Producerino

To celebrate that Valhalla’s free Supermassive reverb and delay plugin turns 2.5 years old, they’ve released a 2.5.0 update including two new modes: scorpio and libra, making the plugin contain 18 original algorithms ranging from weird/experimental to more practical ones and.. of course, epic lushness.

These are seemingly subtle changes, but they make a HUGE sonic difference. The complex feedback path in Scorpio creates a lot of stereo width, as well as a more “open” frequency response. By incorporating the High EQ filters into the feedback paths, the Scorpio mode can create far more realistic reverb sounds, where the high frequencies decay away over time. 

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The Libra mode in ValhallaSupermassive has a somewhat slower attack than Scorpio, and can sound like a delay at 4X the displayed DELAY length when WARP and DENSITY are both at zero. Turn up the WARP control, and Libra quickly transforms into a very lush reverb, with balanced modulation.

And remember, this one is a freebie, so check it out if you’re looking for a plug for massive reverbs, harmonic echoes or space sounds.

Read more at Valhalladsp.com

Download Supermassive (Valhalladsp.com, free)

Kilohearts has released a new free plugin, Dual Delay. Or as they describe it:

Dual Delay is like a regular delay that wants to be a reverb and ends up being something cool and new instead, with its double delay lines working in tandem to give you rich and complex echoing systems in seconds

As always, their plugin comes as VST/AAX/AU and can be used both stand-alone or within one of their snapin hosts (Phase Plant, Multipass and Snap Heap). Can’t say I’ve ever been disappointed using one of their earlier plugins so this’ll be an immediate download for me.

Kilohearts.com: Dual Delay ($0)

The popular tracker Renoise (and the companion sampler sequencer for other DAWs, Redux) now features native support for Apple M1 with the ability to load intel plugins via a plugin bridge and Rosetta as well as Metal based GUI rendering for MacOS. Happy times for tracking on a modern Mac!

Besides M1 Renoise now have 32 and 64 bit ARM Linux builds optimized for Raspberry Pi 3/4, which made my mind start to wander off wondering if it’d be cool to build a little tracker-specific box…

Other features with the 3.4.0 version includes WASAPI audio device support (Windows) and Ableton Link.

The tracker is free to try out (as far as I know it just limits exporting if you don’t buy a license) and I’d highly recommend anyone either having a tracker background to try it out to see where trackers are in 2022 or for the first time to have a go at something more alternative to the classic DAWs.

Read more on Renoise.com

Here’s Roland GO:MIXER PRO-X, a very portable phone and tablet-friendly mixer that works with both Android and iOS that looks pretty sweet if you’re a musician on the go, wanting to live stream from the bus or a mountain top (or just want to take your podcast interviews on the go). The mixer has 7 inputs as well as a loop-back feature if you want to play along to audio playing on your phone.

With its versatile input selection, you can plug in a guitar or bass, XLR microphone, mono/stereo instrument, and two line-level devices to mix and capture performances on the spot. […] The headphones jack even supports a second mic feed, allowing you to bring in another voice with a headset mic or smartphone earbuds.

Read more at Roland.com

Looking for something cheaper than a real TR-808? Behringer just announced the second version of their RD-8, the Rhythm Designer RD-8 MKII. According to them this is the most authentic Roland TR-808 clone ever, as they claim that they’ve managed a faithful reproduction of the classic 662 OTA chip.

Besides 16 drum sounds, a 64-step sequencer, wave designer and dual-mode filter you now have sequencer modes made to make live usage easier, like step repeat, note repeat, real-time triggering and live step-overdubbing.

Check out the video below or read more at Behringer.com

The Monome Grid turns 15 and Monome celebrates that with releasing a new edition of the 16×8 button grid USB midi controller. This beauty predates controllers like Ableton Push and Native Instruments’ Maschine and while being… well, basic, that’s what made it get a community built around it.

We’ve redesigned the grid, again. but this time almost everything is new, even though we added nothing.

The completely re-worked-but-still-the-same keypad is produced by a Massachusetts keyboard company, Monome says that while the size is the same the feel of the buttons is slightly snappier yet easier to press and have better detection mechanics. The aluminum enclosure has been optimized and it’s now connected using USB-C. There’s no new bells & whistles added, keeping the protocol the same.

In short, grid doesn’t do much on its own. It’s inherently modeless, adapting to the immediate needs of the artist through a host application. Through one, it might do traditional MIDI controller things. Through another, it might facilitate + visualize realtime buffer manipulation. The host determines grid’s usefulness in a specific context.

The “New and the same” Grid edition is available for pre-order now with the first batch of three already sold out, so if you’re out to get one you might just have to hurry up. They’re available for $550 bucks.

Monome: The Grid ($550)

Deskew Technologies just released Gig Performer 4.0, a CPU-friendly host for VST effects, instruments and plug-ins for live performances and musicians. The new update includes new features including enhanced visuals and MIDI features.

Gig Performer lets you set up a Global Rackspace that keeps the VST plugins loaded and ready to go for all your tracks (say, a virtual amp setup), and then you can set specific rackspaces for specific tracks when needed.

As for MIDI there’s a midi player that can store up to 128 songs, and you can select the tempo to be either globally set or tapped. New in 4.0 is also real-time midi data display, adjustable velocity cuves and an Elektron-style probabilistic sound designer engine that can apply randomization of selected parameters of any plugin.

Gig Performer 4.0 is available for Mac and PC for $199.

Read more @ GigPerformer.com

The Apogee Duet 3 is a 2×4 USB-C audio interface claiming zero-latency recording when used together with the Symphony ECS Channel Strip plug-in with fx (sold separately, $49). The channel strip offers presets from Bob Clearmountain to to get you going as well. The exterior of the interface got an aluminum chassi with a top covered in scratch resistant glass and a backlit main knob.

As for connectors you get two 1/4″ instrument inputs, two mic/line inputs (featuring 65dB of gain and 48v phantom power) and two line-level analog outputs for speakers plus a 1/8″ headphone output.

Oh, and there’s a stylish little dock available for the Duet interface as well, for easier portability if you often find yourself on the go.

Apogee: Duet 3 Audio Interface ($599)

Looking for new earbuds? Here’s Beats Studio Buds, priced at $149 they’re way lower than AirPod Pros ($249) and offers active noise cancellation (ANC) as well as transparency mode (similar to the AirPod Pros but can also be found in say, Galaxy Buds+) where it helps you stay aware of your surroundings by using the external-facing mics. Thinking the latter feature might come in handy whenever biking through traffic or going on an evening run.

Even though Apple owns Beats they’re boasting both native Apple and Android support (including Google’s Find my Device feature), support for Apple Music’s new spatial sound, IPX4 classed water resistance, 8 hours of listening time and two extra charges using the case as well as three colors (white, red and black).

PCMag got a pretty comprehensive review of the Studio Buds right here.

Read more @ beatsbydre.com: studio buds ($149.99)

Here’s a pretty sweet deal if you own a pair of PreSonus studio monitors (or if you’re thinking of buying a pair). No matter if it’s the Eris, R-series or the Sceptre monitors they’re currently giving away their Studio Magic software suite with ’em. That’s over $1,000 worth of music software including Studio One Prime, Ableton Live Lite, plugins (both synths and effects), tutorials as well as loops and samples.

Worth mentioning are Arturia Analog Lab Intro, the Brainworx bx_opto compressor, Cherry Audio Surrealistic MG-1 Plus Synthesizer, Cherry Audio Voltage Nucleus, iZotope Neutron Elements, KV331 Audio Synthmaster Player, Mäag Audio EQ2 and Melodics.

If you bought your monitors after March 1st PreSonus says they’ll backdate the offer so you don’t miss out.

PreSonus: Read more about Studio Magic