Butta Melta Stops Rock-solid Butter From Tearing Your ToastEver ruin a perfectly serviceable piece of toast by trying (and failing) to spread a little pat of rock-solid butter? [John Dingley] doesn’t! Not since he created the Butta Melta to cozily snug a single butter serving right up against a warm beverage, softening it just enough to get nice and spreadable. Just insert one of those foil-wrapped pats of butter into the Melta, hang its chin on the edge of your mug, and you’ll have evenly softened butter in no time.
The Butta Melta is intentionally designed with a bit of personality, but also has features we think are worth highlighting. One is the way it’s clearly designed with 3D printing in mind, making it an easy print on just about any machine in no time at all. The second is the presence of the hinge point which really helps the Butta Melta conform to a variety of cup designs, holding the payload as close as possible to the heat regardless of cup shape. A couple of minutes next to a hot beverage is all it takes for the butter to soften enough to become easily spreadable.
You may remember [John] (aka [XenonJohn]) from his experimental self-balancing scooters, or from a documentary he made about domestic ventilator development during COVID. He taught himself video editing and production to make that, and couldn’t resist using those skills to turn a video demo of the Butta Melta into a mock home shopping style advertisement. Watch it below, embedded just under the page break, then print one and save yourself from the tyranny of torn toast.

Review: Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 4th GenIn this review, we put the Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 4th Gen to the test. With 18 ins, 20 outs, clean preamps, loopback, and auto gain, it delivers pro-studio flexibility for producers, DJs, and streamers at an affordable price.
The post Review: Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 4th Gen appeared first on DJ TechTools.

W. A. Production NoizzerMake Some Noise Punchy drums and crisp percussion are the heartbeat of every great track. But sometimes your snares might lack snap, or those hi-hats just don't cut through the mix. Don't spend hours tweaking transients and layering audio - just reach for Noizzer, the noise-layering secret sauce for giving your beats that extra snap, crackle and pop. Clever music producers have been manually pulling off this trick for years, crafting complex white noise profiles and using side-chain gating to blend them into their drums. Now Noizzer puts that entire process at your fingertips in one simple, powerful plugin by intelligently injecting noise into your signal in a musical way. Noizzer adds brand-new frequency content that wasn't there before - fattening, sharpening, and energizing your sound in seconds. Simply activate Noizzer on any percussion track, adjust a few parameters, and listen as your beats transform from mid to massive. Noizzer is designed for speed with inbuilt presets that take just a few tweaks to transform basic-bitch beats to head-turning hits. Perfect for producers of any genre who need quick, effective drum enhancement without endless menu-diving. Shape, Snap & Sustain That big ol' knob in the centre adjusts the power of Noizzer, introducing more noise to the signal as you crank it up. The Listen mode solos the noise layer, letting you preview the noise signal before adding it to your drums. Activate Sustain Mode for longer rich hits, which is also perfect for keeping fast, repeated notes tight and consistent. The Decay knob sets how long the noise rings out, going from ultra-tight clicks to more splashy sustains. Add instant attack with the Transient control, injecting extra front-end punch to your hits. Filter & Flavor Noizzer goes far beyond a plain burst of white noise. It's a tone-shaping tool that lets you blend texture into your drums like a seasoned engineer. The Character selector opens up a palette of unique noise profiles, from silky hiss to gritty crackle, to match the vibe of your track with precision. Shape the sound further with high-pass and low-pass filters, trimming away sub-bass rumble or shaving off brittle highs. The end result is a noise layer that locks into your percussion so naturally, it feels like it was recorded that way from the start. Visual Feedback & Comparison Noizzer is built on vector graphics with a resizable interface. A live spectrum is displayed at the top, to help you identify frequency bands and show exactly what's happening to the signal as it travels through the plugin in real time. This allows for accurate monitoring at every step of the chain. For those who like to experiment, contrast different processing chains with AB comparison and copy / paste. Use the undo / redo buttons to revert any changes. Presets Noizzer includes a huge number of factory presets, covering subtle transient shaping to fizzy distortion, and everything in between. Use the provided parameters as starting points to enhance any kind of percussion, bringing the best out of your sounds and productions. W. A. Production are real-life producers making creative plugins to help you achieve studio quality processing quickly and easily. Enjoy. Features: Percussive enhancement plugin via surgically shaped noise injection. Solo noise layer with Listen mode. Sustain mode for extended hits. Decay and Transient envelope shaping. Character selector for multiple noise flavors. High-pass & Low-pass filtering. Independent Input & Output gain. Frequency spectrum monitoring. AB comparison & Undo / Redo. Resizable interface. Responsive & CPU friendly. Flexible factory presets. Full PDF Manual & Tutorial video. Video preview: https://youtu.be/UtBDFVEktxw Read More

Xunil-Cloud releases CloudReverb, a FREE algorithmic reverb plugin
Xunil-Cloud has released CloudReverb, a free algorithmic reverb plugin based on the open-source CloudSeed reverb engine by Valdemar Erlingsson. CloudReverb offers a deep and flexible reverb architecture inspired by classic 80s digital reverb units. It’s a complete rewrite of the original CloudSeed plugin using JUCE, which brings native support for Windows, macOS, and Linux. This [...]
View post: Xunil-Cloud releases CloudReverb, a FREE algorithmic reverb plugin

Daybreak Audio introduce Omega Comp The result of almost a year of development, Daybreak Audio's first plug-in uses “aggressive multiband compression to sculpt uniquely harsh and distorted tones, perfect for rage, electronic and industrial music”.

Turn Listeners into Lifelong Fans with Spotify Super ListenersNot all listeners are the same, and a small group can have the biggest impact on your music career. Here's how to grow your Spotify Super Listeners to increase streams, sell more tickets, and build a loyal fanbase that lasts.
The post Turn Listeners into Lifelong Fans with Spotify Super Listeners appeared first on Hypebot.

Roland TR-808 Plugin is 66% OFF until midnight
Roland’s official TR-808 Software Synthesizer is currently 66% off at Plugin Boutique, bringing the price down to just $62.84, but the offer ends today! The TR-808 Software Synthesizer is Roland’s authentic emulation of their iconic TR-808 drum machine, powered by Analog Circuit Behavior (ACB) technology. It faithfully recreates the sound and workflow of the original [...]
View post: Roland TR-808 Plugin is 66% OFF until midnight

SoundExchange distributions topped $242.5M in Q2 2025SoundExchange distributions topped $241.5 million in digital royalties to creators from April to June 2025. Combined with the $253.2 million distributed in the first quarter of the year, ir annual distributions for the first half of 2025 are $494.7 million.
The post SoundExchange distributions topped $242.5M in Q2 2025 appeared first on Hypebot.

‘KPop Demon Hunters’ sing-along re-release tops US cinema, with up to $20M in box office salesThe film outpaced Warner Bros.’ horror film "Weapons," which was reportedly expected to claim the weekend title with $15.6 million.
Source

The price of FiiO’s new flagship hi-fi music player is a mysteryIf you thought portable hi-fi players couldn’t push things any further, FiiO’s new M27 just turned up to prove otherwise. The reference-class digital audio player (DAP) is billed as the brand’s boldest evolution yet – pairing desktop-grade power with bleeding-edge streaming, storage, and design.

READ MORE: This new app is like Pokémon GO for music lovers

The flagship M27 sits at the top of FiiO’s portable line, joining the JM21, M21, and M23, but upping the ante with some serious hardware. Qualcomm’s QCS6490 chip (built on Snapdragon 770G architecture) anchors the system, offering eight Kryo 670 CPU cores, an Adreno 642L GPU, and Android 13 OS with 8GB of RAM. Translation: the responsiveness and stability of a high-end smartphone, but with hi-fi at its heart.
The star of the show is a dual-DAC setup using ESS ES9039SPRO chips. These deliver expansive dynamic range and detail, capable of handling everything from whispered vocals to full orchestral walls of sound with “life-like realism”. Pair that with FiiO’s new DAPS (Digital Audio Purification System), femtosecond crystal oscillators, and fully balanced output stages, and you’ve got a player chasing true reference-grade playback.
In Ultra Gain mode, the M27 delivers a massive 5,000mW + 5,000mW balanced output – rivaling dedicated full-size desktop amplifiers. Connections cover the bases too: we’ve got 6.35mm, 4.4mm, and 3.5mm headphone jacks plus line-level and digital outs, making it just as at home on the desk as in your pocket.
Credit: FiiO
Storage isn’t an afterthought either. Dual microSD slots support up to 2TB each, alongside 256GB of onboard space, so entire hi-res libraries can travel with you. A 9,200mAh battery and FiiO’s patented Desktop Mode keep playback running long, even during marathon listening sessions.
The M27 is also one of the first DAPs to support Qualcomm’s aptX Lossless codec, via the QCC5181 chip. That means reference-grade wireless playback is no longer a dream; it’s here, alongside LE Audio and Auracast support.
For the first time, FiiO has used titanium alloy for the chassis, giving the M27 a premium feel. A glass fiber rear panel, meanwhile, rounds out the design.
The FiiO M27 will launch globally in Autumn 2025, with pricing still under wraps until September. For now, all we know is this: if your portable rig has been feeling a little underpowered, the M27 might be the upgrade you’ve been waiting for.
Learn more at FiiO.
The post The price of FiiO’s new flagship hi-fi music player is a mystery appeared first on MusicTech.

New Cubase & Reason keyboards from Editors Keys Editors Keys have recently expanded their line-up of application-specific keyboards with new models designed for Steinberg’s Cubase 14 and Reason Studios’ Reason 13.

Favorite One-Album WondersThe concept of a One-Hit Wonder is practically as old as the charts themselves, but what about the albums that hit it and quit? Single albums from bands that changed our worlds and then went silent? AllMusic selects some of our favorite records that rose up from nowhere and then never saw a true follow-up.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov says case going nowhere, slams French govDurov said French law enforcement officials are still "struggling" to find evidence of wrongdoing even one year on from his arrest in 2024.

Bluesky blocks service in Mississippi over age assurance lawIn a blog post published on Friday, the company explains that, as a small team, it doesn't have the resources to make the substantial technical changes this type of law would require, and it raised concerns about the law's broad scope and privacy implications.

ESP32 Sets Sail as a Modern Bus Pirate PowerhouseBus Pirate is nearly a household name in the hardware hacking world. The first version came out way back in 2008, and there have been several revisions since then. You can buy pre-built Bus Pirate devices, but there’s also the option now to build our own. The ESP32 Bus Pirate project has everything you need to turn an ESP32 device into a protocol sniffing/decoding powerhouse—all on a board you may have sitting around from another project.
There are a ton of solutions when it comes to talking to different buses —I2C, UART, JTAG, you name it, there’s a purpose-built device for it. Over a decade ago, Dangerous Prototypes released the Bus Pirate, offering a Swiss Army knife of a tool to interface with this ever-expanding list of communications standards. The ESP32 Bus Pirate project is open-source firmware for ESP32s that gives them the ability to be the multi-tool that lets us communicate with a long list of protocols.
It supports a wide variety of devices, from the straightforward ESP32 S3 Dev Kit available from a long list of suppliers to the more specialized M5 Cardputer equipped with its own keyboard. The original Bus Pirate required plugging the board into a PC to use it; with this being ESP32-based, that’s no longer a limitation. So long as you can supply power to the ESP32, you can connect and control it via WiFi and a web browser. In addition to the Bus Pirate protocols, the project allows us to directly control the pins on the ESP32 board, should you want to do more with it besides interfacing with one of the supported protocols. Be sure to check out some of our other articles about Bus Pirate, as it’s been a fantastic tool for the hacker community over the years.