Angelic Vibes releases Spread, a FREE stereo widening plugin
Developer Angelic Vibes has released Spread, a free stereo widening plugin for macOS and Windows. Spread is the second installment in the developer’s AV Essentials FX series (which I think also includes the free Pitchshifter that we recently featured). It is designed for vocals, samples, melodies, bass, drums, synths, and just about anything that needs [...]
View post: Angelic Vibes releases Spread, a FREE stereo widening plugin

Schulz Audio offers Portacrunch 424 cassette gain-stage plugin for FREE
Developer Schulz Audio is offering Portacrunch 424, a cassette four-track gain-stage effect for macOS and Windows, as a free download. There’s no expiry date listed on the Portacrunch 424 product page, and the summer sale had around 15 hours remaining at the time of writing, but it is unclear whether the giveaway ends with it. [...]
View post: Schulz Audio offers Portacrunch 424 cassette gain-stage plugin for FREE

Handcrafted Mallets from Handcrafted Audio  Handcrafted Audio's latest hybrid instrument ‘reworks’ a marimba and vibraphone, combining nearly 30,000 acoustic samples with an array of synthesis tools.

Bluesky’s interim CEO, Toni Schneider, drops the ‘interim’Schneider, who formerly served as the CEO of Automattic and is a partner at True Ventures, says he is "all in" on the unconventional social media platform.

Jason Mraz at the GRAMMY Museum, Los Angeles, CAWeb: jasonmraz.comContact: ashley@ashleywhitepr.com

Sitting down with rising artist Philip Labes for a Q&A session with Dan Povenmire (Phineas and Ferb) following the screening of music documentary The Opener, it is clear that two-time GRAMMY winner and Songwriters Hall of Fame Honoree Jason Mraz is a fan of Labes’ art.

Sharing the inspiring journey of a street performer-turned-opening act, The Opener navigates how the life of a viral TikTok artist changed the day Jason Mraz joined his livestream. “I took a risk [interacting with Mraz] and he stuck around,” shared Labes. “I was already familiar with the music,” says Mraz. “I clicked on it and he says, ‘Hi Jason Mraz.’ I thought maybe A.I. was communicating with me, but it was so sincere. I watched his entire performance that evening.” 

A few days later, Mraz invited Labes to be his opening act.

Labes’ friends, Jeff Toye and Sunya Mara joined the tour to document the adventure, planning to capture social media footage, but the adventure grew into a full-length documentary. Says Mraz, “I still cry when I see it, probably because I can relive my journey through the way Philip conducted himself on this tour. He went above and beyond and absolutely nailed it.” Labes says he feels like it is a “love letter to creatives and the impulse to be creative.” He hopes it inspires more creativity. 

Performing “(This Movie Is) Rated Ours” and fan favorite “I Won’t Give Up,” Mraz interacted with trademark humility, delivering stunning pure vocals and breathtaking guitar stylings, leaving the room in quiet awe before Philip Labes hopped on stage. Sharing new track, “Big Scary Thing,” sing-a-long “CANNONBALL!," and breakout favorite, “A TV Show Called Earth,” Labes’ combination of softness and sharp wit make him an absolute delight. The full-circle evening (Labes busked outside GRAMMY museum doors 13 years ago) was a magical breakout, with Mraz returning to wrap the evening with a gorgeous rendition of biggest hit, “I’m Yours.”

On creating art, Mraz shared to, “take a deep breath, exhale, [and] make a noise. Maybe the first song is all tears, sorrow and chaos, but maybe the next song has a little bit more clarity, and then after that, you have the laughter again.” 

Grandma’s Gospel Favorites—originally recorded almost 20 years ago for Mraz—is out this month, including songs recalled from his earliest church memories, a few standards with mandolin and upright bass, a Johnny Cash cover, and a couple of originals. Features include longtime collaborator Noel ‘Toca’ Rivera, Andy Powers (CEO/Chief guitar designer at Taylor Guitars), and Ray Suen.

Photo courtesy of the Recording Academy, by Rebecca Sapp, Getty ImagesThe post Jason Mraz at the GRAMMY Museum, Los Angeles, CA first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Kraken to overhaul app with AI investing assistantThe redesigned app will use AI to recommend trades and tailor investing tools around users' financial goals as Kraken expands into broader financial services.

Get a free acoustic drum kit for Splice INSTRUMENT
Download our free acoustic drum kit preset for Splice INSTRUMENT—grab these presets during the drop window and they’re yours to keep forever.

How To Use Those Cute But Slightly Odd 7-Segment LCDsIf you’re not aware, there is such a thing as adorable little three digit LCD 7-segment displays. They come in a ten-pin DIP package and are just begging to be integrated into a project. The catch is they are just a tiny bit weird. Luckily for us all, [Nagy Krisztián] spells out exactly how to use them.
The first odd thing about these ten-pin LCD displays have a footprint that doesn’t quite mesh with standard 0.1 inch spacing, meaning they will not cleanly fit into a breadboard. Luckily, one can solve this with a bit of force. It’s a small part, and the pins don’t seem to mind.
These little LCDs are adorable, but a bit unusual to interface with.
The second odd thing is wrapping one’s head around the pin mapping. Figuring out which pins activate which segments in the digits is easier if one keeps in mind that each segment of each digit is the product of two different pins. For example, “2A” is digit two, segment A, and is the product of pins 3 and COM4.
That’s not all. Electrically speaking, driving this LCD isn’t nearly as straightforward as an LED.
With an LED display, the COM pins are either common anode or common cathode, which tells one whether lighting up a segment means holding the COM pin at GND with voltage applied to the segment pin, or the other way around. But in the case of this LCD display, the polarity applied is swapped every cycle. Oh, and inactive COM pins need to held at half-voltage. Neat!
[Nagy] drives the whole thing with little more than an ATtiny84 microcontroller and a few resistors. A switchable half-voltage signal is cleverly created by combining a simple voltage divider and taking advantage of the fact that the ATtiny84’s pins can be in one of three different states depending on how they are configured: high, low, or high-impedance (pin configured as an input). Each COM pin on the display gets connected to both an ATtiny84 pin, and to the supply voltage via two resistors forming a voltage divider. When the ATtiny drives the pin high, the LCD pin sees about 3 V. When the pin is driven LOW, the LCD pin sees 0 V. When the ATtiny configures the pin as an input, the LCD pin receives about 1.5 V.
The bulk of the software is defining which pins and states equal which digits, and cycling the LCD at a rate of vaguely 60 Hz which delivers flicker-free results.
We appreciate the clever combination of voltage divider with pin configuration to create three switchable voltage levels. If you liked that and want to see more serious leveraging of pin configuration on a microcontroller, check out how to drive seven LEDs with only two pins.

Sony introduce the IER-M500 Sony have announced the upcoming launch of a new pair of in-ear monitors that promise to deliver a secure, stable fit, impressive sound isolation and accurate, reliable monitoring, all at a very reasonable cost!

Xylo Audio XyloSpace About the Plugin XyloSpace is a lush, otherworldly reverb plugin built for producers and sound designers who demand depth without losing clarity. From intimate room ambience to infinite cosmic tails, XyloSpace shapes your space with precision — blending algorithmic reverb, harmonic shimmer, and a fully interactive post-EQ into one seamless workflow. Video Walkthrough Key Features: Algorithmic Reverb Engine A high-quality reverb core with full control over Pre-Delay, Size, Decay, and Damping for sculpting any acoustic space from tight rooms to endless halls. Shimmer & Pitch Harmonics Adds ethereal harmonic layers above your reverb tail with selectable pitch intervals, transforming any sound into something truly cinematic. Modulation Section A built-in LFO with Speed and Depth controls adds organic movement to your reverb tail, keeping the shimmer alive and constantly evolving. 10-Band Parametric Post-EQ A fully interactive graphic EQ placed after the reverb engine, letting you sculpt the exact tonal character of your reverb tail with pinpoint accuracy. Cosmic OpenGL Visualizer A real-time GPU-powered visualizer that reacts to your audio input, reverb size, and shimmer mix — turning your plugin into a living, breathing visual experience. Resizable Interface A fully scalable UI that adapts to any screen size while maintaining the same high-resolution aesthetic, from compact laptops to large studio monitors. Preset System A curated library of factory presets alongside full user preset saving and browsing, letting you recall and share your favorite spaces instantly. Bypass & Undo / Redo Full bypass with a visual indicator and a complete undo/redo history for non-destructive, confidence-inspiring experimentation. Read More

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 [...]
View post: FREE FX plugins aplenty with the KVR Developer Challenge 2026

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...
Source

“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.