Meet Beyerdynamic’s new flagship headphones and earbudsBeyerdynamic has launched new wireless headphones and earbuds: AVENTHO 300 and AMIRON 300.
The flagship AVENTHO 300 headphones have an ergonomic design for comfort, swivel and foldable aluminium yokes, and the company’s STELLAR.45 drivers. They’re Apple MFi certified and come with Dolby Head Tracking technology for an immersive spatial audio experience.

READ MORE: Best headphones for music producers, DJs and musicians

They also incorporate Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) powered by dual Sony chipsets either side of the headphones. There’s also a pal-controlled touchpad and buttons, and battery life of up to 50 hours. Charge via USB-C for two hours for a full battery charge, or opt for a 10-minute fast charge for up to five hours of listening.
Photo: Beyerdynamic
With the latest Bluetooth 5.4 technology, you can pair the headphones with multiple devices and transition seamlessly between the latest two connected devices. There’s a range of high-resolution audio codecs including AAC, LE Audio, aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless, too.
The AMIRON 300 earbuds, meanwhile, come with 10mm dynamic drivers and deep bass, precise mids, and clear highs, as well as six built-in microphones complete with complex algorithms to filter out noise.
The customisable ANC adapts to your surroundings, while Bluetooth 5.3 allows you to connect to multiple devices easily, and switch between your laptop, phone, and tablet. The automatic pause and play functions allow you to avoid missing anything when you remove your earbuds, too.
Photo: Beyerdynamic
They have a secure fit designed to be comfortable for the whole day, no matter where you are, and a battery life of up to 38 hours with up to 10 hours of continuous playtime. Charge for 10 minutes for an extra two hours of playtime, while the Qi-compatible charging case will give you another 28 hours of battery life.
Both the AVENTHO 300 and AMIRON 300 are compatible with the new Beyerdynamic app for iOS and Android, which offers easy sound customisation and OTA updates, as well as a 5-band equaliser for personalised sound profiles and genre-specific presets.
The company showcased the new products at the 100th year of IFA in Berlin last week. “There aren’t many companies today that can celebrate 100 years of innovation,” said Beyerdynamic CEO Andreas Rapp. “We’re incredibly honoured to be sharing our centennial year together with IFA, another historic and innovative German organisation. There’s no better way to introduce our latest and greatest true wireless products than at IFA 2024, as it showcases a century of the latest and greatest innovations.”
You’ll be able to get both products in the US from the beyerdynamic e-shop and Amazon later this year. The AVENTHO 300 is priced at $399.99 and the AMIRON 300 costs $279.99.
The post Meet Beyerdynamic’s new flagship headphones and earbuds appeared first on MusicTech.

VCV unveils VCV+ subscription plan – but it’s not rent-to-own, and fans are disappointedVCV+ is a new subscription plan that gives users unlimited access to digital modular synth environment, VCV Rack Pro, and its comprehensive library of modules.
The subscription comes in at $29 a month, or $19 per month for a yearly subscription, amounting to $228 a year. Online fans of the brand have so far shown that they aren’t best pleased with the non-rent-to-own subscription model.

READ MORE: Watch how James Hype makes a new track in 20 minutes using Ableton Live 12

For many, VCV Rack is an accessible, free way to toy with a digital modular synth. The open-source, cross-platform software has a VCV Rack Pro upgrade – however, the premium version of the software still costs less than the yearly cost of VCV+.
It costs $149 to buy VCV Rack 2 Pro outright, which also includes access to a library of high-quality modules. Crucially, VCV+’s FAQ page notes: “If you cancel your VCV+ subscription, you’ll no longer be able to use premium modules from VCV+.”
With this in mind, users could pay a full yearly subscription of $228, cancel, and have nothing to show for it, when they could have just bought it outright in the first place and owned it forever for $149.

Today we're announcing VCV+, a new way to get instant access to VCV Rack Pro with an extensive library of premium…
Posted by VCV on Saturday, September 7, 2024

The subscription model has become infamous amongst professional producers and budding synth fans in recent years. In 2023, Waves shifted from selling individual plugins to a subscription-only model, before quickly backtracking on its decision only days later following user backlash.
Minimal Audio also had similar plans, introducing its own subscription-only model for its Current soft synth. The company came under fire, and the backlash resulted in it shifting to a rent-to-own system.
While some users will no doubt welcome the option of gaining access to VCV Rack 2 Pro for a more manageable monthly cost, others have voiced their opposition to VCV’s new subscription-only model.
“At least make it a lease-to-own model,” one user says. “I would happily pay $300 for Pro 2 to own it before I paid $20 a month to rent it,” another user notes.

If you had to subscribe from the initial 2017 release, VCV Rack would have costed you $2,436 and you wouldn't own a single thing. pic.twitter.com/LlGPxHzvdp
— Benn Jordan (@bennjordan) September 7, 2024

"as low as $19/month." – at least make it a lease to own model. $240 per year and having nothing to show for it if you stop paying is wild.
— Tangent Moon (@TangentMoon) September 7, 2024

On Reddit, users are also disappointed by the news. “I’m all for people and artists making a profit for their work, but we’ve seen time and time again that subscription services are, in the long run, a rip-off and pretty anti-consumer,” one user writes.
Learn more about VCV+ and VCV Rack.
The post VCV unveils VCV+ subscription plan – but it’s not rent-to-own, and fans are disappointed appeared first on MusicTech.

Poseidon EQ from Pulsar Audio Poseidon promises to capture the sound and character of Trident's legendary console EQ, while making it more intuitive to use and packing in some helpful modern features. 

Apple’s new iPhones apparently have four “studio-quality” mics and multi-track recording in Voice MemosIt’s that time of the year again, as Apple unveils its latest generation of iPhones at Monday’s ‘It’s Glowtime’ keynote event.
Between the new A18 chip, an added Camera Control button, and the arrival of Apple Intelligence — the Cupertino giant’s very own artificial intelligence software, the iPhone 16 boasts a slew of exciting hardware and software upgrades for both serious and casual users alike.
For musicians and producers who rely on their iPhones for music-making and capturing song ideas, the new lineup introduces a range of audio enhancements designed to level-up your creative process.

READ MORE: Spotify wins lawsuit over Eminem’s publisher in licensing rights dispute

To start, the brand’s top-of-the-line iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max models are said to deliver a “big leap in audio performance” with not just one, but four “studio-quality” mics for higher-quality recording. The mics provide a lower noise floor so you get more true-to-life sounds without the need for extra gear.
Multi-track recording will also be coming to the Voice Memo app later this year. Users can now layer another track on top of existing recordings, which will come in handy for when you want to record your singing over guitar instrumentals, for example.
According to Apple, Voice Memos plays the guitar track through the iPhone speakers while simultaneously recording your voice. The system then uses “advanced processing” to isolate your new vocals and cancel the background audio for a professional result — without the need for headphones, or another app.

The iPhone 16 will hit the shelves officially on Friday, 20 September, with prices starting at $799 for the base model and $999 for the Pro model.
Grammy-winning producer and songwriter Tourist previously spoke about his love for Apple’s Voice Memos app, calling it an “absolute no-brainer” for music production.
“I mean there’s even a part of me that’s really happy with that built-in iPhone mic because it has such a character,” he said on MusicTech’s My Forever Studio podcast. “It sounds like the year that the phone was made. And the compression, whatever they do with that compression… I think people can hear an iPhone mic. I like that.”
Learn more at Apple.
The post Apple’s new iPhones apparently have four “studio-quality” mics and multi-track recording in Voice Memos appeared first on MusicTech.

Variety of Sound releases FeenstaubTX, a FREE Transient Shaper for Windows
Variety of Sound releases FeenstaubTX, a FREE transient designer plugin for Windows. When news of a free plugin arrives, it’s always welcome, but few freebie announcements inspire the same excitement and expectancy as a Variety of Sound release. Variety of Sound has provided some of the best free plugins for a long time now, and [...]
View post: Variety of Sound releases FeenstaubTX, a FREE Transient Shaper for Windows

AudioScape launch MK-609 compressor AudioScape have announced the launch of the MK-609 Precision Stereo Diode Limiter/Compressor, which offers their take on the ‘Metal Knob’ version of Neve’s classic 33609.

FBI reports Americans lost $5.6B to cryptocurrency fraud in 2023The elderly were the most vulnerable, and crypto ATMs have a variety of illicit uses, the report found.

iPhone 16, Apple Intelligence, AirPods 4 and more: Live updates on everything revealed at Apple Event 2024Apple's lineup of announcements echoed many of the anticipated hardware reveals, including the new iPhone 16, AirPods 4, the Apple Watch Series 10 and more.
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This Tiny Steam Engine Takes a Watchmaker’s Skill to BuildWhen your steam engine build requires multiple microscopes, including those of the scanning electron variety, you know you’re building something really, really tiny.
All of the usual tiny superlatives and comparisons apply to [Chronova Engineering]’s latest effort — fits on a pencil eraser, don’t sneeze while you’re working on it or you’ll never find it. If we were to put the footprint of this engine into SMD context, we’d say it’s around a 2010 or so. As one would expect, the design is minimalistic, with no room for traditional bearings or valves. The piston and connecting rod are one piece, meaning the cylinder must pivot, which provides a clever way of switching between intake and exhaust. Tiny crankshaft, tiny flywheel. Everything you’d associate with a steam engine is there, but just barely.
The tooling needed to accomplish this feat is pretty impressive too. [Chronova] are no strangers to precision work, but this is a step beyond. Almost everything was done on a watchmaker’s lathe with a milling attachment and a microscope assist. For the main body of the engine, a pantograph engraving machine was enlisted to scale a 3D printed template down tenfold. Drill bits in the 0.3 mm range didn’t fare too well against annealed tool steel, which is where the scanning electron microscope came into play. It revealed brittle fractures in the carbide tool, which prompted a dive down the rabbit hole of micro-machining and a switch to high-speed steel tooling.
It all worked in the end, enough so that the engine managed 42,000 RPM on a test with compressed air. We eagerly await the equally tiny boiler for a live steam test.

Spain’s recorded music industry revenues reached $269m in H1, up 16.6% YoYMusic streaming revenues in Spain grew 19.1% YoY
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Hopeless Records to bring 30th anniversary exhibit to The Punk Rock MuseumOn October 17th, the seminal California-based punk label Hopeless Records will celebrate its 30th anniversary at The Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas, when the Museum will host the last stop of the label’s traveling road show, the “Hopeless Museum Exhibit.” To celebrate The Punk Rock Museum’s opening of Hopeless’ exhibit, and the start of the When We Were Young festival, idobi Radio will present an opening party at the Museum on Thursday, October 17th, 2024, from 8 PM to 12 AM, featuring special appearances from Hopeless artists, VIP experiences, and more.

The Hopeless Museum exhibit’s visit at The Punk Rock Museum follows its debut at The Valley Relics Museum in Los Angeles, a stop in NYC this June, and a very special visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland this August. In addition to hosting Hopeless’ traveling exhibit, the Rock Hall also launched a semi-permanent exhibit last month dedicated to the label, which will be on display indefinitely, and is the Rock Hall’s first exhibit dedicated to a modern indie label, or a label central to the new alternative scene - check out a recap and photos of the Rock Hall’s Hopeless celebrations at Paste Magazine HERE.

The traveling Hopeless exhibit’s 1,000+ unique artifacts from across 150+ Hopeless artists’ careers include everything from All Time Low’s first gold single plaque, Synyster Gates’ guitar from Avenged Sevenfold’s platinum album Waking The Fallen (2002), and lyrics from The Wonder Years' album Suburbia I’ve Given You All And Now I'm Nothing, to on-stage outfits, instruments, and other items from Hopeless’ new stars like PVRIS, Destroy Boys, Scene Queen, Fame On Fire, LØLØ, NOAHFINNCE, and Point North. Other memorable moments from Hopeless’ last thirty years - like a letter from the estate of Leonard Bernstein praising Punk Side Story (1995) a cover of the West Side Story soundtrack and a signed guitar from the 2008 Take Action Charity Tour - are on display as well.

To kick off the opening of the exhibit and start of the When We Were Young music festival – which will feature notable Hopeless artists and alumni including Taking Back Sunday, Silverstein, Neck Deep, The Wonder Years, Bayside, and We Are The In Crowd – The Punk Rock Museum x Hopeless’ opening party on 10/17 will feature surprise appearances, a tattoo artist, giveaways, and more. 

Attendees will have the opportunity to mingle with key figures from Hopeless Records and enjoy surprise appearances from Hopeless artists in the Pennywise Garage, a unique space within the museum dedicated to iconic punk moments. Hopeless flash will be available in The Shop, offering attendees the chance to get quick tattoos inspired by the label's legacy. Throughout the night, live streams will capture the event for TPRM’s 150,000+ followers, and idobi will host giveaways with artists and guests, offering fans at home a chance to celebrate with the label.

Louis Posen, Founder and President of Hopeless Records, said "Punk Rock is the community that allowed me and Hopeless to get started, grow, and thrive over these past 30 years. It’s more than fitting that our 30th-anniversary museum exhibit will have its grand finale at The Punk Rock Museum. Fat Mike, the founder of the museum was the first person who trusted me with their music, letting me direct a music video for the NOFX song "Bob" and then helping me get Hopeless off the ground.We can’t thank Mike, The Punk Rock Museum and the punk community enough for their long-time support and love."
Fat Mike of NOFX, a long-time friend of Posen and the creator of The Punk Rock Museum, added “I know this might sound a little cheesy, but I am very excited about this exhibit! Why? Well, because I kinda helped Louis start Hopeless. I gave him all of Fat Wreck Chords radio contacts and press contacts and I even gave him a band. 88 Fingers turned out to be their biggest record that year. I'm just so happy to see the success of Hopeless after 30 years... maybe I might end up doing business with them someday... you never know.”The post Hopeless Records to bring 30th anniversary exhibit to The Punk Rock Museum first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Pharma giant Johnson & Johnson sued for alleged ‘rampant’ copyright infringement by Sony and Universal-owned production music firm APM MusicJohnson & Johnson is alleged to have used APM's music in promotional videos without permission
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AmplifyWorld extend Artist Fund deadline AmplifyWorld have announced that the deadline for applications to $500,000 Artist Fund programme has been extended by one month.

One Giant Steppe for Space FlightIn a recent photo essay for the New Yorker magazine, author Keith Gessen and photographer Andrew McConnell share what life is like for the residents around the launch facility and where Soyuz capsules land in Kazakhstan.
Read the article for a brief history of the Baikonur spaceport and observations from the photographer’s15 visits to observe Syuz landings and the extreme separation between the local farmers and the facilities built up around Baikonur. A local ecologist even compares the family farmers toiling around the busy spaceport to a scene our readers may be familiar with on Tatooine.

We assumed Soyuz capsules splashdown somewhere near Russia just like the iconic images of Apollo capsules. While they can land in water, their 13 target landing sites are all on land in the sparsely inhabited Kazakhstan steppe (flat grasslands). According to russianspaceweb.com, the descent is slowed with a single large parachute. When the capsule is about one meter from the ground, solid rocket thrusters fire, “reducing the descent speed of the capsule to between 0 and 3 meters per second.” We learned that the rockets’ force, not the crumple zone on the capsule, causes so much stress that each is only suitable for a single use.
 
A typical final descent trajectory for the Soyuz spacecraft in Kazakhstan (courtesy russianspaceweb.com)
While there is fascinating engineering in the Soyuz landing, from the landing rockets mentioned above to parachute wires acting as antennae for transponders to the multiple automated and backup systems, there is some hacking by the local farmers as well. The cast-off parts of the single-use capsules become scrap metal for use around the farms, leading to haunting images that seem to come from a dystopian future where space flights are as common as commercial air travel but still out of reach for many.
 

“‘But think of the exposure.’ Go f**k yourself”: Internet divided after artist reveals sum offered by Rockstar Games for GTA 6 song featureHow much does it cost to licence a song for a video game? What if it’s for likely the biggest video game in history?
It’s a question many have tried to answer in the last few days, after The Human League and Heaven 17 founding member Martyn Ware was offered what he felt was a measly sum for the inclusion of one of his songs in the forthcoming sixth entry in the Grand Theft Auto series.

READ MORE: Tom Petty’s Love is a Long Road sees 36,979% increase in Spotify streams following GTA 6 trailer launch

Ware feels as though what he was offered for Heaven 17’s 1983 single Temptation pales in comparison to the total revenue GTA 6 is sure to bring in, prompting many to question his grasp of the potential non-monetary benefits such a feature may bring.
“I was recently contacted by my publishers on behalf of Rockstar Games [regarding] the possibility of using Temptation on the new Grand Theft Auto 6,” he writes in a new post on X.
“Naturally excited about the immense wealth that was about to head my way, I scrolled to the bottom of the email [regarding] the offer… It was $7,500! For a buyout of any future royalties from the game – forever…
He goes on, “To put this in context, Grand Theft Auto [5] grossed, wait for it… $8.6 BILLION. ‘Ah, but think of the exposure.’ Go fuck yourself.”
MusicTech reached out to Martyn Ware for comment, which he declined.

I was recently contacted by my publishers on behalf of Rockstar Games re the possibility of using Temptation on the new Grand Theft Auto 6
Naturally excited about the immense wealth that was about to head my way, I scrolled to the bottom of the email re the offer…
— Martyn Ware (@martynware) September 7, 2024

Many gaming publications estimate that GTA 6 is likely to become one of the best-selling video games of all time. It’s been over a decade since the release of GTA V in 2013 — which is still reportedly pulling over 30 million monthly users — and hype has been building for its sequel for years. Indeed, when the launch trailer for No. 6 dropped on YouTube in December 2023, it garnered over 100 million views in 24 hours and currently sits at 208 million views at the time of writing. You can see why Ware claims that he should be entitled to more than the $7,500 he’s been offered for his song.
But online commenters also feel that due to the sheer number of people who stand to hear it, the “exposure” argument also has legs.
“GTA isn’t out yet, and when it releases [it] will be the most purchased video game of all time. You missed out on millions of listeners,” one user writes.

gta6 isn’t out yet, and when it releases will be the most purchased video game of all time, you missed out on millions of listeners
— beatdropkilla (@beatdropkilla) September 8, 2024

“You were also offered $7,500 for a song out of hundreds on the radio people will hear randomly while driving,” another says. “GTA 5 made $8.6 billion dollars because it’s GTA 5, not because of the soundtrack. Now you get nothing and look dumb for the entire internet.”
It’s also rare that a publisher would pay a flat fee for licensing; a number of factors are at play, like placement within the game, for example. Is it heard at a key moment in the story, which every player will hear if they play the full game? Or is it just one of many songs on GTA Radio, which features many in-game “stations”, many of which are not default, and must be selected to be listened to? The variables quickly stack up, and the fee ultimately paid by the publisher to the rights holder fluctuates in accordance.
As another user points out, GTA 5 had “around 440” licensed songs, and thus the total spent by Rockstar on licensing added up quickly. “Really that fee for one (albeit brilliant) song is normal,” they write. “Might seem low but if they pay $7,500 each then that’s $3.3 million on the music alone. The fee in my honest opinion is irrelevant. 200 million people…”

Martyn is it too late to change your mind? GTA had around 440 songs in the last game so really that fee for 1 (albeit brilliant) song is normal. Might seem low but if they pay $7500 each then that’s 3.3 million on the music alone. The fee imho is irrelevant. 200 million people …
— Simon Raymonde (@mrsimonraymonde) September 7, 2024

Another user asserts that exposure is not a valid form of payment, particularly from a company which stands to make such a large profit from its forthcoming title.
“You did good,” they tell Ware. “That is no way to evaluate art, especially from the creator of a game that will likely make over a billion dollars on its launch night.
“Exposure isn’t payment, because while there’s a chance you could get more famous being included in such a big project, there’s an even bigger chance you’d be treated as just another random song on the game’s radio that people won’t care to Shazam and listen to. Unless they’re willing to offer royalties, it isn’t worth it.”
It’s unclear whether negotiations will be had between Martyn Ware and Rockstar Games, but given Ware’s tone, and the fact he’s aired his grievances about the initial offer on social media, we’d assume at this point that the offer is now off the table.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is currently set to arrive in autumn 2025, though rumours are floating about that it may be delayed further to 2026.
Visit Rockstar Games to stay in the loop.
The post “‘But think of the exposure.’ Go f**k yourself”: Internet divided after artist reveals sum offered by Rockstar Games for GTA 6 song feature appeared first on MusicTech.