Mikey Audio releases Shu, a FREE reverb plugin with seven algorithms
Mikey Audio has released Shu, a free reverb plugin for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Shu offers seven different reverb algorithms in a single interface. The seven modes are Silk (a smooth and clean reverb), Drift (spacious with a bit of modulation), Plate (classic studio plate), Classic (bright), Slap (tight room), Spring (spring tank), and Ether [...]
View post: Mikey Audio releases Shu, a FREE reverb plugin with seven algorithms

Roland Zenology GX for iPad is here – and it’s completely free for nowIt’s been a long wait since its NAMM tease, but Roland’s ZENOLOGY GX for iPad is finally here.
“Designed from the ground up” for iPadOS, ZENOLOGY GX for iPad brings the “complete power” of Roland’s ZEN‑Core Synthesis System – the same advanced engine behind flagship instruments like FANTOM and JUPITER-X – into a streamlined, mobile format.
The app essentially ports Roland’s full modern synth ecosystem into iPad form, pairing deep sound design with immediate, hands-on playability, and a library of inspiring tools built for on-the-go creation and performance.

READ MORE: Get over 80% off this “ultimate toolkit” mastering bundle from Sonnox from Plugin Boutique

At its core, ZENOLOGY GX for iPad offers more than 4,000 “expertly crafted tones” spanning vintage analogue, digital classics, and modern hybrid sounds – expandable to over 11,000 via additional content. It’s an instant gateway to decades of Roland sound design, all sitting inside a single instrument.
Credit: Roland
Create, edit, and perform with thousands of professional sounds, alongside deep synthesis tools, and a responsive, touch‑friendly interface that moves effortlessly between mobile production, live performance, and studio workflows.
Under the hood, it’s still the full ZEN-Core engine: up to four partials per tone, multiple oscillator types (including virtual analogue, Supersaw, noise and PCM), ten filters (including JUPITER-style models), eleven LFO shapes, and more than 90 effects – including reverbs, JUNO-106 and CE-1 choruses, SDD-320 Dimension D, and DJ-FX Looper.
With a Roland Account, ZENOLOGY GX for iPad is free to use during a limited-time “launch experience” that runs until later in 2026. During this period, the entire feature set is unlocked – effectively giving users full access to the engine without paywalls or feature gating.
After the introduction period, the app will shift to a simplified version with limited edition and a reduced sound library. Users will be able to unlock full functionality with select Roland Cloud memberships or a one-time Lifetime Key purchase.

Learn more at Roland.
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Apple’s Siri revamp could include auto-deleting chatsPrivacy will be a major theme when Apple unveils a new version of Siri.

NFC Record Player Promotes Intentional ListeningStreaming services have enabled many of us to have easy access to the world’s media library at the touch of a screen, but [Coconauts] thinks we’ve lost something along the way. To bring some intentionality back to the listening experience, they built an NFC record player called Minilos.
Like a normal record player, Minilos requires the user to select an album to play on the machine. These were originally decorative coasters with records printed on them, so they are much smaller than even a 45. Each one features an NFC tag that instructs ESP32 microcontroller hidden in the device to play the requested song. Once placed on the record player, it will then play through that album and come to a stop.
In [Coconauts]’s current setup, the ESP32 is connected to a Home Assistant server which then instructs a Google Speaker to play the requested song via Spotify, although we could easily imagine this being used to play music directly from an SD card or other digital storage device instead.
If you want complete control over your music listening while still keeping that authentic vinyl experience, you could always look into cutting your own records with a laser.

KVASS LAB Drift Phonk Drum KitDrift Phonk Drum Kit is a collection of over 470 dark and distorted samples built for phonk. Designed to deliver maximum grit and punch. Inspired by: Dxrk ダーク, Kordhell, Hensonn, INTERWORLD, PlayaPhonk, LXST CXNTURY, DVRST, KSLV Noh. Inside you'll find heavy drum hits, drum loops (full loops, top loops, and individual stems) and FXs (impacts, sweeps and crashes). Perfect for drift phonk, dark phonk, aggressive trap, and wave. All sounds are royalty free. Contains | Over 470 Drift Phonk Samples : 222x Drum Loops (Full Loops, Top Loops Stems). 40x Kick. 31x Snare. 34x Clap. 33x Hihat. 18x Open Hat. 32x Perc. 15x Crash. 13x Fx. 11x Rim. 13x Shaker. 10x Stomp Kick. https://youtu.be/XEZHwe6K3BA Read More

Saylor signals BTC buy as retail holders get push on STRC dividend voteMichael Saylor signaled another Bitcoin buy on Sunday while urging retail investors to vote on a proxy measure enabling semi-monthly STRC dividend payouts.

Bogren Digital releases IRDX Studio, a FREE IR loader plugin
Bogren Digital has released IRDX Studio, a free modern IR loader plugin for macOS and Windows. Honestly, I haven’t loaded an IR in a while. Somewhere along the way, I realized IR loaders were leading me into micromanaging mode. I would audition dozens of cabinets, swap between mic positions, second-guess every choice, and never quite [...]
View post: Bogren Digital releases IRDX Studio, a FREE IR loader plugin

The haves and have nots of the AI gold rushThe vibes around the current AI boom aren't great, even in the tech industry.

21st Century Punch Cards are 3D Printed and Read By OpenCVWhile a punch card is perhaps the lowest-density storage medium available, it has some distinct advantages. As [Bitroller] points out in the write-up of his punch card project, if he was using stainless steel instead of PLA his 3D printed punch cards would likely outlast everything he owns, and survive a five-alarm fire to boot. If you have 16 bytes you really, really don’t want to forget — or are willing to store your private key in a shoe box — this project might be of interest.
The nice part is that he’s built a handy Python script to generate printable files for the punch cards, which encode 16 bytes of information and 4 bytes of error correction using the Reed-Solomon algorithm. That’s just enough for a password and the error correction means up to two bytes can be recovered in the case of read failure.
The reading is where this gets interesting — again, [Bitroller] provides a handy script, but this one uses OpenCV to read the entire punch card at once from a webcam image, using the contrast between a black table and the light-colored PLA cards. It’s massively overkill and would have needed a supercomputer in the days when punch cards were common I/O, but that’s what makes this a great hack.
We only have one quibble: if you use additive manufacturing, can you still call it a punch card? Nothing was punched out, after all.
If you think punch cards are totally irrelevant in the modern day, well, you might be right– but that doesn’t stop us from playing with them. If punch cards make you think of Big Iron in the early days of computing, maybe think further back– they were used for everything from Jacquard looms to the original MIDI.

Zillasound Zilla HeatZilla Heat is a free dynamic saturation and parallel bass exciter plugin designed to add massive analog character and warmth to your tracks without destroying your low-end. Key Features: - Parallel Bass Exciter: Injects rich harmonic overtones into your low frequencies while bypassing the main clipping stage to keep sub-bass tight and clean. - Mid-Range Saturation: Powered by a customized mathematical clipping algorithm to help vocals, guitars, and synths cut through dense mixes. - High-End Shimmer: An intelligent top-end engine that adds premium air and crispness to drums, overheads, or acoustic instruments. Perfect for warming up cold digital tracks, gluing drum buses, or adding safe pre-amp style saturation to your input chains. Read More

Strategy to repurchase $1.5B of 2029 convertible notesThe notes carry a 0% coupon, but can be converted into equity in the company if holders choose to redeem their notes for shares.

Unfiltered Audio releases BattleFX, a FREE multi-FX plugin based on Battalion
Unfiltered Audio has released BattleFX, a free multi-FX plugin built around the send effects section of its Battalion drum synth. I downloaded this immediately because the screenshots had me sold before I’d even finished reading the product page. It looks amazing, clean and crisp, just the way I like it! But the sound is probably [...]
View post: Unfiltered Audio releases BattleFX, a FREE multi-FX plugin based on Battalion

Eventide & Newfangled Audio release Fixate:Midrange Fixate:Midrange employs intelligent EQ processing that quickly identifies and tackles ‘muddiness’, and promises to deliver professional-sounding results with minimal effort. 

Engine DJ 5.0 update now live Engine DJ's latest software update brings built-in stem rendering to the RANE System One, as well as adding RGB waveforms, track star ratings, effects improvements and more to the entire Engine DJ hardware range.

Studio Mix May 2026: David Guetta, Tenroc, Flore Laurentienne, and MoreFLORE LAURENTIENNE UNVEILS “(À TRAVERS LES) CHABLIS” AHEAD OF VOLUME III

Flore Laurentienne teases his final chapter in the Volume series with “(À travers les) Chablis,” blending ethereal synths and strings with free jazz percussion, harp, and Casavant organ. Released on April 10 via Secret City Records, Volume III closes the trilogy while celebrating nature, improvisation, and harmony born from chaos, offering a glimpse into the evolving, experimental world of the artist.

EPIPHONE PRESENTS: SPIRITUAL CRAMP “LIVE AT ALLY PALLY”

Epiphone Presents: Spiritual Cramp "Live at Ally Pally” captures one of punk’s most compelling modern bands, live inside the historicPalace Suite of Alexandra Palace in London. Shot by Nick Suchak mid-stride during the group’s late 2025 tour with The Hives,Epiphone Presents: Spiritual Cramps “Live at Ally Pally”distills the band’s explosive, sweat-soaked stage energy into a tight, intimate performance.

DAVID GUETTA FINDS SOUL IN A DIGITAL WORLD WITH RHODES MK8

GRAMMY-winning DJ and producer David Guetta is integrating the Rhodes MK8 MIDI piano into his Ibiza studio, using it as both a creative spark and central controller. Blending its expressive feel with an in-the-box workflow, Guetta explores how soul can transcend genre—bringing warmth and musicality into his dance productions through the iconic Rhodes sound.

HARRISON 32CLASSIC ELEVATES PURE SOUND AT APSOON RECORDINGS

APSoon Recordings has installed a Harrison 32Classic console in its Estonia studio, prioritizing clarity and zero coloration for its high-resolution jazz and classical recordings. Founder Aular Soon relies on the desk’s precise EQ, flexible inserts, and transparent sound to shape mixes captured in DSD, preserving natural acoustics while allowing subtle, dynamic control.

GRAMMY-NOMINATED HITMAKER TENROC DROPS “MOURNING 2 DANCING” FT. TORI KELLY & JON KEITH, ANNOUNCES DEBUT ALBUM

Fresh off the release of his debut single “PLAYLIST,” multi-hyphenate singer, musician, and producer Tenroc released his second single “mourning 2 dancing,” featuring GRAMMY-winning singer-songwriter Tori Kelly and genre-bending hip-hop artist Jon Keith. Following the release, Tenroc officially announced the forthcoming release of his debut album, God Is a Person, due on July 17th via Sony/Provident.

WAR CHILD RECORDS RELEASE "HELICOPTERS" BY EZRA COLLECTIVE & GREENTEA PENG

War Child Records released “Helicopters” by Ezra Collective & Greentea Peng—from the highly anticipated forthcoming HELP(2) album. Produced by Ezra Collective and mixed by David Wrench, the group join forces with Greentea Peng for a commanding collaboration that seamlessly fuses their distinct sonic identities. “Helicopters” follows recent releases taken from the HELP(2) record, including “Opening Night” by Arctic Monkeys, “Flags” by Damon Albarn, Grian Chatten, and Kae Tempest, “Let’s Do It Again!” by The Last Dinner Party, “Begging For Change” by Pulp, and an exclusive stand-alone 7” addition of “Acquiesce (Live From Wembley Stadium, 28 September 2025)” by Oasis.

DYLAN LEBLANC ANNOUNCES A SPECIAL 10TH ANNIVERSARY RE-RELEASE OF HIS ACCLAIMED ALBUM, CAUTIONARY TALE

Louisiana singer-songwriter Dylan LeBlanc announced a special 10th Anniversary re-release of his acclaimed album Cautionary Tale, which is due out on May 15 via Single Lock Records. To herald the announcement, he has unearthed a demo of fan-favorite track “Roll The Dice (Bedroom Demo).” LeBlanc is also hitting the road on a U.S. tour, which kicked off on March 13 in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana.

PRODUCER PLAYBACK:

“The one ingredient has to be talking about something that people care about, whether that’s love, heartbreak or something political. If you can find a point of view and see it through, that’s one thing a song can’t be without.” – Philip Lawrence

The post Studio Mix May 2026: David Guetta, Tenroc, Flore Laurentienne, and More first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.