Home Records Label PSynth2Hello everyone, I'm excited to announce that my new product is now available as a free download on our website: www.homerecordslabel.com PSynth2 is a powerful four-oscillator synthesizer designed for rich and detailed sound creation. Each layer features its own modulation, micro-filter, LFO, pitch, and pan controls, while the global section includes filters, envelopes, delay, reverb, aftertouch, velocity, and mix/adds controls, making it perfect for both aggressive leads and wide, atmospheric pads. Enjoy! :). YouTube: https://youtu.be/XmpfZmOfWpQ Read More

Tim Cook is stepping down as CEO of Apple. Here’s a look at his 15-year legacy, from new products and services to China expansion.Cook, who joined Apple in 1998, succeeded Steve Jobs as CEO in 2011 and went on to transform Apple into a $4 trillion powerhouse. 

Up Close: Sean Healy Presentswebookbands.com

An Actor Championing Musicians: Armed with his BFA in Acting from Arizona State University, Sean Healy moved to L.A. in the early ‘90s to conquer the world and, over the last few decades, he has—just not in the way he expected. As a paying member of a 99-seat theatre company in Hollywood, he took advantage of their open space on Sunday nights to create a popular underground spoken-word performance space, which connected him to many local musicians. While pounding the pavement and auditioning, Healy channeled his frustration with his acting career into exciting opportunities to book bands at venues throughout the city—which quickly led him to launching a call-in service for artists looking for gigs. Cut to 30 years and hundreds of bands and clubs and theatres later, and Sean Healy Presents—a name that came from his shows listed in LA Weekly—is a full-service nationwide concert promoter specializing in national touring acts working with major agencies in the same space as AEG and Live Nation. 

Genres and Services: Though often best known for their years booking groundbreaking hip-hop acts, Sean Healy Presents has morphed into different specialties over the years, booking pop, rock, metal, and (since 2021) K-pop, among other genres. The company is renowned for its “We Book Bands” initiative, which provides emerging artists with local performance opportunities and showcase gigs. Unsigned acts can apply for local showcases to build a relationship with the company with an eye towards eventually opening for national headliners. While centered in L.A., SHP regularly books shows in San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, N.Y.C., and Healy’s hometown of Chicago. Artists can submit promo packages, including music links and bios, via email for review. 

Success Stories: Kendrick Lamar is easily one of SHP’s greatest success stories. The 27-time GRAMMY winner performed his first major L.A. show with SHP at the Key Club in 2010. The show sold out, and Dr. Dre came out on stage to proclaim Lamar as the new start of hip-hop—launching one of hip-hop’s most storied and influential careers. In 2010, SHP also hosted a sell-out show at the same venue headlined by Big Sean, followed the next year with concerts in L.A. and Oakland. Other greats the company has booked include Sza, Too $hort, Future, Lil Uzi Vert, YG, The Strokes, 21 Savage, Plain White T’s (a co-promote with the Knitting Factory), J. Cole, Lupe Fiasco, Machine Gun Kelly, and OneRepublic, which was known as Republic when SHP booked them in 2003 at the Viper Room. More recently, SHP sold out the Kia Forum in 2025 with K-pop artist Taemin. 

Contact 323-651-1582  The post Up Close: Sean Healy Presents first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Soccer legend Ronaldinho launches Tu Música record label in partnership with Brazil’s Sua Música GroupNew venture, led alongside executives from Sua Música Group and ASJ, plans World Cup-themed debut project.
Source

Analog Circuitry Lets You Blow This LED OutLED candles are neat, but they’re very suboptimal for wish-making: you can’t blow them out. Unless you take the circuit from [Andrea Console]’s latest project that lets you do just that, using only analog electronics— no microcontroller in sight.
He’s using the known temperature-voltage behaviour of the LED for control here– sort of like the project we saw in last year’s Component Abuse Challenge that let you illuminate the LED with a butane lighter. Here it’s a bit less dramatic, relying only on the small cooling effect your breath has on the LED.
There are two parts to the circuit, really– a latching section to turn the thing on from a single button press, and breath-detecting section. The breath-detecting section relies on an op-amp acting as a comparator, comparing the voltage across the LED’s current-limiting resistor, and a reference stored in a 100 µF capacitor. Blowing on the candle spikes the voltage on the LED, and thus the current-limiting resistor too fast for the capacitor’s voltage to change, so the comparator flips, triggering a reset of the latching circuit. Could you do it with an Arduino? No doubt, but the fact is you don’t have to and this is a more elegant solution than just another microcontroller.Check it out in action with the video embedded below.
It reminds us of the sort of circuit we’d have found in a project book, back in the day. [Andrea] seems to have a knack for that sort of thing, as seen with the half crystal/half regenerative radio we saw previously.

Arturia launch Augmented Persia Arturia’s latest Augmented offering combines a set of six Persian and Middle Eastern instruments with a wealth of modern synthesis tools that make quick work of crafting expressive cinematic soundscapes. 

Cre8audio’s new PROGRAMM sequencer “bridges the gap between human performance and algorithmic chaos”Cre8audio has unveiled PROGRAMM, a new MIDI and CV sequencer positioned to be the “beating heart of any electronic music setup”.
Designed for modular addicts, MIDI enthusiasts and producers in between, PROGRAMM is a 12-channel sequencer compatible with both MIDI instruments and Eurorack synthesizers, with four monophonic melodic sequencers (two with dedicated analogue pitch, CV and gate outputs), plus eight drum sequencers, all with dedicated gate outputs.

READ MORE: Is agentic AI coming to Pro Tools? Avid announces “strategic partnership” with Google Cloud to further integrate AI into its portfolio

The unit also features dedicated parameter controls for pitch, gate length, ratcheting, CV/CC, note offset and step conditions, as well as customisable randomisation of all parameters. 
Each sequencer can be programmed up to 64 steps, while the 32-step grid on the right-hand side functions as a step programmer in Step Mode, a grid keyboard in Live Mode, and as a dynamic information display while adjusting parameters.
Elsewhere, there’s six groove modes, four customisable pattern generator algorithms for idea inspiration, plus the ability to save up to 64 patterns and 32 songs.
“We built PROGRAMM because we’ve used every sequencer under the sun,” says the Cre8audio team.
“We loved the speed of some and the randomness of others, but the workflow was never just right. PROGRAMM is a creative playground where you can step it in, play it in, or let the machine take the lead, but no matter what, the creative flow is always going to be there.”

“Electronic musicians often face the frustrating choice: the rigid precision of step sequencing or the unpredictable “happy accidents” of generative tools. PROGRAMM eliminates the compromise,” says Cre8audio.
PROGRAMM is available now, priced at $349.99/€319.99. For more info, head to Cre8audio.
The post Cre8audio’s new PROGRAMM sequencer “bridges the gap between human performance and algorithmic chaos” appeared first on MusicTech.

Is agentic AI coming to Pro Tools? Avid announces “strategic partnership” with Google Cloud to further integrate AI into its portfolioPro Tools developer Avid has announced a “multi-year strategic partnership” with Google Cloud, aiming to integrate generative and agentic AI in Avid’s portfolio of tools and products.
Avid is most notably the company behind industry-standard DAW software Pro Tools, but also makes video editing platform Media Composer, data platform Avid Content Core and notation software Sibelius.

READ MORE: “Delivering where other closed-backs fail”: Sennheiser’s HD 480 PRO headphones promise better closed-back bass response than ever

To start with, the partnership will see Avid integrating Google Cloud’s AI and data analytics capabilities into Media Composer and Avid Content Core.
There’s no mention of integration with Pro Tools just yet, but as Avid describes its mission to “transform video editing from a mostly manual process into an intelligent, AI-assisted experience”, it’s probable the same approach to Pro Tools might be on the horizon.
By leveraging Gemini and Vertex AI, Avid says, Media Composer and Content Core can “analyse and understand media context automatically”, allowing producers and professionals to make queries using natural language.
It also makes possible agentic AI workflows – meaning AI-powered digital assistants can autonomously manage complex tasks, like matching visual styles or identifying emotional cues in raw footage, with reduced human oversight.
“Customers are asking for intelligent tools that plug into existing workflows and scale with their creativity,” says Wellford Dillard, CEO of Avid.
“This partnership with Google Cloud strengthens our ability to deliver secure, AI-driven innovation–while keeping Avid interoperable and adaptable across the broader production landscape. Through our collaboration with Google Cloud, Avid is redefining what’s possible in modern media production by expanding intelligent capabilities across our products.”
“By embedding agentic AI directly into the tools video editors live in, we’re moving beyond simple automation,” says Anil Jain, global managing director, Strategic Industries, Google Cloud.
“With Avid Media Composer and Google Cloud, an editor can now collaborate with an intelligent agent to create assets on the fly and handle the heavy lifting of matching styles and filling timelines, enabling them to focus on storytelling instead of infrastructure.”
So is this announcement a sign that Pro Tools might soon have similar agentic AI integrations? At present, the DAW does have a ChatGPT-style chatbot to help with tasks called Session Assistant, but the introduction of agentic AI would be a significant upgrade.
Learn more at Avid.
The post Is agentic AI coming to Pro Tools? Avid announces “strategic partnership” with Google Cloud to further integrate AI into its portfolio appeared first on MusicTech.

Soundtoys FilterFreak is 73% OFF (plus SuperPlate and Softube Transient Shaper deals)
Plugin Boutique has Soundtoys FilterFreak on sale for $39, which is 73% off the regular price of $149. The deal runs until April 28th. FilterFreak is still one of my favorite filter plugins for sound design. There are plenty of newer filter modulation plugins around, but I keep coming back to this one. I love [...]
View post: Soundtoys FilterFreak is 73% OFF (plus SuperPlate and Softube Transient Shaper deals)

“Embrace the sound of real instruments” with up to 94% off plugins for Plugin Boutique’s Band MonthPlugin Boutique currently has a huge range of deals across instrument plugins, gear simulators, and mixing and mastering tools for its Band Month promotion.
Including top-rated plugins like IK Multimedia’s AmpliTube and Universal Audio’s Sound City Studios, you can save up to 94 percent on some of the most popular tools for “embracing the sound of real instruments and capturing the collaborative magic of a live performance” all within your DAW.
[deals ids=”6TypNTB5cRZDX8rDbsiLY0″]
The biggest deal is the Band Month Mixing Bundle from Antelope Audio. Reduced from a massive £1,518, it’s now just £89 until 30 April. The bundle features 12 plugins in total, bringing “the world’s most iconic hardware” to your DAW, including beloved British consoles and famous American tube amps. The 12 plugins are broken into sections, with three plugins each for drums, guitar & bass, vocals, and the mix bus.

READ MORE: FREE PLUGINS: Universal Audio is giving away a bundle of eight classic UAD plugins for nothing – here’s how to get yours

Also included in Band Month is IK Multimedia’s AmpliTube 5, reduced to £29.99 with 84 percent off. We rated this amp simulator a 9/10 in our 2021 review, and it has a 4.6 rating out of five on Plugin Boutique itself. It packs in over 180 gear models, including stomps, amps, cabs, speakers, mics, and rack FX.

You could even go all out with IK Multimedia’s TOTAL Guitar MAX. With a whopping 89 percent off, it includes AmpliTube 5 MAX, which steps things up with over 400 gear models. Inside you’ll also get a number of its TONEX and MODO tools for guitars, bass, and drums.
UAD’s Sound City is now just £36, which gives you the key to one of the most famous recording studios in history, including the same room, mics, iconic console, and outboard gear as heard on records from Nirvana, Metallica, Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, Rage Against the Machine, and more.

Other highlights include Applied Acoustics Systems’ Lounge Lizard EP-5, LANDR Guitar, Waves’ CLA Bass, and Roland’s DW Soundworks virtual drums.
View all Band Month deals over at Plugin Boutique.
The post “Embrace the sound of real instruments” with up to 94% off plugins for Plugin Boutique’s Band Month appeared first on MusicTech.

Tuğrul Akyüz releases TugPhonon, a FREE vintage rotating tape delay plugin
Developer Tuğrul Akyüz has released TugPhonon, a free vintage rotating tape-delay plugin. We’ve covered a few very interesting delay plugins recently, including Timerift Audio’s Oh My Grain and TiagoLr’s Sirial. When plugins like those two come up, I often refer to them as something a little bit different, and that’s true. This time, we might [...]
View post: Tuğrul Akyüz releases TugPhonon, a FREE vintage rotating tape delay plugin

“Delivering where other closed-backs fail”: Sennheiser’s HD 480 PRO headphones promise better closed-back bass response than everSennheiser has unveiled its new closed-back HD 480 PRO headphones, promising to deliver a “tight, accurate bass reproduction” where other closed-back cans fail to do so.
Described as Sennheiser’s “most versatile professional headphones to date”, the HD 480 PRO are aimed at producers, mixers, musicians, recording engineers and even content creators, with the goal of tackling “two most-cited pain points” of closed back headphones: low-end response and comfort.

READ MORE: I’ve finally found a pair of closed-back headphones I don’t want to EQ straight away

The headphones feature multiple stages of passive sound shielding to ensure fully detailed audio, with a frequency response ranging between 3 and 28,700 Hz, with a max SPL (sound pressure level of 130 dB.
Meanwhile, they feature comfortable ear pads with soft grooves for the temple area of glasses, ensuring a precise sound seal for all users – a necessity for accurately working with audio. 
The headphones also feature a number of design measures – dubbed by Sennheiser the “Vibration Attenuation System” – to eliminate unwanted vibration, reflections and distortion, ensuring the clearest, purest possible signal. Ultralight voice coils also deliver “remarkably authentic and dynamic reproduction”, Sennheiser says.
Credit: Sennheiser
But the measures for comfort don’t end there; the HD 480 PRO also sport a Special Axes Geometry design, allowing them to maintain equal contact pressure and adapt to the shape of any user’s head.
Additionally, the HD 480 PRO’s connection cable features a coiled section near the earcup, reducing any handling noise, like when the cable hits against the desk, for example.
Adaptability and accessibility were high on the design agenda, too. The connection cable is detachable and can be worn on both left and right sides, while the left and right earcups are braille-marked, also.
“Compared to other closed-back headphones, they are a lot tighter on the bass, their low-end is super-accurate and realistic,” says Jimmy R. Landry, Category Market Manager, Music Industry at Sennheiser.
“Comfort is of paramount importance when headphones are a work tool,” adds Gunnar Dirks, Sennheiser’s Senior Product Manager for professional headphones.
“Engineers often spend hours on end in their sessions. They need a lightweight, ergonomically designed pair of headphones to keep focus and concentration up. The HD 480 PRO eliminate any pressure points and fit every head precisely and comfortably – even if you’re wearing glasses.”
Credit: Sennheiser
The HD 480 PRO is priced at €399, and comes with recording earpads, a three-metre coiled cable and a carrying bag. You can also go for the HD 480 PRO Plus, which trades the bag for a hardier travel case. This will set you back €439.
Learn more at Sennheiser.
The post “Delivering where other closed-backs fail”: Sennheiser’s HD 480 PRO headphones promise better closed-back bass response than ever appeared first on MusicTech.

I’ve finally found a pair of closed-back headphones I don’t want to EQ straight awaySennheiser’s new closed-back headphones, the HD 480 Pro, have arrived, and they complement the near-identical open-backed HD 490 Pros we looked at in 2024. MusicTech reviewer Hollin Jones celebrated the impressive comfort and tonal presentation of the 490s, and they’ve been a firm favourite ever since.
The HD Pro series represents Sennheiser’s commitment to producing new and innovative products for the studio in the wake of its consumer headphones division — which, perplexingly, includes studio staples such as the HD 600 in its offering — being sold to an external buyer in 2022. HD Pro headphones are developed by Sennheiser at its German headquarters and are constructed in Romania.
The new HD 480 Pro is intended to be a comfortable, dependable closed-back set headphone for any professional user, in applications ranging from composing, to recording and mixing. While this challenges established norms — with open-back models usually considered most suitable for some of these jobs — in terms of producing a capable all-rounder, Sennheiser has squarely hit the target with the 480s, and then some.
Sennheiser HD 480 Pro: Features and form
Credit: Sennheiser
Just like the 490s, the form is over-ear, with 38 mm drivers contained within the ear cups, which swivel for easy storage. The supplied three-metre coiled cable can be attached to either side via a mini XLR connector — useful for left-handers or when holding specific instruments. A grommet is included to keep crud out of the spare port, and there are braille marks on one of the ear-cup brackets to indicate the left side.
Also on accessibility, frame and ear cups are shaped to support glasses wearers, which I greatly appreciate. The Pro variant comes with a soft bag, but our Pro Plus review model has a soft-shell zipped case that offers solid protection while being supremely compact. The premium case is a big win when throwing the headphones into a bag for work on the move, so it’s worth the extra $40, but it seems tight that this isn’t included as standard. We’re talking about a pro model, after all.
Credit: Sennheiser
With a combination of soft, deep ear cup pads, and a gentler-than-most clamping force, the HD 480 Pros are supremely comfortable. They remind me of the £599 HEDDphone D1s I recently reviewed in this regard and, in stark contrast, my Adam Audio H200s really feel like they’re out to get me. I test sound isolation while a family member has a hairdryer on turbo, and I’m pleased to report results are in a similar ballpark to the H200s; they’d work well for tracking instruments. There’s an impressive balance of comfort and noise isolation at play.
The only potential sticking point is a relatively high impedance of 130 Ohms, which possibly might require a stronger headphone amp than some devices provide, particularly with corrective EQ, that leads to a net level loss. In practice however, I can go really loud on my MacBook’s headphone out.
How do the HD 480 Pros sound?
Credit: Sennheiser
There’s an immediate impression of a full and punchy bass end. On Is There Someone Else? (The Weeknd) there’s a tight and punchy kick, followed by sub-synths that have reassuring weight and warmth in the very lowest octaves. Nice!
In the ever-crucial mids, there’s accurate separation between the various parts of the range, without the unnecessary or uncomfortable hype at the low or high extremes that are often built into headphone voicing. Other headphones push low mids to enhance vocal proximity, or have more pronounced high-mid boosts to make vocals and transients more audible when tracking parts in the studio; a sonic signature that is tiring over long listening sessions. Nevertheless, high mids are still articulate on the HD 480 Pros. My evergreen reference track, Sharpness (Jamie Woon) demonstrates the HD 480 Pro’s mid-range prowess, with clear separation of the multitude of synth parts fighting for the low-mids, and just the right amount of presence at the top of the range to add sheen to the relatively smooth lead vocals.
Highest frequencies seem relatively soft and velvety, yet never dull — a welcome contrast to my planar headphones, where high frequencies can poke out and can even sound anaemic. In Steely Dan’s seminal Aja, the grand piano has just the right amount of sparkle without ever appearing harsh. At the same time, there’s an assured articulation of transients on snare drum and bombastic tom fills during the sporadic drum solos.
I use a Harman target curve on all my headphones to facilitate easy switching between different sets, and to help with translation in the realms of speaker playback. The Harman curve has plenty of bass (which can shock the uninitiated), a full yet smooth mid range, plus an even high end without spiky peaks or dips. To my ears, the HD 480 Pro gets fairly close to this listening ideal straight out of the gate and doesn’t make me want to reach for EQ straight away; a rare thing.
Should you buy the Sennheiser HD 480 Pro?
Credit: Sennheiser
I have two pairs of £100-odd closed backs in my home studio. The Sennheisers may be over three-times the price of each of these sets, but their stock voicing is infinitely superior. Both my normal sets have a trashy sound quality that I cannot un-hear once I’ve done A-B comparisons with the HD 480 Pros.
Granted, I have better quality open-backs than the two pairs above for critical listening, but the idea of closed-backs that would be sufficiently capable in such an application — without disturbing everyone else around me — is certainly compelling.
If you’re in the market for one pair of headphones that can cover every job, or you need a comfortable solution for tracking or mixing on the move, then the HD 480 Pros should be at the very top of your list.
Key features
Credit: Sennheiser
Over-ear, closed-back headphones
38 mm drivers
Dual-sided cable entry (3 m coiled cable and size adapter included)
Grooved ear pads for glasses
Frequency range: 3 Hz – 28.7 kHz (-10 dB)
Impedance: 130 Ohms
Distortion:

EverSync SP-10 from Cloudvocal Cloudvocal's latest wireless system comes in a pedalboard-friendly format and offers support for both instrument pickups and microphones.

Five Star Spotlight: The Postal Service - 'Give Up'We recently went though a pass of revisiting classic albums and bumping a deserving handful to five stars. Among these reclassified records is a sweetly quiet indie-electronic milestone with a charming origin story. Check out this Five Star Spotlight.