Crypto PAC-supported candidates sweep US state primaries after media buysNearly a dozen candidates across three US states won their primaries or will advance to the November election after they were supported by $3.5 million in ads funded by crypto industry-aligned PACs.

BMI promotes four executives across Creative and Corporate Communications teamsBMI promoted John Ellwood to Vice President, Creative, and elevated Deirdre Chadwick, Jeff Gilligan and Jodie Thomas to Assistant Vice President positions.
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UnderwaterFX is a FREE open-source underwater filter plugin for Windows
Developer ypichev has released UnderwaterFX, a free and open-source creative multi-effect plugin for Windows. UnderwaterFX is built with C++ and the JUCE framework. And the idea behind it is pretty cool – it makes your audio sound like it is being heard from underwater. I am always on the lookout for unique sound design tools, [...]
View post: UnderwaterFX is a FREE open-source underwater filter plugin for Windows

Aim Audio’s Essence price drop From now until 1 October 2026, or while stocks last, Aim Audio's Essence mic will be reduced from its usual cost of $699£549 / €629 to just $499£349 / €399. 

Eventide to launch the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2 Built on the same processing architecture as Eventide's H90 Harmonizer, the new arrival combines the company’s flagship algorithm library with a compact, performance-ready format designed for modern stage and studio applications.

S1gns Of L1fe releases FREE Texture Loom atmosphere engine plugin
S1gns Of L1fe has released Texture Loom, a free dual-sample atmosphere engine for Ableton Live, macOS, and Windows. I tested Texture Loom last night and ended up playing it for over an hour while also coming up with several layered sounds that I’ll use in future sound design projects. I have also seen some of [...]
View post: S1gns Of L1fe releases FREE Texture Loom atmosphere engine plugin

Suno has raised over $400M in its latest funding round – and is now valued at a staggering $5.4BSuno has announced it has raised more than $400M in a Series D funding round, bringing the AI music company’s total post-money valuation to a staggering $5.4 billion.
It marks a more than 2x growth in valuation for the company since just November 2025, when it raised $250 million in funding resulting in a $2.45 billion post-money valuation.
The latest funding round was led by Bond Capital, alongside IVP, Forerunner, Union Square Ventures, Alkeon and Quiet, with participation from existing investors Matrix, Lightspeed, Menlo Ventures and Schroders Capital.

READ MORE: Spitfire Audio’s much-loved Originals instrument libraries are coming to Akai MPC

Suno says the latest funding will go towards “helping more people express themselves through music, while continuing to expand what’s possible for artists and creators on Suno.”
Following the Series D funding round, Suno says the coming months will see the rollout of its “first music model developed in partnership with the music industry”. In November, Suno announced it had formed a new “groundbreaking” partnership with Warner Music Group, one of the world’s big three record labels.
“Since our early days, artistry has been central to how we build,” Suno writes in a blog post on its website. “We work closely with artists, producers, and songwriters to understand creative workflows and develop tools that genuinely support them. We care deeply about getting this right – more than half of our team are musicians themselves.”
It goes on: “We believe there’s a huge opportunity to create new experiences for fans while helping artists reach audiences, build community, and unlock new creative and economic possibilities.
“We’re incredibly grateful to the community that helps shape Suno every day. We can’t wait to keep building alongside you.”
Learn more about Suno’s latest funding round and valuation at suno.com.
The post Suno has raised over $400M in its latest funding round – and is now valued at a staggering $5.4B appeared first on MusicTech.

This clever little touch board can turn fruit, spoons and even pencil drawings into MIDI controllersNeed a MIDI controller but only have a banana, a spoon and a handful of crocodile clips? Well, good news, because that’s apparently enough.
Introducing SPOKE, a new plug-and-play “capacitive touch controller board” that turns any conductive material or object you own into a computer input.
Whether you’re making a DIY instrument, triggering samples, controlling visuals or building a gloriously over-engineered macro pad, SPOKE is designed to make the process as simple as possible.

READ MORE: The SSL 1 is Solid State Logic’s most affordable audio interface yet

Built around the Raspberry Pi RP2040, SPOKE connects to a computer via USB-C and shows up instantly as a MIDI controller straight out of the box. It can also be reconfigured to function as a keyboard, mouse, serial device or OSC controller, making it suitable for everything from music production and lighting control to games and interactive installations.
The board features 27 capacitive touch inputs, allowing users to connect objects using crocodile clips, nuts and bolts, or simply play it as a stand-alone device. There’s also Polyphonic MIDI support, with notes, scales, and modes all fully customisable.
If it isn’t already obvious, one of SPOKE’s biggest selling points is how little setup it requires. With “no drivers, no setup, no faff” needed, there’s no requirement for a DAW, coding environment or specialist software to get started. Instead, the company provides a suite of browser-based tools for music creation, sound recording and code editing, allowing users to start experimenting directly from a web browser.
Under the hood, SPOKE runs CircuitPython and is fully open-source, making it easy for more adventurous customisations. The board also includes programmable NeoPixel RGB LEDs, JST connectors for expanded wiring projects, and support for USB-MIDI, HID keyboard and mouse emulation, OSC and serial communication.
As for what you can actually touch? Pretty much anything conductive – or, as the company puts it, anything with “capacitive potential”
Metal objects such as keys, coins, pipes, spoons and jewellery all work, as do conductive 3D-printed parts. Fruit, vegetables and even mushrooms can also be used as touch sensors, while thick graphite pencil drawings can become playable inputs in their own right.
If the full-sized board feels like overkill, there’s also a smaller DIY version called SPOKE-mini designed for permanent installation inside custom projects.
SPOKE is priced at £40, while the SPOKE-mini costs £25.

Learn more at Spokeboard.
The post This clever little touch board can turn fruit, spoons and even pencil drawings into MIDI controllers appeared first on MusicTech.

TONE3000 claims its new A2 modeling tech is “virtually indistinguishable” from real gear – and runs on a $3 chipWant to play iconic amps like the Fender Twin Reverb, Marshall JCM800, and Vox AC30, without breaking the bank? TONE3000 has unveiled NAM Architecture 2 (A2), the next generation of its free, open-source modeling technology developed in partnership with Neural Amp Modeler creator Steve Atkinson.
The company describes A2 as the “most accurate and best sounding amp modeling technology in history”, claiming it delivers better sound quality than its predecessor while using significantly less computing power.
Most notably, TONE3000 says the system can reproduce the behaviour of real-world gear to the point where it sounds “virtually indistinguishable from the analogue original” – and reportedly runs on hardware powered by a “$3 chip”.

READ MORE: Ever fancied playing Flappy Bird in your DAW? Ableton’s new Extensions Software Development Kit has you covered

“The bloom of a tube amp pushed into breakup, the sag of a fuzz pedal under a heavy chord, the snap of a transient through an analog compressor: A2 captures it all,” says the company.
“The goal was simple. Capture tone so faithfully that you couldn’t tell the difference,” adds TONE3000 co-founder Woodbury Shortridge. “The entire universe of analogue gear is now accessible”
So how does A2 stack up against existing modelling systems?
First, it is fully open source, meaning any hardware or software developer can freely implement the technology in their commercial products. Second, the architecture is supposedly efficient enough to run on everything from DAWs to budget multi-effects units, with sound quality “better” than Quad Cortex at 50% CPU. And third, TONE3000 says A2 outperformed rival modelling platforms from Neural DSP, IK Multimedia and Line 6 in both “quantitative and blind listening tests”.
Credit: TONE3000
For the blind tests, TONE3000 used the MUSHRA methodology, “the audio industry’s gold standard for evaluating perceived sound quality” used by the likes of BBC and EBU. More than 1,000 participants took part, listening to 37 different tones that included guitar amps, bass rigs, pedals and full signal chains.
Each test presented listeners with recordings of real hardware alongside anonymised digital models, which they rated on how closely they matched the original sound. Across the dataset, TONE3000 says A2 consistently scored closest to the reference recordings.
Credit: TONE3000
Alongside this, the company ran quantitative tests across 39 tones, covering everything from clean amp sounds to high-gain setups. These included individual amps, pedal chains, cab simulations and full signal paths – such as a cranked Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier and vintage outboard-style processing. Each model was scored on how closely its output matched the actual gear, with the A2 again reportedly coming out ahead of competing systems.
The new architecture is available in two versions. A2-Full is aimed at studio and professional audio applications, delivering higher accuracy while using 30–40% less CPU than the previous A1 architecture. A2-Lite, meanwhile, is designed for embedded devices like guitar and bass multi-fx pedals, and runs at 50% CPU on an ARM Cortex-M7 chip, the same chip found in many popular modelling pedals.
The release also expands the wider NAM ecosystem. NAM files can already be used across a growing range of compatible software, amplifiers (such as the Blackstar Beam Mini) and pedals, while manufacturers integrating the TONE3000 API gain access to a library of more than 350,000 tone captures.
TONE3000 CEO Stanley Vergilis adds that the goal is broader than modelling alone.
“TONE3000’s mission is to make music creation universally accessible. A2 accelerates that mission by democratising tone,” says Vergilis. “A $5,000 vintage amp that was once locked away in a studio can now be captured, shared, and played by any artist, on any device, anywhere in the world.”

For more information, visit TONE3000.
The post TONE3000 claims its new A2 modeling tech is “virtually indistinguishable” from real gear – and runs on a $3 chip appeared first on MusicTech.

FabFilter Pro-C 3 could easily become your preferred compression plugin£149 / $199
Upgrade/loyalty discounts available
fabfilter.com
Pro-C 3 is the latest edition of FabFilter’s versatile compressor plugin, and with its extended set of features, it can compete with and even eclipse many of the formidable dynamics plugins in this price range.

READ MORE: Here’s why FabFilter Pro-Q 4 is almost the only EQ you’ll ever need

Version Three is a major upgrade, adding new compression styles and saturation character modes for added versatility, as well as interesting improvements to the sidechain section that now features a six-band EQ and the ability to use your DAW master tempo or MIDI to trigger the compressor.
The other aspect that has improved is the workflow, with a range of different interface configurations, immersive compatibility, and even a new auto threshold function, which really suits dialogue and podcast editing. Also, with up to x32 oversampling, you can ensure that there is little signal degradation happening, if any.
With all these new professional adaptations, you might think that FabFilter has turned its back on beginners for a second, but you couldn’t be more wrong. Besides the world of different approaches to compression that Pro-C 3 opens up, its strength lies in how easy it is to do more technical processing than you might be used to with your DAW’s stock compressor.

What are some of the bread-and-butter functions of Pro-C 3?
Like most compressor plugins regarded as high-end, Pro-C 3 has been designed to accommodate a multitude of workflows with different applications in mind. However, we’ve all heard the saying about Jack fancying his hand at all trades, so it’s important to single out the functions that make it a go-to dynamics processing solution in your DAW.
Whether you use it as a channel or bus insert, Pro-C 3 has been created to work seamlessly alongside FabFilter’s flagship EQ plugin, as it shows up in the Pro-Q 4 instance list. This simple but powerful integration lets you edit the entire channel strip of FabFilter plugins, also including the Pro-G expander/gate and the Pro-DS de-esser, across your entire DAW session. The fact that you can do this from a single view makes FabFilter a clear leader in this area, and they have cleverly made the instance view exclusive to Pro-Q 4 to incentivise owning more plugins in the range.
Now with a total of 14 compression styles and three character modes, Pro-C 3 becomes any compressor that you need it to be. If you want a Fairchild, simply select the Vintage Vari-Mu compressor style, meanwhile Vintage Op-El mimics the characteristics of the famous LA-2A. Of course, Pro-C 3 doesn’t only model vintage compressors. There are also the familiar Vocal, Bus, and Mastering modes, as well as a range of new Modern styles. The preset library offers a wide range of options, including tempo-synced presets and some that make use of the new TTM mode. However, while the use of descriptions and custom tags is enlightening, I still feel that FabFilter plugins would benefit from a dedicated browser view, rather than a dropdown overlay.
Besides the Versatile and Smooth modes, which are relatively self-explanatory, there is an Upward mode that uses a similar process to the Dynamics control of FabFilter’s Saturn saturation plugin. Meanwhile, the TTM or ‘To The Max’ mode is a multiband algorithm that uses a unique combination of upward and downward compression that brings up the level of softer passages of a performance while reducing levels when it arrives at the louder parts.
To add more character, you can engage a saturation circuit with Tube, Diode, and Bright modes that add different colouration and analogue drift characteristics, and accentuate the harmonics. For flexibility, the Drive control determines the level of the internal circuitry, and it can be placed before or after the compression in the processing chain.
FabFilter Pro-Q 4 instance list in Pro-C 3. Image: Press
How do you use Pro-C 3’s new sidechain features?
With Pro-C 3, the amount of sidechain control you have to trigger the compressor in different ways is staggering. First off, you never have to worry about setting up external sidechain buses in your DAW for a basic 4/4 kick pattern ever again. Instead, the Host sync function lets you use a range of musical divisions, including dotted and triplet timings, and the Offset control lets you make precise adjustments to match the groove of the track perfectly.
Whether you’re triggering the compressor from the internal or external input, you have access to the same level of signal shaping potential. The new six-band EQ is like a miniature Pro-Q, allowing you to place up to six nodes across the frequency range and choose between 10 filter shapes, six filter slopes, and placement over the stereo, mid, or side channels. The sidechain detection circuit also includes a global Stereo Link control to adjust the level of independence between stereo, mid-side, or surround channels.
The ability to sculpt the sidechain signal in so many ways gives you unprecedented control over the compressor’s behaviour. Naturally, this was always possible when using an aux track and a processing chain of plugins, but having this added potential inside the plugin encourages creativity rather than getting lost in signal routing.
FabFilter Pro-C 3 compact view. Image: Press
Why use Pro-C 3 over another compressor?
Because of the popularity of the Pro-Q 4 EQ plugin and how Pro-C 3 forms part of the larger FabFilter processing platform, it’s hard to find reasons not to use both in your workflow, especially if you already own Pro-Q 4. There are, of course, other premium compressors that provide a similar sonic quality and depth of features like u-he Presswerk ($129) or DMG Audio Compassion ($199), but both of these require deeper knowledge of compression parameters to truly master their respective workflows.
Simply having the most advanced feature set does not guarantee users will immediately resonate with the interface. This is certainly something FabFilter has understood, even looking back at the first version of Pro-C, almost 20 years ago. Since then, the company has strived toward designing processors that can be customised for a wide range of applications and consistently deliver great results, regardless of the user’s prior audio experience.
While paying $199 for a compressor plugin seems staggeringly high, FabFilter offers loyalty discounts of up to 60% off the initial purchase or upgrade price, depending on how many of their plugins you own. This means that, if you’re thinking of buying your first FabFilter plugin, it should probably be Pro-Q 4, which becomes central to the ecosystem. At the end of the day, both beginners and seasoned professionals don’t want to be confronted with a technical nightmare every time they use a compressor — and this is exactly why Pro-C 3 is likely to be the preferred choice over any other plugin in its class.

Key features

AU / VST / AAX / CLAP plugin
6 new compression styles (Total of 14)
3 new character modes
6-band sidechain EQ with mid-side and surround channel linking
Host sync and MIDI sidechain input modes
Up to 32x oversampling
Instance list compatibility with Pro-Q 4
Scalable interface with four different size modes

The post FabFilter Pro-C 3 could easily become your preferred compression plugin appeared first on MusicTech.

Has SoundCloud Cracked Superfandom and AI Music?This week, Ari is joined by Eliah Seton, CEO of SoundCloud, to discuss AI, streaming economics, fan monetization, and the future of music platforms.

Farewell, Juno DownloadAfter about 20 years, Juno Download has shut down with no warning. Here's what the DJ-first store meant, why it folded while vinyl booms, and where to buy DJ music now.
The post Farewell, Juno Download appeared first on DJ TechTools.

2 Live Crew can’t take back their recorded music copyrights after all, appeals court rulesA US federal appeals court has overturned 2 Live Crew's high-profile victory in their long-running copyright fight
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Cyberdecks are having a moment, rejecting big tech surveillance with style and substanceOver the last few months, these DIY hardware communities have exploded in popularity as people on social media show off their solar-powered game emulators, pocket-sized ereaders, and clamshell purse computers.

Coinbase invests in ProShares ETF tailored for stablecoin reserve assetsThe exchange has invested an undisclosed amount in ProShares’ Treasury-focused ETF built for the post-GENIUS era as lawmakers debate whether stablecoin issuers can offer yield-bearing products.