Congress advances TICKET Act without important changesThe House Energy & Commerce Committee unanimously approved the TICKET Act Tuesday, sending it to the full U.S. House for consideration. But some music industry trade groups say the bill does not go nearly far enough.
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EastWest announce LO-FI EastWest have announced the launch of a new virtual instrument dedicated to dark, gritty textures and edgy, distorted sounds.

An Alice Cooper-branded reel-to-reel recorder is now a thing – but it’ll cost you over 20 grandShock rock extraordinaire Alice Cooper has teamed up with Revox for the launch of a reel-to-reel tape recorder, decorated with a fitting black and red aesthetic.
The machine is limited to just 25 units, and arrives alongside an Alice Cooper turntable too, of which there are only 50 available. To celebrate the exclusive collaboration, Revox is also offering buyers the chance to take part in a meet and greet with Cooper, with one event in taking place in Munich and one in the USA at the end of 2025.

READ MORE: Cre8audio’s new Assembler is a “vintage analogue mixer for the modern synth enthusiast”

The tape recorder, which is a revamped version of Revox’s MK III model, is signed and numbered by Cooper himself. It comes with a master tape of his 2018 EP, The Sound of A, and has original Revox motors, improved recording heads, a special capstan shaft with a new pressure roller, and a digital counter.
As for the T77 turntable, this has a full picture of Cooper’s face on it, and also comes with a master vinyl of The Sound of A. It’s described as a high-end record player with a unique, integrated MC phono preamplifier, and also includes a specially designed NAB adapter-shaped record weight and a Neutrik XLR/RCA adapter.
The T77 has a “highly precise” electronic PLL speed control via a non-contact optical sensor, and the tonearm is made of high-quality metals, with a carbon fiber tonearm tube. It also has an MC Ortofon Quintet Black S cartridge, which is very fancily equipped with a Nude Shibata diamond, mounted on a sapphire cantilever.
Check out the video below to hear from Cooper on the new collaboration:

“The Alice Cooper Limited Edition tape machine and turntable shine in an exclusive and extraordinary design that embodies the uniqueness of Alice Cooper’s music and performance and at the same time reflects the technological brilliance of Revox,” says the brand.
“The incomparable aura that both Alice Cooper and Revox radiate through their groundbreaking innovations is a source of great fascination. This makes each of these limited edition products an audiophile masterpiece and also a visual work of art for the music world.”
The tape recorder is priced at £23,123, while the turntable is £7,655. You can find out more over at Revox. The units will begin to ship in July.
The post An Alice Cooper-branded reel-to-reel recorder is now a thing – but it’ll cost you over 20 grand appeared first on MusicTech.

PreSonus Studio One Pro 7 wants to be your go-to DAW, but can it mix it with the big-hitters?Perpetual license: $200 / £170
Perpetual license with Pro+ Plan: $180 / £160 per year
Pro+ monthly plan: $20 / £17 per month
Upgrade from any previous version: $150 / £135
presonus.com
First appearing in 2009, Studio One is a relative newcomer to the DAW scene compared to older names — Cubase, FL Studio, and Reason, for example. But its heritage is solid, its creators having worked on developing flagship products for Steinberg, including Cubase and Nuendo.
While PreSonus’ line-up includes many studio hardware products, this software is far from an afterthought. Rather, it’s a highly capable music production suite which deserves a wider audience, despite shortcomings. But in a crowded field, does it do enough to capture your attention?

READ MORE: Why Steinberg Cubase Pro 14 is the most significant update since 1997’s VST launch

For those unfamiliar with Studio One, it’s an end-to-end music production environment that runs on macOS, Windows and Linux, and covers almost every part of the process from recording and programming to arranging, editing, mixing and mastering. Its feature set is broadly comparable with Cubase or Logic Pro, even if it approaches some tasks differently, in that it’s a more conventional DAW as opposed to, say, Ableton Live or Reason, which have their own workflows.
Studio One has a lot of ‘stuff’ in it, especially if you go for the Pro+ version with all the extra content, and this can initially feel a little overwhelming. On installation, you are asked to choose which of the various sound sets and packs to install – the DAW’s eight virtual instruments largely act as containers for sound sets in the form of samplers and drum machines, plus there are some soft synths as well. There’s not the sheer breadth of instruments you get with Logic (around 25) or the pricier Ableton Live Suite (20), but of course, third-party VST, AAX and CLAP plugins are supported as well as Audio Units (AU) on macOS.
The software helps a little by suggesting ‘essential’ and ‘full’ downloads – you can always revisit this page later, and a full basic sound set will use around 40GB on your hard drive. One nice touch is that when you load a project that requires a specific sound set you haven’t yet downloaded, the software can do this invisibly in the background and populate the project rather than requiring lots of extra steps.
Studio One Pro 7 launcher. Image: Press
There are also helpful project templates – quite a few in fact – that will get you up and running. These range from simple things like audio tracking and playing live loops to more complex surround productions and mastering a collection of tracks into an album. On this latter point, Studio One also contains integrated tools for uploading your music directly to TuneCore and SoundCloud, again removing tedious steps from this production phase.
The main interface is visually crowded, which is inevitable when apps become this multi-functional, but it can be customised. There are window layouts, showing and hiding of various sections, but you can also tweak colours and shades to your liking. Section borders can, for the most part, be freely dragged to create custom views, and by and large, it’s a fairly conventional experience with tracks, mixer channels, browsers and MIDI and audio editors all occupying similar locations as we are used to.
A newcomer to the DAW world will probably find it takes some time to work out where everything is, a byproduct of the sheer range of tools on offer. Anyone crossing over from a Cubase or a Logic will grasp the concepts more quickly, but others may have to do a little digging. PreSonus actually includes a selection of helpful tutorials in the app, and of course, there is content online to guide you too.
In terms of workflow, there’s extensive use of drag and drop, which works brilliantly, especially with the multi-tabbed Browser that can access not only all the local content on your machine quickly but also online sources like the PreSonus shop and the Splice sample and loop browser.
You get a free selection from Splice, but it does require an additional subscription for the full library since it’s a separate service. Another bonus is that Studio One comes with a specially integrated version of Melodyne Essential that can be called up to easily edit the pitch of any audio part without needing to load a separate plugin. While it offers Melodyne’s main tools for working with pitch and timing, it lacks some of the more advanced features of Cubase’s VariAudio or Logic’s Flex Pitch, like formant and vibrato control. That said, it is part of your purchase, sufficient for many users’ needs, and you do get upgrade options should you want them.
Studio One Pro 7 stems. Image: Press
Dragging and dropping any kind of content – MIDI loops, stretched audio files, sound sets, and more – into a project automatically creates the correct kind of track or instrument. This is helpful especially for users who aren’t experts on the minutiae of file formats. A live loop mode and new clip launcher are particularly fun, turning the DAW into a performance tool with drag and drop and auto-stretching of loops and passages onto pads, which you can link to a MIDI controller.
A new feature and something many DAWs now include is stem separation – AI-powered processing that can analyse a stereo track and separate out the vocals, drums, bass and ‘other’ (anything left over), to remix or extract sources from mixed tracks. Right-click and select Stems on any audio file to make it happen. It’s relatively quick even on our aging MacBook Pro, seemingly running twice as fast as real time. While swift, it doesn’t seem currently to be as effective as the separation in Logic Pro, FL Studio or something more specialised like RipX DAW. Results are best with electronic music with fewer frequency crossovers, but with dense productions like tracks from Coldplay’s newest album, vocal harmonies managed to confuse it, causing artifacts and phasing to be heard. It’s not awful but needs refining.
In addition to a full complement of audio and MIDI editing tools, automation, video support and impressive support for Dolby Atmos and spatial audio mixing, Studio One also offers an audio batch converter function, VCA-based mixer control and powerful stem export and mixdown options. For composers, Studio One offers notation and score editing and printing tools as well as interchange with the company’s Notion software (Notion is included with a Pro+ subscription). While they won’t cover everything a professional orchestrator needs to do, these tools are more than enough for the majority of people needing to generate and work with scores for collaborators or smaller groups.
Studio One Pro 7 video support. Image: Press
PreSonus has taken a sort of half-in, half-out approach to subscription pricing, providing three main options which can be perplexing. The first is to buy a perpetual license for £169, which gives you the DAW and a bunch of content, including all virtual instruments and 45 effects plugins, 20GB of loops and samples and 2500 Splice sounds. As noted, this is currently the first and only DAW to feature Splice integration for browsing, drag and drop of samples and loops directly inside a project. You get any new features, plugins and instruments that are added within a year of your purchase. After a year has passed, you can decide if and when to purchase another year of feature and content updates at a reduced update price, or keep the version you currently have.
The second option is the Pro+ subscription which, for £160 a year, gives you the DAW in perpetuity plus the Pro+ extras including the full library of over 120,000 loops and samples, new content releases every month, the add-on notation software Notion, 100GB of dedicated cloud storage for collaboration and live mix critiques with professionals. You also unlock the full MixFX collection. Thirdly, you can essentially ‘rent’ everything – the DAW and all the Pro+ content – with a £17 per month subscription.
Different developers take various approaches to pricing, and the options here seem pretty well thought-out to cater to users’ needs. The full functionality of the app, together with a decent bundle of content,t is there in the one-off purchase option. And, seriously, £169 for a DAW this powerful is an appealing price. Adding the Pro+ plan yearly subscription would start to add up in the long run – £480 over three years, as an example, but it’ll give you rolling updates and new content for the whole period. £17 a month makes more sense if you are either trying it out (though there is a free trial) or know that you’re only going to need it for a limited time. For comparison, this works out to about £200 a year, while if you commit to a year upfront, you get it for £160.
Some users may bemoan paying another £169 to restart their year of new feature updates, though this still works out to be comparable to paying to upgrade many other DAWs, with a higher purchase price, every 1.5 – 2 years. On the other hand, although the £135 upgrade to Studio One Pro 7 from any previous version is a great deal for Studio One Artist users and the like, those who have previously invested in Pro versions may well feel hard done by.
Studio One Pro 7 MIDI editor. Image: Press
While we’re on comparisons, Cubase 14 Pro, the version to which Studio One’s feature set is the closest, is £481, but it does include advanced score editing and is a one-off purchase. Logic Pro is £199 (subsidised by Apple to sell hardware) and is Mac-only. Neither company uses a subscription model on the desktop, and all point updates are free, while major new versions are paid upgrades.
Studio One doesn’t have the sheer variety and quality of instruments that some other DAWs – Logic, FL Studio, Reason, Live – arguably do. In most cases, however, the versions of those DAWs that have the biggest bundled content are generally pushing £500 to buy outright, which is significantly more than Studio One. There are some omissions like integrated score editing, and you could make the case that though efficient, it lacks the panache of some competitors with its workmanlike interface, but this isn’t a big issue for most people.
Move past those factors, though, and Studio One packs a tremendous amount of functionality into an affordable package. The core offering of tools and content is solid, and should you wish to expand the sound sets with the Pro+ subscription, you get access to a bunch more stuff – though you’ll be adding your own instruments separately. Interactive content like mix critiques might be of niche interest, but are still something that few others are offering.
One thing PreSonus has really focused on to great effect is providing an end-to-end system that lets you do everything from sketches through full productions and mastering and online distribution of your music. It may not quite have the flair of some other DAWs, but it’s a proper workhorse with a deep and powerful feature set that most users will find gives them almost everything they need. This is all without breaking the bank.

Key features

DAW for macOS, Windows and Linux
Unlimited tracks, effects channels and buses
45 native effects
8 instruments including the recent Cinematic Lights
Splice integration
Spatial audio monitoring and Dolby Atmos mixing
Clip launcher performance mode
Stem separation
VCA-controllable mixer
Video, automation and mastering support
Project Page for mastering, CD burning, DDP and digital release
Show Page for live performance
TuneCore and SoundCloud upload built in
Pro+ upgrade gives access to Notion scoring software, 120,000 loops and samples and 100GB cloud storage

The post PreSonus Studio One Pro 7 wants to be your go-to DAW, but can it mix it with the big-hitters? appeared first on MusicTech.

Imaginando’s new GRFX granulation plugin invites “happy accidents” and experimental soundsImaginando has launched GRFX – Granular Effects, a new plugin designed to “radically transform sound” through granulation.
GRFX lets users break down ordinary audio into micro-particles and rebuild it into evolving pads and drones, glitchy rhythms, or even otherworldly tones and textures.

READ MORE: Sample like it’s 1994: Iconic sample editing software ReCycle makes a comeback – and it’s completely free

At the core of its interface is a Harmonic Triangle, which Imaginando describes as an interactive, three-point control panel that morphs your sound into chords, arpeggios, and microtonal variations. The design is said to invite “happy accidents” and experimentation.
The plugin also offers drag-and-drop routing, instant amount control, and a global modulation panel. A probability-based routing system also lets users direct grains to two multi-effect engines, a mixer, and dedicated delay and reverb sends, each with independent routing.
Take a closer look in the video below:

If you want to find more new plugins to experiment with, you can check out our rolling guide of the best free and paid for releases.  In other new launches, Baby Audio has unveiled its Smooth Operator Pro, a new and upgraded version of its acclaimed spectral balancing plugin.
Building on the success of the original Smooth Operator from 2021 – which scored a 9/10 in our review – the Pro version arrives with an improved core algorithm and more detailed control, all while maintaining the fast workflow that made the original such a hit.
GRFX is available for an introductory price of €29 (25 per cent off its regular price of €39) until 30 April. Find out more over at Imaginando.
The post Imaginando’s new GRFX granulation plugin invites “happy accidents” and experimental sounds appeared first on MusicTech.

Denon’s new wireless earbuds are water resistant and designed for “all-day wear”Denon is launching two new wireless earbuds – the AH-C500W and AH-C840NCW – which are designed for comfortable wear, all day long.
Officially due for release on 15 April, both models are suitable for commuting, exercising, taking work calls, or relaxing. Both are also water-resistant, have a long battery life, and offer a quick charge feature, with an hour of extra listening time.

READ MORE: Sweetwater partners with Sweet Relief Musicians Fund to tackle hearing loss among music industry professionals: “Once the damage is done, there’s no going back to ‘normal’”

Most specs are the same, but the models do vary when it comes to active noise cancellation (ANC) and playback time. The AH-C500W buds have a lightweight, sweatproof, open-earbud design. They offer Premium 12mm FreeEdge drivers for immersive audio quality, multipoint connectivity, and up to 24 hours of on-the-go listening time.
There’s also two microphones per earbud, wireless charging and 10-minute quick charge, plus Bluetooth LE Audio for enhanced audio quality, and Bluetooth Auracast for “seamless” audio sharing and enhanced connectivity. The AH-C500W buds are also IPX4-rated water resistant.
As for the AH-C840NCW, these are for a premium sound that can block out distractions, and have adaptive hybrid active noise cancellation onboard, with a transparency mode. They offer all the same features, but up the ante with up to 35 hours of on-the-go listening time and a shorter five-minute quick charge for an extra hour of playtime. These are slightly more expensive, coming in at over £150.
(L) AH-C840NCW and (R) AH-C500W. Image: Denon
At the end of 2024, MusicTech included Denon’s PerL Pro Earbuds in our round up of the best new headphones and earbuds of the year. Our review also awarded them a mighty 10/10 for their sound performance, effective ANC, and ample battery life.
The Denon AH-C500W and AH-C840NCW true wireless earbuds will cost £99 and £159, respectively. View more products from Denon.
The post Denon’s new wireless earbuds are water resistant and designed for “all-day wear” appeared first on MusicTech.

Lyor Cohen on YouTube Music’s Future and the Music Industry’s PastThis week Ari sits down with Lyor Cohen, Global Head of YouTube Music, to discuss the perpetual evolution of the music industry.

Don't Give It Away: The Jason Isbell Advice TrilogyOver the past two-plus decades of recordings, songwriter Jason Isbell has been crafting a trilogy of "Don't" songs, offering advice about parenting, facing your fears, and proper cookware maintenance. AllMusic offers an examination of these lessons through the years.

The Church Studio Celebrates Shure's 100th AnniversaryMichael Echart in front of exhibit at The Church Studio.The Church Studio has unveiled a new exhibit called Century of Sound, which commemorates Shure’s 100th anniversary in April.It's a worthy exhibition, as Shure has stood as an inspiration of quality, innovation, and excellence in audio technology for a century. "In celebrating the 100th anniversary of Shure microphones, The Church Studio pays tribute to a legacy of sound and the extraordinary evolution of microphones that has transformed music, broadcasting, and live performance," reads a statement. "The exhibit at The Church Studio honoring Shure's milestone features some of the most iconic microphones in the company's past, including renowned types that have revolutionized the field."Founder Teresa Knox said, “It's an incredible honor to host the Shure exhibit at The Church Studio; two legacy brands coming together to celebrate over a century of innovation in sound. In 2025, The Church Studio marks 110 years, and Shure celebrates its 100th anniversary. America's music landscape would look vastly different without Shure. From Leon Russell's era in the 1970s to today, Shure has played a critical role in shaping our studio and the recording industry at large, with great sound engineers, producers, and musicians coming together. Shure's impact on music is unquestionable, and we're proud to pay tribute to their extraordinary legacy through this exhibit.”Included among the mics on display are:Model 11N Hand Microphone (1933)

70H Crystal Mic with Branded Stand (1935)

Model 74B “Spheroid” Crystal Mic (1936)

701A "Grille-Type" Crystal Mic (1937)

70H "Curvi-Linear" Diaphragm and "Bimorph" Crystal Mic (1938)

720A "Tri-Polar" Crystal Mic (1938)

701D "Skyscraper" Crystal Mic (1939)

702D "Spherical" Wide Range Crystal Mic (1939) 100MC “Ultra” Wide Range Crystal Mic (1940)

705A "Rocket" Wide Range Crystal Mic (1940)

717A "Tenite" Design Crystal Hand Mic (1940)

700D "Ultra" Crystal Mic (1942)

730B "Uniplex" Single-Unit Cardioid Crystal Mic (1946)

Model 55 “Unidyne” Dynamic Mic (1949) Model 51 Dynamic Mic (1951)

55 6 S “Small Unidyne” Dynamic Mic (1951)

300 Bi-Directional Gradient Ribbon Mic (1952)

737A "Monoplex" Crystal Super Cardioid Mic (1952)

M33 “The Johnny Carson” Ribbon Mic (1974)

Super 55 Special Edition (2010)For more, visit thechurchstudio.com/shures-century-of-sound-exhibit-at-the-church-studioThe post The Church Studio Celebrates Shure's 100th Anniversary first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Bitcoin price could rally even as global trade war rages on — Here is whyCrypto and equities traders were hopeful for a last-minute solution that would prevent the US from enacting 104% tariffs on Chinese goods entering the United States, but in a press conference, the White House confirmed that the tariffs would start on April 9. Markets deteriorated when Peter Navarro, trade adviser to US President Donald Trump, stated that tariffs were “not a negotiation.”As a result, the S&P 500 index closed on April 8 with a 1.6% loss, reversing earlier gains of 4%. This downturn has left traders wondering whether Bitcoin (BTC) can regain its bullish momentum amid worsening macroeconomic conditions.Spiraling US debt issues remain, paving the way for Bitcoin gainsBetween April 2 and April 7, the S&P 500 index dropped by 14.7%, causing panic among Bitcoin holders and forcing a retest of the $75,000 level—the lowest in more than five months.S&P 500 futures (left) vs. Bitcoin/USD (right). Source: TradingView / CointelegraphDuring an appearance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on April 7, President Trump reportedly said his goal was to "reset the table" on trade. He added that “there can be permanent tariffs, and there could also be negotiations because there are things that we need beyond tariffs.” Amid this uncertainty, IPOs and mergers have been delayed, while leveraged loan deals and bond sales were sidelined, according to Yahoo Finance.It becomes clear that the stock market is likely to rally if trade war risks subside. Economists have cautioned that tariffs could trigger inflation and significantly raise the chances of an economic recession, according to Reuters. However, assessing the impact on Bitcoin’s price remains a challenging task. This is because some investors see the cryptocurrency’s fixed monetary system as a safeguard against the continuous expansion of global fiat currency supplies.Short-term correlations hurt BTC, but possible interest rate cuts could turn the tideIn the short term, the positive correlation between Bitcoin and the stock market is expected to persist. Nonetheless, the US government’s fiscal challenges present a potential opportunity for Bitcoin’s price to grow. On April 8, the US 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.28%, following a brief dip to 3.90% on April 7. This increase suggests that investors are demanding higher returns to hold these assets.US Dollar Index (DXY, left) vs. US 10-year Treasury yield (right). Source: TradingView / CointelegraphThe rising cost of rolling over the $9 trillion in federal government debt set to mature within the next 12 months is expected to increase fiscal imbalance and weaken the US dollar. The US Dollar Index (DXY) has diverged from US Treasury yields, falling to 103.0 on April 8 from 104.2 on March 31. This situation could potentially support Bitcoin’s price—a sentiment shared by BlackRock CEO Larry Fink in his March 31 letter to investors.Related: Weaker yuan is 'bullish for BTC' as Chinese capital flocks to crypto — Bybit CEOMichael Gapen, Morgan Stanley’s chief US economist, stated in a client note on April 8: “We think the right answer is for the Fed to wait in its current stance for longer,” as reported by CNBC. According to Morgan Stanley’s updated forecast, the US Federal Reserve is expected to maintain interest rates at 4.25%-4.50% until March 2026, adding that “only a recession would change the calculus” and “a recession could mean earlier and larger up-front cuts.”Bitcoin’s momentum is likely to turn positive as traders realize that the US Federal Reserve has limited tools to avoid a recession without risking inflation. While predicting the exact timing of a breakout remains uncertain, prolonged delays in resolving trade war issues could drive investors toward scarce assets like Bitcoin, especially amid fears of potential US dollar devaluation.This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Instagram is beefing up its search to compete with TikTokInstagram head Adam Mosseri says the company is looking to improve the app’s search functionality, admitting this is an area where Instagram could do more to compete. The remarks, made on a recent episode of the “Build Your Tribe” podcast, come at a time when younger Gen Z users often turn to social apps like […]

Orpheus Effects PhiVerbPhiVerb is an all-in-one reverb solution that brings you the latest reverb technology as well as extensive sound-shaping capabilities. Its four distinct algorithms cover all basic use cases in one package. Read More

Live Music Stocks mixed Tuesday amid market uncertaintyLive music stocks presented a mixed picture Tuesday. While Live Nation (LYV) and Madison Garden (MSGE) continued their decline, The Sphere (SPHR) experienced a sharper downturn after a positive showing yesterday.
The post Live Music Stocks mixed Tuesday amid market uncertainty appeared first on Hypebot.

Designing A Tone Control ProperlyMany years ago, audio equipment came with a tone control, a simple RC filter that would cut or boost the bass to taste. As time passed, this was split into two controls for bass and treble, and then finally into three for bass, mid, and treble. When audiophile fashion shifted towards graphic equalisers, these tone controls were rebranded as “3-band graphic equalisers”, a misleading term if ever we heard one. [Gabriel Dantas] designed one of these circuits, and unlike the simple passive networks found on cheap music centres of old, he’s doing a proper job with active filters.
The write-up is worth a read even if you are not in the market for a fancy tone control, for the basic primer it gives on designing an audio filter. The design contains, as you might expect, a low-pass, a bandpass, and a high-pass filter. These are built around TL072 FET-input op-amps, and an LM386 output stage is added to drive headphones.
The final project is built on a home-made PCB, complete with mains power supply. Audiophiles might demand more exotic parts, but we’re guessing that even with these proletarian components it will still sound pretty good. Probably better than the headphone amplifier featured in a recent project from a Hackaday writer, at least. There’s a build video, below the break.

Vote for the Splice blog in the 29th Annual Webby Awards
For the 29th Annual Webby Awards, we're happy to share that the Splice blog has been nominated for the "Websites and Mobile Sites - Music" category.