FREE FX plugins aplenty with the KVR Developer Challenge 2026
The KVR Developer Challenge 26 not only provides a platform for existing and aspiring developers to showcase their creativity but also offers us an opportunity to stock up on new tools that enhance our workflow for free. And show our appreciation, of course. But, seriously, it’s one of the highlights of the year, and, competition [...]
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From Primary Wave’s Kobalt acquisition to CVC’s DistroKid deal… it’s MBW’s weekly round-upThe biggest headlines from the past few days...
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“Kill complexity”: Maono launches no-nonsense audio interfaces aimed at content creatorsThe demands of modern-day content creation mean creators are increasingly switching between laptops, smartphones, tablets and other devices during the same workflow.
And Chinese audio equipment maker Maono is addressing this increasing shift to hybrid workflows with its new P Series hybrid audio interfaces. Aimed squarely at content creators, musicians, streamers and podcasters seeking intuitive, hassle-free operation, the P Series – which comprises the P1 and P2 interfaces – seeks to disrupt this area of the market at only around the $100 mark.

READ MORE: Is AI seriously in mics now?

Aside from ease of operation, the P1 and P2 are designed for “clarity and reliability”, with high-performance, low-noise preamps. The P1 delivers up to 70dB of gain with an EIN (Equivalent Input Noise) of -130.6dB, while the P2 offers up to 56dB of gain with -129.5dB EIN. Put simply, these figures ensure “clean and consistent audio”, Maono says.
Credit: Maono
The key difference between both models beyond these states is their input and output configurations.
Designed for solo creators, the P1 features a single mic/line input, a single mic preamp, and a 3.5mm headphone output. It also features an Auto Gain function, which automatically optimises recording levels – a strong prospect for those just getting started with audio production.
Meanwhile, the P2 is designed for “dual-person recording”, with two mic/line/instrument combo inputs, dual mic preamps, and both 3.5mm and 6.35mm headphone outputs. It also features a USB power input for independent or auxiliary power supply, supporting mobile recording and more complex streaming environments.
Both interfaces sport USB OTG connectivity for direct use with smartphones and tablets, in addition to stereo loopback with three channels, allowing simultaneous capture of system audio and microphone input.
Credit: Maono
Additional features on both include dedicated mute buttons, easy-to-read gain indicators, and separate controls for headphone and monitor outputs. Both devices also support direct integration with cameras via 3.5mm outputs.
Learn more at Maono.
The post “Kill complexity”: Maono launches no-nonsense audio interfaces aimed at content creators appeared first on MusicTech.

Splice has expanded Spitfire Audio’s Originals virtual instrument range with four new librariesSplice has announced the launch of four new Spitfire Audio Originals libraries, with virtual instruments spanning strings, brass, woodwind and keys. Their arrival comes alongside the upgrade of Spitfire’s 17 existing Originals libraries to full fidelity.
Recorded at AIR Studios’ Lyndhurst Hall and Spitfire Studios and performed by hand-picked players, the four new titles – Emotional Cello, Intimate Brass, Intimate Woodwinds and Crystal Keys – looks to expand Spitfire’s Originals series into “territory it hasn’t explored before.

READ MORE: Splice acquires Spitfire Audio for a reported $50 million

Every library in the Originals series now features full mic signals, complete preset lists, as well as Spitfire’s redesigned interface, which boasts updated artwork plus a mixer for blending close, room and Vintage mic signals.
Let’s take a closer look at each of the few new arrivals in detail…
Originals Emotional Cello

For Emotional Cello, Spitfire and Splice tapped London-based cellist Reinoud Ford, who has captured the “full expressive range of the solo cello”. Producers can utilise 11 techniques from delicate Flautando to experimental Circular bowing and No Rosin textures, too.
Originals Intimate Brass
Credit: Spitfire Audio
“Built for restraint, not power,” Intimate Brass offers a custom quartet consisting of a Tuba, Euphonium, Tenor Trombone and Flugelhorn. Spitfire invites you to pair this one with Intimate Woodwinds or Intimate Strings for a complete intimate orchestra section.
Originals Intimate Woodwinds
Credit: Spitfire Audio
Intimate Woodwinds offers producers a curated ensemble of Bassoon, Bass Clarinet, Clarinet, Alto Flute, and Flute, all captured at Lyndhurst Hall, AIR Studios. “From gentle pastoral underscore to fragile, barely-there atmospheres – these gentle whispers are perfect for scoring emotive moments on screen,” Spitfire says.
Originals Crystal Keys
Credit: Spitfire Audio
Crystal Keys captures the titanium euphone, a contemporary instrument made of chromatically tuned glass rods, played by rubbing them with wet fingertips for an “otherworldly” sound. This one features nine presets and six bespoke signals, for exploration from “angelic shimmer to horror-film dread”.
Pricing & availability
Each of the four new Originals libraries costs £29 / $29 apiece, available as perpetual purchases. You can also subscribe to Spitfire INSTRUMENT, which offers all 20+ Originals Libraries at a cost of $12.99 per month.
For more information, head to Spitfire Audio.
The post Splice has expanded Spitfire Audio’s Originals virtual instrument range with four new libraries appeared first on MusicTech.

How to get more control over your mix’s stereo widthAd Feature with Mastering The Mix
On the surface, working with stereo is a simple case of panning some instruments to create space, slapping a widener on the mix bus and you’re done. But dig a little deeper and you uncover a range of clashing frequency problems, hollow mixes and phase cancellation issues.
Thankfully, with a bit of clever processing at various stages of your mix, you can avoid these pitfalls. Your ultimate goal is to create a mix that has a sense of depth, with each element occupying its own space. We’ll be using Mastering The Mix’s STEREOVAULT plugin to show you more, as it has a wide range of both transparent and creative tools that are also mono-compatible. Be sure to listen on headphones to hear the full effect.
How the mix is split
Let’s talk about how the audio of a track is split between two speakers. Rather than thinking in left and right, it’s more useful to imagine the information that lives in the centre and the parts that live at the sides.
The core of your track, such as kick, snare, vocal and bass, tends to live more in the middle, while the supporting instruments and spatial effects such as reverb and stereo delays have more information in the sides, with varying amounts of crossover.
The trick to a good sound stage is to balance not just the pan placement of individual tracks, but also their width, along with the width of the overall mix across different areas of the spectrum.
With this in mind, try running through each channel and considering:
Is this an important part of the track that needs to be prominent? Does this part clash with any other part and would it benefit from being placed adjacent? Does this part need narrowing to make sure it doesn’t clutter the mix, or widening to make it jump out more or sound more expansive?
How can stereo go wrong?
There are several problems that can arise when managing the stereo of your track. If a mix is too narrow, then it can feel overly congested and cheap sounding. Conversely, if it’s too wide, then the centre may feel hollow and lack focus and punch. If your bass or low-end is too wide then it can make a track feel less grounded.
However, one of the biggest issues is phase cancellation and mono compatibility. It’s important to check mono compatibility if you want your mix to translate well. Although many systems are in stereo, it may still be listened to on mono smart speakers or in a club where the subs are often summed to mono, so it’s best to avoid dramatic phase cancellation issues if you can help it.
If the information in the left and right speakers is only slightly different, then the resulting waves can start to cancel each other out when you collapse them down to mono. This is especially noticeable in the sub frequencies below 100Hz where longer waves are more likely to overlap. If you’ve ever checked your mix in mono only to find sections of the kick and bass sounding weaker, or a big unison synth part sounding quieter and duller, then it’s probably because of this.

That’s not to say that you can’t get wide sounds or even a little width in the low-end, but you have to be clever about the tools that you use. One example is the Haas effect that creates a super wide sound by simply delaying one side by a small amount. It sounds great in stereo, but is a disaster waiting to happen if you test it in mono. It can also be an issue if you have a super wide and layered unison synth bass, as in the above example.
Unison bass disappears. Image: Press
Taking control
When selecting a tool to tackle stereo width, it’s important to use one that can give you control while remaining phase-safe. We’re using STEREOVAULT, which includes 8 different widening modes, plus a range of other width and panning tools laid out across 6 tabs:

Spread: cleanest widening (Pristine / Diffuse / Vintage modes)
Creative: characterful spatial width (Stretch / Flux / Chorus / Haas / Space modes)
Panorama: per-band pan and reposition (Pan / Skew)
Width: redistribute Mid/Side energy (Blend / Balance)
Rotate: rotate the image rather than level it (Stereo / Mid / Side)
Clean: surgical Mid/Side EQ (Side / Mid)

You can split the spectrum into four bands in Transparent mode, and six bands in Flexible mode, which helps you target specific areas of the mix. If you place STEREOVAULT on the mix bus, then you’ll want to use Transparent mode, which keeps the band crossovers the same on every module and results in the cleanest sound. Alternatively, Flexible mode lets you vary the crossovers which may be preferable when you want more control on individual tracks. Every move is automatically volume matched, so you can make informed decisions without being influenced by changes in volume. Here are a few ways it can be used to take control of your sound stage.
Widening mono bass. Image: Press
Making a mono source sound wider
Although a centred bass will give a strong foundation to your track, a little width can help a bass sound fuller and more expensive. You’ll probably want to keep the deep subs fairly central, but there’s an opportunity around the low-mids from 100Hz to 250Hz, or even up to 750Hz where you can add warmth and size.
Two useful options here are the Diffuse mode and Vintage mode. Experiment with both, as Diffuse is a little cleaner sounding, and Vintage adds a touch more warmth and character. You can use the I/O tab to change the output and test that it sounds pretty much the same in mono.

Widen sounds to to add depth and space and make things sound bigger
Sometimes you have two sounds that are competing in the mix but you don’t necessarily want to pan them to opposite sides.
Here, we have a background pad sound and a lead synth. We’ve used a combination of the Diffuse mode, Flux (a diffuser with subtle modulation), and the Width and Clean tabs to push the energy of the sound away from the centre and more to the sides. This helps to give the pad and lead their own spaces, and reduces the frequency masking that was burying the pad, but without the need to pan them left and right.

Other examples of widening specific mix elements include using Pristine mode on a vocal bus to give it a natural sounding lift in the upper mids and top end, or panning the low-mids of a guitar part using the Panning tab whilst keeping the tops more central.
Widening pad. Image: Press
Control the width across the spectrum on a full mix
Once you’ve got a decent amount of depth, balance and separation between all of your parts, then you can take a look at the whole mix and compare it to your references to make sure you haven’t gone too far one way or the other.
STEREOVAULT has a smart preset system that can help here. It listens to your audio whilst you select the type of material and genre, and then spits out 8 custom presets that are relevant and calibrated to your mix. You can even load in a reference track and it will make adjustments across the four bands to match the spread across the spectrum.
Smart preset system. Image: Press
You’ll still want to use your ears and double check everything by setting the output to mono. You can also use the built-in metering to get a better sense of the stereo energy, which will start to go red when phase issues are detected.
Here we’ve centred the sub frequencies as they were too wide, and transparently opened out the mids and tops to increase the overall depth and separation.

Choosing the right tools for the job
As long as you get to grips with which tools can be used in which situations, then you can create glorious, full sounding mixes without having to worry about them not translating across multiple systems.
If you’re working on fuller sounding busses or the mix bus, then you need to use the most transparent tools available. If you’re working on smaller elements then you can afford to be a little more creative with the widening techniques, as long as you’re happy with how it sounds in mono. It’s also important to consider context. Even within electronic genres destined for the club there can be a big difference in the intention. For example, a raw, bass-heavy garage track will sound more powerful if it’s mixed narrower than a more intricate melodic techno track.
Just remember that width works best when you have contrast, with a blend of central focal points and other elements expanded around them.
STEREOVAULT is available from masteringthemix.com for £59, with a free trial available.
The post How to get more control over your mix’s stereo width appeared first on MusicTech.

Almudio releases 3D Panner, a FREE binaural spatial audio plugin
Almudio has released 3D Panner, a free early access spatial audio plugin for macOS and Windows. Developer Almog reached out about the release and shared some very interesting details about the project. 3D Panner was developed over seven months as his final project at BIMM University Manchester, with beta testing from lecturers and fellow students [...]
View post: Almudio releases 3D Panner, a FREE binaural spatial audio plugin

AES Show Nashville: Early Bird registration opens Those looking to attend AES Show Nashville 2026 can now take advantage of discounted Early Bird rates and secure one of the limited reduced-rate rooms at the venue before they sell out.

Beyerdynamic’s DT 270 Pro are the best monitoring headphones you can buy on a budget£89 / $130 / €99, beyerdynamic.com
Beyerdynamic’s Pro range of wired headphones is something of a studio staple, from the DT 770s at £159 all the way to the 1990s at around £540. Now, the German manufacturer has released its most compact and affordable Pro model to date, the DT 270 Pro. Priced at just £89—or $130 in the US—they are a closed-back model designed for recording and monitoring. But does that competitive price come with a bunch of compromises?

READ MORE: Sendy Audio Egret headphones are serious planars that happen to look the part

With so many wireless headphones on the market it’s worth noting why musicians and producers—or indeed any creators—would want to take the wired route, and why wireless doesn’t feature much in the pro audio world. Firstly there’s no battery to recharge. More importantly, the audio you hear is uncompressed and latency-free, which generally isn’t the case with wireless unless you have a specialised model that uses its own USB dongle. Essentially, wired is more convenient and conveys all available audio data when you’re working on tracks.
The 270s are incredibly light at just under 200 grams, with a mainly-plastic build that nonetheless feels sturdy. The cups fold flat for easier storage, though the headband doesn’t fold down like on some more expensive models. You get a soft carry pouch in the box and a coiled cable that can attach to either cup, which is a nice option to have. There’s a 6.3 mm adapter supplied and also a 3.5 mm to USB-C adapter, which is essential these days as so many devices have dropped the traditional headphone port.
Beyerdynamic recognises that people are as likely to be making music on a phone, iPad or computer as using an audio interface or mixing desk. There’s no DAC in the headphones so the USB adapter is a simple conversion from digital to analogue by your device. Their low impedance of 45 Ohms means they can be easily driven at full volume by lower power devices like smartphones.
Image: Press
These are technically over-ear headphones but the cups are definitely on the smaller side – certainly smaller than the brand’s DT 770s, which feel more encompassing. My ears are fairly average in size and the cups fit me fine; though my earlobes aren’t quite fully inside the cups, the pressure of the headband is not so great that it’s uncomfortable. Generally, long listening sessions are pleasant. If you have had issues with sizing of over-ears in the past however, it’s conceivable you might find these a little restrictive. Most people, though, are likely to find the size sufficient. They also feature velour pads—apparently unusual at this price point —as well as a padded headband, both of which make a positive difference to their comfort, especially over longer sessions.
The closed-back design makes the 270s ideal for tracking and monitoring. Open-backs tend to be more neutral but leak sound, unsuitable for recording with mics in the room. It’s also less important that headphones like this are super-accurate in the way that mixing or reference models need to be. As such, the 270s are best described as vibrant and immediate rather than neutral. That’s not a criticism – in fact when you’re tracking or monitoring you actually want the vibe of the music to come through, for energy and inspiration. The accuracy of perfecting the mix comes later, at another stage in the production process.
How to quantify ‘vibe’, though? There’s a ton of low end, especially considering their small size, with a low frequency response reaching down 5 Hz. It’s not overwhelming, and you’re not going to feel like the bass is taking over, but there’s power there for sure and when you switch to a mix-focused model later you’d be looking for a bit more restraint. At the top end there’s reproduction up to 24 kHz which isn’t as high as the 1770s (40 kHz) but feels crisp, and plenty in these smaller cups.
Mid range is prominent, almost on the edge of being too much at full volume, but without ever quite tipping over into harshness. Elements in that frequency range like vocals and guitars really cut through on these headphones – again, this is advantageous for recording as they tend to be lead lines of one sort or another and need to be clear and audible, even more so than when you’re mixing. Tested with a range of commercial tracks from 50s jazz right through to 2000s rock and contemporary electronic, the headphones burst with life – again they’re not neutral, reference models, so don’t expect that.
Image: Press
Another thing that stands out about the sound of these cans, apart from the energy and presence of their frequency reproduction, is the high level of separation they exhibit. Elements of a mix are very distinct; lead vocals cut through, as mentioned, but backing vocals and any kind of panned sounds are clearly identifiable too, much more so than on even a quality pair of wireless earbuds, for example. I wasn’t prepared for the separation to be this convincing on such an affordable model. This is a benefit when recording because you’re taking your playing and performance cues from other parts within the track and you need to be able to hear them clearly.
These are highly capable headphones for any creators of music, podcasts or video, offering punchy, loud and vibrant playback for recording and monitoring. The DT 770 Pros are more expensive at £130 but don’t come with the USB-C adapter and crucially are larger, making the 270s the perfect choice for more compact setups or working on the move. Don’t come here expecting neutral, super-accurate mixing headphones—AKG’s K371s might be somewhere to look for that—but what the 270s do, they do exceptionally well.
At this price, I can’t identify any real problems – a metal build would add to the weight, a hard case to the cost. If you’re in the market for an excellent workhorse pair of monitoring headphones to use with any device or in any location, the DT 270 Pro is the model to beat.
Image: Press
Key features

Over-ear, closed-back headphones
Jack and USB-C connectivity
5 Hz – 24 kHz frequency response
194g weight
45 Ohms impedance
Velour pads, padded headband
Coiled cable
Connect cable using either cup
Soft carry case

The post Beyerdynamic’s DT 270 Pro are the best monitoring headphones you can buy on a budget appeared first on MusicTech.

12 Madonna Albums That Defin​e Pe​ak Madon​naOn July 3rd, she relea‍sed Confessions II, a full-circle sequel to 2005's Confessions on a Dance Floor that reunites he⁠r with p‍roducer‍ Stuart Pri‍c⁠e for another‍ night⁠ on the dance floor. Acr‍oss more tha⁠n four d‍e‌cades, M‍adonna has never‌ settle⁠d into‍ one ver‌sion of hers‍elf, which is exactly why "peak Madonna" i‍sn't a‍ sing‌le soun‍d —‌ it'‍s a recurring event‍. Here are 12 albums that c⁠ap⁠ture⁠ Madonna at her most Madonna.

Elon Musk praises Mythos/Fable, promises not to ‘cut off’ AnthropicShould Anthropic trust Elon Musk to host its models? With about $40 billion in revenue at stake, Musk insists that the company can.

Coinbase chief legal officer to transition to advisory role on July 31The soon-to-be former chief legal officer did not announce the details of his next move but said that he would continue working with the Board of Coinbase National Trust Company.

Overpowered RC car + Gimbal Cam = The Greatest Chase Vehicle We’ve Ever SeenModern cinema relies very heavily on quadrotor drones, because they make for very smooth, very easy to position platforms. From slow pans to chase shots, drones are great– if your shots can be taken at a high enough altitude. Close to the ground, things get a bit dodgier. That’s where [Transistor Man]’s camera chase vehicle comes in— it’s a rover, so it excels close to the ground. In fact, it can’t go anywhere else, except perhaps if provided with a jump. It’s got a hefty gimbal to hold the camera steady on any terrain, a decade-old surplus radio to provide full HD FPV to the remote driver, and a powerful 1/5th scale radio control rally chassis to make it all go. Plus googly eyes, because everything is better with googly eyes.
It looks like an enormous amount of fun to drive, but more importantly it provides smooth, cinematic shots from the professional Sony camera held in the gimbal. One big takeaway is that when 3D printing something that will bounce around this much, you can’t rely on pure strength– flexible filaments are your friend. Just about everything printed ended up remade in TPU if it didn’t start that way. The other takeaway is that we’ve reached enough of a technological plateau that if you scrounge around, you can build something to take a top-of-the-line footage with decade-old castoffs, like the gimbal and radio used in this project, which is a great thing for hobbyists and small studios.
If you can’t find surplus, you could always DIY a gimbal. We’re not filmmakers, but we find ourselves wondering how shots made with this rover would compare to a camera slider.

Spitfire Audio expand low-cost Originals range The latest Originals offerings deliver everything from delicate, breath-textured brass and woodwinds to a virtuosic solo cello and an otherworldly instrument built from chromatically tuned glass rods. 

Reviewing Telepathic Instruments’ Orchid: The synth from the mind of Tame Impala
Expert producer and DJ Devon Johnson unboxes Telepathic Instruments' Orchid and demos its various creative use cases and unique chord generation technology.

Believe restructures global organization to ‘accelerate artist development strategy’Romain Becker named Group COO, Elsa Bahamonde Bourgain to lead combined Artist Services and Label & Artist Solutions
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