These new Focal monitors cost $69,000 – here’s whyLast year, Focal released its $40,000 luxury Diva Utopia active monitors. Now, the company has upgraded its premium wireless loudspeaker line into a whole new era: enter the Diva Mezza Utopia.
With an even more eye-watering price point of $69,000, the Diva Mezza Utopia boasts 500 watts per speaker, 100 watts more than its predecessor. The added punch of power allows its 20 cm woofers to deliver articulate, impactful bass effortlessly, with a max volume of 120dB providing a crisp, high-end listening experience in rooms up to 100m².

READ MORE: Best speakers to buy in 2025: 11 best small studio monitors for any budget

The Diva Utopia line is of course active, which means the electronics are built-in. The inner workings of the tower loudspeakers have been designed in partnership with Focal’s sister company, Naim Audio – and the final product supposedly rivals the finest fully integrated hi-fi systems.
This is thanks to Focal’s ADAPT (Adaptative Acoustic Personal Tuning) technology. As the name suggests, the technology essentially adapts your listening experience to the acoustics of your room. The feature can be tweaked via the Focal and Naim app, allowing you to run initial sound tests to optimise your listening experience to your preferences, while also considering the layout and acoustic characteristics of your room.
Credit: Focal
Aesthetically, the Diva Mezza Utopia isn’t too dissimilar to its predecessor. It’s made up of a brushed aluminium shell, a curved rear heatsink, but the felt side panels are ivory rather than grey this time around. However, the look can be customised to your likings – you can get wood panels, for example, if that’s more in-line with your décor.
Each speaker features four 8-inch ‘W’ cone woofers, a step up from its predecessor’s 6.5-inch drivers. A dedicated ‘W’ cone also handles the midrange, while an M-shaped Beryllium tweeter should be able to tackle the higher range.
The Diva Mezza Utopia monitors also expands on the Diva Utopias connectivity, with Ultra Wideband technology allowing for uncompressed, high resolution signal transmission at 96kHz/24-bit wirelessly. That’s essentially “cable-grade performance”, with a reliable connectivity that promises a lossless audio experience.
The monitors offer ample streaming options; from Bluetooth, to AirPlay, to Google Cast, to streaming services like Spotify or TIDAL, most wireless options will be compatible. Of course, the monitors also support analogue inputs too, so feel free to whip out the aux chord and USB cables too.
Focal’s Diva Mezza Utopia monitors are available now for $69,000/£55,000.

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How To Book A Small Music Venue [VIDEO]Small music venues are where musicians first hone their craft and connect with an audience. But despite their key role on the music ecosystem, booking a small venue is hard. This video and the accompanying materials offer a free crash course in how to book a small music venue.
The post How To Book A Small Music Venue [VIDEO] appeared first on Hypebot.

Independent artists can get their music released on vinyl thanks to SoundCloud’s new partnership with elasticStageSoundCloud has teamed up with elasticStage to help independent musicians release and sell their music on vinyl.
The partnership introduces a print-on-demand service to SoundCloud’s Artist Pro users, so all the manufacturing, selling, and shipping will be taken care of, and you’ll get paid for every sale.

READ MORE: FL Studio 2025 first look: The new features I love and what needs refining

This new initiative has been launched to help small artists release their music physically, who might otherwise struggle to do so financially, as vinyl continues to reign supreme as the most coveted form of physical music media.
Artist Pro users can officially join the waitlist today, and will be notified once approved. From there, all you’ll need to do is pick your tracks from SoundCloud, add credits, upload artwork, and submit for review.
A web page for your vinyl will be created where it will be listed for sale, and then printed on demand so there’s no leftover stock. elasticStage will handle all processing, shipping (available to over 90 countries), and customer service requests.

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“Vinyl sales have surged over 300 percent since 2016, yet most independent artists have been excluded from this growth due to high manufacturing costs and logistical limitations,” states Eliah Seton, SoundCloud CEO.
“We’re committed to helping artists thrive by providing new opportunities for connection and monetisation. This partnership is another step toward ensuring that every artist – no matter where they are in their career – has the tools to build a sustainable career.”
Steve Rhodes, elasticStage CEO and Co-Founder, adds: “We created elasticStage’s on-demand vinyl technology to make physical music as accessible as streaming for artists and music fans everywhere.
“Records have been bringing fans closer to their favourite artists for decades, but today’s modern music creators are now shut out of the vinyl market by high costs and outdated practices – our mission is to break down these barriers so musicians can sell vinyl with zero cost or risk. SoundCloud’s artist-centric platform is a perfect fit for us, and we’re thrilled to be collaborating with them.”
To find out more and join the waiting list, head over to the SoundCloud newsroom for all the details.
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Live Music Industry News: Marathon Live, ROSTR and MoreIn the latest live music industry news, Mark Dinerstein and JPB Partners have purchased Nashville music venue and promoter Marathon Live from founder Josh Billue. Dinerstein is the new CEO and Billue will serve as CDO.
The post Live Music Industry News: Marathon Live, ROSTR and More appeared first on Hypebot.

KIT Plugins partner with Norman Petty Studios KIT Plugins have announced a new partnership that will see them preserve the sound of New Mexico’s iconic Norman Petty Studios. 

Behringer’s BM-13 is a Moogerfooger-inspired phaser – and “a control freak’s dream”Behringer has launched a re-creation of the Moogerfooger MF-103 phaser pedal from the 1990s that has “its creator’s mark deeply imprinted into it”, according to the brand.
The new BM-13 Phaser also harks back to the Moog rackmounted MKPH phaser unit from the 1970s that came before the Moogerfooger series. The budget-friendly gear company pays tribute to this original model in a new promotional video, though the Moog logo has been removed, and there is no official mention of the Moog name.

READ MORE: $69 Behringer Klon clones are being spotted online for over $2,000 following Bill Finnegan lawsuit

The BM-13 is an analogue unit that has the same 12-stage design as its inspiration, and it works just as well with synthesisers as it does guitars, but you could essentially run a multitude of instruments through it.
As for its main features, at the top of the pedal sits knobs for drive and output – to control your incoming signal and the final output stage – with a Phaser control section beneath. In this part, you’ll find dials for sweep, resonance, and a switch for either six or 12 stages of filtering.
The last section of the pedal’s face gives you control over the LFO with a range switch, a rate knob, and an amount knob which you can even set to stun or kill. You can hear it in action in the demo video below:

Each section of the pedal can either be sent out or controlled via an external source. As well as a main audio out, there’s also an aux out which delivers the signal in phase. This means you can transform any mono signal into a stereo signal, and you can also split the signal through two different speakers.
The BM-13 is available to pre-order now for £99/$129. You can find out more or locate a dealer via the Behringer website.
The post Behringer’s BM-13 is a Moogerfooger-inspired phaser – and “a control freak’s dream” appeared first on MusicTech.

Baby Audio Smooth Operator Pro is a seriously impressive spectral processing plugin$129 ($79 introductory price)
Subscribe to own: 6 monthly payments of $14.99
Upgrade options for Smooth Operator owners
babyaud.io
Baby Audio’s original Smooth Operator plugin from 2021 offered a clever solution to unwanted resonances and uneven dynamics within a mix and was widely praised for its innovative approach. Despite its impressive abilities, there was a lot of room for improvement, and so, having listened carefully to user feedback, Baby Audio has overhauled and improved the plugin, resulting in the new and more serious Smooth Operator Pro.

READ MORE: The 1010music Bento could be a big league groovebox… one day

If Smooth Operator Pro is a compressor, why does it look like an EQ?
Like its predecessor, Smooth Operator Pro looks aesthetically like an equaliser. Its window is dominated by a real-time spectrum analysis overlaid with what appears to be a typical EQ curve with control nodes dotted along its length. But a closer inspection reveals parameters such as threshold, ratio and attack that have no place on an EQ. And, as it turns out, rather than being an EQ curve, the overlay is actually a compression threshold curve.
As you might expect, the nodes on this threshold curve represent specific frequencies, and moving a node left or right changes its frequency. Moving a node up and down changes the compression threshold at that frequency, and this is measured as an offset from the global threshold, which is set with a large, ever-present dial. Adjusting this dial causes the entire curve to move up or down, which, coupled with the spectrum analyser, makes for a highly intuitive means of understanding which frequencies within a signal are exceeding, or are below, the compression threshold.
As with an EQ, the frequencies around a node are impacted by a lesser amount the further they are from the node. Smooth Operator Pro allows the width of this spread, similar to the Q of an EQ, to be adjusted so that the compression threshold of a wider or narrower band of frequencies can be offset from the global threshold.
Nodes can be added to and removed from the threshold curve, with support for 12 nodes in total. However, two of these nodes – the lowest and the highest – are always present, and produce a shelving rather than a bell-shaped curve. There’s also a couple of controls for preserving low and high frequency content – that is, removing extremely low and high frequencies from any processing – and this is (somewhat) analogous to the high- and low-pass filters found on EQs.
What all of this amounts to is a compressor that operates in the frequency domain, and so can vary the strength of compression on a per-frequency basis. A spectral compressor, if you will.
Image: Press
How does Smooth Operator Pro work?
To achieve all of this, Smooth Operator Pro splits the incoming signal into multiple FFT ‘bins’, which are conceptually similar to the bands of a multi-band processor but far more numerous. The exact number of bins created depends on various factors such as sample rate, the frequency spread of individual nodes, and so on, but in a typical scenario, the plugin will be working with at least 4,000.
That’s over 4,000 detectors listening to exceptionally narrow frequency bands, and the same number of gain controllers ready to step in when the amplitude of a frequency band exceeds its threshold. It’s a seriously impressive feat, but it also makes for a compressor that’s more demanding of system resources than most dynamics processors, although it’s no resource hog – in fact, given what it’s doing, it’s remarkably efficient.
Moving away from the threshold curve and visualisations, every other control presented by Smooth Operator Pro is pure dynamics processing. Controls are arranged into groups: Setup contains Low and High Preserve and Make-up gain. Focus has controls that impact detection, namely Peak / RMS sensing, Detail, which determines the resolution at which each node’s detector operates, and Isolation, which controls the width of frequencies that a node’s detector will listen to.
Comp contains the familiar ratio, attack and release controls, plus the option to switch between hard and soft knee operation. Imaging switches detection and processing of stereo signals between L/R and M/S, and provides control over the balance and detection characteristics for each stereo channel. SC (sidechain) enables and controls the gain of an optional external sidechain signal. Finally, Output contains the wet/dry balance control and master output level, as well as the option to isolate and monitor only those parts of the signal that are being processed by the compressor.
Particularly powerful, though, is that the controls contained in three of these groups – Focus, Comp and Imaging – can be overridden on a per-node basis. These are the groups that contain the most important dynamics parameters, such as ratio, knee, attack and release, and so this ability gives a huge amount of independence to each node’s impact on Smooth Operator Pro’s processing. You can, for example, use one node to hone in on and improve a specific problem area – an unpleasant yet intermittent resonance, for example – whilst using another to apply some gentle ‘glue’ to a wider frequency range, much as you would with a conventional multi-band compressor.
Image: Press
Do I need Smooth Operator Pro?
Smooth Operator Pro’s capabilities make it an excellent tool for stem and full-mix processing, where it can add a general sprucing-up and polish, as well as allow specific problem areas to be addressed in a way that’s far more transparent than when using EQ, dynamic EQ, or conventional compression. Experienced mix and mastering engineers will be able to achieve many of the same things as Smooth Operator Pro using a more conventional set of processors, but they would have to work harder to achieve that same result, and so should definitely take a close look at this plugin.
The plugin can also be very helpful when processing individual parts and instruments. I find it particularly effective for tidying up the boominess of kicks and bass amps, and for mitigating masking problems between parts in similar frequency ranges. I also like how well it works on vocals and voiceovers, allowing incredibly detailed control over the complex frequencies and dynamics involved.
A clear, easy-on-the-eye layout is also pleasing, as is the quality and intuitive legibility of its visualisations. The generous collection of presets, which is something I tend to ignore in audio processors, is also surprisingly helpful for getting things into the correct ballpark, from where all that’s then needed are a few tweaks of the controls to hone things to suit your music.
In short, Smooth Operator Pro is surprisingly easy to configure and manage, and this is all the more noteworthy when you consider how much is going on beneath the surface.
Smooth Operator Pro is more than just a combination of a compressor and EQ. It’s an affordable, all-in-one fixer and sweetener that’ll be an exceptionally useful addition to any producer’s processing toolkit.

Key features

Spectral dynamics processor plugin (AAX/AU/VST)
For Windows 10 and macOS 10.11 or higher
Define up to 12 frequency-specific nodes on a threshold curve
Creates thousands of FFT bins for sensing and processing
Linear-phase processing for the highest possible sound quality

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Is 'Rust in Peace' Better Than 'The Black Album'?An excerpt from Greg Prato's 2025 book, The World's State-Of-The-Art Speed Metal Band: The Megadeth Story 1983-2002, which posits the theory that although Metallica's The Black Album far outsold Megadeth's Rust in Peace, the Megadeth album is actually the better of the two.

Former Sequoia partner Matt Miller raises $355M for new fund — with Sequoia’s backingFormer Sequoia partner Matt Miller has already locked in $355 million for his new fund, Evantic, which is also backed by Sequoia, TechCrunch learned.

Congress opens crypto bill debate with claims of ‘GOP giveaway’ to industryDiscussions in the House Committee on Rules opened with crypto bills, but quickly shifted to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act.

Do You Trust this AI for Your Surgery?If you are looking for the perfect instrument to start a biological horror show in our age of AI, you have come to the right place. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have successfully used AI-guided robotics to perform surgical procedures. So maybe a bit less dystopian, but the possibilities are endless.
Pig parts are used as surrogate human gallbladders to demonstrate cholecystectomies. The skilled surgeon is replaced with a Da Vinci research kit, similarly used in human controlled surgeries.
Researchers used an architecture that uses live imaging and human corrections to input into a high-level language model, which feeds into the controlling low-level model. While there is the option to intervene with human input, the model is trained to and has demonstrated the ability to self-correct. This appears to work fairly well with nothing but minor errors, as shown in an age-restricted YouTube video. (NOTE: SURGICAL IMAGERY WATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK)

It’s noted that the robot performed slower than a traditional surgeon, trading time for precision. As always, when talking about anything medical, it’s not likely we will be seeing it on our own gallbladders anytime soon, but maybe within the next decade. If you want to read more on the specific advancements, check out the paper here.
Medical hacking isn’t always the most appealing for anyone with a weak stomach. For those of us with iron guts make sure to check out this precision tendon tester!

Spotify could exit Turkey amid government probe over ‘provocative’ playlists (report)The company is considering all options including “pausing its operations in the market or exiting Turkey altogether," The Times (UK) reported, citing sources.
Source

Win $1,000 and get your remix released on EMPIRE via our contest with Farrah Fawx
Craft a club edit of Farrah Fawx's "Slippery" for the chance to win $1,000 and get your remix released with EMPIRE.

Celestion Introduces the Truvox 1225 Mid-Bass LoudspeakerPremier manufacturer of professional loudspeakers and compression drivers for sound reinforcement applications Celestion has released a fresh model in the form of the Truvox 1225 speaker. A new 12-inch mid-bass driver offering exceptional performance at a highly competitive price point, the Truvox 1225 is available through retailers and is ideal for two- and three-way sound reinforcement systems thanks to several technical aspects including its continuous power handling of 600 watts and a high-sensitivity efficiency of 96dB. The cone of the Truvox 1225 is reinforced with fiberglass and a triple-roll surround offers stability, making the model built to last. “We believe the Truvox 1225 to be the best performing mid-bass transducer in its class, offering exceptional power handling, efficiency, and most importantly, outstanding sonic performance,” Celestion’s Head of Marketing Ken Weller said in a press release.The post Celestion Introduces the Truvox 1225 Mid-Bass Loudspeaker first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

FiiO announce SP5 monitors The latest addition to the FiiO range is described as a “bold new chapter in desktop and nearfield listening precision”.