Arturia has reskinned its KeyLab Mk3 with a bright orange finish – don’t look at these pictures or you might accidentally buy itTwo years after its launch in 2024, the KeyLab Mk3 – despite being a rock-solid keyboard controller option chosen by many producers – was in need of little refresh. And Arturia has come through with the goods, with a special-edition version finished in bright orange.
We were mightily impressed when we got our hands on the KeyLab Mk3 in 2024, giving it a 9/10 in our review and praising the well-balanced weighting and smooth action of the keyboard, top-drawer build quality, DAW control and ease of use.

READ MORE: Arturia’s KeyLab MK3 is a seriously impressive MIDI keyboard controller

For all intents and purposes, the new orange-finished version is the exact same keyboard controller, with expressive playability, deep DAW control and studio-to-stage workflow, it just boasts a vibrant orange skin that’ll no doubt make it the centerpiece of your production setup.
Credit: Arturia
Offering your rig a “true command center”, the KeyLab Mk3 also features responsive pads and touch-sensitive faders – the responsiveness of which we were also impressed by – as well as MIDI connectivity, a high-resolution colour display, and Chord and Scale modes designed to expedite and music composition in the absence of robust music theory knowledge.
The KeyLab Mk3 ULTRA is available in both 49- and 61- key configurations, priced at €449 and €549, respectively.
Learn more about the KeyLab Mk3 ULTRA, and get yours now at Arturia.
Credit: Arturia
The post Arturia has reskinned its KeyLab Mk3 with a bright orange finish – don’t look at these pictures or you might accidentally buy it appeared first on MusicTech.

NewJeans face copyright lawsuit from US music publisher over ‘ETA’All Surface Publishing claims "ETA" copied a combination of musical elements from a dance track released nearly two decades earlier, without a license.
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Analog Obsession releases TheBus, a FREE analog-style compressor plugin
Analog Obsession has released TheBus, a free analog-style compressor plugin for macOS and Windows. Coming from one of my favorite indie developers, I was super excited to test this one. Analog Obsession describes TheBus as a fully custom compressor rather than a clone or variation of a specific hardware unit. My first impressions are good. [...]
View post: Analog Obsession releases TheBus, a FREE analog-style compressor plugin

MonkeyC update Rando sampler plug-in Described as “the sampler that made thousands of producers fall in love with their sound library again”, Rando 2.5 builds on the success of previous versions, introducing the ability to create multiple keyboard zones that each correspond to different search criteria. 

Get 50+ FREE plugins in the KVR Developer Challenge 26
KVR is celebrating 20 years of its Developer Challenge, as Developer Challenge 26 gets underway! For anyone new to the annual Developer Challenge, it’s a chance for developers to showcase their creativity by creating a new free plugin, app, or sound library/pack that benefits the broader music production community. KVR members vote on their five [...]
View post: Get 50+ FREE plugins in the KVR Developer Challenge 26

“It doesn’t raise the bar in instrument amplification technology. It redraws it entirely”: Heritage Audio introduces the Mix BuddyCelebrations are in order – Heritage Audio’s Synth Buddy just got a… buddy? Expanding on from the Synth Buddy’s 10-to-1 routing passive switcher, the new Mix Buddy flips the script. Rather than a switching device, this routing hub is designed to connect your synths, samplers and drum machines, and it acts as a mixer.
Mix Buddy has a total of 19 inputs and eight outputs, allowing you to connect a wide range of kit into one central hub. The Mix Buddy then allows you to wield, mix and flick between a your wide arsenal – it’s essentially a compact, versatile mixing station for those keen to jam and experiment without the restriction of hooking things up to a DAW. As a result, it’s perfect for the studio or the stage.

READ MORE: Credits.fm is a free, open music credits database to help artists get paid in the AI era

Each of the 19 inputs boast an “extremely low noise, high class audiophile grade” of Heritage Audio’s JFET technology, derived from the Toshiba 2SK JFET series. While there’s no restrictions to what instruments you can hook up, certain channels on the Mix Buddy were designed to suit specific instruments – the eight Hi Gain inputs may be best suited to passive basses and more vintage sounds, while while Unity Inputs, will suit more modern synths, drum machines and active basses.

Of the eight outputs, one boasts a Heritage Audio 73 active DI with custom transformers, while four include stereo high-gain channels and three stereo unity channels. The goal was one of marking a “new milestone in instrument amplification” technology, putting a heavy focus on tone. Every instrument level channel on the Mix Buddy can also be switched between stereo and mono + thru settings, entirely transforming your sound.

The set up allows users to choose between mic/line level, while also having a transformer-less output for monitoring. Elsewhere, there is also a single mic preamp channel with a JFET input stage, offering up to 70dB of gain.
The Mix Buddy also has effects routing capabilities, with each aux send path boasting its own dedicated global send and return controls. This means it can incorporate a chain of effects pedals in mono or stereo.
Elsewhere, there’s also a full microphone preamp, allowing you to transform your voice into another instrument in your mix. You can also route your voice through the Mix Buddy’s AUX effects loop, essentially allowing you to send your vocals directly though any effects pedals you might have connected to the Mix Buddy, too. There is a global mute switch, if you ever need to cut the noise entirely.
For more information, head to Heritage Audio.

The post “It doesn’t raise the bar in instrument amplification technology. It redraws it entirely”: Heritage Audio introduces the Mix Buddy appeared first on MusicTech.

Native Instruments Komplete 26 review: The biggest just got biggerKomplete Select £89
Komplete 26 Standard £494
Komplete 26 Ultimate £1,124
Komplete 26 Collector’s Edition £1,754
Personalised upgrade pricing available
native-instruments.com
Native Instruments’ longstanding presence in the music software space means it has a remarkably wide range of instruments and tools in its catalogue, expanded even further thanks to its Kontakt and Reaktor platforms that allow third parties to build bespoke creations. For some years now the developer has offered a bundle of these collected under the Komplete banner, with four tiers – Select, Standard, Ultimate and Collector’s Edition. The latest version has been rebranded as 26 to reflect the year of release, just as Apple has done with its operating systems.

READ MORE: XLN Audio’s new DB-30 Drum Butter is a delicious delight

Reviewing each product here would be impractical – even the Standard Edition has over 180 instruments and 315GB of content, while Ultimate has over 280 using 950GB of space, and the Collector’s Edition, a staggering 340+ instruments amassing over 1.6 terabytes of content. Rather, I’m going to assess who each of these collections best suits, and cover what’s new since the last Komplete. It’s worth mentioning that there are a large number of upgrade pricing routes available via your account, varying if you own earlier versions of Komplete or even if you already own flagship products like Guitar Rig or Kontakt. So the upgrade price will depend on what you already own.
An entry-level bundle—Komplete Select—is also available for £89 and comes in three flavours themed by content, each with a selection of instruments, effects and sound packs. The Beats edition has Battery 4, Massive X Player and Ozone 12 Elements and others, while the Band edition focuses on ‘real’ instruments, and Electronic on synth sounds. Select is an ideal entry point if you’re unsure about committing to a larger bundle and does qualify for some upgrade pricing, though the content is, of course, far more limited in scope.
Image: Press
After registering your serial in Native Access, the products in your bundle become available for download. You can set a default content location at this stage which is essential when downloading hundreds of gigabytes of sounds since you may not want them to fill up your boot drive. NI groups things into sections; the flagship platforms of Kontakt 8, Absynth 6, Massive X and Guitar Rig 7 Pro, and then the sampled and synth instruments that run in them as well as effects and sound packs, of which there are many. You also get Battery 4, NI’s powerful drum instrument in nearly all Editions.
The key differences between the collections are largely in the amount of content you get. All versions include the main tools mentioned above and while Kontakt is based around loading pre-created instruments for most users, the other three are organic sound generation and processing platforms in their own right. So you get the full synthesis experience even with the Standard Edition, but the number of instruments, presets and expansions increases with Ultimate and maxes out with the Collector’s Edition. An exhaustive comparison is available on the NI website.
LCO, Erosia and Cremona in Komplete 26. Image: Press
New content is also spread across multiple categories. Absynth 6 is one of the newest additions to the bundle and in our review we welcomed its long-awaited return. It’s a powerful and unique synth capable of creating mind-bending sounds, brought up to date with MPE support and a new interface. Other new additions include Circular, Odes, Claire: Avant, Electric Keys Definitive Collection and Erosia. Otherwise the flagships were already in the previous version – though if you own one or more you will have got a discount on upgrading to 26.
The Standard Edition has a solid selection of instruments including the Play series, covering a range of keys, guitars, orchestral and other ‘real’ sources plus selected expansions, sound packs and synth patches. For most developers it would be almost their whole lineup. You also get a great core of effects plugins including new additions from iZotope and Brainworx, now part of the NI family. Slightly disappointingly though, all three bundles only include the Elements versions of Nectar, Neutron and Ozone – you don’t get the full versions even with the Collector’s Edition. Still, they are welcome inclusions and expand the toolset in an area where NI has not traditionally had a huge presence – mixing and mastering.
Definitive Electric Keys Collection UI in Komplete 26. Image: Press
Stepping up to the Ultimate bundle is just over double the price but adds a lot of sample and instrument content as well as Essentials versions of the Classical Instruments series and practically all of the more conventional sampled instruments in the catalogue. The Collector’s Edition costs £630 more than this and adds the rest—this content is largely in the area of cinematic scoring tools— as well as over 150 expansion packs in a bewildering array of genres and styles. The largest bundle does have the Circular, Claire: Avant and Odes instruments as exclusives.
Looking at how NI has split the content, the conclusion is that the top tier version is to an extent aimed at composers who need the vast, cinema-focused scope of the acoustic and orchestral instruments on top of everything else. These would be overkill for most people not operating in the scoring world, but honestly if your job is scoring, £1,750 for a collection this vast is a pretty sensible investment considering the bases it covers.
NI’s ongoing development of its Kontakt platform has seen a number of powerful and exciting instruments added to Komplete, in a variety of categories. To name just a few, I am particularly impressed by Odes, Circular and Erosia from the cinematic collection, the Claire piano and 24K Keys hip hop instrument. Then there’s the enormous selection of existing sounds and instruments that aren’t technically new to Komplete, but will be to you if you are a new user. You can preview any of these on the website.
Mixed instruments in Komplete 26. Image: Press
As you’d hope, any one of these bundles represents a huge saving over buying even a fraction of the content individually. NI should be applauded for not going down the subscription route here – while the company does offer a subscription option for a different set of products under the 360 umbrella, they have perhaps recognised that the approach isn’t popular especially with professional producers and composers, those most likely to buy the larger Komplete bundles and who prefer to own their software outright.
But starting at around £500, Komplete is still an investment. Including all the flagship products in the Standard Edition is a smart move, especially since most of them are sound design tools and not playback platforms like Kontakt is (as far as most people use it). The content you get with Standard is an excellent toolset for many musicians working in a range of styles. Ultimate ups the stakes in terms of size and price, and honestly gets you the majority of the stuff, barring some of the cinematic library instruments and every last expansion pack. It’s all compatible with the NKS control format; an added bonus if you have NI hardware or an NKS-compatible controller of another sort.
Komplete’s selection of sounds and instruments—especially with the two larger bundles—is all-encompassing, from world percussion to vintage keys, drums, pianos, electric guitars, vocals and horns to advanced synths, textures, classic analogue sounds and more or less anything else you could imagine. Throw in the sound design of Absynth and Reaktor, the processing of Guitar Rig and other effects and mastering, vocal and mix tools (though they are the Elements versions) and you are covered for more or less every musical eventuality.
Komplete 26 could genuinely be the only bundle you ever need.
Mixing plugins in Komplete 26. Image: Press
Key features

Up to 340 instruments and effects
Up to 180,000 sounds; 1.6TB content
Kontakt 8, Massive X, Absynth 6, Guitar Rig 7 Pro
VST, AU and AAX plugin formats and standalone versions
iZotope Elements mixing and mastering plugins
Download and manage via Native Access
40 new products (Standard Edition)
69 new products (Collector’s Edition)
62 new products (Ultimate Edition)
£22 e-voucher with each bundle (except Select)

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How a Direct-To-Fan Rollout Secured a Billboard Top 10This week, Ari is joined by Dee Diaz, VP of Marketing at Reach Records, to break down Lecrae’s Billboard Top 10 album rollout.

The Hidden Verses That Made Grath Brooks' "Double Live" Album a Country Music BibleGarth Brooks' Double Live wasn't just a record-breaking live album—it became the only way fans could experience his concerts for years. Discover the two hidden verses that turned the album into a legendary piece of country music history.

Studio Kozak GRISTLEIZERDescription Gristleizer is a two-mode modulation effect: a gritty, asymmetric-saturation tremolo (VCA mode) and a resonant sweeping filter (VCF mode), both driven by a 4-shape LFO - Triangle, Ramp, Pulse, Skew - that can run free or lock to your host tempo across 9 divisions, triplets included. Inspired by a very particular piece of 1970s industrial-music gear (full story on the GitHub page), Gristleizer isn't trying to sound clean. Asymmetric saturation, a touch of hiss, and 4x oversampling keep things textured rather than sterile. Stereo handling ranges from fully linked to hard ping-pong, and Bias/Depth take you from a barely-there wobble to full-on chaos. Features - VCA (tremolo/grit) and VCF (resonant filter sweep) modes - 4 LFO shapes: Triangle, Ramp, Pulse, Skew - Free rate (0.02-115 Hz) or tempo sync, 9 divisions incl. triplets - Linked / Stereo / Ping-Pong stereo modes - Asymmetric saturation for organic grit, not digital cleanliness - 4x oversampling - VST3 (Win/Mac) and AU (Mac), Universal Binary. Note for macOS users: Gatekeeper may block first launch since the plugin isn't notarized - see the GitHub page for the one-line Terminal fix. Read More

SEC crypto rule changes are high on its 2026 agendaThe financial regulator’s agenda included proposed rule changes related to crypto broker-dealers, digital assets on national securities exchanges and potential safe harbors.

Done deal: Primary Wave’s acquisition of Kobalt has closedMBW sources close to the deal have confirmed that the acquisition closed on Tuesday (July 7) after passing all relevant regulatory scrutiny.
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Platten’s Diamond Award, SESAC Celebrates Artists Marking over 10 million units sold in the United States, singer-songwriter Rachel Platten receives RIAAA’s Diamond Award for “Fight Song” by Sony Music Publishing, joining Beyoncé, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, and others as one of only 25 solo female artists to receive the honor.

[L-R: Jon Platt (Chairman/CEO, Sony Music Publishing), Rachel Platten, Dave Bassett at Sony Music Publishing’s celebration of Rachel Platten]

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Celebrating the SESAC Film & Television Composer Awards, this year’s honorees included Laura Karpman (Captain America: Brave New World), Daniel Lopatin (Marty Supreme) and The Newton Brothers. SESAC’s annual Latina Music Awards honored Kapo, Edén Muñoz, and Sony Music Publishing for global chart successes. Details HERE, Latin HERE.

With growing international efforts, the organization recently established the “John Sweeney Stage” at the Sound City Festival in England, and the John Sweeney Impact Prize for promising new artists, in honor of SESAC’s late Vice President of International and cornerstone of UK’s music community.The post Platten’s Diamond Award, SESAC Celebrates Artists first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Why the rise of open source AI isn’t hurting Anthropic … yetOpen source models’ success isn’t coming at the expense of frontier labs. Instead, they each seem to capture two phases of the same life cycle.

Reverse Engineering and Self-Hosting the OBI Smart Energy TrackerSold by German DIY store OBI, the OBI Energy Tracker is a €15 set of two devices, one of which you essentially stick on top of your existing electricity meter. This then allows for electricity usage to be measured and tracked, with the data sent to the second, gateway device. This latter cloud-bound device is linked to an OBI account via the heyOBI app. This correspondingly called for the gateway device to be reverse-engineered and freed from its cloud-based shackles, a task that [Aaron Christophel] happily took upon himself.
The whole process is also covered in two videos, with the first providing all the essentials on reprovisioning the original firmware for a local MQTT server in English, while the second, German-language video focuses on custom firmware for the ESP32-C3 inside of the gateway device.
Inside the reader device is a Cortex-M0+-based BAT32G135 MCU that communicates with the meter via its IR protocol. This is then communicated via 868 MHz LoRa to the gateway device that will be placed somewhere within Wi-Fi reach by the user. Inside this latter device is as mentioned the ESP32-C3, which by default runs firmware that communicates via secure MQTT with an AWS cloud instance for the typical cloud-based shenanigans.
The aforementioned reprovisioning option doesn’t require firmware flashing, just a handful of steps to follow. This involves fetching the 32-bit TEA key, generating your own PKI, running your own MQTTS-capable broker and having the provided Python script handle the rest from there.
Flashing custom firmware is the other option, with straightforward UART/JTAG reflashing sadly disabled by the manufacturer. With the effort required here you could perhaps argue that simply connecting the reader device to a custom gateway device might be a lot easier, especially if you already have a LoRa transceiver and associated hardware.