODWIND EVOLUTIONS comes complete with a number of front panel-accessible effects — just like its reimagined ANGULAR STRING EVOLUTIONS and FRAGILE STRING EVOLUTIONS siblings… three tools designed for producers, composers, and sound designers looking to create spellbinding, award-winning material from the moment their fingers hit the keyboard! Time to celebrate with a sandwich, surely? 

ANGULAR STRING EVOLUTIONS can be purchased and digitally downloaded as an AAX-, AU-, and VST-compatible plug-in that loads directly into a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) for a time-limited introductory promo price of £199.00 GBP (inc. VAT)/$249.00 USD/€249.00 EUR (inc. VAT) until March 21, 2019 — rising thereafter to an RRP of £249.00 GBP (inc. VAT)/$299.00 USD/€299.00 EUR (inc. VAT) — from here: https://www.spitfireaudio.com/shop/a-z/angular-string-evolutions/ 

Review: Kush Audio Goldplate Dynamic Reverb

By
Bryan
-
Goldplate Rundown
5 / 5 Reviewer
Buy: $199 | Subscribe: $9.99 / month
Pros
- Great Looking Interface, intuitive controls
- Eliminates several plugins from the reverb bus - The reverb can be exactly what you need in almost any situation.
Cons
- Uses a moderate amount of processing power
Summary
If you're looking for a reverb that does what 3 or 4 plugins used to do on your reverb bus, you've come to the right place. The ability to blend two different plates with one slider makes dialing in the tone you want a breeze. Adding compression and saturation adds a unique character that simply combining plugins cannot accomplish.
Rating

Kush Audio takes a swing at Space, the final frontier, but can they change the landscape with their new reverb? Everything Recording kicks the tires on Goldplate to see if the company that regularly pushes the boundaries of processing audio can give reverb the same treatment.

Goldplate is the next in a series of creative partnerships with other pro audio companies. While in the past, the bulk of Kush’s inspiration comes from hardware, Relab’s plate reverb algorithm beckoned for the UBK treatment. Utilizing Gregory Scott’s own unique take on mixing reverb, special tools not usually seen on a reverb plugin have appeared on Goldplate’s UI. 

At the heart of this plugin are algorithmic models of two particular plates – the EMT 140 and 240. The tonality of each of these hardware units lies in the material in which they were created. The EMT 140 was made of steel, which exudes a darker, dense quality in sound, while the 240 was built using gold foil, giving it a brighter edge. 

Of the many features that set Goldplate apart from other plate plugins, one stands slightly above the rest. Instead of giving the user the option to switch between either plate, Kush have created a slider to allow the two plates to be blended. Simply grab the “Material” slider, turn left for dark and right for bright; and if you’re feeling especially adventurous, go somewhere in between. The percentage of each material displays on the corresponding side of the slider. Goldplate does all the heavy lifting for you.

Of course, this reverb has all of the usual controls like Blend, Output, Reverb Time (from 0.5 to 5 seconds), Pre-delay, and Filtering; but it’s the additional knobs that give it the Kush spin. On the input, side, saturation can be injected to dirty up the signal. On the output, audio can be compressed to groove with a variant of UBK One’s Squish preset. A Width control is also added to go from 0% (mono) to 100% panned hard left and right (stereo). No need to switch between multiple mono and stereo by re-adding the plugin. 

Not only is Goldplate packed with controls, the interface is inviting, with all controls laid out in a symmetrical, logical manner. Workflow is enhanced even more with versatile preset management, offering several different ways to browse presets. To add to the ease of browsing, control lock does just as the name says by allowing controls perfectly dialed to taste to stay that way when changing presets. What more could a plate reverb need?

The onlycontrol I found myself reaching for was an input volume knob, but that is out of sheer laziness in not adjusting my sends properly. Shame on me honestly for that one but I had to find something to critique so I had to stretch. 

Seriously though, this plugin is superb. Kush did to reverb what the Novatron did to compression. Goldplate didn’t just remove several plugins from my reverb bus – it does it better. Different saturation plugins, reverbs, and compressors will not always give the most pleasing result, but when the choices were painstakingly chosen and molded together, the result speaks for itself.

Goldplate doesn’t just add size to tracks, it sculpts tracks into a cohesive unit, with each part better off for being graced with its presence. EQ doesn’t need to be used as heavy handed, weight shows up in the mix and a halo of top end hovers above the track. Goldplate is subtle when you need it to be and raucous when you want it. Most reverb plugins have a sweet spot in size – Softube TSAR has a great small subtle plate, Revibe has good long plate. Goldplate has no sweet spot. It has every spot. 

In conclusion, I admit Kush has a great track record with Everything Recording. Sure, I seems like I’m very biased by how I rant about their creations. I encourage anyone to prove me wrong on any point or statement I’ve made. Believe me, I used the reverb for months before finishing the review to try to find something wrong. I couldn’t find anything. I’m open to comments. I’ll even add any legitimate gripe into the review as an update. I doubt you’ll find one, but I encourage you to try.

Slate Digital Liquidsonics Lustrous Plates Reverb

By
Bryan
-

ONE OF THE MOST HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED PLUGINS
to ever hit the Everything Bundle is here:

Plate reverb is arguably one of the most used types of reverb in music. Its rich texture and versatility make it a go-to for countless engineers. Slate Digital has partnered with Liquidsonics to bring plate reverb to the Slate universe.

You’ve NEVER had more sonic depth or control with ANY other plate emulation, and you’ll NEVER look at reverb plugins the same way again.

Powered by Fusion-IR | Synthesis, LiquidSonics’ Lustrous Plates is a rich and luxurious contemporary plate design with seven distinctive models. It features a one-of-a-kind multiband dynamic analysis method, which allows for an ultra-precise profiling of each plate’s natural decay!

This not only reproduces the natural decay of real hardware plates, but also allows you to fine-tune plate controls in ways that are 100% unique to the needs of your mix.

Lustrous Plates comes with professionally-designed presets for drums, guitars, vocals and more, so you can find the perfect plate for your mix with ease!

For more information, visit https://www.slatedigital.com/lustrous-plates/#features

Warm Audio WA-251

By
Bryan
-

Our friends over at Warm Audio have done it again, releasing their spin on the 251 Mic.

Sound Like A Legend
The WA-251 was created to offer a classic microphone design to a new generation of recording artists at an affordable price. We spent a great deal of time listening to different ‘251 microphones to determine what people liked about them and why, how various styles of components impact the tone, and how to give the WA-251 microphone a signature that pays homage to the vintage classic, but also stands out on its own.

The WA-251 is an all vacuum tube, large diaphragm, transformer balanced, multi-pattern, large condenser microphone, based on the classic ‘251 that has been used on countless hit records for the last 50+ years. The WA-251 is designed for pro studio, home studio, live, and broadcast applications and sounds great on vocals, acoustic/electric guitars, acoustic/electric bass, drums, piano, strings, brass/woodwind instruments, and an array of other sources.

The classic ‘251 became extremely popular as a vocal microphone in the 1960’s and is now considered to be one of the greatest condenser microphones ever created. The classic ‘251 is still widely used today in professional recording studios but has become extremely rare and cost prohibitive to acquire.

Designing our WA-251 to sound like the classic ‘251 was no easy task, especially since some of the vintage components are no longer manufactured or available. We are pleased to release such a gorgeous sounding classic to the market at a price that’s reachable to more people than ever before.

Price: $ 799 USD | 899 € INC VAT.
For more info, visit https://warmaudio.com/wa-251/

Process.Audio Releases Sugar

By
Bryan
-

Process.Audio and Puremix.net have released a new plugin that is aimed at “sweetening” audio signal with Sugar. This multiband plugin uses EQ and Compression techniques to obtain different flavors of audio. This easy to use plugin incorporates descriptive words to obtain different tonal enhancements.

New York, New York – March 6th, 2019 — pureMix.net— the world’s premier audio learning community—is launching PROCESS.AUDIO, a new audio-plugin brand dedicated to bringing the pureMix team’s decades of studio experience to the world of software processing.

The brand’s first product is Sugar: The Ultimate Audio Sweetener. Conceived by a team of world class producers and mixers, lead by Fab Dupont, Sugar is tagged as a ‘secret weapon to hit the sweet spot on every mix’.

Sugar is an audio color palette based on classic tricks used by top engineers to achieve great tones. Professional mixing engineers spend years refining techniques and processes to create the magical sounds the public hears on finished records. Beyond straight EQ and compression, these top engineers use processes that can be complicated to set up and tweak, and often require expensive gear to achieve. Sugar is a shortcut to those punchy kick drums, thick basses, sharp snares, edgy guitars, airy and creamy vocals, warm mixes and wide masters and much more.

Sugar saves time by centralizing these processes in one analog inspired plug-in without sacrificing the ability to fine tune for a professional experience. Sugar four effects are routed in parallel processing and work in mono, stereo and M/S (Mid-Side) mode.

Sugar signal flow is straightforward: the chosen effects are blended with the dry signal and routed through a High-Pass/Low-Pass linear phase filter combination to reign in the extreme amount of energy Sugar can add to the raw signal. (There can be such thing as too much Sugar). This blended signal is then run through the Saturation section of the plug-in, where three carefully chosen saturation algorithms can tame unruly transients, add more grit to your sound, or simply destroy it in devastatingly creative ways.

Sugar interface is designed to streamline necessary but otherwise repetitive tasks and to allow engineers to dial in the perfect setting very fast and intuitively so they can focus on the music, not the tools.

A Linear Phase Delight

Sugar’s four crossover bands and LP & HP filters are built on high grade linear-phase technology to avoid any of the common phase issues associated with parallel processing. This makes Sugar safe for 2-mix or mastering duties by guaranteeing the integrity of the source signal.

Sugar Learning Center

To cut the user’s learning curve of this new tool, PROCESS.AUDIO created an expansive Learning Center featuring many video tutorials on how to best use Sugar on distinct audio sources, as well as a thorough run-through of all the features.

Sugar owners can also enjoy a full 20-minute mixing video tutorial by prominent engineer Fab Dupont, demonstrating how he exclusively used Sugar to mix the soundtrack of the plug-in’s release video. Users can freely download the source session of the mix and look at the settings in their own DAW. The session is available in Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase, Studio One, and Ableton formats.A

PROCESS.AUDIO is the Software division of pureMix.net, the world’s premier audio engineering learning and education community.

This new plug-in company was founded by a team of world-class audio professionals, led by Fab Dupont, to create music making tools that strike the perfect balance between analog workflow and digital technology and become essential to their owners’ process.

PROCESS.AUDIO is creating a suite of plug-ins drawing from the experience and knowledge of award winning engineers and prolific day-to-day producers to achieve a professional sound faster than ever.

PROCESS.AUDIO makes audio plug-ins by the pros, for the pros.

Key Features:

  • 4 bands of processing (Low, Mid, High, Air), with 2 different colors per band

  • 8 Colors: Thick, Punch, Warm, Broad, Shine, Excite, Yin, Yang

  • Jog wheel blending knob

  • High-pass and Low-pass filters for fine tuning

  • 3 Saturation circuits: Drive, Distort, and Destroy

  • Linear Phase Mode for the 4 band crossovers and the 2 filters

  • Level Management to prevent bursts of energy

  • FX-only switch in order to hear what Sugar adds to your sound

  • Input/Output gain

  • Works in mono, stereo and M/S mode


Minimum System Requirements:

  • OS: Windows (64-bit) version 7, 8, 10 or higher or a Mac with OS X 10.9 or higher
  • Format: VST 2.4, VST 3, AU, AAX (native)

  • Protection: iLok Cloud or iLok 2+ compatible


Sugar will be available on March 6th, 2019 at $149 USD as a direct download from the PROCESS.AUDIO website.

Sugar can be tested with a free 14-day trial using a free Ilok Cloud account or with a user’s iLok 2+ dongle.

Sugar will be made available to all pureMix Pro Members as part of their monthly subscription package

Antelope Audio Releases First USB Powered Modeling Microphone – Edge Go

By
Bryan
-

Having turned heads and opened ears with a show-stopping showcase at The 2019 NAMM Show in Southern California, January 24-27, trailblazing pro audio manufacturer Antelope Audio is proud to announce availability of Edge Go. As the world’s first bus-powered modeling microphone, it is a studio-in-a-mic magical experience like no other with circuit-level microphone and expertly-crafted effects emulations aboard Antelope Audio’s real-time FPGA FX platform.

Antelope Audio’s all-new Edge Go is a studio-grade, large-diaphragm condenser USB microphone that provides producers, travelling musicians, podcasters, music vloggers, and tech reviewers with unprecedented access to Antelope Audio’s industry-leading microphone-modeling technology. The question is: what would recordings sound like with access to a locker-full of classic vintage microphones? And, as if by magic, Antelope Audio answers with Edge Go, unlocking precise software emulations of many of the world’s most iconic mics and studio effects processors. Plug the USB-equipped Edge Go directly into a Mac or PC, launch the included Edge Go software application, and simply start the recording ball rolling!
Reality shows that Edge Go is a studio-in-a-mic magical experience like no other. By being built to Antelope Audio’s exacting specifications, with the same dual-diaphragm capsules featured in the company’s cutting-edge Edge Duo condenser microphone, Edge Go gives its users a USB-C output for conveniently recording directly to their computer — no need for an external preamp, mixer, or audio interface. Indeed, Edge Go functions as an audio interface in its own right, offering pristine A/D conversion with up to 192 kHz/24-bit resolution — far higher than a typical USB mic musters. Meanwhile, in the wider world of pro audio, Antelope Audio is known for building high-end, analog-to-digital converters and super- accurate digital clocks found in world-class recording studios and broadcast facilities; furthermore, Edge Go gainfully draws upon this excellent engineering pedigree to provide Antelope Audio sound quality in a go-anywhere, bus-powered modeling microphone.
Edge Go comes complete with the Edge Go control panel software, so users can instantly audition and compare 11 expertly-crafted emulations modeled on time-tested studio microphones making their musical mark on thousands of hit recordings. From fat-sounding tube mics (like the Tokyo 800T, Berlin 49T, Berlin 67, and Vienna 12) through to crisp FET condensers (like the Berlin 87, Berlin M103, Berlin 47 FT, and Vienna 414) and beyond into the realms of smooth ribbons (like the Sacramento 121R and Oxford 4038)… simply select the mic in question, then dial in the pickup pattern needed — omnidirectional, cardioid, bidirectional, figure-8, and everything in-between. Antelope Audio’s software models meticulously emulate the distinctive character of each iconic microphone — effectively allowing access to an awesome mic collection. Conversely, users can choose to record through the Edge Go microphone with no mic emulation applied for a transparent, flat 20 Hz – 20 kHz large-diaphragm sound.
Software magic far from finishes with Antelope Audio’s microphone modeling since Edge Go also allows access to a killer collection of 22 effects modeled on classic studio gear. These collectively cover all bases with must-have preamps, dynamics processors (including limiters, compressors, gates, and expanders), and a de-esser — namely, PowerGate, PowerEx, VEQ-1A, VEQ-HLF, BAE-1073, VEQ-55A, Lang-PEQ2, VEQ-4K BLACK, Master De-esser, BA-6A, FET-A76, VCA160, Liverpool, Stay-Levin, ALT-436C, Gyratec IX, VPA 76, BAE-1073MP, RD-47, and BA-31 — alongside Antelope Audio’s AuraVerb. The latter features six reverb types to assist with dialling in the right ambiance, ranging from barely-there atmosphere right the way through to epic echoes. Edge Go generously includes Reel to Reel, a reel-to-reel tape effect to give recordings a distinctively vintage vibe, helpfully. Help is at hand, fortunately, for those users who are not sure where to start, since the Edge Go software supplies one-click access to aptly-named presets like Telephone Effect, Massive Reverb Space, Fan Noise Reduction, and many more, meaning users can quickly nail the sound in their head and get going. Getting creative and building the effects chain of their dreams, then saving it as a preset, means that inspiration is only ever a click away.
All the processing power needed to run Antelope Audio’s awesome-sounding mic emulations and effects models is built right into the Edge Go microphone’s hardware in the form of a dedicated FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) chip. So there’s no need to bog down a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) with effects processing plug-ins, sap a computer’s limited CPU (Central Processing Unit) power, or buy an external DSP (Digital Signal Processing) accelerator or audio interface. Indeed, Antelope Audio is an industry-leader when it comes to harnessing the power of FPGA chips for real-time processing — and all that power is now available to anyone armed with an Edge Go microphone.
Antelope Audio’s all-new Edge Go microphone comes packed in a road-ready hard case with a heavy-duty shock mount, a professional metal mesh pop filter, an adjustable-angle desktop mic stand with a sturdy non-slip base, and a USB-C to USB-A cable. There’s even a 1/8-inch headphone jack right there on the Edge Go microphone’s body for easy zero-latency monitoring. Add a favourite pair of headphones, a USB input- equipped computer, and audio software of choice, and everything needed to start recording is all at hand. 

Edge Go is now available for purchase through Antelope Audio’s growing global network of authorized dealers (https://en.antelopeaudio.com/dealers/) or order online directly from Antelope Audio via the dedicated Edge Go webpage (https://en.antelopeaudio.com/products/edge-go/), which also includes more in-depth information.

Watch Antelope Audio’s cutting-edge Edge Go modeling microphone promo video here: https://youtu.be/BqXOvrDFY0Q 

Rob Papen Reboots Vecto Soft Synth for DAW

By
Bryan
-

By popular demand, virtual instrument and effect plug-in developer Rob Papen Inspiration Soundware is proud to announce availability of an AAX-, AU-, and VST-compatible version of Vecto — previously only available as a Rack Extension (RE) for Swedish innovative music software applications, interfaces, and technology standards company Propellerhead Software’s revolutionary Reason — as a 32- and 64-bit Virtual Instrument (VI) synthesizer plug-in for Mac (OS X 10.8 – MacOS 10.14) and Windows (Vista, 7, 8, and 10), as of February 19…

Rob Papen’s popular Vecto was originally created as an RE for Propellerhead’s proprietary Reason platform back in 2015. However, Rob Papen has since received many requests asking if this product could also be made available for other platforms, as attested to by Rob Papen himself: “By popular demand, we’ve now also created it as a VST, AudioUnit, and AAX version.”

Never let it be said that Rob Papen does not collectively listen to feedback from its valued customers! Clearly, the company believes in adding value to its products. “From the start, it already has over 1,000 presets,” reveals Rob Papen, before adding: “It’s a great synthesizer for ambient music, pad sounds, and synthesizer sounds, but the good news is that Vecto is also part of the eXplorer 5 bundle.”
But what, exactly, is Vecto, then? The name gives the musical game away. As a four-oscillator vector synthesizer that allows users to draw in vector paths to shape the sound in many different ways, its OSCILLATORS include a wide range of options, working with sampled waveforms and many MODULATION routings, plus preset vector paths to help create Vecto’s unique sound!

After releasing QUAD, we decided to make more use of the X/Y pad, which appears in a lot of other Rob Papen AAX-, AU-, and VST-compatible VI synthesizers, such as Blade, BLUE-II, and RAW,” reasoned Rob Papen at the time of Vecto’s original RE-only release — albeit also remaining relevant to today’s AAX-, AU-, and VST-compatible version. “The change in sound between the four oscillators offers a lot of sound options in itself, including drawing the movement between them, as well as preset movements and additional features like time quantise [TIME Q] and space quantise [SPACE Q]. In fact, all movements are tempo-based and they can also be changed dynamically.”

Due in no small part to those wide-ranging waveforms — from classic analogue modelled ones through to additive, spectrum, and high-quality samples, Vecto’s sound options are dazzlingly deep! Two FILTERS are available with 28 filter types between them, while two top-tier effect processors bring the audio signal path to its creative conclusion with aplomb. As affirmed, Vecto boasts countless creative features, including an arpeggiator (ARP).

While words, of course, can capably paint pictures, a picture paints a thousand words, after all. But better still, Rob Papen himself capably talked through some of those 1,000 presets that this latest Vecto version comes complete with during a recent YouTube live stream, starting with Soundtrack Cream from the Pads BANK: “It’s actually one of my wife’s wine glasses from upstairs with a finger being rubbed around its rim, combined with a hiss-like vocal. Another new one from the Pads BANK is called Glimmer Vox; it uses twoOSCILLATORS and no FILTERS at all — so it’s also very CPU-friendly, then it goes to FX 1, which is a Phaser, and then Delay, while the pitch bend can be used to increase the speed of the Phaser and the modulation wheel can be used to make the attack slower.”

Saying all that, it surely stands to reason that this all-new AAX-, AU-, and VST-compatible version of Vecto will make for a sound designer’s dream synth when it comes to working with whatever DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) its user might musically favour. Furthermore, by also adding Vecto to the latest download of Rob Papen’s all-encompassing bundle, Rob Papen’s latest VI synthesizer is effectively available for free to owners of eXplorer 5!

Vecto can be purchased in a boxed edition — as an AAX (32-/64-bit), AU (32-/64-bit), VST (32-/64-bit) compatible VI synthesizer plug-in for Mac (OS X 10.8 – MacOS 10.14) and Windows (Vista, 7, 8, and 10) — from authorised Rob Papen dealers worldwide or as a download directly from Rob Papen for an introductory promo price of €79.00 EUR (including VAT)/$79.00 USD until the end of February 2019 — rising thereafter to €99.00 EUR (including VAT)/$99.00 USD — from here: https://www.robpapen.com/Vecto-vst-buy.html

Note that Vecto is included in the latest version of the eXplorer 5 bundle, while owners of the original RE version of Vecto can crossgrade to the AAX-, AU-, and VST-compatible version of Vecto for a 50% discount by sending a copy of the purchase receipt to: [email protected]
For more in-depth information, please visit the dedicated Vecto webpage here: https://www.robpapen.com/Vecto-vst.html
Watch Rob Papen’s introductory video for Vecto here: https://youtu.be/MWHVer5dtXk

Feast your ‘eyes’ on some stunning Vecto presets here: https://youtu.be/ACqL5KsLB7k

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