Get Octapus by CARP Audio for FREE this weekend only
CARP Audio is offering Octapus, its octave effect plugin, for free for a limited time. The offer expires in 48 hours, and the exact expiry time depends on your timezone, so download it as soon as possible if you want to grab it for free. It normally retails at €29.95. Octapus is an octaver with [...]
View post: Get Octapus by CARP Audio for FREE this weekend only

Final continues to challenge the limitations of closed-back headphone design with its new DX4000CL modelThough ubiquitous, closed-back headphones present a number of limitations, including a heavier emphasis on the low-end and limited sound staging due to more sound waves bouncing off the closed-cup design.
Final’s DX series challenges these drawbacks of closed-back headphones, and with its new DX4000CL model, the Japanese audiophile brand continues its philosophy to provide a more “open and resolving presentation” while offering a closed-back design.

READ MORE: Arturia’s KeyStep 37 mk2 brings new generative tools to assist with forming musical ideas

Sitting between the series’ existing DX3000CL and flagship DX6000CL models, the DX4000CL features an all-new dynamic driver and refined acoustic design, meaning “cleaner, clearer presentation”, with “exceptional control across the entire frequency range”.
“Bass is articulate and disciplined, supporting the music without overshadowing it,” Final says.
This new dynamic driver is engineered for precise diaphragm movement and optimised airflow control, resulting in more accurate low-frequency reproduction and an overall balance which is “natural and refined”.
Credit: Final
Their refined internal acoustic design has been “meticulously tuned” for the suppression of undesired resonance, while preserving clarity and ensuring complex musical passages remain “well separated”.
“This refined engineering underpins the DX4000CL’s richly textured presentation and its ability to maintain neutrality without sacrificing emotional engagement,” Final says.
Elsewhere, the DX4000CL features a silver-coated cable, which is designed to aid signal transmission for “greater clarity and texture”.
The headphones are on the heavier end of the scale, coming in at 375g, but they should feel quite comfortable thanks to its resin housing and memory foam earpads, cased in synthetic leather. And they’re built to last – Final has ensured the earpads are easily replaceable if they wear down.
The DX4000CL headphones are available now for £949. For more information, head to Final.
Credit: Final
The post Final continues to challenge the limitations of closed-back headphone design with its new DX4000CL model appeared first on MusicTech.

Jack Dorsey’s Block to cut 4,000 jobs in AI-driven restructuringBloomberg reported earlier this month that 10% of Block’s workforce could be cut during annual performance reviews as part of a broader overhaul.

Yaeji reflects on With A Hammer, healing trauma through music, and her favorite video games
Yaeji sat down with us to discuss her creative process behind With A Hammer, philosophical approach to her live shows, favorite video games, and more.

PayPal might not be looking to sell itself: ReportPayPal may not be in talks to be acquired, sources have told Semafor, after a previous news report that Stripe was sniffing around.

Album Review of "Declaration of Resistance" By My Ruin (8/10)Magick Room RecordingsProducers: My Ruin

While people are dying in the streets, Declaration of Resistance is the sort of album that we need; a no-punches-pulled, lyrically sharp slab of aural resistance (as the album title suggests). Anyone familiar with the band’s catalog, and indeed Tairrie B. Murphy’s previous work with Manhole and Tura Satana, won’t be surprised by any of this. But still, it’s refreshing during these shocking times to hear demands for women’s rights and the rights of minorities spelled out so succinctly. “I resist the fascists when push comes to shove, because there’s no hate like Christian love.” Incredible!The post Album Review of "Declaration of Resistance" By My Ruin (8/10) first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Driving WS2812Bs With Pure LogicThe WS2812B has become one of the most popular addressable LEDs out there. They’re easy to drive from just about any microcontroller you can think of. But what if you have a microcontroller at all? [Povilas Dumcius] decided to try and drive the LEDs with raw logic only.
The project consists of a small board full of old-school ICs that can be used to drive WS2812Bs in a simplistic manner. A 74HC14 Schmitt trigger oscillator provides the necessary beat for this tune, generating an 800 kHz clock to keep everything in time and provide the longer pulse trains that represent logic one to a WS2812B. A phase-shifted AND gate generates the shorter pulses necessary to indicate logic zero. Meanwhile, a binary counter cycles through 24 bits (8 per R, G, and B) to handle color. Pressing each one of the three pushbuttons allows each color channel to be activated or deactivated as desired. It can make the strip red, green, or blue, or combine the channels if you press multiple buttons at once. That’s all the control you get—it would take a bit more logic to enable variable levels of each channel. Certainly within the realms of possibility, though.
We’ve featured some other nifty tricks for driving WS2812Bs in unconventional ways, like using DMA hardware or even I2S audio outputs. If you’ve got your own tricks, don’t hesitate to notify the tipsline. Video after the break.

AudioBrain Distance DesignerDistance Designer is a macOS AU/VST3/Standalone effect plugin for controlling the perceived distance of a sound source without adding reverb or delay. DISTANCE FADER moves sounds near to far by combining level, tone, stereo width and de-reverb style shaping in one workflow. Includes output level lock to keep final loudness stable while changing depth placement. Read More

Abbey Road Studios releases The Big Nessie, a FREE multi-instrument library for Kontakt Player
And now for something completely different, as Abbey Road Studios and Charles Jeffrey Loverboy release The Big Nessie, a free multi-instrument library for Kontakt Player. It’s unusual to begin any post with the title of a 1970s Monty Python classic, but this seems as good a time as any. The Big Nessie is a free [...]
View post: Abbey Road Studios releases The Big Nessie, a FREE multi-instrument library for Kontakt Player

Charles Goldstuck’s GoldState secures ‘significant’ Bridgepoint investment for growth equity fund targeting music companiesA source close to the details told MBW: 'Charles is looking to deploy up to a billion dollars in growth equity capital over the next few years.'
Source

Arturia KeyStep 37 mk2 Review
The KeyStep line has always been about Arturia packing way more features and connectivity than you’d expect from such a compact controller, and sometimes still making it work. Well, they’ve done it again. With the KeyStep 37 mk2, Arturia has moved from 32 to 37 slimkey keys, added a dedicated OLED display with a clickable [...]
View post: Arturia KeyStep 37 mk2 Review

Arturia’s KeyStep 37 mk2 brings new generative tools to assist with forming musical ideasArturia has unveiled the KeyStep 37 mk2, the next-generation of its versatile 37-key controller and sequencer.
Expanding on the first-edition KeyStep 37, the mk2 version brings a number of upgrades, including a clearer OLED display, expanded connectivity, a more powerful 64-step sequencer – with eight-voice polyphony – and a 16-mode arpeggiator and an overall refreshed design.

READ MORE: “A new standard for vocal manipulation”: UJAM’s Voxcraft is its first plugin dedicated to vocal processing – here’s what you need to know

The KeyStep 37 mk2 also brings new generative tools like Mutate, Spice and a Phrase Arpeggiator, all of which transform sequences or arpeggios instantly without stopping the music. There’s also Scale and Chord Modes to assist with musical idea generation like harmonies or melodies.
The unit also boasts new physical controls, with five more keys, two additional buttons and four knobs to control sub-menus. The addition of new tactile controls, Arturia says, “drastically enhances the overall playability of the instrument while keeping the same amount of functionality”.

Users also get new visual feedback, with a strip of LEDs over the keybed which indicate the notes being played on the keyboard at a given time. Of course, you’ve also got pitch bend and mod strips, as well as 37 velocity-sensitive keys with aftertouch. There’s also four mode-aware encoder knobs for fast Seq/Arq/Chord/Mutate editing without having to “menu-dive”.
The KeyStep mk2’s aforementioned expanded connectivity means users can control modular, vintage and modern gear alike alongside your DAW, while there’s also a controllable CV/Gate, MIDI DIN, Sync I/O and USB-C.
KeyStep 37 mk2 is more than keys,” says Arturia. “It’s a sequencer, arpeggiator, and musical nerve-centre that bridges hardware and software so you can compose, jam, and perform anywhere your ideas take you.”
Price-wise, the KeyStep mk2 clocks in at €189, €60 over the first KeyStep’s €129 price tag. For more information, head to Arturia.
The post Arturia’s KeyStep 37 mk2 brings new generative tools to assist with forming musical ideas appeared first on MusicTech.

Bela open pre-orders for Trails The Trails builds on the success of the Gliss, expanding on the idea of recordable touch control and presenting users with a fully polyphonic system that offers a fresh new take on music creation. 

SSL autoSeries Bundle review: Smarter mixing or just another SSL plugin collection?£119 (£79 introductory price), solidstatelogic.com
Whether it’s made by Waves, Universal Audio, Brainworx, Softube, or an indie developer, chances are you have at least one plugin emulation of a console-style SSL processor. So why would you need more SSL plugins?

READ MORE: Arturia Pigments 7 review: “Almost a no-brainer at $199”

Well, autoSeries Bundle has a slightly different design philosophy compared to previous plugins of this kind. Rather than taking a piece of the famous SSL 4000 console and making it available in your DAW in its detailed entirety, autoSeries is focused only on the elements that are truly relevant to in-the-box music production and mixing.
In 2023, SSL’s parent company, Audiotonix, bought Sonible — an acquisition that enabled the technological cross-pollination that is evident in autoSeries. The result is a suite of three plugins: the autoBUS, based on the SL 4000 G-Series bus compressor; the autoDYN, based on the E-Series dynamics section with compressor and expander/gate; and the autoEQ, also based on the E-Series.
Together, the autoSeries trio becomes a toolbox for processing individual tracks, channel groups, and your master bus. Naturally, you can use the autoEQ before the autoDYN or autoBUS dynamics plugins in your processing chain, after them, or both.

What exactly does the AI do in autoSeries?
Each of the three plugins in autoSeries is equipped with the magical green Sonible Learn button that allows the AI engine to analyse the input signal. When you activate the AI, the process works in a slightly different way in the backend of each plugin. On autoBUS, it takes a reading of the peak and average loudness to help you get the best glue compression for your mix or channel group.
The AI works similarly on autoDYN, but pays closer attention to dynamic range and transient behaviour. Meanwhile, autoEQ uses spectral analysis to identify masking and mud-prone areas of the frequency range. However, before you analyse the incoming signal, two features on each plugin provide context and help target the process more accurately.
The first aspect is Profile — this allows you to select the type of instrument you’re working with, and in some cases, the range. For example, if you select the Vocals High profile, you have the perfect setting to analyse a soprano-range lead vocal.
The second function, Style, lets you choose between three character settings that determine the tonal or dynamic processing approach you’d like to take. This allows you to guide how the AI-assistance determines the ideal compression or EQ settings by selecting Bright or Strong settings accordingly. Then, when you hit the Learn button, the analysis takes about 5-10 seconds before the plugin automatically loads the suggested settings. As you adjust parameters, you’ll notice that a green ring surrounds the control that glows brighter as you move further away from the original AI-suggested position.
The concept behind the workflow is to provide you with a creative starting point rather than a finite setting. There will still be cases where autoEQ isn’t cutting quite enough 6 kHz from your drum EQ or autoDYN isn’t grabbing the transients quickly enough. If this is the case, you simply check your Profile and Style settings, as you may need to reanalyse or make manual adjustments.
SSL autoEQ. Image: Press
How does autoSeries compare to other SSL-style EQ and compressor plugins?
If you’ve used an SSL bus compressor, channel strip EQ, or dynamics plugin before, the first thing you’ll notice is that the focus of autoSeries is slightly different. Instead of trying to mimic every aspect of the real-life design, there is a distinctive shift toward workflow fluency in every area.
Make no mistake, the autoSeries plugins still sound and behave like SSL EQs and compressors should, but the interface design allows you to dial in your sounds rapidly so that you can move on to the next part of your mix that needs attention.
When you approach an SSL channel strip as a new user, there is that moment of “Hmmm, where do I start?” as you inspect the various processing sections. With autoSeries, SSL has worked hard to eliminate any learning curves or unfamiliarity. To achieve this, the control layout of each plugin is laid out horizontally rather than its traditional vertical orientation. This instinctively suggests a left-to-right workflow progression, which feels more streamlined and similar to many plugins you’ll find in your DAW.
Another key aspect of the autoSeries plugin interfaces is the use of interactive visuals that demonstrate exactly how the various parameters are affecting the signal. As you hover the mouse pointer over each control, you get a detailed reading of the parameter setting, while the visualiser screen gives you a reading of the compressor behaviour or EQ curve.
SSL autoBUS. Image: Press
Why choose SSL autoSeries?
SSL’s autoSeries provides the perfect introduction to the brand’s channel strip and bus processing, with an intuitive workflow that even rivals plugins that aren’t limited by being based on hardware interfaces. The use of AI-assisted technology is not invasive, so you might even stop using the analysis function when you’ve truly mastered the processing workflow.
This makes autoSeries ideal for experienced users who like the SSL sound and way of doing things but want a faster workflow. Meanwhile, those new to the idea of using plugins based on the 4000 Series consoles have an excellent platform for learning the ropes while using professional tools at the same time.
For £119, autoSeries is a competitively-priced collection of plugins you’ll likely use on many channels in your DAW projects. You’ll probably find, however, that cheaper alternatives are available for your needs.
SSL autoDYN. Image: Press
Key features

AAX / AU / VST2 / VST3 plugin
Analogue modeling of SL 4000 E channel strip and G-Series Bus Compressor
Compressor/limiter and expander/gate
4-band EQ with 242 ‘Black Knob’
SonibleAI-assisted signal analysis

The post SSL autoSeries Bundle review: Smarter mixing or just another SSL plugin collection? appeared first on MusicTech.

Arturia announce FX Collection 6 Arturia’s flagship effects bundle has expanded once again, and is now available in two different sizes.