IK Multimedia is proud to announce T-RackS 3, our new high-end mastering and mixing suite. IK Multimedia pioneered the analog-modeled mastering field with the first all-in-one software solution, the original standalone version of T-RackS that quickly became a cult hit for a multitude of studios around the world. The new T-RackS 3 raises the bar again in high-end DAW mastering and mixing, with a suite of 9 analog-modeled and digital Dynamics/EQ processors, offering unparalleled audio quality with scores of new and unique features.

Beyond Mastering

T-RackS 3 is a modular mastering/mixing suite of Dynamics and EQ processors, including:

• 9 processors comprised of 3 new analog and vintage emulations (including models based on the Fairchild 670 and the Pultec EQP-1A), 2 new digital processors as well as the 4 classic, award-winning T-RackS processors
• New configurable mastering/mixing chain — run up to 12 parallel/series processors
• New complete built-in metering section with Peak, Perceived Loudness, Phase, and RMS meters, plus a Spectrum analyzer with Peak, RMS and Averaging indicators
• New standalone and plug-in versions available in the same package for use in all the most popular native DAWs
• New high-fidelity oversampling with crystal clear transparency, for high quality audio processing throughout the entire signal path
• New SCC™ technology coupled with IK’s unique DSM™ technology provides the most realistic software emulation of vintage gear to date
• Extremely easy to use, with style-based presets, full chain visualization, one-click single module or chain bypass, “compare” function, multiple audio processing in standalone mode, and much more

T-RackS 3 has all the tools you need to create superb, tube-toned or digital-tuned mixes and masters. Its rich, warm sound combines new tube-modeled and state-of-the-art digital processors in addition to its top-notch analog classics. A new modular chain gives you easy navigation/compare features. A new complete metering section keeps all the most important variables of your sound under control.

A truly superior mastering and mixing system that will put a polish on your tracks you may have never thought possible. All this, while adding the beautiful warmth and space of the tube devices it emulates. No other plug-in offers this kind of dedicated environment for such an important task, and nothing sounds like T-RackS 3.

New Features

9 processors

5 New T-RackS processors:

1.Vintage Tube Compressor/Limiter model 670 (based on the Fairchild 670) 2.Vintage Tube Program Equalizer (based on the Pultec EQP-1A) 3.Opto compressor (based on the finest mastering Opto-compressor) 4.Intelligent, multi-algorithm Brickwall limiter 5.High precision, high definition Linear Phase Equalizer

4 Classic T-RackS processors:

1.Classic T-RackS Compressor 2.Classic T-RackS Multi-band Limiter 3.Classic T-RackS Clipper 4.Classic T-RackS Equalizer •Modular mastering/mixing solution with 12 processing slots — New, selectable 12-processor slot audio chain, arranged in two rows of 4 slots for parallel processing plus 4 serial final slots. •Accurate, complete and truly useful Metering — T-RackS 3 includes a new high-quality, high-precision, complete metering section. Peak, Loudness, Phase, and RMS meters, plus a Spectrum Analyzer with Peak, RMS and Averaging indicators •All-platform plug-ins and a new standalone version in the same package — The new standalone version allows for work with multiple audio files, previews them with all-independent settings, plus has automation and audio editing for use in both Mac/PC •High transparency, extreme quality audio processing throughout the whole signal path — T-RackS 3 delivers incredible purity, transparency and fidelity that is far superior to the vast majority of plug-ins you could compare it with. •NEW SCC™ technology — The new SCC™ (Sonic Character Cloning) has been developed to “clone” the true behavior of an analog vintage processor down to its finest level of sonic detail.

Price and Availability

T-RackS 3 comes in 2 versions:

1. T-RackS 3 Deluxe - $499/€379.99. The definitive solution in mastering/mixing with 9 processors: 4 classic T-RackS processors + 2 digital processors + 1 Opto compressor + Vintage Edition including 2 models of Fairchild + Pultec. T-RackS 3 Deluxe Crossgrade* - $299.99/€229.99 * - a reduced-price version of T-RackS Deluxe for all registered IK users.

2. T-RackS 3 Standard - $199.99/€149.99 - the 4 classic T-RackS processors in the new application framework.

All versions will be available worldwide in stores and in the IK Multimedia online shop by November 10th, 2008. All prices exclude taxes.

For more information, visit their web site at IKmultimedia.com.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Native Instruments just released MASSIVE EXPANSION Vol. 2, a new KORE SOUNDPACK based on the powerful MASSIVE engine. The library features 200 cutting-edge synthesizer sounds for use in KORE 2 and the free KORE PLAYER as well as the individual MASSIVE synthesizer, providing producers with a practical creative resource for a wide range of electronic music styles. MASSIVE EXPANSION Vol. 2 covers the whole sonic spectrum from powerful leads and basses to distinctive pads and sequenced sounds, utilizing the full sonic depth and versatility of the high-resolution wave-scanning engine of the acclaimed MASSIVE synthesizer.

All sounds are equipped with eight morphing-capable Sound Variations per preset, with crucial sound parameters also conveniently assigned to the unified KORE user interface.

MASSIVE EXPANSION Vol. 2 is available for download purchase in the NI Online Shop for a suggested retail price of $59 / 49 EUR.

More information on MASSIVE EXPANSION Vol. 2 can be found at www.native-instruments.com/massiveexpansion2.info About Native Instruments:

Native Instruments is the pioneer and market leader in the field of software instruments, and one of the key players in the market of computer-based audio production technology. The company’s mission is to develop outstanding musical tools for all styles and genres. The resulting products regularly push technological boundaries and open up new creative horizons for professionals and amateurs alike.

Technorati Tags: Native Instruments KORE player, NI Massive

Earlier this year, I showed you how to get high-quality A2DP audio streaming to your Bluetooth headphones. And while that method of connecting your headphones to a music player does work fine, it really only works with media players and anything else set up to specifically play to your headset. What if you want to watch a Flash video with A2DP audio? How about play a game of Nexuiz through the headset? Well, with that implementation, you can’t.

And next week, with the release of Ubuntu 8.10, that method will not even work anymore due to a new incompatible version of Bluez. But on the flipside, we really don’t even need to do that anymore.

Most distributions include a somewhat recent version of PulseAudio. Love it or hate it, it becomes an excellent tool for the job. Using PulseAudio sinks (outputs), we are able to create a new device visible for Pulse to play to. This means not only your music player, but also your games, websites, and everything else, can play through your wireless headset.

Note: If you used any of the instructions from the previous article, undo them entirely. First make sure your GStreamer output is set back to speaker mode if you used it. Then, delete the .a2dp folder in your home directory. Finally, remove the A2DP Connection script from System > Preferences > Sessions. Leaving anything laying around could interfere with the new process.

Also note that these are merely some things to try out. They are by no means complete; real, full Bluetooth support will come in a later PulseAudio release. PulseAudio 0.9.13 includes the start of this work, but it isn’t too use-friendly at the moment.

Let’s get started. Open up the file .asoundrc in your home directory (create it if you can’t find it), and change its contents to something like this: pcm.bluetooth { type bluetooth device "00:00:00:00:00:00" }

Replace the device line with the MAC address of your headphones. To find the MAC address, put the headset in pairing mode, and run hcitool scan. Also, if you headphones aren’t already paired with your computer, do that now using the Bluetooth applet in the notification area.

Save that file and log out and back in again to make ALSA re-read the configuration. Now we can set up PulseAudio with a simple one-liner:

pactl load-module module-alsa-sink device="bluetooth"

Be sure your headphones are on. When you see a number appear on the command line, they are ready. Pulse will automatically turn on and off the headphones as needed when it wants to play sound. Caveat: You cannot set this to run at startup, as it will sometimes fail. You can, however, add it as a panel launcher and enable your headphones with a single click.

Now go ahead and open up Rhythmbox or another music player (or something else you know uses PulseAudio) and play a track. If you don’t get any audio, check to make sure your headphones are on and paired properly, and try the above command again. If the audio still comes out of your speakers, then you will want to re-route the audio.

To do this, install the pavucontrol (PulseAudio Volume Control) application, which may be present on some distributions already. Open it up, and go to the Output Devices tab. Find your headset in the list (labeled “bluetooth”) and click the down arrow on the right. Check Default, and try playing audio again. If it still comes out of the speakers, then Pulse is remembering previous settings. Leave the music playing, and go to the Playback tab. Click the down arrow next to the active stream (probably labeled as your music player and current song) and select Move To and then “bluetooth”. Wait a moment, and the audio should then route to the headphones. From that point on, Pulse should remember that it should always play to your headphones for that application if they are available.

Feel free to experiment with different setups to find out what works best for you. If things don’t work out the first time, simply keep trying. Share your findings in the comments below.

A review of Voxengo Crunchessor 2.3, Elephant 3.1, and Varisaturator 1.4

The good news regarding the latest releases of Voxengo’s Crunchessor, Elephant, and Varisaturator compressor, limiter, and saturation (respectively) plugins is that they sound very, very good, offer plenty of flexibility in routing for applications like sidechaining, are easy on the host CPU, and are very reasonably priced for the high quality they offer. The bad news where Crunchessor is concerned is that its operator interface is neither typical, self-explanatory, nor well-documented in the user manuals, and so may confuse many people who might otherwise find the exceptionally good sound and price of this plugin irresistible. That would be a shame, because there are few  compressor plugins that sound as good or do so many things at anything near the price.

Elephant 3.1

Latest version: 3.1 - User Guide (PDF) - Primary User Guide (PDF) - Forum: Elephant Let’s start with Elephant, a piece of kit that ranks very high on the value for money scale.  Voxengo’s website proclaims that “Voxengo Elephant is a mastering limiter plug-in for professional music production applications.  The most remarkable feature of this signal limiter is its ultimate transparency.”  I beg to differ: the terrific transparency of this limiter is apparent as soon as you push it hard, but even more remarkable is the wealth of voicing options on tap.  Compared to Ozone 3’s limiter, a very capable tool with which I am thoroughly familiar, Elephant simply offers a lot more options for shaping the character, not just the volume, of a track.

(Click for close up)

Everyone from novices to skilled engineers will find plenty to work with here. There are 9 different limiting modes available, along with 2 types of dithering, DC offset removal, 5 types of metering, and tools for editing such details as release time, channel linking, transient time and shape, and knee.  Voxengo has also included a set of presets that address a range of common limiting applications, and these make Elephant immediately useful even for a novice, right out of the box.  Users of simple tools such as Cakewalk’s Boost 11 will find Elephant to be a very reasonably priced upgrade that expands their mastering options and quality enormously with a very short learning curve; pros seeking a more powerful tool will not be disappointed.

In short, Elephant is simply an outstanding mastering tool, and a great value at the asking price of $US 90.  For anyone seeking a pro-grade mastering limiter plugin that’s both flexible and as easy to use as you want it to be, Elephant should be near the top of the short list.

Crunchessor 2.3

Latest version: 2.3 - User Guide (PDF) - Primary User Guide (PDF) - Forum: Crunchessor Crunchessor shares its user interface conventions with the rest of Voxengo’s line, and like Elephant, it offers both very good sound and a range of voicing options. Few compressors in this modest price range (about $US 50) can take on so many varied characters; options include 13 different “modes” (including clean and various “crisp” and “valve” setting) and 9 different “styles” (such as warm, punchy, neutral, smooth, etc.).  The variety is not just window-dressing either; all of these options produce notably different results, they all sound very good, and they’re named in ways that clearly identify what they sound like. It’s very gratifying to experiment with these options to find exactly the right sound for a track, and Voxengo provides a useful set of presets for starting points, again clearly named in ways that indicate exactly how to use them.  Especially considering its ability to sidechain, for many productions, Crunchessor is all that’s needed to handle compression for every track in the mix.  In other words, this plugin, like Elephant, represents great value for money.

(Click for close up)

However, there’s a fly in this ointment, and that’s Crunchessor’s somewhat idiosyncratic and not-nearly-well-enough documented user interface. For example, sidechaining works very well, but figuring out how to set up the routing is far from obvious, and the manual contains neither a simple step-by-step description nor a clearly marked illustration. I had to search two user forums to find out how to do it; it’s puzzling that it’s not in the manual, especially given that the manual is the easiest thing for a developer to change.  While we’re discussing the manual, let me note that Voxengo’s products ship with two PDF files, one of which describes interface conventions common to all Voxengo’s products, the other the particular product you’ve purchased.

Naturally, there’s no way to know which manual contains the specific information you’re searching for until you’ve read through both.  Further, the manuals seem to be written largely for users who are expert in matters technical, not (oddly enough) for the novices who are the clear beneficiaries of the well-designed-and-labeled presets.

And in some cases, neither manual has the goods.  For example, Crunchessor’s interface handles input, compression, and output level displays in unique ways, and the meaning of a particular graphical item can vary from meter to meter, e.g. a red line apparently means something different in the input and output meters as opposed to the gain reduction meter.  I say “apparently” because the meaning of a red line for a particular meter isn’t explained in either manual that ships with Crunchessor. To further complicate matters, each meter has two level indicators–a moving set of bars, and a white (or red) line that shifts occasionally in apparent relation to the moving bars, though exactly what the relationship is I can’t say.

The manual does explain the rather unique way that Crunchessor displays gain reduction; suffice it to say that there’s nothing as straightforward as, say, an indicator that tells you what the maximum gain reduction is that’s being applied to your track.  What you get instead is a display that shows gain reduction changes relative to the average of the last two seconds.  I for one do not find that to be very useful information, since I set gain makeup for the track based on peak levels, not on the last two seconds of activity. The net effect is to force the user to rely on his or her ears, as opposed to a numeric readout of what the compressor is doing.  That’s not a bad thing, I suppose, but it’s not how a lot of users work nowadays, and it’s definitely not what’s conveyed in a typical user interface.

On the plus side, Voxengo’s head developer Aleksey Vaneev is extremely responsive to user inquires, as a glance at their forum shows.  So if you’re baffled by the user interface, you can head to the forum for an answer.  I do think that it wouldbe helpful to all involved if the company were to put the effort into the next draft of the user manual instead.  In the meantime, Crunchessor’s exceptionally good sound, low price, plentiful presets, sidechaining capability, and general ease of use (user interface notwithstanding) should help put it on the short list for anyone looking for a general purpose single-band compressor.

VariSaturator 1.4

Latest version: 1.4 - User Guide (PDF) - Primary User Guide (PDF) - Forum: VariSaturator Varisaturator is in some ways the most subtle of the plugins reviewed here.  Voxengo’s website says that “VariSaturator can be used both to boost the loudness of the audio tracks without increasing their peak levels proportionally, and to apply subtle harmonic coloration that makes tracks sound more pronounced and polished.”  To put it another way, varisturator adds depth and color to tracks by applying subtle distortion, both digital and valve-style.  Voxengo recommends applying it as the last stage before the peak limiter.

(Click for Close up)

As per the other Voxengo plugins reviewed here, Varisturator includes lots of controls for precise shaping of sound–such as high and low frequency input gain and FX levels for valve and digital saturation, frequency crossover settings, high and low frequncy output gain, and dry/wet signal mix–plus a useful set of presets for immediate application. Like PSP Audioware’s very similar Mixsaturator, Varisaturator is best used to add moderate amounts of color to a track, not to slather it with distortion. I find that it’s particularly useful for adding depth, color, and excitement to otherwise flat-sounding digital synth tracks, and it’s also found its way onto a number of my recent drum tracks. The valve and digital saturation effects both add unique flavor to a track, and the ability to apply different levels of both distortions to high and low frequency content makes it very easy to fatten up a track in exactly the right places.

Varisaturator’s direct competition includes the aforementioned PSP MixSaturator, which sells only as part of PSP’s MixPack2 bundle for $200.  The asking price of $US 70 for Varisaturator alone isn’t directly comparable, of course, but in general Varisaturator, like other Voxengo products, represents very good value for money.

Nearly fully-functional demo versions of all the plugins described in this review can be downloaded from voxengo.com, along with a number of free plugins (such as voxengo Span, a frequency analysis plugin that makes mixing a whole lot easier, TempoDelay, TubeAmp, and other good-sounding and useful freebies) that are well worth owning.  Purchase for all plugins is via download.  The license validation process is simple and does not require an online connection, which is a relief for those of us who choose to keep our DAWs disconnected from the cesspool of malicious actors that is the modern Internet.

Summary:

very good stuff, very well priced, highly recommended.

URS Saturation plug-in v2.0 includes nine vintage analog algorithmsThe six digitally recreated Pre Amplifiers add different and distinct vintage even and odd ordered harmonics, input stage saturation and soft clipping. The six Mic Pre Amplifier Saturation algorithms include:

• Class A Tube Mic Pre Amplifier - Motorcity
• Class A Tube Mic Pre Amplifier - German
• Class A Discrete Pre Amplifier - British
• Class A Discrete JFet Mic Pre Amplifier - Modern
• Class A Tube Mic Pre Amplifier - 1951
• Class A Tube Mic Pre Amplifier - Tape Deck

The Two Mono Tape Head algorithms add Analog Tape saturation. This non-linear saturation produces a smoothing effect on high frequency transients. The two Mono Tape Head Saturation algorithms include:

• 15ips Tape Saturation
• 30ips Tape Saturation

The Transformer Core Saturation algorithm adds non linear transformer core saturation as found on vintage consoles, tape machines and outboard gear. Transformer American Try the different URS Saturation algorithms on Drums, Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, Brass, Vocals and on Drum and Mix busses. Hear the added warmth!

URS Saturation Plug-in Features:

Adjustable Input Control The URS Saturation plug-in features an adjustable input control to adjust the level into the Saturation’s drive amplifier.

Saturation Drive Control Allows you to control the desired amount of added harmonics, saturation and soft clipping from 0-100%

Mix Blend Control Allows you to blend the right amount of Saturation with your source material. No need to use an additional parallel track or Aux send to get blend effects. At the 100 % Wet setting the Mix Blend Control is disabled.

Adjustable Output Control The URS Saturation plug-in features an adjustable output control after the Mix Blend control to balance the final effect with your insert chain.

Plasma Style VU Metering Allows you to view both the input and output signal. The phenomena of added harmonics, soft clipping and saturation is that it sounds louder even when the meters do not indicate changes in level.

High Res 64 bit Floating point “Double Precision” processing The URS Saturation plug-in Hi Resolution 64-bit floating point “Double Precision” processing for increased clarity and headroom. Why mention this clarity for a plug-in that reduces saturation? Because, we designed the URS Saturation plug-in to reproduce Analog style saturation not Digital!

A fully functional 10 day demo is available - iLok required. Purchase in the URS Online Store

For more information, visit their web site at ursplugins.com.

DJs, remixers and producers on the forefront of technology, watch out.

Serato and Ableton are happy to announce a partnership, which will pave the way for the future of Digital DJing. With shared artist rosters from hip-hop (DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ Nu-Mark, A-Trak) to electronica (Paul Van Dyk, DJ Sasha), both Ableton Live and Serato Scratch Live are renowned as the premier performance platforms in clubs around the globe.

While Serato’s Scratch Live excels in vinyl emulation, music library control and lightning quick hands-on scratching, Ableton Live provides the tools for production, on-the-fly remixing and beat creation.

“Ableton and Serato take different approaches to modern musical performance,” says Ableton CEO Gerhard Behles, “But both companies live by the philosophy that software should be straightforward, easy to use, and most importantly, reliable and stable on stage and in the studio. Ableton has never had an answer for the DJ who wants vinyl control, and rather than try to emulate what Serato do so well, we simply make sure that our products work well together.”

Serato Audio Research CEO Steve West agrees. “After years of talking together, we’re thrilled to be working with Ableton. It’s exciting to think about what we can offer to DJs and producers: the ability to go beyond just spinning records and add a personal stamp to the music they play.”

Just where this Serato and Ableton collaboration will take us has yet to be seen but one thing is clear: the worlds of DJing, remixing and production for artists worldwide have changes ahead.

More @ Serato.com & ABleton.com.