BLEASS Fusion’s wavetables open up a near-limitless world of distortion for $20There are many different degrees of audio distortion, ranging from supremely subtle to devastatingly destructive – and within that range exists an infinite potential for tone and character variation. Most plugins therefore hone in on a particular flavour of distortion, such as tape saturation, valve overdrive, or bit crushing.

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Fusion, the latest desktop and iOS plugin from French developer BLEASS, promises to do the lot (and a bit more).
Wavetable waveshaping
Fusion uses waveshaper processing to distort audio. Waveshaping works by applying a mathematical shaping function to a source signal to reshape (distort) it. That shaping function is usually derived from a static waveform, with the shape of that waveform determining the intensity, tone and character of the resulting distortion.

Fusion is not unusual in using waveshaping for distortion; many plugins use it to emulate the sound of different types of analogue distortion, and some even let you choose from a selection of waveforms to vary the sound of their effect. But Fusion has a unique quirk that takes this concept to a new level: it sources its shaping waveforms from a selection of 58 wavetables.

BLEASS already developed a powerful wavetable engine for its acclaimed Megalit synth, and it has repurposed the same engine for use in Fusion. Like any wavetable engine, BLEASS’ design allows you to extract different waveforms from the wavetable by adjusting the wavetable position.
When applied to the world of waveshaping, this means you can, for example, morph a distortion from a gentle soft clipping to an intense tube saturation, so long as you have a suitable wavetable.

The engine also features wavetable folding, a technique that compresses or stretches the wavetable’s waveforms either symmetrically around the centre point or asymmetrically from beginning to end.
When operating symmetrically, this tends to impact the intensity of the distortion, with lower fold values equating to more intense distortions. In asymmetric mode, the impact tends to be more radical and unpredictable. All told, this adds completely new dimensions to the different distortion characters that can be teased out from any of the included wavetables, or from your own custom wavetables, which Fusion is able to import.

Distorting signals can lead to some very loud levels, and one of Fusion’s few shortcomings is its lack of a limiter. This can surprise you with sudden intense blasts of sound when loading presets and adjusting settings. The master output gain isn’t stored and recalled with presets, though, so you can dial in some protective headroom when needed.
Shaping the waveshaper
You can shape the base distortion tones with a pair of resonant multimode filters. The first offers high-pass, bell and notch modes, while the second filter replaces the high-pass option with a low-pass.
BLEASS Fusion filters. Image: BLEASS
Each filter can be switched to operate pre or post the waveshaper’s effect.
In the pre position, a filter allows particular frequencies to be driven harder (or softer) into the waveshaper, which significantly impacts the tone and character of the resulting distortion.
In the post position, the filters shape the spectrum of the distorted signal, removing low-end woolliness and high-end fizz, for example. Further tonal variations are possible thanks to each filter’s independent input gains and wet/dry mix controls.
The filters sport the standard BLEASS design, with an interactive visualiser that lets you control the cutoff and resonance of both bands with a drag of the mouse or finger. This is very intuitive, especially when using the iOS version of the plugin, but it can feel a little bit inexact too. We were pleased, therefore, to see that BLEASS has added cutoff and resonance dials to its standard filter design as an alternative, more accurate, method of setting filter parameters.
Modulated movement
Having an apparently limitless pool of different distortions at your fingertips is powerful, but a sound can quickly become boring if it’s static and unchanging. This is where Fusion’s various modulators come in handy.
The pair of advanced LFOs which, like the wavetable engine, are taken from Megalit, allow you to create surprisingly complex modulation patterns. This is thanks to their Time Shape and Smoothing parameters, which can run freely or be synced to the host DAW. For dynamic modulations that respond to transients within the input signal, there’s also a simple envelope follower.
The final modulator is a built-in pattern sequencer. Patterns can consist of up to 16 steps in length, and each step can produce either a static modulation value, or a ramping one that changes over the duration of the step.
BLEASS Fusion modulators. Image: BLEASS
Fusion’s sequencer only syncs to the host DAW – it can’t be induced to free-wheel – but it can add a randomising factor to the values it creates, and automatically smooth the changes between values. What we particularly enjoy here is how easy it is to create really juicy, rhythmic effects by using the sequencer to drive the wavetable position and fold, and/or the filter cutoffs.
You can route each modulator to any two destination parameters with varying strength and polarity. This does sometimes feel limited though, especially when it comes to the pattern sequencer which just cries out to be mapped all over the plugin. On the other hand, this limitation helps minimise the plugin’s resource usage (a common BLEASS feature) and ensures patches never become overly complicated.
BLEASS Fusion sequencer. Image: BLEASS
The full gamut
It’s only when you’re presented with so many different characters of distortion – and so many ways of tweaking, adjusting and evolving them – all in one place, that you really start to appreciate just how vast and deep the world of distortion truly is.
The most remarkable thing about BLEASS Fusion is that it can run this entire distortion gamut, from smooth valve saturation to hard-edged transistor trashiness, from subtle colouration to full-on frequency frying, and from the lightest sprinkle of fizz to the most depraved depths of sonic destruction. And you get all of this for less than $20!
Key features

Waveshaping distortion plugin for AAX, AU, AUv3 and VST hosts
Desktop and iOS versions; Apple Silicon native
58 included wavetables plus custom wavetable import
2 multi-mode filters
2 LFO, envelope follower and sequencer modulators
Low system resource footprint
Price: Desktop: $19.99 / €19.99; iOS: $9.99 / €9.99
Download: bleass.com

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Transit plug-in from Baby Audio Baby Audio's latest plug-in, Transit, has been designed as the ultimate all-in-one toolkit for creating interesting transitions between song sections. 

Multichain wallet Exodus posts $12.4M revenue, $1.9M net income in Q2In the quarter ended June 30, Exodus' revenue declined by 4% year-over-year, but its results were boosted by 6% cost reductions.

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Nvidia is flying high thanks to AIWhen Nvidia announced eye-popping earnings on Wednesday with three-digit year-over-year growth, it was easy to get caught up in the excitement. The company brought in $13.5 billion for the quarter, up 101% over the prior year, and well over its $11 billion guidance. That’s certainly something to get excited about.
Nvidia is benefiting from being a company in the right place at the right time, where its GPU chips are in high demand to run large language models and other AI-fueled workloads. That in turn is driving Nvidia’s astonishing growth this quarter. (It’s worth noting that the company set the groundwork for its current success some time ago.)
“​​Data center compute revenue nearly tripled year on year, driven primarily by accelerating demand for cloud from cloud service providers and large consumer internet companies for our HGX platform, the engine of generative and large language models,” Colette Kress, Nvidia’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, said in the post-earnings report call with analysts.
This kind of growth brings to mind the heady days of cloud stocks, some of which soared during the pandemic lockdown as companies accelerated their usage of SaaS to keep their workers connected. Zoom, in particular, took off with five quarters of absolutely astonishing growth during that time.
Zoom pandemic fueled growth. Image Credits: TechCrunch
Today, even double-digit growth is long gone. For its most recent report earlier this month, the company reported revenue of $1.138 billion, up 3.6% over the prior year. That follows five straight quarters of single-digit growth, the last three in the low single digits.
Could Zoom possibly be a cautionary tale for a company like Nvidia riding the generative AI wave? And perhaps more importantly, will this drive unreasonable investor expectations about future performance as it did with Zoom?
Data center demand isn’t going anywhere
It’s interesting to note that Nvidia’s biggest growth area is in the data center, and that web scalers are still building at a rapid pace with plans to add over 300 new data centers in the coming years, per a Synergy Research report from March 2022.
“The future looks bright for hyperscale operators, with double-digit annual growth in total revenues supported in large part by cloud revenues that will be growing in the 20-30% per year range. This in turn will drive strong growth in capex generally and in data center spending specifically,” said John Dinsdale, a chief analyst at Synergy Research Group, in a statement about the report.
At least some percentage of this spending will surely be devoted to resources for running AI workloads, and Nvidia should benefit from that, CEO Jensen Huang told analysts on Wednesday. In fact, he believes that his company’s expansive growth is much more than a flash in the pan.
“There’s about $1 trillion worth of data centers, call it, a quarter of trillion dollars of capital spend each year. You’re seeing that data centers around the world are taking that capital spend and focusing it on the two most important trends of computing today: accelerated computing and generative AI,” Huang said. “And so I think this is not a near-term thing. This is a long-term industry transition, and we’re seeing these two platform shifts happening at the same time.”
If he’s right, perhaps the company can sustain this level of growth, but history suggests that what goes up must eventually come down.
Business gravity
If Zoom is any indication, some businesses that see rapid growth for one reason or another can hold onto that revenue in the future. While it’s certainly less exciting for investors that Zoom’s growth rate has sharply moderated in recent quarters, it’s also true that Zoom has continued to grow. That means it has retained all its prior scale and then some.

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Sony Playstation is acquiring Audeze, maker of planar-magnetic studio headphonesEsteemed headphone manufacturer Audeze is set to be acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment, with a focus on PlayStation.
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In a statement released today (24 August), Sony announced that it has “entered into an agreement to acquire Audeze.” The California-based tech giant said that the purchase will assist in the innovation of audio experiences of PlayStation games.
Audeze will continue to operate independently, which likely means it will continue to build its high-end planar magnetic studio headphones, such as the £1,699 Manny MM-500s.
However, elsewhere in Audeze’s catalogue is a selection of award-winning “audiophile gaming headphones.” Also built with planar magnetic tech, these headphones – such as the Maxwells – offer 24-bit, 96kHz via wifi dongle, plus Dolby Atmos capabilities.
Audeze x Microsoft Ultraviolet Maxwell.Image: Audeze
On the latter, Sony’s senior vice president of platform experience, Hideaki Nishino says: “We’re excited to bring Audeze’s expertise into the PlayStation ecosystem, building on the great strides we’ve made with PlayStation 5’s Tempest 3D AudioTech and the Pulse 3D wireless headset.”
Meanwhile, Audeze’s CEO Sankar Thiagasamudram suggest that the acquisition will provide the brand with opportunities to expand its business and amp up PlayStation’s audio tech.
“Sony Interactive provides Audeze with a unique opportunity to scale our business, as we continue with our mission to deliver best-in-class headphones to recording professionals, audiophiles, and gamers.”
“We’re also looking forward to contributing to Sony Interactive’s efforts to take PlayStation audio experiences to the next level.”
Previously, Audeze has collaborated with one of Sony’s main competitors, Microsoft, on limited-edition headphones for the Xbox. Sony’s press statement suggests that, as its fellow California-based company is still operating independently, it will continue to collaborate with Sony’s competition. No doubt Sony and Audeze co-branded products are in the works, though.
Sony has recently been in the news for another announcement: PlayStation Portal, a new handheld gaming device to accompany the PS5.
The statement ends, “Terms of this transaction, including the acquisition cost, are not disclosed due to contractual commitments.”
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Scotland’s first-ever vinyl pressing plant set to arrive in the autumnScotland is set to welcome its first ever vinyl pressing plant later this year.
Seabass Vinyl is an independent, family-owned pressing plant launched by Dominique and David Harvey, and it’s set to open in October at the Macmerry Industrial Estate in Tranent, East Lothian. They’re hoping to press between 50,000 and 60,000 records each month once they’ve got things set up properly, and want to become one of the greenest plants in the world too.

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“We’re artist-centric with an emphasis on quality and sustainability,” they said to Resident Advisor. “We offer fair prices, short production runs and optimised production lead times.
“Our ambition is to become a valuable partner to artists and the music industry in general, as well as our local community. We’ve recently been announced as a partner of the Scottish Album of the Year award and will be pressing the records for the winner of the Sound of Young Scotland award free of charge.”
While Seabass Vinyl is yet to launch, they’re already active on Instagram. On there, Dominique and David have shared a glimpse of the plans for the plant.

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It’s been in the works since at least 2022, when the first post on the Instagram account was posted, telling followers to “Watch that space”. According to a post from April this year, the company was blocked for six months as it waiting for confirmation that the plant could be built, and wasn’t going to be on a coal mine.

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A post shared by Seabass Vinyl (@seabassvinyl)

And it’s coming at a good time, too. Just under a year ago, vinyl became the UK’s second biggest selling physical format, overtaking PlayStation games. It’s overtaken CDs and DVDs too – it’s only Nintendo Switch games that are currently selling more copies.
The post Scotland’s first-ever vinyl pressing plant set to arrive in the autumn appeared first on MusicTech.

AI-powered music creation app Moises launches new tools for easier productionMoises, an AI-powered app for music creation, has launched three new features which aid the production process.
The new features – AI Lyrics Transcription, Song Sections, and Extended Chords – will “empower singers, songwriters, and musicians to unlock their full potential”, according to the brand.

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The app’s new AI Lyrics Transcription tool can transcribe lyrics from songs in multiple languages, such as English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French, and can synchronise lyrics with “word-by-word precision”.
Users can also access their transcribed lyrics on all platforms, so you record an idea on a mobile device, import it into Moises, and continue to work on the same project on a desktop device for easier collaboration, or producing on the go.
Also now in the app is Advanced Chords, a new addition to the Chord Detection feature. This provides more accurate chord detection and advanced chord capabilities so that users can access complex jazz chords and more.
Chords are also categorised into three different types (easy, medium, and advanced) so that musicians have the right chords for their skill level.
And finally, due to user requests, the platform is also now offering an AI-powered Song Sections feature which automatically detects and can loop different parts of a song such as the intro, verse, and bridge. The tool has been created to offer gigging musicians who need to learn fast a swifter way to practice.
“Each of these features provides new functionality unique to Moises,” says Spencer Mann, VP of Growth at Moises in a press release. “Our product team has listened to our incredible customers and these new features are the result. They are all designed to help intermediate and advanced musicians get the most from their experience in Moises.”
Find out more at Moises.
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New UAFX pedals by Universal Audio emulate vintage effects from ’50s to ’80sUniversal Audio has launched four new single-footswitch stompbox effects pedals – the Orion Tape Echo, 1176 Studio Compressor, Heavenly Plate Reverb & the Evermore Studio Reverb. Each pedal emulates a classic effects pedal made between 1950 and 1980 but in more compact units.

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The Orion Tape Echo, according to UA, is an authentic emulation of the vintage Maestro Echoplex EP-III tape echo launched in 1970, albeit far more portable. The brand has captured the essence of the original’s analogue preamp, making for fat tones and effects, and it has different tape types: Mint, Worn, and Old, and a Wonk control for added vintage flavour.
Universal Audio Orion Tape Echo
Universal Audio’s 1176 Studio Compressor emulates the iconic 1176LN Limiting Amplifier launched in 1967. It has Single, Dual, and Sustain modes, and you can adjust the Input, Output, Attack, and Release settings as with the original. There’s also a Ratio knob with the “all buttons in” mode, making for gritty results.
Universal Audio 1176
The Heavenly Plate Reverb pedal offers the same vibe of 1950s German-crafted studio reverbs. There are three vintage studio plate reverb types to pick from here – Vintage Bright, Vintage Dark, and Modern Full plate settings. You can also fiddle with the pedal’s Mod, Pre Delay, and EQ controls for precise and detailed effect crafting.
Universal Audio Heavenly
Finally, the Universal Audio Evermore Studio Reverb captures the textured ambient trails and captivating modulations found in vintage digital hardware from the late 70s. There are distinct sounding Room, Small Hall, and Large Hall programs within a compact stompbox design. You also get accurate vintage bass, mid, and treble decay controls.
Universal Audio Evermore
If you’re a fan of Universal Audio pedals, we recently reviewed the brand’s multi-effects UAFX Del-Verb. We called it an “ambience companion”, writing that it “potentially contains every ambient sound you could ever wish for”.
Each pedal costs $219, apart from the 1176 Studio Compressor, which will set you back $199. Check them out  over at Universal Audio.
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