Sonivox, editor of famous Complete Symphonic Collection, presents Twist, a synth plugin based on Spectral Morphing synthesis. The provided audio demos are stunning. It is priced 149,99$.
Archive for July, 2011
Sonivox Twist spectral morphing
Posted: July 29, 2011 in AudioTags: Sonivox, spectral morphing, Twist
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OSX Lion : HiDPI mode available
Posted: July 27, 2011 in AppleTags: HiDPI, OSX Lion, Resolution Independance
ArsTechnica provides a full review of MacOSX Lion (as before wtih all MacOSX versions). We notably learn that Resolution Independance feature, present since Tiger however not enabled, is finally available. However it will provide the double scale only, as with iPhone.
Then on a 1680×1050 display (native resolution) controls and text will be larger, however the available space for windows will correspond to space available in 840×525 mode at standard scale, that is only usable for web pages reading. On a 27′ imac (2560×1440 native resolution) the available space will the same as with 1280×720 mode in standard scale, that is suitable for most of applications.
The result will however not be better than upscaling found on LCD displays (selected resolution below native one, and stretched image to the whole screen/pixels), at least for double scale (that is selected resolution a half the native one). Moreover upscaling provides many scales (depends from the selected resolution).
Initially the Resolution Independance feature was aimed at providing same physical size for controls, whatever screen native resolution (pixels density), and then sharper controls and text, thanks to HiDPI displays. The limited scale available and displays density however leads to the opposite (the controls are zoomed, and arent’s sharper).
Hollywood Brass is available (introductory price until July, 31 – 795$ for the Diamond version, and 495$ for the Gold one, announced for early August). We can watch stunning videos here, and audio demos are expected next week.
Free pro audio plugins/libraries
Posted: July 22, 2011 in AudioTags: Audio, Free, library, plugin, samples
Here are some great free audio plugins/libraries, far more better than entry-level softwares (GarageBand, etc.) :
– Kontakt 4 player with included sounds. The player version only features the first 3 convolution reberb categories (17 in the full version), however they cover most needs and sound great.
– Kore player with included sounds, Compilation Vol.1 and Compilation Vol. 2
– Camel Audio Alchemy Player with provided sounds (very high quality)
– SampleTank Free with included sounds (very high quality)
– Yellow Tools Independance Free (most of the best sounds from the Basic version, including acoustic and electric basses and guitars, and the famous NDB organ with Origami free reverb).
– EastWest Symphonic Orchestra Free
– Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra
– Native Instruments Guitar Rig Player
All these softwares are really worth paying for the full versions, that include more sounds. Moreover they are fairly priced and can sometimes sound even better than some high priced libraries.
Audio softwares / MacOSX Lion
Posted: July 21, 2011 in Apple, AudioTags: Audio, compatibility, MacOSX Lion
First compatibility statements for audio applications with MacOSX Lion are available here and there. Notably Logic Pro (and proably Logic Express as they share same base features) is compatible with 10.7, however Kontakt 4 only works in 32 bit mode. The latest PLAY 3 seems working, however we still have to check for audio and Midi interfaces drivers (Echo Audiofire may work as they use generic Apple’s Firewire driver).
The new mac mini is provided without superdrive (external USB model priced 79 $), a thunderbolt port, a Core i5 processor (2,3 Ghz or 2,5 Ghz) or Core i7 2,7 Ghz (as an option, 100$ only), dual core however with TurboBoost and HyperThreading, an Intel HD3000 chipset or a Radeon HD 6630M (256 Mb of dedicated GDDR5), and 2 or 4 Gb of DDR3 at 1333 Mhz. A 256Gb SSD option is available for 600$.
The server model (priced 999$) brings a quad Core i7 at 2Ghz, and the 256Gb SSD only option is available for 400$ more (550$ with both the SSD and a 750 Gb 7200 rpm hard disk). However it only features the Intel HD 3000 chipset.
The base memory is 4Gb (2Gb on the entry level model), however we still have to replace both modules to reach 8Gb (required to achieve max performance and for audio applications).
The Core i5 processor at 2,5 Ghz is up to twice as fast as previous Core2 Duo 2,4 Ghz one (also thanks to the faster memory bus), and the server model is up to three times faster. The Radeon HD 6630M dedicated graphics card is also up to two times faster than the Nvidia 320M chipset (see here and there).
New videos of Overgrowth (Lugaru 2) are available at Wolfire blog. Weekly alpha versions are also downloadable for pre-registered users (29,95$).
The final version of Cocos2D framework for iPhone is available.
Following the public beta test, PLAY 3 version is now available. A later update will add support for 64 bit Wordbuilder.
Propellerhead announced Reason 6, that brings news effects and sounds, as well as all features from Record. It will be available for 449$ on September, 30.
Version 2 of impOSCar is available. It brings new synthesis features, new effects, an enhanced arpeggiator, and includes more than 1000 presets. We can listen to audio demos (among these, the two latest, Blade Rimmer, perfectly reproduce Blade Runner’s sounds/themes) and download a demo version.
It is priced 139 euros, or 59 euros for the update from original version.
Cjed Audio 